HS Boys

All-Stars - Our Picks

Ten teams gather at the Mid-Atlantic RCT in Pittsburgh in a hugely competitive Boys select-side competition.

We’ve previewed Florida and Indiana in more detail, but there are plenty of other teams with the potential to win.

Florida wasn’t given much of a chance last year, and yes the Juice came away with the trophy. 

Somewhat under the radar, the Empire NY team has already won a tournament, beating Western New York and Capital District/Vermont to take the New York State all-star tournament. However, they are not deep.

EIRA Opens MetNY Academy

June 19 - Eagle Impact Rugby Academy (EIRA) is proud to announce that Met New York will become the newest addition to the network of regional academies providing top-of-the-line coaching and development to youth across the country in September, 2015.

EIRA Director Salty Thompson has appointed Matt Persanis as Head Coach for the academy, which will seek to train the best high school prospects in the New York City and surrounding areas with a skilled network of coaches from a vibrant rugby community ready to assist. As current Head Coach at Pelham High School, and the founder of Pelham Youth Rugby, Persanis brings a wealth of experience to the role which also includes his time as Head Coach of New York Athletic Club.

Regional Cup Boys Schedules

Here are the schedules for the Boys Varsity and JV brackets for the five Regional All-Star Cup Tournaments this weekend.

The schedules are of course subject to change, so we've taken out the times and just listed them so you can see who is playing whom.

Northeast (UMass Amherst, Mass.)

Saturday

JV

Connecticut v Massachusetts

Empire v Greenwich

Varsity

Massachusetts v Connecticut

Capital District/Vermont v Greenwich/Fairfield

Sunday

JV and Varsity:

Finals and 3rd/4th games

South (RAC, Charlotte, NC)

Saturday

11:00am  North Carolina JV Boys vs. Tennessee JV Boys

Learning, Reloading Wins Ohio for St. Ignatius

It’s taken a little time for it all to sink in for St. Ignatius, as it was third-time’s-the-charm for the Ohio team in their quest to beat St. Edward and a win a state championship.

Familiarity Creates Favorite at Northeast RCT

It’s a weird situation for the select sides at the Northeast Regional Cup Tournament, as the favorite team is not really much of a select side as it is one school team with a few extra players.

That’s doesn’t mean the tournament isn’t useful or interesting … just different. Heading the list of  teams is Greenwich/Fairfield, a combination squad of players from the two Connecticut state champions - single-school and HS club.

“What we have as an advantage is that most of the players know each other really well,” said Greenwich Coach Joe Kelly. “We have good team cohesion, and that’s something that’s tough to get in an all-star team.”

Greenwich has added about six Fairfield players to the mix. It was this recipe that cooked up a championship last year.

HS 7s Camp at Northeast Academy

New York, NY – The Northeast Academy, in partnership with Saratoga Rugby Club and the annual Saratoga Sevens Rugby Invitational Tournament, will be hosting a one day Sevens Camp for High School players (ages 15 – 19) on Sunday, July 19th at the Saratoga Rugby Grounds. The Sevens Camp will be held in conjunction with the Invitational Tournament, which for the first time in Saratoga’s history will include open High School divisions. The High School tournament schedule will wrap up on Saturday, July 18th with The Northeast Academy’s elite Camp opportunity capping the weekend experience on Sunday.

Online registration is now open at www.saratogasevens.com

Three-Team All-Star Clash in SoCal

The Southern California Regional Cup Tournament in Bakersfield, Calif. will be a small one, but one with plenty of talent on hand.

Only three Boys Varsity teams will play - Northern California, Southern California, and Washington.

Washington and SoCal faced off in the final of the Great Northwest Challenge last year, with the Loggers from up north winning. Since then, the Loggers program has undergone a coaching change after Pete Sullivan decided to step down and Steve Brennan took over. It also underwent something of a split as a touring side of Washington players not on the official Loggers team will be at the Great Northwest Challenge. 

Tennessee Looks to South RCT

Rugby Tennessee rolls into the expanded South Regional Cup Tournament at the RAC in Charlotte, NC looking to make an impact.

In addition to a strong Girls Varsity team, the Tennessee Tri-Stars will take a Boys Varsity, JV, and Middle School team to Charlotte.

“The Middle School program is important,” said Head Coach Mark Williams. “We have several players  who started playing select side in middle school.”

Leading the way for Tennessee is captain Jeffrey Rein out of Ravenwood. The back is a smart player, a dependable tackler, and central to the organization of the backline. He, like Ravenwood’s John Williams in the forwards, is a longtime Tri-Star player.

Utah All-Stars Set for RMC

The Utah Boys Select Side returns to the scene of success as they come back to the Rocky Mountain Classic, a tournament they won last season.

After a series of selection assemblies through the spring, the team was selected after a four-squad trial weekend - two teams from Northern Utah played each other and two teams from Southern Utah did the same. The best of those two teams participated in a North v South trial match that created a pool of 30, whittled down to 25 in training.

Florida Juice Look to Repeat

The defending champion Florida Juice boys team returns to the Mid-Atlantic Regional All-Star Tournament (or Regional Cup Tournament) this coming weekend with a strong 2015 team.

Coach Chris Oosthuizen said the team may well be stronger this year.

“We identified last year that one of the things we should do better this year is start our skills development earlier in the year, so we worked with [HS All American Coach] Salty Thompson to set up EIRA skills camps. We had one in the fall, which was an open camp, no fees, and then another in January.”

Using the EIRA syllabus Florida Youth Rugby and Oosthuizen is working toward being an EIRA satellite program, and the coach is adamant that earlier player identification and skill development has been a boost to the Juice program.

Where HS Selects Are Playing

Forty-six boys select sides, most all-star teams, but some from sub-state regions and a couple representing regions crossing state borders, will play in seven Regional Cup Tournaments this coming weekend and next.

Arkansas Selects Thrive Under Radar

One of the most unknown teams in the South Regional Cup Tournament at the RAC in Charlotte, NC has to be Arkansas.

You might ask, fairly, how can a state that has exactly one high school team form a select side? Glad you asked.

Great NW Challenge RCT in Oregon

This is an updated version of this article. The Great Northwest Challenge Regional Cup Tournament will kick off June 27 and conclude June 28 at the Hidden Creek Polo Fields in West Linn, Ore.

Defending Boys Varsity champions Washington will send a team, but it's not quite the same team, as the Loggers will be somewhere else. The Washington Wolverines is a touring side of some strong Washington players. They will face off with Oregon, Hawaii, and Montana. Washington and Oregon will also send boys JV teams - Washington has won that event several years in a row.

The Girls Varsity division also welcomes Washington, Oregon, Montana, and Hawaii, with Washington and Oregon providing JV teams, as well.