Youth Rugby Grew 27% This Past Year; Maybe More in 24-25?
Youth Rugby Grew 27% This Past Year; Maybe More in 24-25?
The number of youth and high school players and coaches in the USA rose in the 2023-24 cycle, and one wonders if that growth will increase in the next cycle.
Fueled in part by a return to the idea that going outside is good, and in part by more regions getting back to normal post-COVID, registrations rose 12% to over 50,000.
Southern California, Northern California, Colorado, Indiana, Florida, Louisiana, and Hawaii all showed significant growth.
Increases were also seen in Montana, Washington, Texas, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Ohio. Some of these states showed big increases because their 2022-23 numbers were low (Louisiana and Montana) while others had solid numbers but are still increase—the big increase in Texas was in youth rugby, while in other states it was at the high school level.
USA Youth & High School Executive Director Giovanni Vaglietti said that the US Rugby Foundation helped drive that growth. Their New High School Fund, which complements the USAY&HS Ignite Club High School Fund, is helping ignite an expansion, he said, and helped fund new programs.
Overall, then, registrations were up 12%, with growth for kids aged 8-14 going up 15% and non-contact rugby going up 27%. So the mantra saying “start young and build from there” might actually be taking root.
Major League Rugby’s non-profit Imagine Rugby program has helped there as have other efforts from state organizations and other groups to introduce the game to kids in PE classes. According to Vaglietti 370,000 kids have played at least some rugby through Imagine Rugby.
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Conversion of those players to actual registered rugby players in ongoing competitions takes time. Key is to have those teams and coaches ready to go. There needs to be follow-up with the state/regional organizations, said Vaglietti—so the plan is to get into schools and PE classes, and then have the SROs follow up with structured competition.
Under Executive Director Nate Dalena, Rugby NorCal is reportedly seeing an 80% conversion rate from kids trying out rugby to them actually joining a competition.
“Look at the teams that do well at Boys High School Nationals,” said Vaglietti. “Many are clubs that focus first on recruiting young and developing coaches”
Charlotte Cardinals and Charlotte Tigers, Belmont Shore, San Diego Mustangs, and Woodlands are all that type of club. Single-school teams don’t quite have the same structure, but many that are successful are in regions with robust youth programs.
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So … what comes up next? It’s reasonable to think that the USA’s Bronze Medal at the Paris Olympics, won, as it was, in dramatic fashion, could be the reason for more kids wanting to try the sport. At the youth level, 7-a-side rugby is usually the entry point and so there’s this weird situation where the very elite level of 7s—the Olympics—is the way to get kids new to the game to get started. With 7s it’s easy to put together a team in U14s and easy to run competitions and leagues in a local way. Once they get a little older they move to 15s. It’s not a perfect pathway to the sport, but it has its positives.
Does that mean 7s is the only way? Certainly not. But it is a way. The key thing, whatever way—Rookie Rugby, Imagine Rugby, something else—you bring new players to the sport, you need teams, coaches, venues, and competitions to follow up and keep them playing.
