HS Boys

Bosco Revels In Rugby, Football Double Success

A little less than a year after winning the Southern California CIF Rugby Championship, St. John Bosco High School has won the CIF state football title in the Open Division, beating another strong rugby/football program, De La Salle, in the final.

Some other strong rugby programs had good football seasons this year, with La Jolla making the $-A final, and De Norte making the 5-AA final. 

Eagle Impact Signs Tendai Mtawarira As Program Ambassador

Recent Old Glory DC signing Tendai "The Beast" Mtawarira has entered into an agreement with Eagle Impact Rugby Academy to serve as an ambassador to the program.

Old Glory DC Signs The Beast, Tendai Mtawarira 

A very high-profile signing for Old Glory, the World Cup-winning prop was attractive for the Major League Rugby Club not only because of his talent, but also for his leadership and character. Mtawarira repeatedly said he was interested in working with young people both on and off the field. 

Precedo Capital and EIRA founder and president Robin Reid came together to help finalize the agreement, which was made in conjunction with the Old Glory team.

SoCal Latest: Opening Week Statements

The first weekend of the Southern California Youth Rugby is done with some of the major contenders getting off to a solid start.

Defending champion La Jolla won, and the team they beat by a single point in last year's final won, as well.

Carlsbad, La Jolla Win Big In SoCal Openers

Jaguars from Valey Center HS, the team that finished 2nd to La Jolla, won 55-12 over Alta Vista.

It was a fairly comfortable win for the Jaguars, but Alta Vista has more depth this year and looked somewhat stronger this season and has Gavin Beaudry, who has served as Central Washington University's graduate assistant coach, coaching with the team.

San Clemente Win Highlights SCIRF Opener

Two games kicked off the SCIRF season, with one fairly comprehensive winner and one tight one.

Winning fairly easily was Torrey Pines 75-7 over Fallbrook. That wasn't a surprise. Torrey Pines is pretty strong this year while Fallbrook is struggling with numbers. League rules allow a league game even if it's 12-on-12, but dropping the number of players on the field just opens up space for an effective attack. Torrey Pines returns 11 starters and with the effective Oren Cargill captaining and at flyhalf, and some players who have benefited from a combined rugby-and-football strength-and-conditioning program, Fallbrook's fate was sealed.

Carlsbad, La Jolla Win Big In SoCal Openers

Carlsbad and La Jolla won big in the opening weekend of Southern California’s HS season.

For Carlsbad, they took care of Mission Vista 75-0. 

“We look strong,” said Coach Jacob Campbell. “We have a lot of returning juniors and some additions. We feel pretty good.”

Leading the way in part is DJ Young, who credited his strong football season this fall with what he has learned in rugby. That was a nice nod to the Carlsbad team. Meanwhile scrumhalf Solomon Williams has been a sparkplug. 

“We have a lot of talent through the team,” added Campbell. “We just need to get them playing together.”

That job seemed to be done on Friday.

La Jolla HS Success Fuels Football Wins

Jaguars Baring Teeth In SoCal Again

Stung somewhat by a one-point loss in the final of Southern California’s Varsity White division in 2018-19, the Jaguars are out to go one step further in SoCal’s single-school division.

(SoCal rugby splits its season with single-school in the winter and club in the spring. In addition, single-school is split with the  SCIRF teams that are able to follow California Interscholastic Federation guidelines, and the SCYR Varsity White is for established teams drawing players from one school, but the school doesn’t necessarily support the team.)

The Jaguars draw players from Valley Center HS in Valley Center, Calif., and have been building a pretty effective team that almost won it all, losing 35-34 to La Jolla in a comeback that just missed. They scored six tries in that game, but converted only two.

La Jolla HS Success Fuels Football Wins

Well success has its payback.

Defending Southern California Youth Rugby single-school champion La Jolla HS will have to wait for more than half of its expecting starting 15 because those players are helping their school football team through its best season in a generation.

Now 10-4, La Jolla football won the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern California 4A championship, beating Marina 27-14, with rugby player Max Smith scoring a touchdown on a 35-yard run and another rugby player, Dirk Germon, sacking the Marina quarterback three times. Linebacker Jack Wiese has been a huge player for the Vikings football team. He is another La Jolla rugby starter. 

(In the LA Times preview of that final, three of the four Key Players for La Jolla were rugby players.)

SoCal Single-Schools Kick Off With 37 Teams

Boys High School rugby is back for another season with Southern California's single-school competitions about to get underway.

Two different groups of single-school teams are in action, one run under California Interscholastic Federation regulations and one under the oversight of the Southern California Youth Rugby Association. Here's a look:

SCIRF

In a week we're set for an expanded Season 2 of the So Cal Interscholastic Rugby Federation (SCIRF).

The SCIRF runs its season in conjunction with the scheduling for the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), with the schools involved following CIF regulations. Officially the Winter Season window started November 9, and teams are already in training and kick off the league next week.

Boys HS Nationals To Return To Salt Lake City

The Boys High School National Championship committee has announced that it will return to the Regional Athletic Complex in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The tournament was held there last year and will return with the same format: an eight-team Single-School bracket, an eight-team HS Club bracket, and an eight-team Tier II bracket. The three-day even (one game per day for every team) will be held May 14, 15 and 16 at the RAC.

“We are pleased to reach a deal that not only returns us to Salt Lake City," said Committee member Bart Bottorff. "But it will also improve upon what many call the best high school rugby event in the country.”

LAI Exposes Players To Rugby Community And Rugby Stars

The LA 7s World Series tournament has an invitational surrounding it which has over two-dozen brackets, one that gives players an exciting playing experience and while also exposing them to some of the top rugby athletes around the world.

Teams will play February 28 at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, Calif. and then on February 29 they will play at the fields at Dignity Health Sports Park, right next to the stadium where the World Series tournament will be.

Full Details of LA Invitational

“We love the fact that it’s going to be right there with the internationals, so our players can play some sevens, and then go see the USA, South Africa, New Zealand,” said Mira Costa HS Head Coach Duke Dulgarian. Mira Costa will play in the HS 7s bracket at the LAI.

Washington Loggers, British Columbia Partner For Series

The Washington Loggers state rep side has reached an agreement with the British Columbia RFU to player the British Columbia Representative XV at all age grades, U14, U16, and U18, in the summer of 2020. 

The matches expand a cross-border development partnership that began in 2014, based on long-standing relationships at the men’s club level.  

“We had a lot of great relationships in BC through the years playing with Seattle Rugby Club,” said David Miller, Loggers Director. “With the commitment of Matt Gordon at Victoria’s Castaway-Wanderers, we went from occasional match tourists, to looking at the exchanges as a long-term co-development opportunity between State and Province.” 

In 2018 the Loggers U14s toured Vancouver, playing to a packed Klahanie Park crowd, losing narrowly to a spirited BC Representative side.

HS Player Persuades School To Support Rugby

Setting forth a game plan is a good idea when you're getting ready for a rugby game, but it can be useful in other ways, too—just ask Charlie Rosemeyer.

The high school sophomore grew up with rugby, and his love of the game led him to push for his current high school to sanction a team in the Rugby Pennsylvania league. But he knew it was going to take more than just asking nicely.

Rosemeyer's dad, Matt, has been heavily involved in rugby in the Pittsburgh area for many years, and when his kids were young, Rosemeyer the elder was working with inner-city youth mentoring programs coaching rugby.

"When Charlie got old enough he started going with me," said Matt. "There was no pressure from me, and we were going to a pretty tough neighborhood, but he loved it, and when his younger brother got old enough, they both came with me."

30 Youth, HS Teams At Great Falls 7s For Good Cause

Great Falls Village in Virginia was a busy place this past Sunday as Great Falls Youth Rugby hosted its sixth annual tournament to benefit the spinal cord injury Adaptive Sports programs at MedStar National Rehabilitation Network.

This annual charity event is dear to the heart of Gary Coetzee, president of Great Falls Rugby and himself a spinal cord injury survivor.

For more on the MedStar Adaptive Sports programs go here>>

The event is a youth tournament for all age groups from U7s through High School. A number of DC, Maryland, and Virginia youth, middle school, and high school teams played in the event.