Urban Rugby America Launches on Heels of Successful Urban Rugby Championships
Urban Rugby America (URA) has launched.
The organization has announced it will be working to unite, empower and advance youth rugby initiatives serving under-resourced communities across the US.
Urban Rugby America's purpose is to provide access, opportunities, resources, and support in rugby for underrepresented, low-income populations in the United States. Founded by leaders with over 50 years of collective experience in urban rugby development and organizational leadership,
This all comes from the success of The Urban Rugby Championships, which have been held the last couple of years. GRR was at the last event in Los Angeles and it was an excellent example of what can be done in this category with some effort.
Rugby Ohio Opens Up Fall Sevens
Rugby Ohio kicked off its 7s fall with a two-tier tournament in the Cleveland area.
Several programs fielded more than one team, with some in the top division and some in a more development division. St. Ignatius of Cleveland fielded six teams based largely on age, with three in the top division and three in the second tier.
SIHS A, which featured a largely senior group, went 3-0, beating St. Edward B 62-0, St. Edward A 22-0 in probably the highest-level game of the day, and Medina A 24-7. Ignatius were led by Teagan Frain among the fast guys and Dave Kotnik among the power guys, with the consistent kicking of Jimmy Collins allowing the Wildcats to control field position and use their defense to force turnovers and create scoring chances.
What to Know About the 2024 Boys HS National Championships
As talk goes on about the time and date of the Boys HS Nationals, here are a couple of things to remember.
1. It's in Indiana
The Moose Rugby Grounds in Elkhart, Ind. will host the tournament once more, with three full-size all-grass fields lined specifically for rugby, plus additional space for warming up. This playing venue is unmatched in the USA.
2. It's Memorial Day Weekend
Played over the course of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, the HSNC tournament will be held once again leading into Memorial Day Weekend May 23, 24, and 25. That gives teams and players two free days to get back home.
3. One Game Per Day
Each team plays one 60-minute game per day. The games are 30-minute halves to allow an additional 10 minutes of overtime if needed.
HS Boys Players Can Apply for a Scholarship to Nelson College in New Zealand
The United States Rugby Foundation has announced a reprise of its highly successful Nelson College Scholarship Program.
USRF will be selecting a highly-qualified American High School rugby player to attend Nelson College, a secondary/high school for boys located in Nelson, New Zealand, which conducts a unique, highly acclaimed rugby program.
Two players, Oliver Kirk and Max Doerfler, attended Nelson this year and you can read more about here:
How Two American Kids Handled Rugby and Life at School in NZ
More States Kick Off HS Sevens This Weekend
While Colorado has already started its girls HS 7s, we see more action this weekend with Utah, Indiana, Iowa, and Pennsylvania all getting tournaments in.
HS Girls, 7th/8th-grade Girls, and HS Boys are all in action in Utah.
It's a stacked boys bracket with Herriman, East, Mountain Ridge, Riverton, and Olympus playing.
For the girls there are a few more teams this year, with United, a combined Provo/Wasatch team, Majestics, AF Legendz, and Mountain Ridge.
Iowa starts its season on Monday (all tournaments are on Monday nights). All teams will play two games. Defending champs Waverly Shell opens against the team that finished second to them, Cedar Rapids. Twelve teams are in action on Monday.
Boys HS National Championships Returning to Elkhart for 2024
The Boys High School Rugby National Championships will return to the Moose Rugby Grounds in Elkhart, Ind. for 2024.
Following a detailed study of feedback from attending teams, the BHSRNC Committee found that a two-thirds majority either supported returning to the Moose Rugby Grounds or had no preference, and over 80% supported holding the tournament on Memorial Day Weekend or had no preference.
As a result, the 2024 Boys HS Rugby National Championships will be held from Thursday, May 23 through Saturday, May 25 at the Moose Rugby Grounds in Elkhart, Ind.
High school teams can apply to participate starting in January, 2024 (see the Boys HS National Championships landing page on Goff Rugby Report for updates>>).
Fall HS Action Boosts Numbers Across The US
Fall is not free of high school rugby.
Girls rugby, especially, gets a boost in the fall, both in 7s and (in some small examples) 15s.
This is not an exhaustive list, but it does give you an idea of what's going on this fall.
Interestingly, it's worth noticing that several of the states with fall 7s rate quite high when it comes to membership compared to youth population. In the Top 20 we listed here: Youth and HS Membership Numbers and Analysis—half of them have robust fall schedules.
Oregon:
Their fall 7s include both boys and girls teams. They didn't have a lot of teams last year, but they can grow.
Youth and HS Membership Numbers and Analysis
Youth and High School rugby membership topped 44,000 in 2022-23.
Now, this doesn't mean there were 44,000 (actually 44,537) individual members, because coaches might also register as referees or administrators, and even players might also be registered as referees. But the number is still very large, higher than the youth and high school membership levels GRR understood to be the case before the USA Rugby bankruptcy and COVID.
Of the 44,357 members, about 24,000 were high school players.
USA Youth & HS Publishes End-of-Season Report
Some other observations:
About 25% of the high school players are girls. Overall in high school and youth, girls are about 23% of the players.
USA Youth & HS Publishes End-of-Season Report
USA Youth & High School has released its end-of-season report.
The 18-page report outlines where there has been growth in the youth and high school game.
Also in the document is a rundown of the USA U18 team, which is supported by USY&HS members, the high school national championships, and their partnerships with The Rugby Network, Positive Coaching Alliance, US Rugby Foundation, Major League Rugby, and others.
Some highlights:
The Boys HS Rugby National Championships drew 10,690 views on Day 1 (Blue Field)—the most views for any rugby event on The Rugby Network except for the D1A college final.
The Urban Rugby Championship was held in Los Angeles, bringing programs from cities across the USA together to play 7s.
US Youth & HS Rugby Announces Funding Plan for New Clubs
Washington DC—USA Youth and High School Rugby (YHS) has announced the introduction of a new funding platform for new youth and high school clubs: the Ignite Growth Fund, an initiative to grow grassroots rugby clubs.
Supported by Imagine Rugby as part of the World Cup Growth Plan, this program seeks to fuel the growth of rugby at the youth and high school levels and cultivate the next generation of rugby players. YHS has secured $100,000 in initial funding, with more funding earmarked.
A Loss for American Rugby: Rugby Texas President Maggie Rouse
Maggie Rouse, President of Rugby Texas, passed away this past Friday.
Rouse, who was a vocal supporter of youth rugby for many years as well as a huge advocate for getting young people trained and certified as referees, was in addition a member of the USA Youth & High School Board and had been since the organization's inception.
The Rouse family is steeped in rugby with the children of Maggie and Kip Rouse playing and refereeing and Texas and farther afield.
Rouse was a key voice in building the game and was especially important in pushing for young referees to get chances to learn and officiate games. While many lament the lack of good referees or the lack in recruiting referees, Maggie Rouse was doing something about it at the youth level. Maggie Rouse's husband, Kip, is a youth coach with the Woodlands in the Houston area.
How Two American Kids Handled Rugby and Life at School in NZ
Three weeks remain in the term at Nelson College in New Zealand and in a weird way it also means the end of the summer break for Oliver Kirk and Max Doerfler.
Kirk, who normally attends Walter Payton College Prep in Chicago and plays for the Chicago Lions HS team, and Doefler, who attends and plays for St. Thomas Aquinas in Overland Park, Kan., have been spending the first eight months of this year at school at Nelson College. With a scholarship provided by the US Rugby Foundation in partnership with Nelson College, the two talented young rugby players got to spend their junior years in New Zealand.
PNW Teams Play in Western Canadian Championships
The Pacific Northwest Loggers have sent two U18 teams to compete in this weekend's Western Canadian Rugby Championships.
The Loggers faced off with provincial sides from throughout Canada.
Girls Loggers
This is the second year that the Loggers girls have participated in the Western Canadian Rugby Championships. Coming off a long trip (carpooling 800 miles to Calgary), they did well to shake the trip out of their legs for the opener.
On Friday morning the Loggers faced Manitoba, which started strong early putting the Pacific Northwest under pressure. The Loggers played stiff defense near their own tryline, pushing back the hard-driving Manitobans several times before conceding a try at about six minutes.
Four Weeks Left to Apply for US Rugby Foundation Scholarships
This is just a reminder that the US Rugby Foundation scholarships, and there are nine of them, are still open for applicants.
The programs are designed to provide financial assistance to deserving student-athletes who demonstrate a strong commitment to academic achievement and rugby excellence. Eligible scholarship applicants must have graduated from high school in June 2023. Furthermore, applicants must be attending college and be playing rugby for that school, in the Fall of 2023, while meeting all other eligibility requirements.
This year's scholarship application period will run through August 31st.
EIRA Boys Wrap Up Tour of Ireland
The Eagles Impact Rugby Academy boys teams encountered a variety of results over the last couple of days.
The U16s lost a close one to Connacht 24-17 and followed that up with a 17-14 loss to Ulster.
Ya he EIRA Boys U16s ended the Ireland tour with one win and two losses with each game decided by a try or less. Their overall point differential was minus-7.
So in terms of player development this was a hugely successful tour.
