At last count 63 teams from 12 states representing nearly 40 clubs and schools will be playing a total of 104 matches this weekend at the 14th annual Carolina Ruggerfest held near Charlotte, NC. 

Tournament Commissioner Erik Saxon said just about every level of youth rugby will be represented there.

“Back when this festival first started, we had a few high school teams from up north come and play some pre-season matches against a few high school teams from down here to take advantage of our warm weather and great facilities – we’re talking 6 to 10 teams total.  Fast forward to now, we have that many teams attending in just our Under 10 bracket alone.”

The under high school piece is one of the big draws of Carolina Ruggerfest. Large clubs that have multiple sides ranging from under 10s to high school varsity sides can bring their whole membership to the tournament and get lots of great matches for all.

“I think we’re pretty unique in that,” said Saxon. “Most of the larger clubs are used to the hassle of having their various teams at two or three different locations on any given Saturday – or not being able to find a match for some age divisions at all. This one-stop-shopping over an early season, warm Carolina weekend has become a cornerstone for many and something rugby families really look forward to as the highlight of their season.”

The tournament includes robust brackets for Under 10s, Under 12s, and middle school teams. The bulk of the competition, however, remains high school rugby.  In fact, 39 of the 63 teams are high school teams. Within this large pool of teams, organizers create multiple stand-alone divisions with competitive parity and out-of-league matchups being the two dominating factors in forming pools.

“No one wants to travel on a bus for ten hours just to get beat up for two days straight and get blown out three matches in-a-row,” said Saxon.  “The trick to this whole thing is creating unique and fair match-ups for teams. I’d be ecstatic if most matches end in very close scores. That means teams are competing at their appropriate overall skill level, fans are energized, players are invested, and we continue to build our reputation as a great destination tournament. We simply want good rugby and a great experience for everyone.”

Ironically, the most competitive division at Ruggerfest this year will be the only one that does not offer a trophy for the bracket winner.  The teams that make up the Mid-South Independent Rugby League (MSIRL) have all agreed to meet at the tournament this year to play multiple matches in order to put a big dent in their matrix matches.  So, in essence, each of these teams are playing league matches that count towards records and standings within MSIRL.  

What this means in practice is that there are 8 nationally ranked teams all playing each other in the same pool of teams – 3 to 4 matches each – over one weekend, including four undefeated teams in Charlotte Catholic (SS14), Myers Park (SS 19), Charlotte Tigers (7 MS), and Union County (44 MS).    East Cobb, Phoenix (MS 38), South Greenville (MS 42), Irmo (MS 43), and Wando (SS 21) round out this high powered bracket at Ruggerfest.

“Eight ranked single and multi-school teams all playing multiple matches that really count in one weekend – I mean, wow!  Does it get any better than that?”  Saxon asked rhetorically, then added,  “But I don’t even know if that will be the most competitive bracket.  Take your pick, there are going to be barn-burners on every one of the five fields we’ll have going.”

Other pools include what promises to be two very tight HS Girls divisions, nine teams vying for the JV boys crown, and 14 more high school varsity boys teams split into three separate divisions.  

The Carolina Ruggerfest website: http://www.carolinaruggerfest.org has the entire schedule for the weekend online if you’d like to take a peek.  In addition, match results will be updated on the site live as matches finish, meaning you can check back for scores as they come in.  

For all the teams participating, this early March 15s tournament will be a great litmus test for the season ahead.   The states that are represented at Carolina Ruggerfest include: North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Virginia, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Illinois.