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2 pring H,II The key to your community Life Feature Stories 14 Pelham Senior Moving On Up Connor Wilkins is the first student to go to college on a rugby scholarship in the state of Alabama. 18 Summer Can Be Stone Time Kidney stones can be extremely painful but most can be treated without resorting to surgery. More modem treatments are available. 21 Bay-to-Bay Series The Gulf Coast rivals meet again at Maritime Park in Pensacola in late July. Cover Photo courtesy of David Wilkins Connor Wilkins and his father on signing day. Photo courtesy of David Wilkins Kidney stone awareness. Photo courtesy of hibu Bay-to-Bay series returns. Photo courtesy of hibu Departments 5 From The Editor July isn't just about the Fourth. There are plenty of quirky holidays to celebrate and enjoy this summer. 7 Around Town Danielle Williamson earns Top Composite ACT Score Roundabout Seen as Safer Alternative 23 Gotta Go! Free Workshop on Bedroom Design Join the Mobile Pops at Their Annual Concert Mobile Library Summer Reading Program Finale Cabaret Star Returns to Mobile's Cafe And Another Thing... Kaiser, Come Home: After weeks on the loose, this dog was reunited with his family. Want to contribute to your magazine? We need your help! If you've got a news release,a story tip, a great photo or want to write for us,send a note to the above address and we will be in touch! Please visit yellowbook360.com/release to read the terms for submissions. Interested in Advertising? Contact us at yellowbook360.com/advertise or call hlbll I U~ 2013 hibu Inc.' A" rights reserved. hibu is a trademark of hibu (UK) Limited.

3 Pelham Senior Moving On Up Connor Wilkins is the first student to go to college on a rugby scholarship in the state of Alabama. by Iris Peters Publication Assistant Connor Wilkins was only in the eighth grade when he made a pact with his best friend, promising that he would go to college on a scholarship. Now, four years later, he can say that he remained true to his word. On April 16, the recent Pelham High School graduate signed his official letter of intent to attend Spring Hill College to play rugby, making him the first person to go to college on a rugby scholarship in the state of Alabama. And if making state history was not impressive enough, he did so without even playing rugby in high school. "I moved to a small town in south Alabama where football was king and baseball was queen," Wilkins said. "I always wanted to play rugby but I put it on the back burner and focused on football. It wasn't until I moved to Pelham that I realized rugby could actually be an option." Wilkins played football his freshman year and soccer the remaining three years at Pelham high school. He found that skills he acquired from both sports transferred into rugby, making the transition relatively smooth. "Football helped with the intensity and grasping the aggressiveness, since football came from rugby," Wilkins said. "A lot of those skills carried over. And Soccer helped with overall conditioning and with kicking, drop kicking and punting. I know how to aim and where to kick the ball." His interest in rugby was sparked at a young age by Tom Harwood, a friend's father who played for the club team in Birmingham. However, to play club rugby he had to be at least 18 years of age. So what did Wilkins do? During his sophomore year he decided to start his own rugby club at his high school and hold practices every Saturday. "I just went online and searched high school rugby in Alabama," Wilkins said. "A link popped up and it sent me to the representative for my area and we talked about what needed to happen, what goals I needed to reach and what it would take to start a team." After that, Wilkins started recruiting people he knew through football and soccer and brought them down to the field every week. He admits the numbers were not great at first, but as the word spread the numbers picked up. "It was hard to keep it going," Wilkins said. "I would have a couple kids come down on Saturdays and I'd give them a crash course on how to play, but it was hard to keep them interested when we weren't practicing for games. We were just playing to play most of the time." Wilkins referred to Harwood as the instrumentalist, teaching the new comers the ins and outs of the sport, but Harwood wouldn't 14 July 2013

4 Connor Wilkins normally plays the position of a flanker or an outside back, both of which requires speed, strength and agressiveness. Photo courtesy of David Wilkins take the credit. "I'm pretty busted up from rugby and other things so 1 am not mobile like 1used to be," Harwood, who played rugby for 24 years, said. "I may have exposed him to it and 1helped out as much as 1 could but he did a lot of it on his own." When Wilkins started his club, there were no other high school rugby clubs in the area. As a result, they had no other teams to play against. Then during his junior year, a high school team started up in Birmingham and all the members of his club combined with the Birmingham members to form one big team. With this team they had the opportunity to play teams from Georgia, as well as play more often in Alabama. Last year at a tournament Wilkins became the first player to score in high school rugby in Alabama and it was during that time that he recognized rugby was something he wanted to continue to play in the future. "When 1realized some coaches were looking at me to play Continued on next page

5 Continued from previous page rugby in college I told myself that this is what I wanted to do," he said. "I just had so much fun playing that I didn't want to stop." Spring Hill College head coach, Mollie McCarthy, heard about Wilkins and his abilities on the field through recommendations from fellow players and Harwood, one of his Birmingham coaches; and even got an from Wilkins, himself, saying how interested he was in the program. "He was one of the most proactive and one of the first kids to show interest in the program since I got here," McCarthy, who came on as head coach in November, said. Before her arrival, rugby was a student-run activity and had no recognition by the school under athletics. Now that it is recognized by the athletic department, McCarthy is determined to create a program with a solid foundation that will continue to grow. "As we build as a program and build on the men's and women's side, hopefully we will be able to be competitive and move up in divisions," McCarthy said. 'Then the school can see how successful we are and then maybe bring us on varsity." McCarthy is looking at Wilkins to help with this growth and sees him as becoming a big role early on in his career, on and off the field. "His passion for the sport is contagious and I think he will be pretty crucial as one of the leaders and eventually I can see him turning into more of a captain role," she said. "But there will also be a really good environment that he will help create among the players." Wilkins talent and passion caught the eye of rugby coaches from different schools but Spring Hill College appealed to him for multiple reasons. "The campus was just beautiful," Wilkins said. "When I walked around I knew it was where I wanted to be for the next four years." He was also impressed with the academics and noted that he liked that it was in Mobile, a place with a lot of history. The universal traffic coming in and out of the port of Mobile also attracted him because he plans on majoring in international business and minoring in Spanish. II, moved to a small town in south Alabama where football was king and baseball was queen, " - (onnorwilkins One of the biggest things that Wilkins is looking forward to is having his teammates and coaches around to help him thrive in school. "You have the whole team to help you and there are kids from each year that have experience so they can let you know what it takes to do well in the classroom. It will be good to have mentors and coaches." While Wilkins is interested in traveling overseas in the future 16 July 2013

6 for business, he definitely would not turn down an opportunity to travel for rugby. "I love business," Wilkins said. "I love the aspect of business and I would love to help out overseas somewhere in Europe or Australia maybe. But my dream is to play rugby in Ireland. That is on my bucket list." After college, Wilkins sees himself playing for a club team no matter where he ends up. He has even heard some talk of a possible United States professional rugby league in the future. The NFL paired with the Premier Rugby League and is helping start a professional rugby league, according to Wilkins. Players will be able to go to a scouting combine in Atlanta and get drafted to teams all around the country. However, no definite plan has been set. "I don't mind moving north, out west, anything," Wilkins said. "If a team wants me to play with them professionally or even if it was for other reasons I would think about it and consider it." McCarthy also sees Wilkins having a long and successful career in rugby well after his years at Spring Hill College. "His love for the sport will be one of those things where he will play until he can't play anymore," McCarthy said. "And 1 hope that I help give him the tools and prepare for an opportunity to be a part of a club or higher level team." With the constant growth of rugby in the United States and the appearance of the sport in the 2016 Olympics, a long career like Harwood's is not out ofthe question. Harwood played for multiple men's clubs, played in Europe and played for the Army. Left: Connor and his father on the day that officially signed to play rugby with Springhill College in April. Middle: Connor shakes hands with Michael Laney, of the Birmingham Football Club. Right: Connor shares the special day with his family and friends, including his parents, grandmparents, sister. and Tom Harwood. This makes Wilkins the first person to sign to play rugby at the collegiate level in the state of Alabama. Photos courtesy of David Wilkins "Once the bug bites, it usually takes hold pretty hard," Harwood said. "Once 1played my first game 1 was hooked and 1played every chance 1 got. If 1could wrap it up and medicate it, I'd be out there playing and I definitely see Connor continuing like 1 did." The future is on Wilkin's mind but he knows he has to focus on what is happening in the next couple of months. Wilkins has visited Spring Hill College and gone to a couple practices to meet his teammates and will become an official Spring Hill Badger in late August. If you are interested in playing rugby for Spring Hill College contact Mollie McCarthy at or her at mmccarthy@shc.edu July