From Survival Tactic to Social Lifeline: Chile’s Prison Rugby Program Transforms Lives

At first, the tackles, rucks and mauls were merely survival tactics within the harsh world of prison. But what began as a workshop behind barbed wire has transcended the walls of the Valparaíso Penitentiary Complex to become Chile’s first official rugby team formed behind bars.

“Rugby freed me; it healed my soul,” says Alex Javier Silva, 48, who has been incarcerated since 1999. “Here you have no heart, no mind — you’re not at peace with anything. You’re like an animal.”

The routine is intense. Three days of field training, two days in the gym, and matches every weekend. It mirrors the schedule of a professional league, but this is Rugby Unión Libertad — a sports club officially registered in mid-January with a mission that goes far beyond the pitch: preparing inmates for social reintegration after they serve their sentences.

The team had humble beginnings in 2016 as part of a workshop inside the prison walls. Led by the Addiction Treatment Center, the classes initially sparked the interest of around 50 inmates, who began to play with the “pill” — rugby’s oval ball — as a way to ease the weight of their time inside.

Over the years, the workshop evolved into a formal club that gained enough momentum to face Chile’s national team, Los Cóndores, in 2024. Off the field, the team became the cornerstone of the Fundación Libertad (Freedom Foundation), a nonprofit established last November by former inmates, educators, psychologists, and coaches to support released prisoners through a mix of rugby, training, counseling, and therapy.

A Powerful Tool for Change

Three times a week, two coaches enter Valparaíso prison — about 120 kilometers (75 miles) from the capital Santiago — to lead training sessions. For two hours, the team’s 27 players practice strategies, passes, and kicks on a tiny dirt field surrounded by guard towers, providing a taste of freedom despite the barbed wire and watchful guards.

“Violence is rampant here,” explains Jorge Henríquez, 42. “There’s a lot of rage; sometimes you explode for no reason, and so with rugby you regulate that. You start to distance yourself from conflicts so that rage doesn’t resurface.”

Like many correctional facilities in Chile, the Valparaíso prison operates well beyond capacity. With 3,351 inmates crammed into a space built for 1,919, it functions at nearly double its intended capacity, leading to precarious hygiene and health conditions and fueling internal violence.

Coach Leopoldo Cerda, a teacher and volunteer who has spearheaded the project since its beginning, explains that playing rugby — a physically demanding sport by nature — is especially difficult under prison conditions.

“People sleep poorly, eat poorly, and yet they have the physical and mental strength to overcome many obstacles that this sport presents,” he notes. “The first thing is discipline, mastering self-control and anger management, since there’s a lot of physical contact in rugby. And they’ve managed to overcome that.”

The team has become a role model for other inmates. “New guys keep arriving. They see from the cellblocks how they train and start preparing, even improving their behavior so they can train,” says Gonzalo Delgado, another coach.

To join the project, inmates must demonstrate good behavior and commit to teamwork. Isaac Falcón Espinace, head of the Valparaíso Penitentiary Complex, believes the program provides crucial structure. “Many crimes are committed because people don’t know how to use their free time properly,” he says, adding that rugby gives inmates the opportunity to “not use it for actions that go against society once they’re free.”

From Prison Workshop to Official Club

Guillermo Velásquez, 42, was among the nearly 50 inmates who participated in the first rugby workshop a decade ago. After a short period of freedom, poor choices landed him back in prison in 2019. To cope with drugs and constant fights, Velásquez began developing the idea of founding a rugby team inside the prison.

The dream finally came true in 2022, when he and half a dozen fellow inmates obtained permission to use the prison’s gym after several unsuccessful attempts. Rugby Unión Libertad was born.

The first practices were basic, but the group gradually won the support of other inmates and the trust of prison guards. Sessions moved outdoors, the players gained their own rugby field, and volunteers embraced the project.

“Rugby saved my life,” says Velásquez, who left prison seven months ago. “If the Libertad team hadn’t existed inside the prison, society would have had one more criminal.”

In 2024, the team achieved something remarkable: The players left Valparaíso prison to face Los Cóndores, the Chilean national team that will compete in the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.

“It was an epic battle,” recalls Silva. “Nobody has ever done that in Chile. And there we were, some mere prisoners, playing against them. Everyone was watching, we were on TV.”

The match — held at another prison in the north of Santiago — was a turning point. The project gained scope, visibility, and broader support.

Beyond the Prison Walls

Since its inception, the Freedom Foundation has used rugby as a catalyst for social reintegration, providing therapy, professional training, and partnerships with potential employers to help former inmates rejoin society.

“They want to change,” says psychologist and former national rugby player Cynthia Canales, president of the foundation. “We also want to show that there is a lack of opportunities, that we have to address the stigma.”

Reintegration remains complex, as it depends not only on personal will but on the availability of opportunities outside prison. Often, the stigma of a criminal record undermines efforts to change.

“Many of these men have the desire to change, but all they find are closed doors,” says coach Cerda. “Society remains deeply prejudiced.”

Thanks to the Freedom Foundation, former inmates can maintain their training routine once released. Now, instead of a tiny dirt field under surveillance, they train on the vast grass fields of Valparaíso. They no longer play behind bars but for “All Free” — the former inmates’ branch of Unión Libertad.

For these men, rugby has become more than just a sport. It has become a path to redemption, a way to channel aggression, build discipline, and ultimately, find freedom beyond prison walls.