M E R I D I A N     M A G A Z I N E

From the Wrestling Mat to the Rugby Field
By Mike Morrow

Kimball Kjar never could imagine that “tackling low” and “take down” could be so much a part of his day-to-day vocabulary.

But here he is, a dozen years after graduating from high school, where he played football and wrestled, explaining tackling techniques on a windy day in Western Colorado.

“Head down, dig in,” Kjar tells two reserve team members of the BYU rugby team before a game with the Denver Barbarians, a nationally ranked club team.

Soon, he and his group of athletes are jogging the sidelines, where a hundred or so individuals have shown up, including a number who attend church in Grand Junction.

It's good to see so many church members at the game, says one player, as Kjar makes a notation on a small pad.

A successful businessman with Venator Ventures, a professional headhunting firm headquartered in American Fork, Utah, Kjar is an assistant coach at BYU, having developed “a real passion” for rugby as a student.

Along with head coach Dave Smyth and assistants Wayne Tarawhiti, Brian Westenskow and Justen Nadauld, Kjar has kept the Cougars on course toward another successful season.

For Kjar, his coaching experience is a learning experience, since his background in rugby is relatively short.

Kjar was a standout athlete at Bountiful, Utah, High School, competing in football, wrestling and track.

As a wrestler, Kjar won a regional championship as both a junior and a senior, and was a state finalist as a senior. The football team was a state semifinalist in his senior season.

Kjar moved on to BYU, where his parents had met (and his father had been a member of the wrestling team), and served a mission in Brisbane, Australia, from 1997-1999.

“I decided at the last minute to not walk-on with the wrestling team,” Kjar said. “I wasn't ready to commit that much time and energy into it. But I still wanted to play a sport at BYU.

“I knew I wasn't good enough for the football team, so in my freshman year, my roommate (Taylor Nadauld) said I should try out for the rugby team. I had a few experiences with rugby from some high school friends who played the sport, so I had the curiosity to try out.”

As an inexperienced rugby player at BYU, Kimball Kjar had to learn fast, but he became one of the team's standouts before graduating in 2003.

Kjar made the team and was a regular as a freshman, even though “I didn't know what I was doing the majority of the time.”

He says he had a “great experience” during his freshman year, crediting the older and more experienced players with taking him and teaching him the game.

But then, he gave it all up to spend the next two years on his mission, an experience he says was totally positive.

“I am what I am today because of my mission,” Kjar said. “It was hard, but it was a great experience. I made some friends that I am still in touch with regularly today. Also, we played touch rugby on our P-days.”

Kjar returned to BYU after his mission, majoring in philosophy and business, and graduated in 2003. That's when he decided he would like to continue spending time on the rugby field.

“It's an awesome sport,” Kjar said. “People often think of drunken men when it comes to rugby and (people) suppose there is very little strategy or tactics to the game. But it is very much a game of chess and a thinking man's game.”

The game, he says, “is riddled with strategy and tactical decision making because every player has to be able to run, pass or kick the ball, and there's no coach calling out plays like in football. It's all up to the players and their own skills and rugby intellect.”

It's not easy, Kjar admits, and the players have a “steep learning curve.”

“There are some great athletes on the team, but often they do not garner the level of rugby intellect they need to be successful. The best players in rugby are not always the biggest or fastest — but they are always the smartest.”

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