NEW YORK, NY – The Rugby Rain Man Collective is large. Put simply, we exist in countries that are not even recognized by the UN. As a result, in a random chat with some of my Rain Man buddies, we brought up youth rugby and the growth of the game. And since it’s never like RWU to sit on a great idea, we decided to try and dedicate more coverage to the youth rugby scene by having teams report in… These came in first:
Country: Canada
State/Province: Ontario
County: Niagara
League: Niagara Flag Rugby
Report: On August 30th 2013, the championships for the league were held at the Grimsby Rugby Club. Under a blue sky 150 rugby players enjoyed the day of rugby fun. The junior kindergarten to grade two division had some fun, and no scores were kept. Three teams from Niagara Falls, and one each from St. Catharines, Grimsby and Fort Erie participated and received ribbons… In the grade 3 to 5 Division, the Niagara Falls Fury were able to repeat as champions by slipping past Fort Erie in the finals 12-11… The Grade 6 to 8 tournament was filled with closely contested matches. The final, however, saw the Niagara Falls Fury defeat the Grimsby Grubbers 22-12… League President, Caleb Smith, was impressed “The kids had fun and that is the most important thing. Our volunteers who manned the bbq and photo area were great, the coaches were enthusiastic and the referees were level headed.” Niagara Flag Rugby is an independent rugby organization that organizes and facilitates flag rugby throughout the Niagara Region.
Full Disclosure: Mr. Smith served as my assistant coach in 2001 when I was the head coach of the Niagara University Womens Rugby team. We won D3 NY State in that year, our first year.
Country:USA
State/Province: Pelham
County: Westchester
League: Pelham Youth Rugby
Report: Some of you may remember the Pelham team from our Atlantic Cup Challenge article earlier this year. They are currently up to 80 kids, ranging from grades 2-10. They are on the verge of getting to be varsity in Pelham High School. The team is also are undefeated in 2 yrs of league play at the U-15 level, and this year will be going to a U-16/14/12 system for tackle. They are going to play Xavier and Greeniwch this coming year. The U-15 team is currently looking for sponsorship and donations to help fund the team going to Bermuda to play the Bermuda U-15 team and defend the Atlantic Cup. If you are interested please contact Matthew Persanis, Director of Rugby, mp@elefantepersanis.com.
Before we get out of here, we want to make a couple of announcements.
–The New York 7s Tournament is always a great excuse to get to NYC. Come this year and join JWB, myself and most of the RWU Staff:
-If you can’t make to the New York 7s, you should check out the Niagara Wasps Rugby Tournament in Niagara, Ontario.
-If you would like your youth league’s rugby scores to be reported by RWU, simply post them below in the comment section – like a reporter on the scene – or email us at RugbyWrapUpYouth@gmail.com. Posting them in the comment section is immediate and suggested!
That’s it for now… feel free to comment below, look for and “Like” our Facebook Rugby Wrap Up Page and follow us on Twitter @: RugbyWrapUp, Junoir Blaber, DJ Eberle, Nick Hall, James Harrington, Cody Kuxmann and Declan Yeats, respectively.
And until the next time… stay low and keep pumping those legs.
