When Ivan Jackson roamed the halls of East Area Locker Room, the smile never left his face as he walked around a hall that wouldn't be possible without him.

"We never envisioned any of this," Jackson said. "It's absolutely brilliant."

Jackson is one of the co-founders of Penn State rugby. He returned to Happy Valley on Friday night for the first time in over 40 years to see the opening of the Kabala Family Rugby Hall, an exhibit filled with pictures, jerseys, rugby balls and many other artifacts from Penn State rugby's 40-year history.

"Penn State rugby is the most successful program in the country," women's head coach Pete Steinberg said. "And there's a history and legacy that we should recognize that people have put in a lot of time and effort to give players the experience they get today."

The experience has changed drastically since Jackson and the other founder, Pat Denny, started the program in 1962.

Jackson and Denny set up fliers around campus and asked people to play a largely underground game in America. Jackson is a native of New Zealand while Denny is from England, and both just wanted to play some rugby. They wore old soccer jerseys on a poorly marked field and struggled to find ways to travel to matches.

But now Penn State rugby has become a "life-changing" sport for some students.

"Guys said how it changed their life and I said, 'How could it?' " Jackson said. "They tell me how they went on to play in Philadelphia or for national teams and how they made relationships and things. It's just amazing."

After entering the locker rooms near the Greenberg Ice Pavilion, a hallway leads through blue and white painted walls, adorned with names, plaques and jerseys. At the end, a collage of rugby players covers a wall, with the words like "Confidence" and "Sacrifice" interwoven with the pictures. The hall shows 50 All-Americans, 12 jerseys from different national teams and a rugby ball signed by the 2008 American national team, which boasted a Penn State alum.

All these accomplishments needed to be celebrated, Ed Kabala said.

A member of the '62 team, Kabala underwrote the construction of the hall and helped with the original designs. Kabala also stepped up when he felt something was missing.

"For 45 years, people have come to play this game and learn from it," Kabala said. "All these people did a wonderful job building the program so someone needed to celebrate them."

But the Hall isn't only to honor the past, but also to generate pride and inspire current players.

"It gives you a sense of honor to wear the Penn State rugby jersey," senior flanker Steve Hurley said. "Some athletes come for rehab or training sessions, and it generates a little buzz."

Men's captain Justin Lotter pointed to where his and Hurley's names would go on the All-American wall.

And that's exactly what men's coach Don Ferrell wants.

"It's something for current players to aspire to," Ferrell said. "They see the wall and say 'I want my name there' or 'I want to put a jersey on the wall.' "

The coaches don't want to just inspire their players, but show the campus that "this isn't just another little club," as Ferrell puts it.

"This provides a prospective opportunity for us to market the program," Penn State assistant coach Jim Mathias said. "When we have recruits, parents, current players, opponents, university people, just athletes looking to play a sport, when they see that, they are gonna see that we're successful, we're legitimate and we take it seriously."

East Area Locker Room is used by many Penn State teams, including field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse and tennis. Nichole Lopes, a sixth year senior lock, feels it is a huge step forward for Penn State rugby to get official recognition like this.

Unfortunately, being tucked away in East Area Locker Room may keep the Hall hidden. Mario Palena, Penn State class of '66, hopes they advertise the exhibit.

"Being back here, who's even gonna know its here?" Palena said. "Hopefully they'll advertise so people know about the history of PSU rugby."

But Palena didn't let this ruin his evening as he read each wall carefully and shared stories of old glories with new and old Penn State players.

"It truly brings the history to life," senior prop Ashley Reasner said. "Which the history is what started this program and now it's on the walls for everyone to see."