2020 Girls National Championship Set For Cleveland

The 21st Annual Girls High School Rugby National Tournament for single school programs will take place the weekend of May 16-17, 2020 at Notre Dame College in Cleveland, Ohio.

“Notre Dame College is excited to offer its facilities for the upcoming National Championship. There are incredible opportunities available for girls rugby players and we want to help showcase this, while providing a professional atmosphere for student athletes at the high school level,” added Luke Markovich, Head Women’s Coach at Notre Dame College.

The National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) women’s collegiate program will host matches on Mueller Field and Normandy Field. NDC has hosted three Rugby Ohio State Championships in the last three years.

“Bringing the national tournament to another new location is important to the girls rugby community, especially when it helps bring in new competitors," NGCC schools chair John Klein said. "We are encouraged whenever rugby can help rugby at different levels and are thankful for the NIRA program at NDC for hosting all these girls teams.”

Single School teams will compete in a quarterfinal and semifinal Saturday May 16, with final matches Sunday May 17. Developing programs are encouraged to compete against teams they might not normally ever compete against. Organizers are once again planning multiple brackets of competition; an eight-team division one competition, along with an eight-team second division.  Planners are considering a JV Bracket, perhaps of 10s, pending interest.

Klein stressed that “single school competition does not mean teams need be school recognized varsity programs in order to compete. Teams must strive to draw their members from one community. The goal, however far off it may be in any community, is getting a team in every school in America. Some teams from last year were considered a club at their schools or had other varying degrees of relationships with their schools. We’re seeing this pay off. Heading into this year another school has moved to more fully adopt a team with full school support that has competed numerous times at nationals following this pathway.”

The school brackets could feature returning competition from throughout the Midwest, the South and the West. Organizers are encouraged by the expectation of renewed participation from several East teams who have responded to early surveys.  

“Having teams from different territories makes this tournament a National event,” said Klein. 

Questions regarding registration and policies should be directed to National Coaches Committee member John Waliszewski. 

Venue and city information should be directed to Luke Markovich at NDC.  

Teams may register here >>

Tournament Host
Luke Markovich
Head Coach NDC Women’s Rugby
Lmarkovich@ndc.edu
614-584-4163

National Girls Coaches Committee (Schools)
Committee Email:  ngccrugby@gmail.com 
NGCC Chair                  John Klein
NGCC Registration              John Waliszewski
NGCC    South Rep              Buck Billings
NGCC    East                  Bernie Cantorna
NGCC    Media                  Magdalena Law and Kelli Vanover