Ref Review: Can Rugby League & Soccer Help Grow Rugby Union In USA?

Cody Kuxmann • April 18, 2012 • 7 Comments

The Ref

Cody Kuxmann is a Referee at the London Society Of Rugby Football Union Referees, while studying International Relations at Richmond, The American International University in London. He lives in Richmond Upon Thames but hails from Green Bay, Wisconsin.

This week, I asked myself the hard question about there being room in the USA for another major professional sport; like professional Rugby Union. Unfortunately, my answer was not positive. While I see rugby growing in the next 10-15 years to the point that we do have it on the professional level, I don’t see as more than the size of the WNBA. I don’t see it going much further, any faster than that. However, what about the the other code of rugby… Rugby League?

My credentials? I’m a referee for Rugby Union, Rugby League and also Football/Soccer). What I see in the United States is the respective ways that these games have been developed. Rugby Union has gone for the straight approach of gaining a player base. Rugby League has gone for the professional fan base. Soccer has attempted to build a through a heavy youth-playing base.

Rugby Union can borrow from the other two sports and a lot can be learned from an administrative perspective. When looking at Rugby League it’s clear that they have a decent program when over 2000 fans attend a single match. I’ve seen just that at regular club game once in the United States, but it doesn’t happen often. What are they doing that’s different? They have been able to promote a brand of rugby that is fast and continuous and easy to understand. Something people want to see. When was the last time that your team actively went out and promoted an open game within the public?

From soccer, the biggest thing that American Rugby Union can be followers in is the area of youth development. There still aren’t enough kids playing at a young age. Fore the most part, we have players coming in at the age of 14 at the earliest. There has been some substantial youth development done – and that’s a credit to USA Rugby and Rugby USA - but teams should be actively promoting the game through the use of tag or touch rugby at a young age. Wouldn’t it be great to see a bunch of parents coming together on a weekday night to watch their young kids play rugby?

What are your thoughts?

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Tagged with: AMNRL • Cody Kuxmann • London Society Of Rugby Football Union Referees • Rugby League • rugby union • Rugby Wrap Up

All Blacks Rule

If you have mullet, big arms and no skill, you can play league. If you are afraid of getting hurt, you play soccer. If you’re an athlete looking for a challenge, you play rugby.
- http://www.facebook.com/ckuxmann Cody Kuxmann
  
  Oh come on, they are two sports that require roughly the same skill set. There is more technical aspects in rugby yes, but more fitness is needed for league.
TheJuggernaut

On the point of soccer – they only got their sh*t together in the US about 20 years ago. There was a lengthy article about the US Soccer program that came out around the time of the 2010 World Cup that I found pretty eye opening. But the reason that the game has developed well has been because of the proliferation of youth soccer and the investment in a professional league. Granted, the MLS is not on par with the rest of the world, but it has slowly and quietly made strides, but has also been patient in its growth. Hosting the 1994 World Cup helped create the MLS, but now the league is starting to mature a bit and we’re seeing players that have come up through the entire system from youth soccer to select teams to the US academy, all the way to the national team and many are making an impact abroad.

But the coaching has improved, too. Instead of clueless dads yelling ‘BOOT IT!!!’ from the sidelines you have people coaching now that also were born in the system and know something about the game. There are available resources for all of this. One advantage rugby has in this scenario is the availability of coaching and educational resources on the internet for rugby. I also think the people coaching it to the youth, even at this early stage, aren’t clueless dads, but a lot of ex-pat ruggers that still love the game, but can no longer play.

I think that the soccer model should be one that rugby should shoot for – participation at the youth levels and make it sprout up from there. That way, when a kid grabs a rugby ball in high school or college he or she already “gets it”. From a professional standpoint, we’re not developing a lot of successful American ruggers domestic or abroad. Look at any Super League or D1 club and generally the best players are ex-pats or guys with a lot of experience in another country and despite not being what they once were, they can play at a high level against US competition. The pitches they play on don’t even have a place for spectators, so what TV network would even think about broadcasting their games? Maybe it isn’t like that everywhere, but in New England it definitely is that way. The home pitch of Boston RFC is one of the worst around and it is shared with a handful of other teams.

The MLS was a great way to give college soccer players a chance to keep going and actually get paid for it. Yes, they do bring in the occasional Beckham or Henry for gate, but this has also been a platform where a guy like Dempsey can go be a top player in the MLS and an impact player in the Premier League. I’m not saying that rugby will dominate the US sports landscape, but we could definitely have a good domestic league, better national team, and more participation nationwide with a grass roots youth explosion and an investment in higher level rugby with more visibility.
- http://www.facebook.com/ckuxmann Cody Kuxmann
  
  Great response, I really enjoyed reading it!
  - TheJuggernaut
    
    Thanks Cody, I enjoy your contributions to this site and I check in a couple times a week. Love reading items that club players like myself can relate to.
    - http://www.facebook.com/people/Junoir-Blaber/512502691 Junoir Blaber
      
      I like how you think Juggernaut. Also that is the longest response we have ever had here. JWB, we have our newest RWU columnist right here!!
TheJuggernaut

In case you wanted to check out that ESPN column I spoke of. It’s a good read and some of it definitely applies to rugby in the states.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/columns/story/_/id/5253790/ce/us/us-team-decades-futility?cc=5901&ver=us