NEW YORK, NY – Youth Rugby is not just the critical component to any long-term success for any program or nation, it’s also quite fun… To that end, our group of Rugby Savants known as the RRMC (Rugby Rain Man Collective) are trying to dedicate more coverage to the YRS (Youth Rugby Scene) by having teams report in… Here is the latest report submitted to RWU by a squad from the USA’s Sunshine State.
The Cape Pirates Rugby Club Pirates – or P-rats as we are called – is the Youth Team of the Brevard Old Red Eye. The club got started in 2012 when Brock and Blaine Roper grew tired of having no viable option for them to play a contact sport without being covered up in pads.
So, they decided to start our team. They enlisted a few of their friends and we were off running. We focused all our trainings on passing and catching the ball, running straight lines and proper tackling technique. This was imperative due to our size; we could only play 7’s at first due to the lack of numbers. Still, we had a very successful first season, ending with only one loss.
We decided to play 15’s but due to the players all being under 17, we approached the Florida Rugby Union about having a Shield Division – which would be U17. This would enable us to play and compete with players of the same ages. That allowed us to play in the 2013 Shield Division and we only had one regular season loss to Naples, which we avenged in the final with to capture the State Title.
Again, our focus was and will always be on basic skills: tackling, passing and catching. This has resulted in at least 50% possession and minimal knock-ons, with ball-retention being tantamount.
We had over 8 players make the North Florida U16 select side, culminating in a 57-17 win over the South… 5 players made the North Florida U19 select side with the North winning that game as well. Prop Reed Wigglesworth was named as the Best High School Prop in Florida.
We have now joined the top bracket and look forward to a competitive season against the upper echelon teams. Our numbers have swelled to 25 players, with the welcome addition of players from Indian River County.
Thanks to Cape RFC’s Steve Roper for this submission. If you would like your youth league’s rugby scores to be reported by RWU, simply post them below in the comment section or email us at RugbyWrapUpYouth@gmail.com. Posting them in the comment section is immediate and suggested!
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And until the next time… stay low and keep pumping those legs.
