New England Free Jacks invite South Shore football players to rugby tackling clinic in May

The New England Free Jacks are calling all South Shore high school football players.

On Sunday, May 5, the Quincy-based professional rugby team will be holding a rugby tackling clinic hosted by former New England Patriot Nate Ebner at Veterans Memorial Stadium at 9:30 a.m.

Registration costs $20 and includes a limited-edition Nate Ebner poster and ticket to the Free Jacks' match against the Chicago Hounds at noon, just after the clinic concludes. Participants are asked to bring a new, unwrapped toy for the New England Patriots Foundation Toy Drive.

This tackling clinic is the Free Jacks' first, and it is designed to "reinforce the principles of rugby tackling that dictates below-the-neck contact, a 'heads-up' approach to seeing the opponent and two-arm tackling for wrapping up the opponent," the team stated in a press release.

"The most talked-about part of the game at the moment is the hit, tackle area. We're really putting an emphasis on learning the safety of the game and learning how to execute a tackle correctly," said Thomas Grant, the Free Jacks' academy and community manager. "If you're a parent wanting to sign your kid up for rugby, that's probably the biggest (sign) of caution, them getting injured. (The clinic) is about education."

Grant said the tackling skillset and physical component of football is "quite transferable" to rugby, with Ebner as one of the most successful examples.

Ebner was a part of three of the Patriots' Super Bowl teams as a safety and special teamer in his eight seasons from 2012-2019 and was a member of the 2016 U.S. men’s sevens Olympic rugby team . He is now a minority owner of the Free Jacks.

"There's a lot of unknown about rugby to kids here in America, just because they haven't grown up with it compared to your mainstream sports like football, basketball and baseball," Grant said. "The purpose of this clinic is to get them along and make them comfortable and familiar with the basics of the sport.

"The NFL is such a highly competitive market. It's tough to make it at the big time," he said. "Having rugby as a secondary option is something we're trying to push because there are so many great athletes out there playing football currently and, selfishly, we want them playing rugby as well."

Participants will check in at 9:45 and start the clinic at 10. It will wrap up at 11 with Ebner hosting a Q&A session. There will be opportunities for photos and autographs leading up to the Free Jacks' match at noon.

Registration is open now. Additional information can be found at freejacks.com .

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: New England Free Jacks invite South Shore football players to rugby tackling clinic in May