THE GRADUATES
Fusaro and Grant are looking to the future with a degree of confidence
FROM the moment their career begins, a rugby player is on the clock. If they are lucky, perhaps they will last a decade or more in the professional game. In the grand scheme of life, however, ten years amounts to a mere drop in the ocean.
Last year, Scotland lost the likes of Jim Hamilton, Kelly Brown and Sean Lamont to retirement, albeit all three hung up their boots on their own terms. Others are not so fortunate.
Indeed, it was only back in July that the finite nature of a rugby career was once again laid bare, when British and Irish Lions and Wales star Sam Warburton announced his playing days were over. His body could no longer take the toll. He was just 29.
Who could blame a player, then, for planning for their future away from such a fickle game?
Of course, it’s not easy. Like most professional sports stars, education tends to take a backseat in the teenage years while dreams are pursued on the field of play.
But, for more and more rugby players, studying off the pitch is becoming about more than just looking at opposition line-ups and line-outs.
At Glasgow Warriors, it’s an issue which has been met with the vim and vigour usually associated with their attacking play.
And the most recent graduates, just yesterday in fact, have been the forward-thinking pair of Ryan Grant and Chris Fusaro.
Fusaro always had ambitions to earn his degree and originally began his pursuit at Edinburgh University. Due to his burgeoning rugby career, this academic branch of his life was cut short. With one eye on the future, however, the flanker was spurred into action — and enrolled in a course with The Open University.
‘Look at the size of the players, the physical impact the sport has on people,’ explained Fusaro to
‘It’s a tough game physically, and you don’t like saying it, but you can be one training session or one game away from getting a career-ending injury. That put things into perspective.
‘I also didn’t want to be the dunce in the family. My older sister is a lawyer, my younger sister is a vet. Not that there was any pressure. I just wanted to make sure they weren’t one up in that respect!
‘I have a young family now, so when we had our first kid about two-and-a-half years ago, you want to make sure things are secure for them, as well. That was a kind of catalyst for me.’
Studying alongside him, also with The Open University, was Grant.
The 33-year-old, who retired from the game in the summer, started his professional career in 2005 with the Border Reivers, before going on to play for both Edinburgh and Glasgow. He also earned 25 caps for his country. But, six years into his professional career, the prop began a very different journey.
‘It was a combination of trying to find something that I thought I could enjoy, really get my teeth into. It was also a bit of advice from some peers about what kind of qualifications I should maybe look at for post-rugby life, that led to me choosing the degree course I did,’ explained Grant, who completed his BSc (Hons) in Environmental Science.
‘The flexibility at The OU was a big thing for me. Being a rugby player, we know when games are. However, training sessions and stuff would always be on different days and our timetable never really had much structure to it, so I would maybe find out on the Sunday what I was doing for the following week.
‘It was good to have a couple of my team-mates, including Chris. There are heaps of the boys, in the Warriors and Scottish professional rugby more widely, at The Open University.
‘To my knowledge, there are at least eight or nine guys. Chris lives about five doors away from me and he was doing a science degree, so we worked together every day and helped each other out.’
Amongst a collection of Warriors — including Peter Horne, Henry Pyrgos (now at Edinburgh) and Richie Vernon (now at London Scottish) — these players started planning for their future back in 2010, the same year Fusaro signed his first professional contract with Glasgow.
And eight years later, the flanker graduated yesterday with a BSc (Hons) in Natural Science.
Despite the length of time it took the Scotland international to earn this accolade, he is encouraged by the systems now in place for younger players coming through.
‘Some of these guys are 16 or 17 and don’t get the chance to go to university but the SRU are pretty proactive with the academy boys,’ said Fusaro. ‘They can do part-time study or distance learning and fit it all in with their schedule.
‘The whole way it is set up now, if there is a framework in place, makes it seamless. It’s definitely a benefit to young guys.
‘Mentally, it’s a high-pressure sport. If you get something that can alleviate that pressure and can help your future, then that is a massive benefit.’
Rugby is certainly at a crossroads at present, with the English Premiership extending its season and player welfare a debate at the forefront of the game.
For Fusaro, planning ahead — even for the worst — is a no-brainer.
‘I honestly think that people should start as soon as they can,’ he added.
‘When things go wrong or you get injured, it can be a pretty tough place to be. Always having a distraction is great for you mentally. It almost puts you in a better frame of mind.’
Grant was firmly in agreement, although he would like to see even more done.
He said: ‘I definitely think support for professional sports people coming to the end of one career is an area that could be improved.
‘But there is now a programme in place where they actively encourage young players — because you never know how long you’re going to play, especially rugby — to have a plan B and a back-up plan.
‘I think there are a lot of sports that players have to retire from. Not everyone is lucky enough to earn the amount of money that footballers make, so it’s important to have a back-up.’