Club sports at Clemson University provide many things — an outlet for students to be physically active in between classes, a space to renew passion for a past sport or, perhaps, spark interest in a new one, and an opportunity to develop leadership and organizational management skills. However, for former Clemson Club Rugby player Jason Damm ‘17, it served as a launchpad, and it sent him all the way to the international stage.
Growing up in Fort Mill, South Carolina, Damm was very familiar with Clemson University and could clearly see a future in the Upstate. When he enrolled as a biological sciences major, he immediately began searching for ways to get involved. Amidst many other sports, Damm had decided to give rugby a try during his senior year of high school, and he quickly fell in love. Joining Clemson’s Club Rugby team was a “natural transition,” he says.
Upon joining the team, Damm recognized how truly special the program was — Clemson Rugby embraced him and significantly enhanced his student experience.
“The beauty of playing rugby at Clemson was that I got to be a full-time student, while also competing and building a really great group of friends. It made the adjustment to college life and living away from home so much easier,” he says.
Led by Damm, the Clemson Rugby team had many successful seasons, even winning two Atlantic Coast Rugby League championships. The program was so dominant, he says, that they were forced to join another collegiate league, composed of some of the top teams in the nation, in order to give opposing schools a fair chance.
Damm praises many pieces of his experience with Clemson Rugby. For one, he celebrates the value of competition and reflects on the skills it taught him. He also expresses gratitude for the connections he formed on the team, which he still maintains today. He participates in an annual fantasy football league with fellow alumni, and one of his former teammates even officiated his wedding.
“You make friends that last a lifetime,” he says. “Even if you don’t see each other more than once a year, when you get back together, it’s like nothing has changed.”
He also commends the Clemson Rugby Foundation (CRF) for the monumental work they do in supporting the student and alumni experience. The CRF is an organization primarily composed of University alumni that aims to create lifelong experiences with Clemson Rugby by providing leadership and financial support for all involved with the sport. The organization is a strong example of Clemson’s dedicated alumni network in action — bygone members of the Clemson Family using their experience and resources to create opportunities for active students.
During Damm’s junior year in 2015, a massive rainstorm hit Clemson and completely destroyed the rugby field, which the team had played on for nearly 50 years. Without a reliable or convenient place to compete, team membership began to drop, and the future looked bleak. However, the CRF stepped up and coordinated with local organizations to secure a new field at The Pier, which gave the team “a place to call their own.” When Damm received invitations to play beyond Clemson on the Under-20 National team and in Collegiate All-American games, the CRF provided financial assistance that allowed him to capitalize on those opportunities and put his name on a national radar.
“Without the CRF, Clemson Rugby would not be nearly as successful as it’s been. The support CRF gave to me in college and to the club overall is immense,” Damm says.
While Damm has many other fond memories from his time at Clemson — celebrating the football team’s National Championship victory as a senior, exploring a variety of outdoor adventures with his friends, and more — the cornerstone of his student experience was certainly his time on the Clemson Rugby team. Though the sport was very dear to him, Damm wasn’t planning to formally pursue rugby after graduation — at least, not at first.
Damm settled in Gilbert, South Carolina, teaching high school and playing club rugby in Columbia on the weekends. Not long after, the Major League Rugby (MLR) organization was founded. Composed of six teams, the national league offered a professional rugby opportunity that caught Damm’s attention. Luckily enough, his former Clemson Rugby coach was connected with a team in Colorado — the Glendale Raptors. After learning more about the program, Damm and fellow Clemson Rugby alumni traveled to Vail, Colorado, to play in a summer league, where Damm was soon scouted by the Raptors. What was once a college hobby had now become a career path.
“I live my life on taking opportunities and travelling, and I was getting the itch again to try something different — so I went for it,” he says.
Damm and former Clemson teammate Colin Gregory tried out for the Raptors and earned a spot, spending the first year as roommates in Colorado as they adjusted to the professional rugby lifestyle. In this new city, Damm continued to dominate on the pitch, earning him a place on the MLR team.
Damm remained in Colorado for a year until one of the MLR teams transferred to Atlanta, giving him the chance to move closer to home. He seized the opportunity, returning to the Southeast to be closer to his family and his now wife Aubree, who was attending PA school at the Medical University of South Carolina during this time. The move had another big advantage as well — it allowed him to reconnect with his alma mater.
In 2022, during his MLR offseason, Damm began returning to Clemson to assist Club Rugby coach Troy Hall, who welcomed his support. The two had many similarities in the way they approached the game, and Damm quickly became an asset to the club once again. He formed strong connections with current players, drawing on both collegiate and professional experience to offer valuable insight and mentorship.
“What Troy has done at Clemson is truly great,” Damm says. “He really keeps the balance between finding the best ways to compete and giving the kids plenty of opportunities, whether it’s to travel or just be students and have fun.”
In 2022, Damm received his first call-up to the United States Men’s National Rugby Union Team. Though he had a breakout season in 2021 and acquired interest from the team then, a late knee injury forced him to take a step back, making the comeback all the more commendable.
“The highest level of rugby you can play is international rugby — to play for your home nation. There is a heightened level of passion and intensity from each team when you play for your country, and we take a lot of pride in that,” he says. “I come from a family of military service, so I am grateful for the chance to serve our country in my own unique and special way.”
When Damm joined the United States national rugby program in 2022, the team was attempting to qualify for the 2023 World Cup. Unfortunately, a disappointing loss to Chile ruined chances of meeting this standard.
“It was a real dagger to all of us because we felt like we had the talent and everything, but we just didn’t get it done,” he says.
Following a second knee injury, Damm transitioned to a new position in 2024 — lock — as opposed to the position he had played for his entire career — number eight, or loose forward. Because he was getting older, he needed something less explosive, which the grounded, strength-based lock offered.
Despite the disappointment of missing the World Cup a year earlier and multiple knee injuries, Damm refused to lose hope. He committed himself fully to the team, and others have taken notice of this dedication. Showcasing incredible resilience all while mastering a new position, Damm earned his largest recognition yet. He was appointed captain of the United States Men’s National Rugby Union Team — known affectionately as the Eagles.
“It was the cherry on top of my career. I’ve learned a lot about leadership through the adversity that I’ve faced and people I’ve played with and against, and to be recognized in this way is an incredible honor — it’s something I’ll never take for granted and never forget,” he says.
This year, under Damm’s captaincy, the team began competing to qualify for the 2027 World Cup. Among the handful of teammates, including Damm, who experienced the disappointing 2022 season, there was a sense of firm determination. This year would be a redemption.
An early win against Canada would have secured the United States team a spot in the World Cup, but the unexpected loss spurred some self-doubt amongst the team. However, they stuck together and fought their way back to a final match against Samoa — a heavily-favored opponent.
“Everyone in the world wrote us off, thinking Samoa was just going to take it to us,” Damm says, “But we won — a pretty decisive victory, at that — and qualified for the World Cup. I get chills thinking about it now.”
Damm says the moment would have been the “peak of his life to date” had he not married his wife and welcomed a baby boy this year.
Damm spent the better part of the last month with the national team playing a series of matches across Europe in preparation for the 2027 World Cup. With the circuit concluding, he has returned home to spend the holidays with his family before the MLR season starts back up.
Even through all of the excitement of the past year, Damm has still managed to follow the progress of the Clemson Club Rugby team, celebrating their victories and keeping in touch with those involved. Laughing, he reflects on how he has engaged with the program in recent years.
“Sometimes all of the alumni get together to watch the game on the live stream, heckling each other in the comments and enjoying the game as a team again.”
Damm’s story of international success has orange roots — his experience at Clemson provided a strong foundation upon which he built a remarkable career. The lasting connection Damm maintains with the Clemson Club Rugby program and the University as a whole illustrates the deep respect he holds for the institution that changed his life.
