It all started with my burning desire to play rugby, a sport whose values ​​I greatly appreciate.

I had the first contact with the oval balloon in high school, when I took the “microbe”. This microbe has become stronger with time, but unfortunately I couldn’t practice it as sport. It was a long time, where I now look melancholy, trying not to miss any rugby match on TV. I had become a fan of the French championship broadcasted by Eurosport2 and the program “Rugby Day” from TV5.

One day I decided that it was time to do something with this passion but time did not allow me to constantly go to a team practice. On the website of the Romanian Rugby Federation I saw that a beginner rugby instructor course is being organized. I applied immediately and the next day I was in the FRR conference room listening with great interest everything that was presented. That was when I realized that amateur rugby is practically non-existent in Bucharest. I had discovered niche, the only thing I did after the course was to channel my energy towards promoting the idea and forming a group of people with the same desire: to play rugby just for the pleasure of the game, during leisure time.

I posted an ad on the internet, I went again to FRR to ask for support, tags and balloons, and one day in November 2011, on a more precise Friday, the first meeting was held at the athletics stadium.

All that followed was like a dream coming true. Every time more and more people came. Not even the winter that had settled with snow and cold did not stop us. Every Sunday I came to the field with the huge desire to play rugby, and the rest of the days we were thinking how to pass the time faster, Sunday to come again J.

Like any beginning, it was not easy. Over time we played on the grass of the Athletics Federation, often avoiding the spears or discs thrown by the athletes, we played on the football pitch on Leu’s house, then on the rugby pitch in the Tei sports complex. After that period of “persecution” we found support at the Romanian Rugby Federation and Dinamo Club, where we are still training, to whom we thank very much.

Our trainings have become more and more interactive, more complex. The desire to learn to play rugby has given us control and after each training we also made a ‘3rd round’ at a beer where we discussed how it was, what can be done to increase the fun in the group. Also during the 3rd round, we also chose the name of the group, Arlechinii Bucuresti, but we also decided to move on to the next level of organization, establishing a sports association.

The name I think represents us perfectly, conveys a funny message that comes from the contrast of our activity, the practice of rugby and the idea of ​​harlequin – someone who makes you smile. It’s practically our image: we play rugby with a smile on our faces.

Meanwhile we have welded the relationships within the group, we have become all good friends that we can rely, on both, on and off the pitch. We have developed the social part of the activity, getting to know new people who share the same passion, we often go out together and talk proudly about our activity.

Our goal is to participate in as many tournaments abroad, where real amateur rugby festivals are organized, with teams from all over the world and where the fun and the good will meet with the rugby game. We made the first exit from the country to Flanders. There we discovered what an amateur rugby tournament means. It happened in 2014. There were outbreaks of the country about every year. Besides Flanders we also went through Dublin, Sofia, Ibiza and Warsaw. Things didn’t stop there. We received visits from teams from many corners of the world, organized the first Rugby 10’s championship for amateurs in Romania, participated in the Balkan Cup where we also organized two stages, organized rugby touch tournaments.

We hope to attract as many passionate people as we, beginners, people who appreciate the values ​​of this sport and who want to enjoy it. Here is the beauty of the group, we do not force anyone to participate in training, there is no presence, everyone has come and continues “have fun”, learn and play rugby. Knowledge level or rugby practice is not a selection criteria, on the contrary, those who have never played before have priority. Very important is and was the human quality of those who want to be part of our group, the years of rugby in the past do not interest us. We are and function as a real team and so we will remain, we are very proud of it and we try to stay united in the future.