RAPID CITY - Rugby is considered the forerunner of American football, and the Black Hills Rugby Club hopes to be the frontrunner of the sport's growth in the region.

The club was founded 18 months ago by Mike Allison, who has since left the area, but current club president Dusty Born, of Rapid City, and about two dozen other players continue to carry the ball for the game in western South Dakota.

Born said the team, known as the Dead Presidents, saw much improvement during its second year of play, which concluded at the end of May.

"We were just over .500, winning six of the 10 games we played," said Born. "That's a lot better than our first year, when we were only able to win one game.

"We have a lot of return players and guys who now know the game. We've got 40-year-old guys from England who have played the whole time and we have guys that just heard about it and came out. We're teaching them the game as we go."

According to lore, rugby traces its roots to the town of Rugby, England, in 1823, when a local student picked up a soccer ball and ran instead of kicking it.

And while American football has its roots in rugby, transitioning from the American game to rugby isn't as easy as it might seem.

Both games feature tackling and running to advance the ball, but there is no lead blocking or forward passing.

"There are some skills that are exactly the same and others that are exactly opposite," Born said. "It took me about a year of practicing and playing to get a grasp on rugby and the skills it takes.

"When you tackle in football, they tell you to lead with your head, because you've got the helmet and the shoulder pads to protect you," Born said.

"In rugby, if you lead with your head, you're going to get a broken nose half the time. You have a lot of those basics you have to unlearn going from football to rugby."

Also unlike football, action on a rugby field stops only because of a score, major penalty or when the ball goes out of bounds.

"It's a lot of endurance. With football, you run for 30 seconds at a time, and when you think about it there's a lot of time between plays. In that sense, rugby is a lot like soccer, where it's continuous play."

Equipment costs are considerably less for rugby. Aside from team jerseys, which are purchased by sponsors, "the rest of the stuff is fairly inexpensive and you can buy it yourself," Born said. "Twenty dollars for a pair of shorts and $40 for a pair of cleats and you're pretty much set."

The team practices and hosts games at the Denver Fields in north Rapid City, and also plays at Sioux Park and the Rapid City Central High School practice fields.

A regulation rugby pitch is 110 meters long, not including 23-meter long end zones at either end, and 75-meters wide.

Born said the team isn't picky about the dimensions of whatever venue they can find for games or practice.

"In most cases a football field is OK, but it's a little narrow. When you get 30 guys on the football field it gets a little cramped. Soccer fields really work about the best. We just need a place where we can put up some uprights," he said.

The club has to hit the road to Montana, Iowa, Nebraska or eastern South Dakota to find an opponent.

"We're kind of on a little island where we have to do quite a bit of traveling," said Born. "We're getting known here, so people are coming to us."

Born hopes to see other teams develop in the Black Hills, Nebraska Panhandle and eastern Wyoming.

Both the University of South Dakota and South Dakota State University have club teams, and a club, the Dakota Outlawz, from Northern State University in Aberdeen recently won the USA Rugby Division III national championship.

Born hopes that notoriety will seed the growth of teams at Chadron State College in Nebraska, Black Hills State University in Spearfish and the South Dakota School of Mines, in addition to the establishment of town teams in the area.

"That's one of our goals as a team here in Rapid City. Then we don't have far at all to travel. We'd like to get the word out and continue to expand," he said.

The club starts practice after the Fourth of July holiday, Born said. More information on the club and the sport is available at www.bhrugby.com.