LANTANA — After Guyer’s storybook football season came to an end in December with a state semifinal loss to Longview, Jane Wilson sat down and wrote personal letters to several Guyer coaches and players.

DRC/Al Key

Guyer defensive lineman Spencer Wilson, who won a national championship in rugby while living in New Zealand, has received an appointment to play college football for Navy.

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She thanked Guyer coaches for taking her son Spencer and molding him into a player with the talent to accept an appointment to the Naval Academy.

As she wrote the letters, she was taken back to the family’s time outside of Phoenix, across the globe to New Zealand and finally to North Texas.

“What I said to them was, ‘You’ve had my son for more hours in the past three years than I have,’” Jane Wilson said. “‘Thank you for giving him a chance and turning him into the young man he has become.’”

Spencer Wilson became a formidable force on the football field, as he was an honorable mention Class 4A all-state selection as a defensive lineman and was a quiet leader for a youthful and upstart team last season.

But his story goes much deeper than the average high school standout. He lived more than halfway around the world in his early teens and was part of a national championship rugby squad in a country with a sports fanaticism that would be foreign to many Americans.

Off to sea

Spencer Wilson grew up with his older brother, Gus, outside of Phoenix in a well-to-do neighborhood with their parents, Jane and Guy.

Gus, a student at the University of Arizona, is a couple of years older than Spencer, and in 2002, Gus was about ready to get his first car.

When Jane Wilson began realizing that all of Gus’ friends were getting brand-new Hummers and other expensive vehicles and he was expecting the same, the mother of two had an epiphany.

“We really thought we had spoiled our kids,” Jane Wilson said. “Because we had visited New Zealand and knew what the culture was like, we thought it would be a great opportunity for them to maybe readjust their value system. That is not an insignificant part of why we left.”

So after a three-week visit to the island nation in the southwest Pacific Ocean, the Wilsons uprooted their family in November 2002, just before Spencer Wilson turned 12,and moved to a country with a population similar to that of Phoenix — and a completely different lifestyle.

The Wilsons settled in Christchurch on the South Island, which is the second-largest city in New Zealand with a population of 368,900.

“It’s less materialistic and showy — clothes, cars, anything,” Jane Wilson said.

Added Guy Wilson: “Particularly the South Island of New Zealand is about 30 years back in time. It’s like stepping back into an earlier, simpler lifestyle.”

Island life

Spencer Wilson was an avid sportsman in Phoenix, though football came in near the bottom of the list.

He was stuck on the offensive line because of his size as a youngster, and he didn’t like the fact that he couldn’t touch the ball. He gravitated to other sports such as basketball, tennis and swimming.

So when the family moved to Christchurch, he had to adapt to some more traditional, popular local sports, most notably rugby.

“I had no idea about rugby,” Wilson said. “My mom wanted me to meet new people and get me into the system faster so I wouldn’t be sitting around the house. They put me into a rugby team. I was a pretty big kid. I was about 5-10 when I went over there and pretty fast. They put me in, and ever since then I started on every single team.”

Whether you call it fate or pure luck, Wilson ended up in one of the premier rugby hotbeds in the country when he enrolled in school at Christchurch Boys High and joined the Old Boys rugby club simply because of where he lived. Many alumni of the school are now on the All Blacks, which is New Zealand’s national rugby team.

It was at Boys High where Wilson began his rugby journey that culminated in a national championship.

As an eighth-grader starting high school, his team was seen as a special one by coach Dave Bone, and the coach and former pro rugby player had a plan in mind.

“He [Bone] had decided that when they were in eighth grade that he knew he had a pretty good group of kids,” Jane Wilson said. “He decided to have his eighth-graders play against only ninth-grade teams with the idea that the national 15-and-under tournament was the following year and it was set to be hosted by Christchurch. He wanted this team to be ready to play it. He made them play up the first year, and they’d never won the 15-and-under tournament even though they’d started it.”

But there’s a first time for everything, and Wilson helped lead his team to the national championship, which was played in front of a raucous crowd of about 2,000 people.

After that point, the Wilsons began seeing signs it might be time for them to return to the United States. Plus, Gus Wilson had finished high school and was ready to go to Arizona for college, where he started in January 2006.

Spencer Wilson would get report cards from his teachers that would read like scouting reports from coaches.

“After that tournament, instead of grades, we’d get ‘Spencer’s a fabulous rugby player,’ not, ‘Can he spell?’” Jane Wilson said. “‘He’s a great prop [front-line player in a scrum] on the rugby team, and that just didn’t sit real well with me. That’s why I thought it needed to change. Rugby at Boys High and the tournament and the timing sort of told us it was time to move.”

Guy Wilson said his youngest son began to see what his future could hold. If he wanted to have a successful adult life in the United States, he needed to head back to the States for a better education.

“At school, all Spencer ever did was play rugby,” Guy Wilson said. “He’d hardly do anything else. He’d just show up. Gus just barely squeaked into the University of Arizona, and I think Spencer could see the writing on the wall that he needed to get some U.S. high school education.”

Uncharted waters

After Gus Wilson returned in January 2006 to begin college, the rest of the family moved back in March 2006, just after Spencer Wilson turned 16.

Since they didn’t want to return to Phoenix, North Texas seemed like a logical fit because Jane Wilson had a brother in Highland Village and three nieces who had experienced big-time Texas high school football at Flower Mound Marcus, where two of them were cheerleaders during a run which saw the Marauders reach two Class 5A state championship games and win one.

Jane Wilson figured her rugby star son could fit right into a Texas football program, but her brother wasn’t so certain at the time.

“My brother said to me when we were coming here, ‘I don’t know. I know Spencer’s a great rugby player, but these schools start slotting kids in the seventh grade,’” Jane Wilson said.

So she found the perfect solution: a brand-new school with a brand-new program at Guyer, where she had a one-on-one meeting with head coach John Walsh.

It was then that she was pleasantly surprised with Walsh’s own personal history, which includes living in Australia as a sixth- and seventh-grader and being familiar with rugby.

“He [Walsh] said, ‘What position does he play?’” Wilson said. “I said, ‘Um, he’s a No. 3.’ He said, ‘If he plays prop, he can play for me.’ And that was sort of it.

“He [Walsh] said it’s a brand-new school and they were starting a program. That’s why I picked it. Everyone was new. No one already had their cliques and all that.”

Spencer was in for a bit of a shock with his new surroundings and the incredible emphasis on high school football in Texas, even though his team didn’t win a single game during his first season.

“I got a hint of it when I was growing up, but the high schools are completely different and sporting is completely different,” he said. “When I first played football, it was ridiculous with the big stadium. I didn’t know what that was.”

And it didn’t take long for Wilson to make his name known among the Guyer coaches.

“I came here, and they said they’d give me a chance to play if I showed my talents,” he said. “I remember my first scrimmage. I was playing linebacker, and our scout team running back ran straight up the middle and I just destroyed him. They were like, ‘OK, you’re starting now.’ Ever since then I’ve been improving.”

Walsh said he immediately knew Wilson was a good-sized kid with good speed, and it didn’t take him long to figure out he had a valuable cog to his defense in place.

“From the get-go, he was a very determined and hard worker, and that’s a plus,” Walsh said. “Once we got out on the field that next fall, his rugby toughness showed in a hurry. There was no doubt that once he figured out the ins and outs of the game that he was a football player.”

But Wilson brought something even more important with him. His sophomore season, while playing linebacker, the Wildcats went 0-10. They won just one game in his junior season when he played defensive end. Despite his football shortcomings at the time, he had plenty of success as a rugby player.

“We didn’t win anything when I first got here,” Wilson said. “When they were talking about not knowing what winning’s like, well, I kinda did. I knew the group we had was very good, and if we kept working at it we’d be really good. I didn’t get discouraged. I think I had leadership skills when I came over here. I kind of led by example.”

Then came his senior season.

The Wildcats went 12-3 and advanced to the state semifinals, allowing the Wilsons to finally experience what they’d heard about Texas high school football and giving Spencer Wilson a near-perfect ending to his journey.

“From what we came from and the work and sweat we put into it, it makes it so much better,” he said. “It’s hard to explain when you go through such hardships and it all comes together. It was really amazing. I’ll never forget it, ever.

“I spent so much time working out with blood, sweat and tears and just seeing it all pay off. It was so much sweeter. In New Zealand, we were always really good. It was expected that we’d be good.”

Setting sail

Wilson had a unique decision to make regarding his college career.

He had a chance to go to Navy and play football, or return to his first sports love and play club rugby at California, which is home to the nation’s premier collegiate rugby program, although it’s not an NCAA sport and they don’t give scholarships.

“I had a decision to make,” Wilson said. “I had to take my official visit for both to see which one fit me best. My parents told me that money didn’t matter and to take that out of the equation. I just went to both, and the Naval Academy fit me better.”

The opportunity to choose between two sports is a rare one, even for the best of high school athletes.

“I’ve been around for a long time and coached a lot of college athletes, and I’ve never had a guy that’s had the opportunity to do something like that,” Walsh said. “Me, being an American football guy, I’m glad he chose that and will continue his football career.”

One factor in his decision was the environment at Navy as opposed to the one he’d get in Berkeley, Calif.

“I like a controlled setting,” he said. “I do much better in that kind of situation with people hovering over me and telling me what to do. I think I can succeed much more. It’s also a good program.”

Wilson will leave for Newport, R.I., on July 28 for NAPS, which is short for Naval Academy Prep School.

It will work a bit like a redshirt season or a fifth year of high school, and he’ll get to play football and still have four years of eligibility remaining after his year at NAPS.

At NAPS, he’ll play teams like the Yale junior varsity, Army JV and even Navy JV.

He’s been told he might be switched to fullback from his defensive line position, where he co-founded “Death Row” at Guyer, the club of defensive linemen who helped keep opposing rushers at bay last season.

As a former rugby player who loved carrying the ball, the prospect of a change is music to Wilson’s ears.

“I think that would be awesome,” Wilson said. “I like running with the ball a lot. I played some fullback here [at Guyer], but just blocking in power sets and stuff. I think it’d be a lot of fun because they run the triple option, so the fullback gets a lot of yards.”

Jane Wilson said she was proud of her son’s decision and that he had his priorities straight, understanding he’ll likely not be a professional football player after college.

“As it’s played out, I think it’s fabulous for Spencer,” she said. “I know that [Navy head coach] Ken Niumatalolo said some of these guys will be sent all over the world as Spencer will, but they don’t have the experience and adaptability that he has, so it will be a great thing for him, and I believe that.”

Navy coaches cannot comment publicly about incoming players until they receive their official appointment during the summer, per service academy guidelines.

Wilson said he is interested in majoring in international business so he can continue to travel when his days in the service are up, but while he’s in the Navy, he said, he’d like to be a SEAL or a pilot.

“I am not planning to play pro football,” he said. “I have my priorities straight. I’d never considered it [going into the service] before this came along. I wasn’t looking to go into the service until the Navy recruited me. They told me about the job security and the economy being what it’s like with the money I’ll be getting. It’s too good to turn down.”

As for those letters, Jane Wilson said she’s thankful that she and her son were finally able to experience what Texas high school football is on its brightest stages, and she said none of it would have been possible without those coaches she met on that day in 2006.

“I think football coaches in Texas are amazing,” she said. “They’re an incredible part of people’s lives. I don’t know how they have family lives. [Defensive line coach] Brian [Valenzuela] has three little kids, and his wife coaches. I don’t have any idea how anyone does that.

“My brother felt sorry for us those first couple of years. He was used to Marcus and jammed stadiums, and I didn’t know how sorry or what he even meant until this year. Then, I really knew. You don’t know what you don’t have until you have it.”

ADAM BOEDEKER can be reached at 940-566-6872. His e-mail address is aboedeker@dentonrc.com .