New and Growing HS Teams in Action
New and Growing HS Teams in Action
As has been mentioned in GRR this winter, there are several new school teams taking the field this year.
Others are just consolidating their presence, moving up a division or solidifying their relationship with their school.
In Northern California, two new school teams faced off against each other.
Acalanes High School took on Dublin High School over the weekend with Acalanes winning 40-12.
Twenty players over the two teams were playing their first ever game.
Doublin had some good performances, especially their leadership.
For their part, the Acalanes Dons are affiliated with the Lamorinda club. The Lamo youth team has seeded this school team, so they had perhaps some more players with rugby experience. This would include center Danny Dunne and flyhalf Thomas Parrott. Both played for the Rugby NorCal ll-Star team. Dunne scored three tries, demonstrating explosive power and speed, while Parrott orchestrated the game with the poise and precision of a seasoned flyhalf. Prop Liam Crinnion was tireless, popping up in attack, defense, and everywhere else.
During the school team season in Northern California, the Acalanes school team will operate separately from the Lamorinda club, which has some friendly games going through the winter. But when the full NorCal season kicks off, which includes mostly club teams (along with Jesuit Sacramento and De La Salle, which continue through the rest of the spring), the Acalanes players will transfer to club play with Lamorinda.
This is pretty standard in NorCal—St. Francis players generally go to San Mateo, for example.
Also in NorCal, St. Francis took on SFGG in a warmup game for both.
Center Kingston Keanaaina scored two tries for St. Francis while flyhalf Uate Pifeleti, scrumhalf Kaimani Keanaaina, and Mose Pifeleti all touched down.
It was a good start for St. Francis.
Ruggapalooza
The Houston Sabercats MLR team hosted Ruggapalooza with several teams from the Houston area getting some time on the field. The Sabercats assigned players to the various teams to give added tips and selected player of the game awards.
"Enthusiasm is up," said St. Thomas DOR Jim Wolfinger.
There were some relatively new teams there. HCYA Rugby Raptors were there. They are not new, but the homeschool-centered team is in the Varsity league for the first time and has been building quickly from a development team through to D2 to this level.
Also in the Varsity League is Cathedral HS. This is a fairly new school in general. A new Catholic school in Houston, Cathedral's rugby team is quite new, and they are working hard to get the numbers. The story is that some of their players were just trying out the game, but after this past weekend, they are all-in.
Over 300 players were at Ruggapalooza and because the Sabercats ran it, it was put on at no charge to the teams. Smart move by Houston.