Peter practicing a dive pass
An opportunity arose through my work with the USA 7s group to spread the gospel of rugby to the youth of San Diego. It has become quite clear that one of the best ways of growing a budding sport in the US is through the grassroots level. We have partnered with the YMCA of La Jolla to become a feature in their summer sports camp. This year, numbers were low and, subsequently, very manageable. I worked with Dan Lyle, the USA 7s tournament director, on the week-long curriculum for the group of 7-12 year olds, and I put it to practice all last week.
Aidan with a form tackle
The kids learned the basics of the game, from passing to kicking to tackling, along with some of the intricacies of the sport, including offsides and scrums. The majority of the sessions consisted of drills and practical exercises, followed up by a fun game to put what they just learned to use. It was a lot of fun working with the kids, seeing them progress over the course of the week. By the end of our five days together, they were able to play a game of touch rugby with minimal stops, with some of the kids working some strategy in on their own.
YMCA/USA 7s Rugby Camp '08
They particularly liked when Dan came out for one of the sessions. Having a true legend of the sport run around with them (not to mention someone 5 times their size) was a treat they won't forget for a while. Without being prompted, every one of the kids mentioned how they couldn't wait until they could come back next year. One of my bigger goals enrolling in this program was to help expose rugby on a large scale to the American public. The more I've been immersed in that issue, the more I realize it will take similar efforts like this by many in their local communities all over the country for the sport to really take hold.
3 comments:
mate! Great article. Gatesy from Australia, here..I'm one of those Rugby nuts who just want to see our (Wallabies) opponents (Eagles etc) get stronger, because it just makes our game stronger all around.
You guys are the sleeping giants of world Rugby and I follow your progress with great interest.
Getting with the kids is the way to go. As you know, in our country, they start playing en masse at about ages 7 - 9, so we don't have the challenges that you do, and it is very organised.
That is where the skills base of your national game comes from.. the kids who just want to have a ball in their hands all the time, passing, kicking, playing games of touch and so on. They don't even realise they are learning the skills.
I've put two boys through high school Rugby and I can't tell you how many pairs of trousers have had the knees worn out of them because of lunch time Rugby in the playground! Worth every cent, as far as I am concerned.
It's got to be hard for you to get the message out there, when you are confronted with so many multi-billion dollar sports, but just keep going. The world of Rugby needs you, mate!
Excellent method of trying to start a grass roots interest in the sport. Great work teaching the kids. This is the only way rugby is going to catch on. It has been over 30 years of effort like this with soccer football in the US to get that sport where it is so it will take a while for rugby to gain the same level of popularity. Excellent work and great program.
Keep up spreading the word! Really enjoyed this piece! Rugby has the potential to be massive in the States and grass roots initiatives are the key to producing players who can intuitively play the game for the love of the game!
In Ireland rugby is competing with two native sports, hurling and gaelic football both run an amateur organisation, the GAA. (Worth a look actually for your MBA course, very interesting set up!) Rugby also has to compete with soccer and the monster that is the English Premiership!
Still we make do and produce some quality players, largely due to the standard of our coaches and their dedication to players from an early age. Yet we are still fighting to raise the profile of the game in non-traditional areas.
I think kids should be exposed to all kind of sports, but such is the variety, fun and frienship that is unique to rugby union I believe many young players would opt for it as they get older and narrow down their sports.
So get some rugby balls out there, throw up a few games of 6-down and touch and watch them come!
All the best with the MBA, seems like a very interesting course.
Hugh @ Eskimo Rugby
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