The Sacramento Valley Rugby Foundation's 32nd Annual Kick Off Tournament (KOT) was yet another successful start to the high school rugby season.

In addition to the improved fields at Cordova High, lots of prior planning, including the recruitment of volunteers, teams and referees, helped put on 86 matches on Saturday, and 60 matches Sunday. All matches began and ended on time, a miracle in modern rugby tournaments.

The teams played mostly for the experience and time on the field. In only a few brackets was there a champion, per se. Teams were given 90 minutes of game time each day. In all, there were four levels of Boys Varsity play (two each day), Girls Varsity (12 sides), Boys JV and Middle School each day, Girls Middle School for our first time ever, U12s and U10s Open Saturday and againSunday, with Light divisions of Middle School, U12 and U10 added Sunday, and U8s were also in action on Sunday.

Though Jesuit High was clearly the strongest Varsity side on Saturday, the focus was on squad development for all teams throughout the weekend.  

Sacramento-based Jesuit entered four teams, while Solo (a newly combined Solano-Yolo Counties club that incorporates what used to be Dixon HS), Sierra Foothills, and Mother Lode each entered six or more sides featuring boys and girls and all age groups. Land Park Motley, Elk Grove, SacPD PAL, and Gridley and Chico each entered five or more sides, and are more youth-oriented.

Several teams traveled up from the Bay Area, most with two sides (including Alameda, Oakland Warthogs, Bishop O'Dowd, Peninsula Green, Razorhawks, Los Gatos Lions, Berkeley Rhinos, Danville Oaks, Pleasanton Cavaliers and Lamorinda).  Valley Panthers from McMinnville, Ore. and the Santa Monica Dolphins from Southern California brought Boys Varsity sides, and Liberty, out of Washington, brought three sides, Varsity through Middle School. 

A crucial aspect related to the pre-season development nature of the event, over 50 referees worked alongside each other, and under 12 referee coaches, over three days, to develop their skills as well.  The day started with a free day of referee education Friday at Sacrament State University. Top referees visited from as far away as Edmonton, Boston, and Durban, many local refs handled their first very games ever.  

Becoming a skillful rugby referee is extremely challenging, as only one ref handles a full 70-minute high school match, with just a short halftime break.  The shorter pre-season games offered at the KOT, and with ages ranging from U8s up to U19, and at many competitive levels, can prove to be the perfect primer for the season ahead.