Ocean State Youth Rugby & Rugby Rhode Island, along with Island Rugby and Providence Pirates Present:
Youth Rugby – 7v7 Summer Series 2024
Updated: April 14, 2024
Practices:
Tu & Th – 6:00-7:30pm
Games:
Sat or Sun – Typically about 4-6 hours. (Due to travel around Southern New England Area)
Practice Location:
Quonset Point Fields
GPS: Intersection of Cross Park Ave & Babcock Road, North Kingstown, RI 02852
The precursor to American Football, rugby does have a long tradition in the United States. While it has been most popular at the college level for a couple of generations, it has grown at the youth and high school levels over the last several years.
Rugby Rhode Island & Ocean State Youth Rugby is offering the opportunity for the youth of the area to participate in a short summer experience that will involve working with a few Rhode Island-based youth rugby organizations to introduce, learn, practice, and compete in modified versions of the game of rugby with other youths in the Southern New England area.
Focus:
These sessions will be focused on athletes in 3rd-8th grade. Tough/flag rugby, introductory skills, goals of the game, passing, spacing, defensive coverage, and more.
***High school-aged students will be referred to a high school program if interested.
Cost(s):
These practice sessions will have no costs; however, to participate in the sanctioned rugby games on the Sunday and Saturday dates, each player must register individually with USA Rugby to play. This cost is about $25-$50 and covers participation for a year*.
The costs of these practice sessions are being paid for through donations gained by rugby supporters! (If you would like to donate, please inquire)
*This does not include actively joining a youth organization outside of this summer series. Each club, including Ocean State Rugby, will have registration fees of some kind to help cover costs.
Please know/remember, youth rugby – especially in Rhode Island – is still in the early phases of development. We rely on volunteers and many donating their time and money. There may be expense that pop up in order to participate, but there is a unified effort to minimize expenses for all involved.
What Athletes will Experience:
– Learn a new sport
– How to pass a unique ball
– Cooperative skills
– Meet new kids
– Compete with and against new kids
– Constant action, little downtime
– Build confidence
– A position for every size and shape!
– Carpool with teammates to games!
What Parents/ Families Should Expect:
– Practices will be between 90-120 minute sessions.
– Co-ed play at ages below high-school
– Flag/touch for ages up through 6th grade
– Tackling begins in the 7th grade and beyond.
– Tackling is taught slowly. Proper rugby tackling is different from football tackling. (this will not be the immediate focus as all newcomers, regardless of age, will play flag during practice until otherwise indicated)
– Rugby competition days will be either Saturdays or Sundays, typically 4-8 hour events. (Stay as long as you can, leave when you need to.)
– 7v7 games are 14 minutes long with TWO 7-minute halves – so, on rugby days, several games are usually played with breaks in between.
– Travel can be within Rhode Island or just over the border to Massachusetts and Connecticut.
– Rugby competition days can have us playing as our own organization or if numbers are low, we combine with other organizations or we lend players to other teams.
– While we hope everyone will love the sport, athletes, and families can play and participate as much or as little as necessary.
– Like other sports, have a car – will carpool!
Equipment/Items Needed:
- At minimum – sneakers
- Ideal: Soccer or Rugby cleats
- Mouthguard could be worn, but contact will be minimal in most sessions as this will be focused on touch/flag, spacing, and passing.
- Water/Water bottle
- Sunscreen/Bug Spray are recommended
Remember, at the youth level we are at the “grassroots” stage in Rhode Island. While rugby is considered the fastest growing sport in the United States, we are not up to the numbers to support local “leagues”, but we are quickly approaching that status. Massachusetts an Connecticut (and several other areas of the country) are ahead of us right now, but rugby is very much a unified and supportive group.
Be a part of something that’s both new and old!
The Lowdown:
Rugby ranges from touch and flag to full tackle, depending on age. Tackle typically starts in 7th/8th grade, while touch/ flag is played at the younger ages.
The size of the field and number of players also range, like lacrosse and soccer, however, 7’s rugby can still be played at the highest levels of the sport.
15 v 15 rugby is the “full” version of the game and comes with the large scrums which typically starts for those that are high school-school aged and older.
Practices and competitive events will focus on 7’s rugby which tends to be fast-paced and focuses on clean passes and open spaces as well as proper defensive coverage.
Practices and much of the competition is co-ed below the high school age.
While there can be contact and injuries, the risks are similar to soccer and other current youth sports.
List of Events:
The season has already started in New England Area. However, Ocean State Rugby will join everyone in weekly action starting in May 2024.
Event Schedule:
May-July 2024 – TBD
Ocean State Rugby 