A Few Good Men
Left: The Grant
County Jackalopes
Rugby Football Club
plays against ISU.
Catch the team in
action at a home
match at Matter Park
in Marion, Indiana.
Photo by Gannon
Burgett.
Below: Nursing
students Joel
Anderson, Nathan
Sayegh, and Adam
Burggraf (pictured left
to right) are also rugby
teammates. Photos by
Jer Nelsen.
written by Joel Anderson
In the fall of 2010, a group of young
men from Indiana Wesleyan began to
toss around the idea of starting a rugby
league at the school. With a desire for
sport and camaraderie, Erik Johnson,
Nathan Sayegh, Jake Gonzales, and Zac
Murphy founded the Grant County Jackalopes Rugby Football Club.
Although not officially affiliated with the
school, the team is comprised solely of
IWU students. Through word of mouth,
recruiting, and faith, the numbers quickly
grew to a full team of fifteen players, and
the Jackalopes were able to play in their
first match the following spring.
A character-building, faith-centered atmosphere of brotherhood was cultivated
through the club. In an effort to minister
to opponents, the team makes a habit of
praying with the other team after every
game, and not once has the opposing
team refused the invitation to join. The
team has upheld IWU’s code of conduct
for their players through accountability
within the club.
Now, with several seasons under its
belt, the club is attracting international
recruits and an effusive fan base and in
2012 inspired the founding of a Lady
Jackalopes women’s team.
Through the life of the club, there have
been multiple players from the School
of Nursing out on the pitch, as the rugby
field is called—namely, current students
Adam Burggraf, Nathan Sayegh, and
Joel Anderson and graduate Rob Marvin,
BSN. All of these men learned that they
could take the leadership skills that they
learned in class and clinicals onto the
field, an act which pushed some of them
towards leadership within the team.
Team cofounder Sayegh was a devoted
coach to the Jackalopes for three years
and in the 2012-13 season, Anderson
was appointed by the coaches to be the
on-field captain.
And for these nursing students, leadership and service have not been reserved
strictly to the pitch. Off the field, Sayegh
has been the diversity coordinator for
Scripture Hall for two years. Burggraf has
also been in leadership in Scripture Hall,
serving as a resident assistant as early as
his sophomore year at IWU. Burggraf’s
leadership experience extends beyond
IWU, as well—he also served in the United States Army for nearly ten years, with
two deployments in that time.
Indiana Wesleyan University’s School of
Nursing has always been one to strive
for excellence in developing and training
leaders. The Jackalopes Rugby Football
Club is another outlet for that growth,
and these three students are just a few
examples of the many outstanding
leaders that the School of Nursing has
cultivated since its first graduating class
back in 1975. +
facebook.com/IWUSofN
9