U.S.A. Rugby will no longer crown a high school champion. In its place will be a Boys HS Invitational Championship to be held next May in Indiana. The new tournament will have no affiliate with U.S.A. Rugby but will likely continue to invite the best teams to the competition.
Controversially last year’s High School Championships switched away from a format based on qualification to one based on invitation. This riled some parts of the country that lost their automatic berth while others, in particular strong programs in rugby-dense parts of the country, were glad to receive a chance to compete.
The move is hardly surprising as the growth of high school rugby around the country has caused increasingly more congested schedules and more robust state programs. (We advocated this change a few months back.) This move should allow more resources to be focused on running and building up state programs. As more high school programs emerged, the timing of the High School Championships became problematic. For example, teams in Colorado have their season in late Spring and by the time a champion was announced, it would be too cost prohibitive, not to mention possible overlap with their high school season, for them to travel to the competition.
What do you think? Will this change the landscape of high school rugby or was this change simply keeping up with the times?
I think it is a great idea. The time has come for there to be more focus on building State Championships akin to the other sports. With such a small window in the Spring, teams were left making tough decisions and spreading themselves too thin in order to chase the National Championship.
ReplyDeleteIn the long run, I believe this move will help as new programs crop up. It was hard to explain our past championship pathways to an athletic director. Now it is easy. State Championship... end of story.
You have to wonder if USA Rugby makes poor decisions like this because their management are ignorant, or they are broke and living off CIPP fees.
ReplyDeleteWould you rather CIPP fees go back into administration of SBROs like we've seen with the HR grants (speaking as an SBRO official), or continue to waste money on a tournament that can't even feature all the top teams every year due to calendar issues and travel costs? You sound like a whiny college coach. This move is what most SBROs want.
DeleteRugby America,
ReplyDeleteAgreed, particularly as the number of teams in each state continues to increase.
I like having the invitational still as it provides a way for the top programs (who often have the top players) to play each other and it also helps compare the standard of play in different regions. Plus, the traditional American sports are increasingly playing teams from different states. You see interstate high school football games between powerhouse programs all the time now (and often on ESPN). We should definitely encourage the best programs to play each other in rugby too.
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. In fact, I won't be surprised to see more invitational events start showing up in the Spring Break window hosted by warmer weather areas. Not unlike high school baseball where northern teams use Spring Break to go south and get in valuable game time.
This move was inevitable for the future of high school rugby. Strong state championships will be an easier sell to officials and parents than an expensive cross-country National Championship. Grassroots rugby is about growing the game and this was a good move.
Thanks for this article, your reasoning is right on. Our focus on State Championships is so important for our next level of growth and development. We are at 38 state organizations focused on grassroot development and they are getting really good at their work. USA Rugby's resources will continue to flow through these orgs. to grow, develop and improve the game at the state level.
ReplyDeleteFor those interested in a next level of play, the pathway for 2013 and beyond:
State leagues play into state championships => Then after that is completed, all star or 'travel' club play culminating in 7 Regional All Star Tournaments => Then our national coaches will choose 50 boys and 50 girls from those 7 tournaments to play in the High School All American east v west game on July 6th.
This allows plenty of rugby to be played locally, while still giving that next level of competition.