Fundraiser Tournament a Huge Success at Great Falls
The MedStar National Rehabilitation Center benefit rugby tournament, hosted by Great Falls Youth Rugby, was held November 19 and was a resounding success, bringing together the community for a day of sportsmanship and fundraising for a great cause.
MedStar’s Adaptive Sport Programs helps make meaningful differences for individuals with physical disabilities.
Thirty nine teams from all over the metro-D.C. area participated in the day-long event raising funds for the cause, playing a total of 61 rugby games on three fields at the same time.
Raptors, Columbia Central Win in Tennessee HS 7s
Raptor Rugby Boys and Columbia Central Girls won their respective Tennessee HS 7s championships over the weekend.
Raptor Boys capped an undefeated 2023 fall season (17-0) with a hard-fought win in the Olympic 7s Championship Final versus 901 Rugby out of Memphis. The Raptors and 901 both used solid team defense and high octane offense running the table in pool play. Led by Ben McCall and JR Judd, 901 had come through a comeback victory in the semifinals against a strong Father Ryan side.
The Raptors were led by junior Bishop Reilly and seniors Tanner Loebsack (double-digit tries on the day) and Caleb Ebert, who was eventually named the tournament MVP.
A Few Weeks Remain for Nelson College Scholarship Application
There are still several weeks left for boys high school rugby players to apply for a scholarship to attend Nelson College in New Zealand to study and play top-level rugby.
In 2023 Oliver Kirk and Max Doerfler attended Nelson—their applications were so good that donors helped the US Rugby Foundation support two scholarships.
But really there's just the one for 2024 and it will take a special young American rugby player to get the scholarship.
Kirk sat down with GRR to talk about his experience at Nelson College, and his advice to the lucky student-athlete who gets to go is to remain open to anything, and keep an open mind to what is a new experience.
Conestoga, Knightmare Rule in Rugby PA Sevens
Conestoga capped off a fairly astounding fall HS 7s season with a Rugby PA championship win Saturday.
The team, which has been leading the Rugby PA league most of the time. They came into the weekend leading the state with a 23-3-1 record and capped that off with a 5-0 day to finish 28-3-1 through the course of the fall.
It was a big tournament for the boys, with 16 teams in action. Bishop Shanahan showcased some nice ball movement to make up for their lack of size to go 3-0 in Pool B. Knight battled Berks for control of Pool C and a couple of well-times breakaways and one conversion saw Knightmare take that game 12-10, and the pool 3-0.
La Salle continued their excellent showing, working well as a team to go 3-0 in Pool C.
So that set up the semifinals, with Conestoga vs La Salle and Knightmare vs Shanahan.
St. Ignatius Wins Muddy, Contentious Boys Ohio 7s Finals
St. Ignatius won the Rugby Ohio Boys fall 7s championships in a difficult and contentious final Sunday, battling (as did everyone) rain and mud as well as a talented St. Xavier HS outfit to get there.
Eight boys teams competed on the day in a tournament that had to be moved at the last minute due to rain making it impossible to line the original fields. The tournament was held on a grass pitch at a middle school in Dublin, Ohio and while the playing surface was good, the wet weather made for a muddy day all around.
The teams played a straight bracket format, with the opening games being the quarterfinals, and then everyone splintering off into placement semis and finals after that.
NC Academy over Young Glory
The Young Glory academy side took on the North Carolina All-Stars over the weekend.
This was a meeting of U18 players, with Young Glory coached by Ben Cima and the NC All-Stars coached by Michael Markofski (who coaches the Sandill Sharks) in conjunction with program director Trevor Caterson of the Chapel Hill Highlanders.
In this game, Young Glory ran out to a 26-10 lead at halftime, but three second-half tries from North Carolina saw NC win it 29-26—Alex Martinez Castro scored two tries and his second saw him go over to win the game with no time left. Beyond Bembry and Jameson Beatty scored one each while Zach Colson added three conversions and a first-half penalty goal.
Six Teams at the Top in Ohio Boys 7s
Rugby Ohio will select its fall HS 7s champion this coming weekend.
We go into some detail on where the girls league sits; three teams are at the top and you can read more about that here>>
Meanwhile in the boys bracket, there are two, perhaps three teams on track for the title.
Well, we say that, but we said that last year and one of those teams didn't make the final. There can always be a surprise.
Urban Rugby Championship 2024 To Be Held in Washington DC
The 3rd Annual Urban Rugby Championship will be held in 2024 in Washington DC from March 5-9.
Qualifying programs from across the country will gather in the name of equity, access, and opportunity through rugby.
In its third edition, the event is poised to continue on its groundbreaking trajectory and deliver on its promise to create a transformative experience for the players, programs, and community it gathers. The URC subsidizes travel, delivers resources and unites affiliate organizations to ensure black and brown student-athletes from under-resourced communities can access what is headed towards becoming the premier rugby competition on American soil.
Just a Few Weeks Left to Apply for the Nelson College Rugby Scholarship
High school rugby players who want to study and play rugby as an elite school in New Zealand still have a few weeks to apply for a scholarship.
Following after the hugely successful US Rugby Foundation Scholarship program to Nelson College, the program is being repeated for 2-24.
How Two American Kids Handled Rugby and Life at School in NZ
In 2023 Max Doerfler of Overland Park, Kan. (St. Thomas Aquinas HS), and Oliver Kirk of Chicago (Chicago Lions) received scholarships to attend Nelson College.
Both learned much as rugby players and as students as they attended Nelson during the middle part of 2023.
HS 7s Around the Nation
Here's a look at HS 7s around the nation.
Pennsylvania
GRR was at the latest tournament in RugbyPA and there is some serious skill on display there. In the boys bracket Berks County went 4-0 on the day, showcasing a smart defensive front and turning defensive pressure into scoring chances. And with some speed out wide and some hard running in the middle, Berks impressed.
La Salle HS moved the ball quite well and when they play their best they are in support and moving the ball. When they play poorly, they play too individually. Knightmare is much the same, with snappy ball movement driving the bus for them.
Bishop Shanahan's teamwork was impressive and they overcame being smaller than some other teams by working enormously hard. Conestoga has some power and they are able to break tackles.
Westside Boys Continue Indiana Sevens Dominance
"Hutton had huge shoes to fill in his first ever 7s season," said Nicholson. "He is a student of the game and he showed excellent decision-making and ball-handling skills throughout the tournament. With a great boot and blazing pace, he was one of the top scorers in the tournament."
Another heavily-recruited senior is Asher Harrison, who also is playing in his first 7s season. He's a powerful defender and the same with ball in hand and his aggressive style was a bit of a crowd-pleased. Ryan Polgar was the top scorer for Westside and used his speed and strength (despite not being big) to break tackles. Once he was clear there were few who could chase him down.
USA Rugby South Panthers to Tour NZ in 2024
The USA Rugby South Panthers Rugby Academy will be touring New Zealand in 2024 and there is still room for players who want to attend.
The tour is slated for June and will last 12 days. It will include coaching sessions with coaches from the Auckland Rugby Union, Wellington Rugby Unoion, and Canterbury Rugby Union, exposing players to some of the best rugby coaches in the world.
In between there will be three match days, and also the opportunity to see major rugby matches (the All Blacks schedule isn’t out yet but an All Blacks test match is hoped for).
Westside Sweeps Rugby Indiana 7s
Westside won both the Boys and Girls brackets in Rugby Indiana's HS 7s championships over the weekend.
Held at the Moose Rugby Grounds in Elkhart, Ind., the tournament capped off a four-week season in Indiana.
Girls Bracket
Westside beat Westfield 22-5, Pendleton 28-10 to set up the semifinals against Noblesville. The girls bracket had two pools of three and one pool of four, with the larger pool still having teams play just two games.
As a result, four teams—Westside, Carmel, Norblesville, and Chargers all went 2-0 in pool games. The Chargers beat Penn 47-0 and Noblesville 30-10 in pool play to set up their semifinal, which they won over Carmel 27-7.
Westside meanwhile held off Noblesville 14-7 in the other semi.
In the final, Westside, led by an MVP performance from Soryah Hart, beat Chargers by a try, 22-15.
Great Northwest Challenge Returns for June, 2024 in Montana
The Great Northwest Challenge 15s HS-age All-Star tournament is back, and will be held in Montana in 2024.
COVID dealt these types of tournaments a blow and they have been slow to return, and one of the best before the shutdowns was the GNC. Now, sparked by JD Stephenson, CEO of Montana Institute of Sport, who has been working hard to build youth rugby in Montana, the tournament returns with seven brackets.
The event will host state or regional all-star teams for U19, U16, and U14 girls, U19, U16, and U14 boys, and a coed division for U12s.
The tournament will run June 21 and 22 and will be held at Fort Missoula Regional Park in Missoula, Mont.
NY Kicks Off HS Sevens; More from Other States Too
Boys HS 7s is in action around the USA; here's a look.
New York
Rugby NY opened their fall HS 7s season with Pelham going 3-0 on the day.
Also in action, PlayRugby fielded two teams, going 2-1 and 1-2 with their two teams.
New Rochelle/Albany combined with NYRC for the first day of competition, and went 0-3.
Davitt Barrett, Leo Venables, and Massimo Pietranco led the Pelham effort, while PlayRugby got big performances from Jaydon Matos and Kyan McKeown-Green. Despite not getting any wins, NR/NY/Albany did see a solid performance from Colton Bell.
As usual in New York, they run a JV season and Pelham's Beckett Pierce and Antime Lemione led the Pelham JVs to a 4-0 day.
