Sometime around last spring, with little fanefare and no press release, USA Rugby quietly unveiled new high school eligibility regulations on their website. Rumors of some proposed changes had been trickling in to our offices over the preceding few months.
Ironically, this may partly be because this is a backtracking from USA Rugby policy of only a few seasons ago. When USA Rugby took over management of the Girls High School National championship, they implemented u-19 eligibility guidelines and policies, much to the fruistration of many invovled. The result of that was the opening of the door to girls who had graduated high school. For teams who fielded a high school only team, this created an unequal playing field. In a decision that seemed to be a step back from playing high school rugby, freshman in college were allowed to play in what used to be "high school' rugby.
USA Rugby did eventually step back from that misstep. Now they have gone a step further, and to their credit, they've made things very clear. If you are going to play in a high school rugby conference you need to be in high school. Seems pretty logical to us, especially in a contact sport.
To do this, USA Rugby has drawn a hard line in the sand. Scrimmages, much less full matches against college sides are now strictly prohibited, even for high school all-star teams. And, what may prove to be a bigger issue for more teams, middle school students are not allowed to play on or against high school teams. The old adage, "if you're good enough, you're old enough" no longer applies. This is relevant to many teams as some programs outside of the official school teams, have built up jv sides with 8th graders. Teams like Kettle Moraine, Vernon, and Brookfield had a long tradition of exposing young middle school athletes to the game. Even on the national level, Champions Fallbrook and NorCal's Sacramento Amazons relied on some very talented middle school athletes to complete their rosters. The reality has been that a few incredible young middle school athletes are able to complete with older girls.
But, the changes are tough to argue against overall: the new middle school exclusion makes sense to anyone involved in organized high school sports. Most importantly, There are just too many liabilty issues at stake when athletes from the commonly accepted divisions of schooling compete against each other. It goes against the "industry standard" and that's a huge insurance and player safety concern.
Thus, High School rugby under USA Rugby is now only high school rugby, like any other high school sanctioned sport.
It's also bigger than that. If rugby is to grow in this country and this state, there has to be incentive to start exposing more athletes to the game at younger ages. If middle school students want to play, GREAT, now it's time we organize their own age-appropriate teams. Hopefully "if you build it, they will come" has some merit here and ultimately, more girls would be attracted to playing if they could play on middle school teams. Certainly not every middle schooler would be able to compete on high school teams anyway, and this could help open up the game to more kids and more communities. This is why, ultimately, our WGR editorial board supports the changes.
Youth and High School Policies below with their exact wording: (
click here for USA Rugby's Eligibilty page)
☆ Field Sizes and Match Durations for Youth USA Rugby has provided a policy for all youth and high school-aged players in relation to time limits for games and time limits for days, as well as field dimensions. Please review this policy when scheduling any fixtures for youth players.
☆ USA Rugby Policy for High School Freshmen Under-15 Playing High School Rugby Under 15 players should not normally play High School or U19 Rugby. This Guideline relates to players who are Under 15 years old AND in High School who wish to play in or be involved in training for, High School or U19 Rugby. Middle School players are not permitted to participate in High School Rugby.
☆ Under 18 and High School Players Participating in Adult Rugby (College or Senior Club) Rugby (Effective May 2010) Players under the age of 18 are not permitted to play Adult Rugby. This guideline and waiver relates only to exceptional players identified by USA Rugby national coaches who are 17 and wish to play in, or be involved in training for, all College or Adult Rugby matches or scrimmages. Players must gain signatures from parent, coach, physician, USA Rugby national office and be approved before participation.
☆ Under 18 and High School Team Policy High School and Under 19 rugby teams are not permitted to play contact rugby against college or adult rugby teams in practice or games.
