"The Rising Eagles"
Youth Rugby
Kindergarten
through
High School
Sports teaches our youth many things from friendship, teamwork, companionship, trust, respect, tolerance, and fair play, to being Competitive just to name a few.
That being said, it is also the goal of our Rugby club, called the Rising Eagles, to use these same values while teaching kids to play Rugby. Rugby is a great sport for girls (yes, I said girls) as well as boys of all ages. We are opening a Rugby Club in the San Fernando Valley for the 2011-2012 seasons commencing with Rookie Rugby for Elementary school kids and tackle Rugby for Middle School and tackle Rugby for High School.
Our club is called "The Rising Eagles" as we are helping to set the girls and boys a goal to play for the USA in a team called "The Eagles" in the future Olympics. Thus training and dedication, plus the inspirations from the USA Eagles themselves, can only serve as encouragement for the goals they seek. This is why we will be playing in the only “Southern California” youth rugby league sanctioned by USA Rugby which is the governing body for Rugby in the USA.
We will be playing about eight games and with dedication and hard work we could go through to the play offs and then State. Until the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) makes rugby a sanctioned sport, it is our goal to get at least 4 High School teams in the valley, to compete with each other. This would also be a good venue for development and the discovery of new talented athletes.
Why Rugby then? Since 1995 when Rugby Union allowed rugby players to be paid rugby has taken off worldwide. It is now back in the Olympics starting in 2012 and then as a medal sport in the 2016 Olympics, when the USA will be the defending gold champions. In 2007, when the last Rugby World Cup was played, there were over four BILLION people watched the games.
Rugby is a good sport for kids. It is fun, exciting, an appropriate activity and would showcase the dexterity of our youth. It's one of the only sports where the ball is passed backwards but yet you have to move it forward; this is where the fun starts. Rugby can be played by girls and boys, where all the kids get to hold the ball, run with the ball, pass the ball and more importantly any girl or boy can score with the ball.
In this sport there are no rules, just laws. The parents, coaches and players must have the utmost respect for the referee, for the referee is the law. In this manner our kids learn the rules of life.
