1. Require ID cards for all players. Very easy to do with today's technology.
2. Limit the number of non resident players to 2 or 3 on the field at any one time.
3. If you live in the boundaries of a High School that has a team, you must play for that team.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Dave makes some very good suggestions worth looking into
Is it time to:
1. Clarify the resident, non resident, citizen, non citizen confusion?
2. USA Rugby National Championship for US Clubs with US Citizens/Residency who live in the USA
3. And their could be allowances for true exchange students studying full-time in academic courses or foreign born boys who are living in the US full-time
4. USA Rugby Open Tournament which allows any U19 Club in the USA or from anywhere in the world to compete.
1. Clarify the resident, non resident, citizen, non citizen confusion?
2. USA Rugby National Championship for US Clubs with US Citizens/Residency who live in the USA
3. And their could be allowances for true exchange students studying full-time in academic courses or foreign born boys who are living in the US full-time
4. USA Rugby Open Tournament which allows any U19 Club in the USA or from anywhere in the world to compete.
From a parent of one of the Belmont Shore players
Dear Ra:
Thanks for your Info / Blog and I do take it for what it is, just good information that helps to create talking points and explain what I was wondering about but not knowledgeable about.
I try to suppress any animosity towards Highland or even Utah United "Import Players. Anyone should want to play against the best players at their age grade to improve, learn from, and understand what it takes to excel at the highest level. This can only be done by playing the best competition you can find, which in the US (outside of Utah), can be difficult for most youth rugby clubs that don't have healthy traveling budgets.
Anyway, I was impressed while attending the U19 Nationals in Sandy that all of the "Import Players" seemed like terrific boys not just in their level of play but their sportsmanship on the field also. So I have no problem with these great U19 boys at all.
I watched most of the 2010 Utah United win over Highland and it was the best U19 match I've seen played in the USA. It was just a great match and I was proud to see Rugby played at this level, at this age grade, in the USA. Our U19 coach made sure our boys where in the stands watching not just the skill level but how the boys would make a hard tackle but many times give the opposing player a pat or even help them up.
So, the only problem I have, and I think you have this opinion by reading your blog, is:
1) What is fair?
2) Why would adults with such good morals, a sense of what fair play is, and strong religious standards want to play their own games with the intent of the rules. It doesn't take Rocket Scientist to understand what is "Fair Play" and what is not.
2) So, did we really have a USA Rugby U19 National Championship or just a great Open Tournament Final played in the USA?
Yes, rhetorical question with a simple suggestion for Youth Rugby in the US:
- The USA Rugby National Championship should be for US Clubs with US Citizens/Residency who live in the USA. And their could be allowances for true exchange students studying full-time in academic courses or foreign born boys who are living in the US full-time.
- Their could also be a USA Rugby Open Tournament which allows any U19 Club in the USA or from anywhere in the world to compete. This could be a traditional US U19 Club (home grown), a hybrid like Highland/United, or traveling Clubs from overseas or Canada. That is, an invitational but open to any club from anywhere in the world.
We could then reward US Boys with a true US National Championship. And we could also challenge our US U19 Clubs to play against the best Club Teams in the world. If some of our best US U19 Clubs think they can play at International Levels (or honestly close to it), then enter the Open Tournament. Teams like Highland could enter both but not go to that extreme of having 8 New Zealand boys playing for a USA National Championship.
Continuing on to a more important topic. My son plays for the Belmont Shore U19 Team that tried as hard as could with the skills their short rugby training allowed them. They were all disappointed to loose to Highland but understood that their skill level was not (yet) at Highland or Utah United's level. So sure, the boys, parents, & coaches complained a bit about Highland but almost all of us understood that we (boys, coaches, parents & supporters) were given a great gift to have our club boys be able to play a match against such a quality rugby side. Immediately after the match, our Club started to plan on how to get organized to provide the best support possible for our boys for next year and the future. And the boys started thinking about the higher level of commitment that would be required to get to international levels.
As you mentioned, Highland has a habit of painting a rosy picture. On their website, they mentioned that Belmont Shore looked like a Men's Side but we are really quite young: Props are 15 & 17, starting wing also 15, half the team are juniors in high school, & we only age-out three players from this year. Having a team with many Samoan-American boys you just get big athletic kids with a football background. My son ....................... and this was his first year playing at that position; he's also 17yrs and a high school junior.
Anyway, thanks for your blog since it really did give me good background info; just better to be informed than ignorant and bitter.
In the end, I was just happy to have seen such an impressive U19 Final Match on US soil and thrilled that my son and his club played in a terrific tournament in Utah
Thanks for your Info / Blog and I do take it for what it is, just good information that helps to create talking points and explain what I was wondering about but not knowledgeable about.
I try to suppress any animosity towards Highland or even Utah United "Import Players. Anyone should want to play against the best players at their age grade to improve, learn from, and understand what it takes to excel at the highest level. This can only be done by playing the best competition you can find, which in the US (outside of Utah), can be difficult for most youth rugby clubs that don't have healthy traveling budgets.
Anyway, I was impressed while attending the U19 Nationals in Sandy that all of the "Import Players" seemed like terrific boys not just in their level of play but their sportsmanship on the field also. So I have no problem with these great U19 boys at all.
I watched most of the 2010 Utah United win over Highland and it was the best U19 match I've seen played in the USA. It was just a great match and I was proud to see Rugby played at this level, at this age grade, in the USA. Our U19 coach made sure our boys where in the stands watching not just the skill level but how the boys would make a hard tackle but many times give the opposing player a pat or even help them up.
So, the only problem I have, and I think you have this opinion by reading your blog, is:
1) What is fair?
2) Why would adults with such good morals, a sense of what fair play is, and strong religious standards want to play their own games with the intent of the rules. It doesn't take Rocket Scientist to understand what is "Fair Play" and what is not.
2) So, did we really have a USA Rugby U19 National Championship or just a great Open Tournament Final played in the USA?
Yes, rhetorical question with a simple suggestion for Youth Rugby in the US:
- The USA Rugby National Championship should be for US Clubs with US Citizens/Residency who live in the USA. And their could be allowances for true exchange students studying full-time in academic courses or foreign born boys who are living in the US full-time.
- Their could also be a USA Rugby Open Tournament which allows any U19 Club in the USA or from anywhere in the world to compete. This could be a traditional US U19 Club (home grown), a hybrid like Highland/United, or traveling Clubs from overseas or Canada. That is, an invitational but open to any club from anywhere in the world.
We could then reward US Boys with a true US National Championship. And we could also challenge our US U19 Clubs to play against the best Club Teams in the world. If some of our best US U19 Clubs think they can play at International Levels (or honestly close to it), then enter the Open Tournament. Teams like Highland could enter both but not go to that extreme of having 8 New Zealand boys playing for a USA National Championship.
Continuing on to a more important topic. My son plays for the Belmont Shore U19 Team that tried as hard as could with the skills their short rugby training allowed them. They were all disappointed to loose to Highland but understood that their skill level was not (yet) at Highland or Utah United's level. So sure, the boys, parents, & coaches complained a bit about Highland but almost all of us understood that we (boys, coaches, parents & supporters) were given a great gift to have our club boys be able to play a match against such a quality rugby side. Immediately after the match, our Club started to plan on how to get organized to provide the best support possible for our boys for next year and the future. And the boys started thinking about the higher level of commitment that would be required to get to international levels.
As you mentioned, Highland has a habit of painting a rosy picture. On their website, they mentioned that Belmont Shore looked like a Men's Side but we are really quite young: Props are 15 & 17, starting wing also 15, half the team are juniors in high school, & we only age-out three players from this year. Having a team with many Samoan-American boys you just get big athletic kids with a football background. My son ....................... and this was his first year playing at that position; he's also 17yrs and a high school junior.
Anyway, thanks for your blog since it really did give me good background info; just better to be informed than ignorant and bitter.
In the end, I was just happy to have seen such an impressive U19 Final Match on US soil and thrilled that my son and his club played in a terrific tournament in Utah
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