Austin, Texas high school team Lake Travis will kick it all off this weekend with a trip to Louisiana to take on New Orleans Jesuit and Brother Martin.

For Lake Travis this will be a new start after last year's abbreviated season that was made all the more frustrating because they felt they had a very strong team.

"I think last year we could have gone all the way," said Head Coach Rick Medina, referring to the Rugby Texas state championship. Instead, of course, LT had to step to the sidelines because of the COVID-19 pandemic just like everyone else. The Lake Travis seniors graduated and moved on, and a younger team with more questions to answer suits up in 2021.

Of the 38 kids Medina is taking to New Orleans, only one was a starter on the varsity team in 2020. Lake Travis has athletes, several from the football team, "and I definitely see lots of potential, and lots of opportunities," said the coach. But Medina says the games will be an eye-opening experience for his players, many of whom are new to the game.

Fortunately, that one previous starter has been a godsend. Shay Berneburg is highly versatile, and can play anywhere, but he likely will suit up at center. Berneburg has also been important as a leader and an organizer, taking much of the load for getting the players together, sending group texts about practice, and doing little things to help the players learn. He has already been valuable before he plays a game.

Lake Travis will play New Orleans Jesuit on Friday and Brother Martin on Saturday. Jesuit tied the Bayou Hurricanes 29-29 last week and won the Louisiana state championship in 2019. Jesuit, too, has had to deal with something of a lost 2020 season. Brother Martin has started well, beating the Bayou Hurricanes. Captain Sam Vallejos is a potent attacker and he scored two tries against the Hurricanes; he also scored three tries in a scrimmage against Jesuit's JVs. Senior wing John Rink is an good finisher and can kick well for goal. Prop Jacob Schmidt, flanker, Brandon Bourg, and center Hayden Tubbs all scored against Bayou.

So at the moment Brother Martin seems to have started the stronger, but there is still a lot of rugby to be played.