Coming into a new country is never easy as one must adjust to a whole new culture and way of life but 8-man Kadis Simmons has seized an incredible opportunity by playing with Louisiana State University at Alexandria.
Simmons got his start in the rugby world in his home region of the Turks and Caicos islands one summer. From there, he’s been hooked on the game.
Playing for LSUA has been a fruitful opportunity as he views his team as a family. “Playing for LSUA is one of the greatest opportunities that I ever had, being around my teammates make me feel like I’m back at home with family. At first, I thought it would’ve been hard but then I got to meet all of the players on a personal level and that made playing with them a whole lot easier,” said the business administration major.
Simmons has a lot to choose from when it comes to favorite moments but his top moment comes from a tournament back in his home region. He continued, “My favorite rugby moment was the first time I went to a National tournament in Trinidad with my rugby team back at home on July 14, that’s when I scored my first try in a real game.”
LSUA is still a fairly new team and have a lot of work to do if they want to reach a top level. Simmons thinks with enough hard work and dedication they can conquer the obstacles in their path. “To start from the ground up is not easy for sure because the team is so diverse and everybody had different styles of playing but with the great experience coach Boyd has, he did not only build a team but a family. This journey for me personally was not easy, like I said it is one of the greatest opportunity I ever had and where we are today I think speaks out much for us,”explained Simmons.