The Inaugural game of the newly formed Girls Middle School Division for Rugby NorCal took place at the 7th Annual NorCal Girls Rugby Kick-Off Festival this last Saturday, Jan 16 in Elk Grove.  Rugby NorCal has four full Girls Middle School teams this season.

There has been a gap in the girls program for decades. World Rugby prohibits coed play by youth 12 and over. This is very understandable with the physical and mental changes girls and boys experience at that age.  For the past 13 years, the length of time I have been associated with the sport, the Girls High School programs have allowed Middle School ladies to join their teams and compete at the High School level.  Many have done this and enjoyed the sport through Middle school, High School then moving on to college and beyond.  But this avenue is restrictive.  Many parents are reluctant to have their young athletes compete at that level; so many ladies that may have had the desire to play were not able to do so.

This summer I was asked by USA Rugby to start a Girls Middle School Division in Northern California for the 2016 season.  Our Girls High School and Youth League, being one of the largest in the nation, was the prime candidate to be the first SRO to pull this off.  I tasked all the teams in our league to try to field a Girls Middle School 7’s program, this being easier than recruiting a 15’s team.  I am very happy to report that we have 4 Clubs that are fielding Girls Middle School teams; Danville, Mother Lode, Land Park and Gridley and everyone is still recruiting.  Many of the other Clubs have a few Middle School players that will be joining in with these programs.  This is a very exciting addition to the Youth and High School Girls programs in Northern California. We will be looking to expand this throughout the 15’s season and into Summer 7s. Being able to accomplish the development of this division for the 2016 is incredibly awesome, we hope the rest of the nation has as much success as we are experiencing. 

- Karen Chance