Oklahoma HS starts a Rugby program... defeats schools 20X thier size

[OKIEBOY]

http://okblitz.com/Article.aspx?id=25029

 

[OSU Blue]

Allow me to clarify to anyone who has no idea what's going on. I played high school rugby in Oklahoma, US and have maintained involvement. This video is at some sort of press day or something for high school gridiron teams. High school football coaches in Oklahoma typically despise rugby. Players are simply not allowed to play. This is a football coach who came out of left field and allowed (and encourages) his players to play rugby (he may coach rugby, too, perhaps OKIEBOY can clarify as to who he is and what he does).

The rugby team's first year they went undefeated through the regular season. Not bad. Anyway, it's kind of a big deal to have a gridiron coach come right out and talk about how much he supports rugby at a gridiron meeting. I once asked one of my teachers (offensive line coach) if he wanted to buy a shirt from the rugby team for support and he lectured me on how he doesn't support it, blah, blah, blah. Oh, and the school's tiny, like the graduating classes are smaller than some of my actual classes.

 

[Shaggy]

Good to see ... thanks guys ... I am interested in rugby in North America, as i'm a relatively recent arrival here.

This coach seems to have either been or has some affiliation with New Zealand, as I see he has a Hei Matau (Maori fish hook bone carved necklace) in the video.

Peter Thornburn (ex All Black selector) was predicting that Rugby playing numbers are going to significantly increase over the next ten years - do you guys think this is the case?

 

[OSU Blue]

Around here, I would say definitely. I graduated High School in 2005 with around 7 teams, now there are around 11 or 12, and there's now a large tournament that brings in around 20 teams. The rugby association around here has taken off, and there are more players per team getting involved. Honestly, though, the number of quality coaches hasn't grown with team number.

There have also been two college clubs started since I graduated, both created by guys I played with or against in high school.

 

[Shaggy]

Around here, I would say definitely. I graduated High School in 2005 with around 7 teams, now there are around 11 or 12, and there's now a large tournament that brings in around 20 teams. The rugby association around here has taken off, and there are more players per team getting involved. Honestly, though, the number of quality coaches hasn't grown with team number.

There have also been two college clubs started since I graduated, both created by guys I played with or against in high school.

Thanks for the info -that's great to hear that the player numbers are up and the competitions are in place in your area, and hopefully the Coach situation will right itself over time, and that More Players/Teams/Competitions is a national tread and carries over to better results for the USA national team in the long run.

Good luck to you and your team