Re: Gregan agrees
- From: johnmhill <john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2007 06:49:04 -0800 (PST)
On Nov 27, 1:21 pm, Dave Keegan <ru...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Nov 26, 9:24 am, johnmhill <j...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Nov 26, 1:42 pm, Dave Keegan <ru...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I would be more than happy to discuss the impact at local level, and
in particular discuss the route USA will take to fulfill their
potential. At the moment I have just finished reading Friday Night
Lights and wonder how Nigel is expecting to attract the High School
Football aficionados and boosters across to rugby.
JH
Good subject. If I had the answers I would be applying for national
office with USA Rugby.
Why should you be different. Although the inclusion of people like
Mark Griffin on the board is positive
Some observations, I played for PAC in DC back in the early 80's
when they had a different name, and at that time organised rugby was
more of an ex-pat exercise than any kind of organised plan for
expanding the game to the natives. There was the odd team at
Universities, but more social than serious. Not many of my American
friends had heard of Rugby, let alone understood anything at all about
the game.
DC isn't a popular place in my family my son got a bad lower leg
injury due to pitch conditions playing for KC Blues against Washington
a couple of years ago in the Super League. Strangely implemented that
league, but it seems to me part of the problem rather than part of the
solution
Today there are rugby teams at most of the local High Schools here
in DC. Now they are clubs rather than Varsity sports, meaning they
have to raise their own funds and organise themselves outside of the
Athletic dept that gets all the Booster funds, but the fact that there
has been at least that much change in 25 years is promising. A lot of
my friends now have sons and daughters who play the game, and the
awareness has grown considerably.
I know that there is a Varsity program in CT with Greenwich high Scool
and Staples High in Westport. I believe that what they are doing in CT
is part of the way forward in that they are building a dense core
focussed on High Schools and then radiating out. It will be slow, but
in that area of relatively dense population is probably the way
forward.
Getting Rugby into the mainstream of High School sports is the key,I agree High School is the key, but, that is not the way USA Rugby
as you allude to. However if you look at the list of Varsity
sanctioned sports at any school it's huge. There is room at the Inn
for everyone if the interest is there. I helped coach a Lacross Club
at the local High school, again in the 80's, and it was hard going
without the support of the School. 20 Years on that club is now part
of the Varsity program and has won State Championships, is fully
funded and has huge status at the school for the kids involved. It
just took perseverence. The school population and the money is there
if you can show organisation.
sees it. I fear that Nigel melville has gone rapidly native buying
into picking up the dregs of college football. Yes they are superb
athletes, they are also automatons and I cannot see how that degree of
drilling will work on the International stage. International success
will drive local success as it has in England.
IMO College is the latest to leave recruitment and to do that you need
scholarships to scoop in the poor athletic kids who aren't going to
make the Football or Basketball draft, in a country that has a
shortage of locks how can you ignore basketball players ?
The College game seems to be growing on both Seaboards and the East
Coast quality improving with teams like Penn State (particularly the
Women) leading the way. OTOH Penn State is number 3 or 4 collegiate
and they were beaten by a SW1 (Level 5) 2nd XV just before the
playoffs.
You will never beat out American Football, or Soccer, for the top
contact sports for status and support at High School level. That
shouldn't be the goal. But Football (US) in particular shoots itself
in the foot by being elitist..there are only two teams at any high
school, Varsity and Junior Varsity, and while these are big teams
there is no structure within the school for those that perhaps don't
fit the mold of their game, no B or C or D team. In a school of
2-3,000 kids that leaves a huge pool of potential players out of the
mix and available to us to recruit. The key will be to get enough
Varsity sanctioned teams in the area to have a sanctioned league. Then
rugby will have it's chance to compete for talent with the other
games.
I don't believe that beating Football out is a sensible goal, but, if
some of the smarter HS football/basketball and even soccer stars had
an college option other the narrow view provided by College recruiters
you would quickly start developing a significant rugby playing base.
You only need about 0.2% of the population to have more players than
England.
There are also individual efforts that have been outstandingly
successful that may have an impact in the future. In DC here, a
teacher who played rugby at University brought the game to an inner
city High school. At first he had no support, the kids laughed at his
efforts, he got a few non athetes to try out, but with support from a
few local rugby players and the New Zealand Embassy he got the team up
and running. This was a hard area, he had kids on his team killed in
drive bys etc, but he persevered and today Hyde Rugby is legend. The
Rugby team has a 100% graduation record, which is unreal given where
they are coming from, as part of the team goal. And they have achieved
it. This is the kind of thing that will make people sit up and take
notice. You can bet the American Football team at Hyde doesn't have
that kind of impact.http://www.washingtonrugbyclub.org/mainart/youth/hyde_school_rugby.htm
Yep, heard of that Play Rugby in New York is working well too. Mark
Griffin is an outstanding Leader. The whole program with about 750
kids in morristown NJ is very effective and Bruno Artes in San Diego
has a thriving program going.
And there's talk of a movie....
A friend of mine is part of an effort in Alexandria Virginia, across
the Potomac River from DC, to provide similar support to a local high
school there. A club has been formed for the specific purpose of
raising awareness of rugby in schools, and funds to provide
scholarships for Rugby players to got to university.http://www.alexandriarugby.org
When you start talking about rugby providing scholarships for
students you are talking getting in the fast lane for recognition by
the school and community.
These are only small efforts in the great scheme of things, but I
have seen other sports grow quickly that have less going for them.
Those kids that play Rugby are for the most part evangelists for the
game. There is a cache growing about rugby in high schools that is
making it "cool" to be a player, the whole no pad-rugby players eat
their dead thing. Lots of rugby shirts and T's being worn as cool
clothing.
OTOH there are plenty of half hearted attempts going on too, or silly
interclub rivalries and territory protection getting in the way of
development. there are two excellent programs in Kansas City; but they
are (or were 2 years ago) exclusive. The , again IMO, better of the
two was alos stymied by bureacracy. They wanted to bring in a Level 3
Tutor/Assessor and Coach to act as Director of coaching across boys,
girls, men and women on a 2 year contract; he was stopped by the Visa
people.
The problem is that America is a huge country and I don't see
what is potentially happening here being easily reproduced across the
country. Rugby, like soccer, is in pockets rather than broadly spread.
The question is how much growth is needed before you can declare that
the US has fulfilled it's potential? I think it's success will be
measured in international competition. When the US advances to the
round of 8 at the RWC you would have to call that a significant
achievment and say that potential has been achieved.
Size is a huge problem. I'm not convinced that the solutions and
systems currently on the table are sufficiently realistic to tackle
that. The distances and costs involved in Super League are great when
you can fill a 50,000 seater stadium and every game is televised, but
make little sense when the $20k for an away game could be invested in
local grassroots development and you play local, regional and national
finals as they do in college.
I believe that the US could win the 2015 RWC with a base of
professional players and the quality of athletes around. But, I also
think that the current batch of eagles need to be playing in S14 and
HC. That is where the "minnows" developed their strength for RWC 2007.
That is where the experienced players are and that is where the
tougher comps are. FWIW I would get forwards into Europe, Back row and
backs into SANZAR
Oh and instruct the local refs to stop being wimps about rucking.
JH
Keegan...
.
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