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At Detroit's smallest Catholic high school, rugby is a big deal
Detroit Loyola senior Raylon Murry looks for an open teammate during the Bulldogs’ season-opening rugby match against Holland West Ottawa. The sport is thriving at the inner-city high school, and Murry intends to continue playing next year in college at Mount St. Mary’s University. (Photo by Kevin Roberts | Special to Detroit Catholic) SOUTHFIELD — […]
Detroit Loyola senior Raylon Murry looks for an open teammate during the Bulldogs’ season-opening rugby match against Holland West Ottawa. The sport is thriving at the inner-city high school, and Murry intends to continue playing next year in college at Mount St. Mary’s University. (Photo by Kevin Roberts | Special to Detroit Catholic)
SOUTHFIELD — Raylon Murry had played football from a young age, but once he discovered
rugby, a whole new world opened for him.
Literally.
Murry is spending this weekend playing in the Tropic 7s travel tournament in
Tampa. Two weeks ago, he played in London. Murry’s been on pitches everywhere
from South Africa to New Zealand to Dubai. And he’s accepted a college
scholarship to continue his rugby career at Mount St. Mary’s University in
Maryland.
“I
would describe rugby as a game made for vicious people, but played by
gentlemen,” he said. “One of my favorite parts is when you sit down and talk
with your opponents and chill with them after the match. In football, after the game
the teams don’t really want to shake hands.”
Murry,
a senior at Loyola High School in Detroit, discovered the game as an eighth
grader by tagging along to watch his older brother, Rahmon, play on the
Bulldogs’ club.
Romell Murry breaks away from Holland West Ottawa would-be tacklers and advances the ball. Loyola fell to West Ottawa, 29-26, on the last play of the match. (Photo by Kevin Roberts | Special to Detroit Catholic)
“It
was the COVID year, and there was nothing else going on, so I started
practicing with them, the whole year, even though I couldn’t play,” he said. “I
went to all the practices and I picked it up.”
Soon,
Murry showed enough skill on the pitch that he became one of Loyola’s featured
players, and expanded his game through the travel opportunities.
“One
of the benefits of this is the joy of seeing kids really embrace this sport,
and really connecting with each other,” said Murry’s coach, Ron Cornell.
“Otherwise, I don’t think they would communicate and have respect and
compassion they show for their teammates. I’m 60 years old and I have done this
for 28 years. It’s kept me alive and young and excited to see new kids develop
every season.”
Cornell,
who’s also chairman of the board of Rugby Michigan, said there are only about
20 prep programs spread across the state, yet the game expands at the
collegiate level, where nearly every in-state school has a club.
“We
have outstanding athletes at Loyola, several have scholarships to play sports
in college,” he said. “It’s the traction that the kids provide; they can play
really exceptional rugby, and kids want to play for us. The kids are really
committed to playing. They have competed for positions at clubs across the
country.”
The
Loyola rugby program is unique on several levels. First of all, most of the
other scholastic clubs are from suburban public high schools that enroll
several thousand students, far above the 126 students who attend Loyola, in
Detroit’s inner city. Still, because of its success in recent seasons (such as a
6-1 record last year), Loyola plays in the upper division, which also consists
of Brighton, Forest Hills, Grandville, Holland West Ottawa, and Detroit
Catholic Central (the only other Catholic League program).
The Loyola rugby club attracts students from other schools as well, including Mason Maczuga from Madison Heights Lamphere (10), Collin Cole of Oak Park (11) and Ian Laskowski of Howell (16). (Photo by Kevin Roberts | Special to Detroit Catholic)
For
a while, a touchstone for the Bulldogs was that they were the state’s only
African-American rugby squad. But since the team is classified as a “club,”
students from other schools have joined. Several travel in from places like
Madison Heights, Northville and Brighton to play with the Bulldogs, who host
home matches at Levey Middle School in Southfield.
“Because
of the (small) size of the school, we have always invited people from other
high schools to play on our club. They have to register with USA Rugby. It’s a
club sport, (so) we’re allowed to have kids from outside the school participating,”
Cornell said. “They come from all over — they will drive to the inner city to
be part of the club, because of the special environment.”
Loyola’s
club began eight years ago when Fr. Adam DeLeon, SJ, a former theology teacher
at the school, contacted Cornell to help develop a program.
“He
had a history — wherever he’s landed, he’s always been interested in starting
a rugby team,” Cornell said. “Detroit Catholic Central and Loyola started at
the same time 2017 as an outgrowth of a club in Northville which was folding.
It’s a unique opportunity for these cultures to mix.”
The
sport has ebbed and flowed over the past couple years, but is strong at both
Loyola and CC.
“The
top rugby programs in the country, such as St. Ignatius and St. Edward’s in
Cleveland — besides the Mormons in Utah — it’s all Catholic schools that have
embraced rugby,” Cornell said.
Rugby
is one of those sports that people have generally heard of, but aren’t quite
familiar with the rules and object of the game, Cornell said.
Detroit Loyola rugby coach Ron Cornell and Mount St. Mary’s University coach Jay Myles flank Loyola senior Raylon Murry after he signs his national letter of intent to compete at the collegiate level. (Photo courtesy of Loyola Athletic Department)
“I
think a lot of people compare it to a cross between football without pads, and
a continuation like soccer, because the ball is continuously in play,” Cornell
said. “There are certain rules for advancing the ball. You cannot pass the ball
forward. You can run the ball forward and kick the ball forward and go get
under it, but you cannot throw the ball forward.”
Fifteen
players take the field for each squad. Teams strive to advance the ball to the try line, which is comparable to football’s end zone, and put the ball on the
ground with force, earning five points. An extra point try follows.
“The
biggest impediment with football players, who play contact sports, is that play
continues,” Cornell said. “It’s not an eight-second play followed by a
45-second break. The play keeps going. Everybody can run with the ball, and
score. That’s the big attraction — we have plays designed for everyone, no
matter their size or their body type.”
And because Loyola has a talented senior class due to graduate — Patrick Green
(Wheeling University in West Virginia) and Don’Yale Sharp (Aquinas) also plan
to play in college — attracting new talent is one of the ongoing factors for
the club.
“Right
now we have a roster of 23, so we have eight subs,” Cornell said. “I’d like to
have a few more because we’re looking down the road for development. We’ve got
seniors who have played for us for four years. There’s a rugby team at almost
every college. If you’re looking for an opportunity to learn a sport, then
learn to play rugby — you can find a rugby team in just about every
community.”
For
Murry, attracting the next generation of Bulldog rugby stars is a bit more
organic.
“I
want to really pass down the experience to the younger guys. I want the program
to be at the same level, or higher, when I leave. We have a lot of seniors who
helped bring the program up to what it is today,” he said. “I just show them a
couple clips of my playing. When they see me play, they get inspired. When I
show them the clips, I tell them if I could do it, you could do it. I want to
inspire them to start playing.”
“A
great thing about this sport is it can give kids opportunities they wouldn’t
ordinarily have,” Cornell said. “It’s unfortunate that kids don’t always
recognize that they have skill sets that go beyond football and basketball, but
I tell them that rugby might open some doors for them, too.”
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Why Monaco GP's exclusive trophy trunk is now standard in F1… and League of Legends
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What do the Olympic flame, Ballon d’Or and Monaco Grand Prix winner’s trophy have in common with multiplayer battle arena game League of Legends? It’s the cases these trophies are delivered in. And, these days, they’re very visible.
Since the start of 2025, the winning trophy for each Formula One event has been displayed on the grid ahead of the race start, white-gloved attendees at the ready. This is the first year of the partnership between F1 and LVMH, the luxury goods powerhouse that owns brands including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and TAG Heuer. But the trophy trunks, which have a deep history dating back to the 1800s, aren’t actually new for the Monaco Grand Prix. Louis Vuitton previously had a race-specific deal with the Automobile Club de Monaco from 2021-2024.
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These trunks are also seen in similar presentation ceremonies across sport. From soccer (with the Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Cup trophies), the rugby union World Cup, tennis (with the Roland Garros and Davis Cup winners’ trophies), and basketball (the NBA’s Larry O’Brien Trophy).
The trophy trunks are handmade at Louis Vuitton’s atelier in Asnières, France, located just outside of Paris. Louis Vuitton, the designer, founded this atelier – an artist’s workshop – in 1859, five years after creating his House and long after he pioneered his now-famous trunk luggage design. The Frenchman spent 17 years perfecting the concept of a flat-topped rectangular trunk, the first of its kind, from which the trophy trunks take their cues. The original design proved easier to stack on ships or trains compared to the domed luggage pieces that were otherwise common in the 1800s. The flat-topped trunks and the distinctive canvas, a resistant and lightweight material to wrap the trunks, were created in 1854.
As rival fashion companies began replicating Vuitton’s idea in their own forms, the House needed to expand the trunk over the years — with a red-stripped canvas coming in the 1870s, a chequered Damier canvas in 1888, and the now iconic monogram in 1896. This was a concept that came a few years after Vuitton’s death. The monogram was designed by his son, Georges Vuitton. In addition to his father’s initials, “abstract floral shapes” are etched on the materials. According to the House, the trunks as we know them today are “virtually identical” to those being produced as early as 1906.
Louis Vuitton’s trophy boxes have been used for multiple events recently (via LVMH)
Some Louis Vuitton’s luggage trunks cost north of $50,000 today. And in 1983, the brand took its iconic concept into the sporting world for the first time — creating a trophy case that looks like a luggage trunk for the America’s Cup in sailing.
This partnership is still going in 2025. Louis Vuitton expanded from there, to even create an E-sports trophy for the League of Legends 2019 World Championships. A year later, it became the NBA’s official trophy travel case provider, housing the Larry O’Brien Trophy given to the winner of the NBA Finals each year. That trunk features details special to the NBA, such as the interior being the league’s dark blue.
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Louis Vuitton created trunks for the 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup trophies, and the House is poised to have a similar consistency in F1 with LVMH’s 10-year deal. Louis Vuitton’s automotive ties actually date back to 1897, when the House began creating luggage trunks for such travel. In the 1990s, Louis Vuitton also organised its own rally — the Louis Vuitton Classic Run.
Why this matters for F1
First, this is another example the fashion industry’s growing involvement in F1 and how luxury brands are finding ways to invest in the sport’s expanded and more diverse fanbase. H. Moser & Cie is a partner of Alpine, after executives cold-emailed the watch company with the idea of teaming up — according to The Hollywood Reporter. Richard Mille is involved with McLaren and Ferrari, and beauty companies such has Charlotte Tilbury and Elemis have begun investing in F1 Academy and Aston Martin, respectively.
For Louis Vuitton, use of the trophy trunks takes its involvement with F1 beyond simple branding around different parts of the track, as is the case for many of the championship’s other partners. These trunks have become symbolic parts of the pre- and post-race festivities, as individuals don white gloves to carry the trophy case into position at the front of the grid and near where the drivers stand for the host country’s national anthem. It’s a reminder to the drivers — if they really need it — of what’s at stake.
Simply put, this is a visual representation of how F1 has changed under Liberty Media. The LVMH deal meant Rolex stopped being the championship’s official timekeeper at the end of last year — with a TAG Heuer clock now installed at the end of every pitlane instead.
But, in the constant strive for sales, such deals cut both ways. Companies such as Louis Vuitton are now using F1’s reach to find new customers. A report in the New York Times last year stated that “the sports-sponsorship market is expected to grow from $63.1 billion in 2021 to $109.1 billion by 2030 as a host of new sponsors — such as sports betting and streaming giants — buy in.”
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“Exclusivity is the central reputation pillar of all luxury brands,” states a report from London-based media analytics company Commetric. “The illusion of scarcity and rarity is what drives consumer demand towards luxury goods, even more than quality.
“But analysing (conversations on social media platform X), we found that in this case, exclusivity was the least visible LVMH reputation pillar. Instead, the discussions around things like Louis Vuitton medal trays.”
Louis Vuitton’s logo is very visible around F1 this season (Santanu Banik/Speed Media/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The report added that “by being everywhere at such a mass-appeal event, LVMH and its brands conveyed a message that goes against every luxury comms strategy – ‘our products are as accessible as beer and sneakers’. It seems like LVMH is becoming part of a larger strategic push into mass sports by the world’s top luxury companies.
“With the luxury industry in trouble, they realised that a growing share of their business depends on aspirational consumers they can reach through hugely popular events that ditch old-school exclusivity—some 60 per cent of global luxury sales today come from people who spend less than €2,000 a year on luxury goods.”
This is all a far cry from back in 2014, when former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone claimed he limited sponsorship signings to those targeted at older customers. He went as far as saying, in a typically combative interview with Campaign Asia-Pacific magazine that “young kids will see the Rolex brand, but are they going to go and buy one? They can’t afford it. Or our other sponsor, UBS – these kids don’t care about banking. They haven’t got enough money to put in the bloody banks anyway. That’s what I think.”
Now, F1’s current custodian, Liberty Media, has greatly expanded its sponsorship portfolio. These days, F1 even has official chocolate and pasta partners — in an effort similar to LVMH to try and reach a new consumer base amid turbulent market pressures.
This explains why longstanding F1 traditions such as the Rolex clock shot at the start of every on-track session have changed. And the championship’s TV cameras are now trained on the race trophy and its case before lights out.
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“This year kicks off our first participation at the Monaco Grand Prix within the Formula One partnership, unveiling, for the first time, our new creative signature along Monte-Carlo’s legendary track, while also celebrating the fifth appearance of our emblematic Trophy Trunk,” said Pietro Beccari, Chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton, in a written statement to The Athletic.
“We are proud to carry history forward, reaffirming our enduring tradition of accompanying champions, as we did for prestigious sport events, such as the Australian Open, the Ballon d’Or, and the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.”
(Top photo: Song Haiyuan/MB Media/Getty Images)
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STORRS, Conn. – UConn Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Beth Alford-Sullivan announced the promotion of Coach Selwyn Maxwell, Jr. to the role of associate Head Track & Field Coach on September 4, 2024. Coach Maxwell has been a key member of the coaching staff at UConn for the last three years as an assistant track and field coach, working with the sprinters, hurdlers and women’s multi-eventers for the Huskies. Since Coach Maxwell became a part of the coaching staff in 2021, both men’s and women’s track & field have won 3 BIG EAST Indoor and Outdoor Championships each, sweeping the championships from 2022-2024. In 2024, Maxwell helped coach Mekhi Stone to a gold medal finish in the BIG EAST Championships at a time of 47.13 seconds.
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A 2016 UConn graduate, Maxwell was a two-year captain of the men’s Track & Field program. He was instrumental in leading the Huskies to the 2013 Indoor and Outdoor Big East Championships, as well as the 2014 Indoor and 2015 Outdoor American Athletic Conference (AAC) Championship. While at UConn, he earned All-Big East Honors, All-AAC Honors, was the 2013 Indoor New England champion in the 60-meter hurdles, and was a four-time NCAA East Regional qualifier in the 110-meter hurdles.
Following his days competing for the Huskies, Maxwell began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Amherst College where he worked with the men’s program coaching the sprints, hurdles, jumps and throws. From there, he accepted a coaching position at MIT and was entering his fourth season in 2020-21.
During his time at MIT, he helped guide the Engineer men’s and women’s programs to four NEWMAC Outdoor Championships and five Division III Regional Championships. He also coached six NCAA All-Americans and 10 NCAA qualifiers.
Maxwell holds several coaching certifications, including the USATF Level I and is a USTFCCCA Sprint / Hurdle / Relay Specialist. Maxwell also holds a USTFCCCA Strength and Conditioning license and USA Weightlifting Certification. He also holds a USTFCCCA Program Management Certification.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from the UConn in 2016 and graduated with his Master of Science in Sport Administration from Arkansas State University in 2017.
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