Rocky Mountain Rugby has started a new U20 initiative, becoming the pilot program for USA Rugby.

The idea is to provide competitive options for players 18-20 - perhaps players who are not in college or not in a college that has a rugby team.

The Glendale Raptors club hs announced that it will sponsor a U20 program and will play against U20 teams from the West D1A College Conference. This is something akin to a B-side league, but somewhat different, as well, as it focuses on an age-based cutoff.

Rocky Mountain Rugby will then put together a U20 all-star team to tour.

Eligible players for the formal U20 league will include those born after September 1, 1996, who have graduated high school. Full-time college students who attend a university that sponsors a college program are expected to play with their university team, not a U20 club team, though their college club may choose to sponsor a U20 program of its own. 

Fielding the top teams in in the Pacific Rugby Premiership and Women’s Premier League apparently isn’t enough for the Glendale Raptors.

“The Glendale Raptors U20 program is an opportunity to close the gap between college and club rugby for those players who do not enroll immediately into a university rugby program,” said Glendale Director of Rugby Mark Bullock. “This completes the pathway from youth to adult to pro to national team that the Glendale Raptors Rugby Academy can offer to aspiring rugby players.”

The U20 program will serve as both a continuation and final stage of the current Glendale Raptor Rugby Academy curriculum, which has served young rugby players from the K-8 level up to the U16 and U18 levels. The GRRA comprises a host of programs designed for youth as young as five years old, with hopes they will graduate from youth teams to the high school team to the U20 team, and eventually the first-team.