Just a Few Weeks Left to Apply for the Nelson College Rugby Scholarship
Just a Few Weeks Left to Apply for the Nelson College Rugby Scholarship
High school rugby players who want to study and play rugby as an elite school in New Zealand still have a few weeks to apply for a scholarship.
Following after the hugely successful US Rugby Foundation Scholarship program to Nelson College, the program is being repeated for 2-24.
How Two American Kids Handled Rugby and Life at School in NZ
In 2023 Max Doerfler of Overland Park, Kan. (St. Thomas Aquinas HS), and Oliver Kirk of Chicago (Chicago Lions) received scholarships to attend Nelson College.
Both learned much as rugby players and as students as they attended Nelson during the middle part of 2023.
Now back with their American high schools and ready for the 2023-24 HS rugby season, Doerfler and Kirk are eager to bring more to their team and their rugby futures.
Nelson College is a highly acclaimed academic institution where students carry a full course workload. But what sets it apart is their unique, even by New Zealand standards, Rugby Curriculum. Of the nearly 1,000 students enrolled at Nelson College, 200 play rugby. Over 100 of these, “pathways players", participate in a formal Rugby Curriculum where rugby technique classes are run daily for four different age groups from U14 to U17.
The scholarship for 2024, to be awarded by the end of 2023, is for a roughly four-and-a-half-month program at Nelson College from early- to mid-April, 2024 until mid- to late-August 2024 – a time frame coinciding with the start of Nelson College rugby training and running through the end of the Nelson College rugby season. The scholarship will cover the costs of attending Nelson College, including tuition; boarding either at the school or in a homestay; travel and medical insurance; uniforms; extracurricular activities; and NZ government and administrative fees.
Airfare to and from New Zealand is also included.
Any questions an applicant, his family, school, or coach may have about this Nelson College opportunity – the application process, the school itself, the rugby program, the boarding arrangements, etc. – can be addressed by contacting any of the USRF committee members below.
Brian Vizard (619) 233-0765 bvizard@usrugbyfoundation.com
John Decker (859) 539-5124 johndecker7@gmail.com
Sarah Kaler (314) 602-7800 kaler.sarah@gmail.com
You can apply now and all successful applicants will require a letter of recommendation from one or more of their rugby coaches.
Application deadline is December 1. To apply now go here>>
