Saturday August 4th saw the annual Washington DC Youth Rugby “coaches vs kids” game. 

This high-scoring affair was likely won by the kids but the real winner was rugby in the DC area as this unique event brought players out from Washington Rugby Football Club, Washington Irish, Penn St, and Mary Washington to support the players and their families.  Each year DC Youth Rugby offers free rugby to District children and the skill level becomes more impressive every time the group gets together. 

Malcolm May, PSU’s All American spoke to the kids about commitment and dedication and DC MLR’s Paul Sheehy, former US Eagle, sponsored kit for the event and the volunteers.  Said UMW’s Tim Brown while handing out T-shirt’s and some UMW shorts, “We always donate to DC Youth Rugby - their values are in line with everything that is great about the sport. Both Paul and I are alums of Washington Rugby Club and to see our former teammates Brian Mihalec, Roger Evans, and Simon Bowyer give so much year round makes it easy to support all this.” Roger Evans wife Martha is also instrumental in helping bring the whole event and the season together. 

Every child in the program received a DC MLR t-shirt and a rugby ball, many players got UMW uniforms and the parents had an amazing cookout fieldside. The excitement for MLR in DC is real and the kids heard Sheehy and May talk positively about getting good grades and the importance of school.  

If you would like to help keep rugby free for all participants you can donate here: 

http://washingtondcyouthrugby.org/donations/