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Jenny Hanson and Tim Steele
1 hour ago
Portland’s Simon Walsh selected to represent the United States in the 2024 Touch Rugby World Cup in England (GoFundMe)
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — You may not have known that the Rose City has a touch rugby team. Portland Hunters. Now, one of the Hunters has been selected to represent the United States at the 2024 World Cup in England.
Simon Walsh was literally born into the sport of touch rugby. His father, Matthew Walsh, represented the United States at the 1999 World Cup while Simon’s mother was pregnant with him.
Simon has played touch rugby all his life and was a long-time member of the Portland Hunters team founded by his father 25 years ago.
“When I moved back here to Portland four years ago, I started coming back to Portland and played in my first tournament three years ago,” he told KOIN 6 News. “For me, it was really easy to get back into that world and start competing at a high level knowing that people were rooting for me.”
Touch rugby has some differences from rugby. There are no kicks, no throw-ins, and no tackles. The team includes both men and women, and several, including Simon Walsh, were selected to represent the United States this summer.
Simon Walsh – Touch Rugby GoFundMe
“We have a lot of local tournaments here and a tournament is held every four years. World Cup (Nottingham, England),” he said. “Because of that, we have a camp in San Diego and a trip to New Zealand all planned through USA Touch Rugby. But this is a purely recreational sport, so to raise that money All of the financial burden as athletes falls on us.”
He is currently working two jobs and fundraising to raise about $8,000 to fund the trip. He hopes the community will help him with his dream of following in his father’s footsteps.
“My dad is very proud that I found my way back to touch rugby,” he said. “It was definitely always the easy way out for me and him.”
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