Registration is open for the Girls and Boys Rugby Maryland Academy, and this is a chance for players to hone the most important rugby skills..

The Academy has a stated mission to raise a player's rugby IQ, and with that in mind has lined up the likes of Laura Miller, Mike Petri, AND Nancy Fitz, plus other experienced coaches, including Towson University head coach Tony De Cesare.

This is the first year for a boys academy, but Rugby Maryland has been working with girls for several years now.

"We started the Girls Academy four years ago because we felt there was a need for girls to have a platform to get started in rugby," said Rugby Maryland president Valerie Vuyovich-Connolly. "And they needed a platform to focus on fundamentals. Every time I have spoken to a national-level coach, and I do that whenever I can, and asked them what athletes need to be concentrating on in high school, they say the basic skills."

A lot of camps are designed for elite-level players or players working toward getting a place in a college program, but Vuyovich-Connolly said that in the beginning stages, rather than going for the "shiny objects" she is concentrating on "what we should teach our skills at the beginning."

Basic skills of catching, passing, and tackling will be taught, as well as where to be in open play.

Vuyovich-Connolly, who was one of the American coaches who received a scholarship for a trip to England to work with Premiership coaches, said that the understanding how to position oneself in the chaos of open play is a crucial element of learning the game. Players who sign up will get a a master class in understanding how the game flows, and how knowing the skills can fit into that.

For more go here: http://www.rugbymaryland.com/p/maryland-girls-and-hopefully-boys-rugby-a...