Wellington’s latest athlete to join the professional ranks is a rugby player. Joshua Schwartz is a 2020 graduate of Wellington High School and a 2024 graduate of Queens University of Charlotte in North Carolina.
In high school, Schwartz, 22, played middle linebacker and as a fullback for the Wolverines football team. He also learned the sport of rugby with the Wellington Wizards Youth Rugby Club.
In the most recent Major League Rugby draft, which was held Wednesday, Aug. 28, Schwartz was selected in the second round by the Seattle Seawolves Rugby Club. When the news reached Schwartz that he had been drafted, he was delighted, yet a bit surprised.
“I submitted my name for the draft, and out of all the names, a combine was held for 50 players, but I was not one of the 50 players invited to the combine, so I didn’t think I would be drafted,” Schwartz said. “During the draft, I was washing dishes where I work at a bar in Charlotte. During a break, I checked my phone, and it was blowing up with text messages about me getting drafted by the Seattle Seawolves. Then, I was getting phone calls and people were posting the news to Instagram.”
Schwartz’s rugby roots can be traced to Wellington, where he started playing rugby in 2014 as a member of the Wellington Wizards. Ron Vargo was one of his first rugby coaches, and he has strong memories of coaching Schwartz.
“Josh was one of our original players when we started the Wellington Wizards in 2014,” Vargo recalled. “We actually won the U14 Florida State Youth Rugby Championship in our first season.”
According to Vargo, Schwartz was a team leader and always had an intimidating presence on the field, where he played as either an inside center, which is like a running back in football, or as a number eight, which is the equivalent to a linebacker or a tight end in football.
“Opposing players didn’t like to tackle Josh because he was like a human bowling ball. And opposing players didn’t like to be tackled by him, either,” Vargo said. “But all his teammates wanted to play with him.”
Longtime Wellington Wizards President Alan Lawson has seen Schwartz develop as an athlete since age six.
“Josh is a businessman on the rugby field,” Lawson said. “He just goes about his business. He’s not a talker, he leads by example, and he’s a real grinder on the field.”
Now, Schwartz’s main position in rugby is the hooker, whose primary job in the scrums is to literally hook the ball with one of his feet along the ground in the direction of his teammates as the ball is inserted into the scrum by his team’s scrumhalf.
Schwartz has the ideal physique and mindset to play hooker in rugby. In addition to his responsibilities in the scrum, the hooker usually is the player on the team who throws the ball back into play during a lineout, which is the equivalent of a jump ball in basketball. In general, the hooker should have good foot speed, must be able to pass the ball well during live play, and is required to be a sound tackler.
According to Queens University of Charlotte head men’s rugby coach Frank McKinney, Schwartz excels in all three areas.
“Josh is also very accurate with his throw-ins on lineouts, which is important in rugby for a hooker,” McKinney said.
McKinney also has strong words of praise for Schwartz’s commitment to excellence, on and off the rugby field.
“Josh sets the tone for how well a Division I hooker should play and what is expected of a student-athlete,” McKinney added. “He understands the importance of hard work in rugby.”
And, clearly, Schwartz is reaping the dividends.
After starting his rugby journey with the Wellington Wizards and graduating from WHS, Schwartz attended Queens University, where he received a rugby scholarship in order to continue his life as a student-athlete.
This past May, Schwartz graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sport management. Currently, he’s playing his last season of rugby for Queens University while he pursues an MBA, which may be put on hold once he starts playing rugby for the Seawolves.
Schwartz’s rugby résumé includes playing for many all-star teams, such as the Florida Juice middle school team, the South Florida Lightning U16, the USA Rugby South 7s and the USA Rugby South 15s, where he competed in the 2019 RAN Tournament in Barbados. He continued to excel as the captain of the NCR Southeast Bears Rising Stars in 2022 and was named an all-star in both 2023 and 2024.
“His dedication and leadership qualities have made him a standout player, and we are thrilled to have him join our squad,” noted the Seawolves in a statement after the draft. “Joshua’s diverse background and strong passion for rugby make him a perfect addition to the Seawolves. We can’t wait to see his impact on the field as we gear up for the upcoming season.”
Schwartz is expected to sign a contract with the Seattle Seawolves later this fall, and the new Major League Rugby season will start early next year.
Schwartz worked as an operations intern earlier this year for Anthem Rugby Carolina, the Major League Rugby franchise based in Charlotte.
“When I watched Anthem Rugby Carolina’s games last year, I knew that I could play with those guys,” Schwartz said.
Now he will get a chance to do just that.
Besides the Seawolves, the other teams in Major League Rugby include the Houston SaberCats, NOLA Gold Rugby (New Orleans), SD Legion Rugby (San Diego), the New England Free Jacks (Boston), Old Glory DC (Washington, D.C.), the Dallas Jackals, Chicago Hounds Rugby, the Miami Sharks, Anthem Rugby Carolina (Charlotte), RFCLA (Los Angeles) and Utah Warriors Rugby (Salt Lake City).
