Interested in starting a youth rugby team?

www.usrugbyfoundation.org is a great source for information about rugby safety. The past two seasons, the United States Rugby Football Foundation has provided rugby ball grants to two youth teams from the North County Rugby Club Inc., a total of 15 quality rugby balls. The federation is generous in this regard, given that the balls are worth nearly $35 each. The USRFF will also provide grants to reimburse coaches who complete the USA Rugby coaching certification seminars. You can apply for ball grants and coaching clinic grants on the USRFF Web site.

www.socalyouthrugby.org is the Web site for Southern California Youth Rugby, which in 2005 becuase a subsiduary of from the Southern California Rugby Football Union because of the exponential growth in youth rugby. Last year, SCYR provided scheduling for U12, U14, U16, U19 boys teams and U15 and U19 girls teams from San Luis Obispo to San Diego. It also maintains a disciplinary committee, as well as being involved in training youth rugby referees. SCYR provides free start-up kits, rule books and mentoring for new teams and clubs.

www.NorthCountyRugby.com is the Web site for the North County Rugby Club Inc. For more than 35 years, the Escondido Athletic Club, which became the Gurkhas, has fielded a men's rugby team in North San Diego County. In 1997, it became the first club to field a youth team (Under 19) in Southern California. In 2007, the NCRC fielded a U10 non-contact (or touch), team, and tackle teams in the U12, U14 and U19 divisions. For 2008, there will be at least one U10 non-contact team, and two U12, two U14, one U16 and one U19 tackle team administered by NCRC.

HISTORY

Since first fielding the U19 Barbarians, the North County Rugby Club Inc. has prevailed in a long-running effort to employ the "English model" for a club structure, and for 2008 this model was adopted by USA Rugby. What this means simply is that the men who have retired from competitive rugby are returning as youth coaches, and that our club is now allowed to have more than one team per age group (i.e. two U14 teams). So, NCRC assets are now available to those interested in starting new teams. This model worked well for the new teams started in 2007 at Bear Valley Middle School in Escondido.

HURDLES TO GROWTH

-- Field availability. While liability insurance is available through USA Rugby to cover practices and matches, fields in North County are hard to come by. Traditional sports such as baseball, football and soccer have long-standing relationships with the municipalities and school districts who govern field availability. It is important that anyone interested in starting a team or club look first to finding a rugby pitch on which to practice and play. SCYR schedules games on Saturdays, but encourages those games to be moved to Sunday, upon agreement between the scheduled teams. Most municipalities give preference to youth sports, but many require that the members of local youth teams be primarily (75 percent is a common rule) from that community. Generally, the easiest situation is a one-school district because there are fewer officials to persuade and less bureaucratic red tape.

-- Qualified officials. SCYR strongly encourages clubs to train their own referees. And where there are not enough referees, coaches and parents are often pressed into service. This is no problem for the U12 divisions and below, because there are no standings kept for those age groups. The SCYR views the younger divisions as strictly instructional. (It can be difficult to convince the parents and coaches of U12, U10, U8 and U6 divisions teams that their matches are friendlies and that learning the game is more important than winning.) For divisions U14-U19, the home teams in league matches are required to provide match officials (referee and touch judges). NCRC has built relationships over the years with local active and retired rugby referees. Also, NCRC has sent high school age players, as well as adults, to refereeing clinics and employ them whenever scheduling permits.

COST

Relative to American football or baseball, rugby is inexpensive. For the most part, players bear the costs of rugby, and those costs can vary. Here are some if not all of the things necessary for a rugby team:

-- CIPP fees. Each club must pay to USA Rugby a $150 fee and $10-$25 (Depending on age) CIPP registration fee for each youth player. Adults CIPP registration fees are $35. USA Rugby insurance requires all team officials and players to be CIPP registered before they can go on the practice or game pitch. Registration can be done online at www.usarugby.org.

-- SCYR fees. Each contact team must pay a $150 league entry fee to SCYR.

-- Uniforms. Good quality jerseys capable of standing up to rugby wear and tear can cost between $35 and $60 apiece, depending on how ornate the jersey. www.argiesports.com, www.worldrugby.com, www.rugbyimports.com, www.teamkooga.com are some of the companies that provide rugby gear. There is an economy of scale when it comes to jerseys, shorts and socks. The more ordered, generally, the greater the discount uniform companies are willing to provide. Rugby shorts can be purchased for around $20 and socks for $5-7. All-purpose cleats suitable for rugby can be purchased for $25 a pair, but they may not have a toe cleat. Rugby boots go for $50 and up. Bargains can be found online. Mouthpieces are required and go for around $2 each for the kind you heat in boiling water and fit yourself. It is reasonable to expect players to provide their own kit.

-- Equipment. Balls, cones, field-marking flags and touch-judge flags can be obtained for free from the USRFF and SCYR. Applying for those grants are relatively easy. I have heard of no legitimate team being refused a grant. Things such as rucking pads, tackling dummies and training ladders are useful but not necessary. Portable goal posts and other training devices can be made inexpensively from PVC. The pads necessary for goal posts can run into some money if purchased. Marking fields with agricultural chalk is less expensive, but paint tends to last longer. Sometimes the equipment needed for marking fields can be borrowed from other sports leagues, or available through a local school. They can be rented.

-- Referee fees. When available in 2007, referees were paid $25 per team per match.

-- Field fees. These fees vary by municipality. Escondido charges $5 per hour for fields in Kit Carson Park, for example. Lighted fields are more expensive. It is not unusual to obtain use of school fields for free.

-- Sponsorships. NCRC is 501 C(3) nonprofit corporation. Sponsorships are tax-deductible. For the coaches and officials from our club and other nonprofits, travel and out-of-pocket expenses are also tax-deductible.

In 2008, NCRC plans to charge $150 per (U14) player to register, which will get them use of a game jersey (they are handed out before games and retrieved afterward), game shorts and socks, practice T-shirt, mouthpiece and CIPP registration. This cost is in line with the fees other youth sports leagues charge. You can carry 18 U-14 players on a game day roster; at $150 apiece, that's $2,700.

Rugby is akin to travel baseball or softball. A good team can qualify for playoffs that go all the way from the Southern California level to Nationals. USA Rugby youth division championship tournaments start at the U-14 level. Also, for U16 and above, SCYR selects an all-star team that competes for a national championship. The U19 Barbarians had to two such players in 2007. Finally, NCRC helped send two players to Hamilton, New Zealand in 2007, where they played New Zealand high school rugby while attending boarding school for one semester. Michael Lazarz and Mike Linch, who were SCYR all-stars as high school sophomores in 2006, will be 18-year-olds on the 2008 Barbarians. The SCYR all-star team they played for in 2006 took third at Nationals. We are expecting big things from them in the upcoming season.