Congratulations to Matthew Golub, our Player of the Month!
Position: Utility Back
Height: 5’8″
Weight: 155 lbs
Year: Senior
Major: Economics and Spanish
Hometown: Palo Alto, CA
Why did you decide to play rugby?
Coming into the school year, I knew I wanted to play a team sport and that I wanted more training intensity than what I was getting from IM basketball and regular lifting. At the beginning of the Fall ’21 semester, Max Xie and I were talking about our lifting maxes at a business fraternity event when he mentioned he played rugby and encouraged me to come to a practice. I wrestled in high school, so getting to tackle people again really excited me. Also, having seen guys in rugby shirts at the IM deadlift 500+ pounds (mainly Thomas Majure), I knew it’d be a great community to join if I wanted to get more serious about fitness. After training with guys like Armen, Spence, and Daines and meeting Coach Trenary and Tommy at the first practice, I was sold.
What have you liked about Michigan Rugby so far?
The community, for sure. Everyone is so driven to succeed both on and off the field, and it’s the highlight of my week getting to train with everyone at practice. Everybody is extremely supportive, whether it be taking time to run passing drills outside of practice, giving lifting advice, or even passing along academic/career resources. I’ve also got to give a shoutout to the excellent coaching staff. Coach Trenary, Brahj, Simkins, Cargill, Caputo, Kasten, Vecchio, Renwick, and Kleber have made it easy to pick up rugby after never having played before. It’s great to have coaches that put so much into helping the team succeed.
Describe your most memorable moment on the field
Either scoring my first try in 27 degree weather at the Turkey Bowl or running around like a headless chicken for 40 minutes against Notre Dame in my first game.
What’s your most favorite rugby drill in practice? Least favorite?
Favorite: CanJam. Also a big fan of Coach Trenary’s new passing drill.
Least favorite: Bronco.
What other sports have you played?
Wrestling and track (hurdles) in high school. A lot of baseball and basketball in less competitive settings.
What do you see yourself doing in five years?
Career-wise, I will hopefully have just finished an MBA and be working in tech out on the West Coast or in New York. From a fitness and rugby standpoint, I hope to reach the 1000 pound club for powerlifting and find a rugby league so I can play on the weekends.
What is an embarrassing childhood memory that you can share with us?
Can’t add pictures unfortunately, but I had a solid 2 year stretch rocking Zack & Cody flow with braces.
What is your favorite place in Ann Arbor?
The IM building. It’s awesome walking in and always seeing 5-6 teammates lifting or passing.
What is your biggest fear?
EECS 281 office hours.
What is your favorite food?
No Thai potato curry.
Do you have any game-day superstitions? Explain.
Pre-workout and loud music. Gotta get amped before the game.
Who is your favorite superhero and why?
Iron Man. He shows that with intelligence, creativity, and hard work (and proper funding) you can more or less do anything.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
There’s two types of pain–the pain of discipline and the pain of regret. Always choose the pain of discipline, it hurts a lot less in the long-run.
Again, congratulations to our January Player of the Month, Matt Golub!
