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For years we’ve heard the rhetoric that the United States is the sleeping giant of rugby union.
We’ve heard that with the nation’s population – and therefore athletes – it’s only a matter of time before they become a powerhouse in the 15-man-a-side code.
This type of sentiment has been met with doubt from those who believe rugby union will never develop into a major sport in the US because it will struggle to compete with basketball, (American) football and baseball.
However, those people fail to recognise two things.
The first is that rugby union doesn’t have to compete with those institutionalised sports. The second is a lack of awareness of the ground rugby has already made up in the US.
To elaborate on the first point, in a country of nearly 320 million people, there’s always room for another sport. Rugby doesn’t need to have aspirations of being on an equal footing with ‘the big three’, it just needs to find its own niche, and it will be relatively successful.
Consider this – if one per cent of the US population developed a keen interest in rugby union, it equates to an audience of 3.2 million. Convert a small percentage of those people into players, and you’re going to have a serious sport on your hands.
To the second point, as an example of the growth of the game in America, the recent USA Eagles versus New Zealand All Blacks game at Soldier Field in Chicago attracted a crowd of over 60,00. The previous Test Match record in the USA was just 20,000.
Yet rugby is far from just a strange spectacle that garners attention when the best team in the world is in town. The Sports and Fitness Industry Association’s ‘U.S. Trends in Team Sports Report’, released numbers late last year that had rugby as the fastest growing team sport in America.
The Eagles’ men and womens teams have both have also qualified for the Sevens Tournament in the 2016 Olympics in Rio. When you factor in the coverage the Games gets in the States, and how much the Americans absolutely love the Olympics, it will provide a massive boost for the sport.
Closer to home, two junior rugby players are currently here on Australian soil as part of the Rugby Student Exchange Program between Play Rugby USA and Sydney Church of England Grammar School (more commonly known as ‘Shore’).
Nason Hall and Luis Rosario will spend the next two months in Sydney, attending classes at the prestigious North Sydney school and, of course, playing rugby.
Nason and Luis will use their time in Australia to develop their skills and knowledge of the game, something Australian rugby has been only too happy to help with, as evidenced by ARU boss Bill Pulver taking the time to meet and talk with with the boys in depth last week, and an invitation to attend a Waratahs training session.
The pair are being chaperoned by Christian Mayo, who works for Play Rugby USA, a non-profit organisation based in New York, whose aim is to develop the urban and underserved youth of America via the sport of rugby.
Mayo, an Australian who played halfback for Northern Suburbs first grade in the Sydney Grade Rugby competition, moved to New York ten years ago to play professional rugby for New York Athletic Club in the States. Though he only planned to stay a year or two, he fell in love, not just with the city, but with the role he landed with Play Rugby USA.
The organisation has three offices – in New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco – and uses modified rugby rules to teach positive life skills to over 4,500 children a week, across the nation.
“Our mission is to achieve a better world through rugby, and create opportunities for young people that they may not have otherwise have had” says Mayo.
Though it’s important to note Play Rugby USA’s mission is not to develop future rugby stars for the US, the fact is, they very much are.
It’s just one element of the growth of rugby union in the States, but it’s arguably the most important one: grassroots. It introduces the game to kids at an age where a life-long bond may be forged, thus enabling rugby to start tapping into America’s impressive talent pool.
Nason used to dream of playing basketball for the New York Knicks, while Luis had visions of donning the famous pinstripes of NY Yankees. However, both of them now have aspirations to play in a Rugby World Cup for the Eagles.
Note the subtle difference in that paragraph about the boys’ future: ‘dreams’ and ‘visions’, versus ‘aspirations’…
Don’t look now, but USA Rugby is coming.