The Florida Youth Rugby season gets going this weekend with one league game and a preseason tournament for everyone else.

 

The preseason tournament will be held in Pompano Beach, with teams playing a series of shortened games to get up to speed. 

 

Meanwhile, the Cape Pirates and Tampa Krewe open up their season Saturday in Coco Beach. 

 

“The Pirates are a well coached team and we had the opportunity to play them in a preseason and two regular season games last year,” said Krewe Head Coach Chris DeAnnuntis, whose team enjoyed their first season last year. The Pirates were convincing winners in the first meeting, but the teams split their games in the regular season.

 

Tampa returns eight players.

 

“They have progressed very nicely and getting better game after game,” said DeAnnuntis. “We have lots of brand new players and one with rugby experience. This year we will have a pretty full roster which is a big change from last year when we had to play 13 on the Pirates’ 15.  Somehow we won that game.”

 

The depth is slowly improving, then, and the talent is there. But the Pirates are a very solid outfit, with a core of players with five years’ experience in the program. Meanwhile, their forward pack has been bolstered by a group of seniors who are done with football. So the Pirates are working it from both ends - Rookie Rugby in the middle schools (four schools signed up this week), and recruiting top older athletes.

 

The game against Tampa, said Head Coach Steve Roper, “will let us have a gauge of where we are,” he said. Pirates fullback Elvis Espinal is in very good form after a good HS All American camp in Arizona. Seven of the Pirates are select-side players, and they have tons of pace out wide.

 

They will need it, as the Pirates and the Krewe are both in the hugely competitive Northern Division, with Orlando and Daytona. There will be no easy games there.

 

On Sunday, after the preseason tournament, USA Rugby South is hosting a tryout for the South U19 team that will play in the NACRA U19 Championships this coming July in Miami. Players interested should go to:  www.usarugbysouthpanthers.com/   for more.

 

 

Florida HS Boys Pools:

Daytona U19

Orlando HS

Tampa Krewe HS

Cape Pirates

 

Key Biscayne HS

Naples Bears - HS

Mavericks RFC

Boca HS

 

Jupiter Sharks RC

Miami Rugby HS

St. Thomas Aquinas

Riviera Beach HS

 

Palm Beach Punishers

Weston HS

Cardinal Gibbons HS

Trojans U19