American rugby in danger of imploding

Working Class- What you wrote is all positive: - It’s about creating competitve pathways. - Improve the overall standard of the top domestic competition - Open opportunities for potential talent to access oversea’s contract to assist further development. - Laying the foundation for future growth. But without measureable goals/outcomes and associated timelines, it follows all the other "this will be nice" type initiatives. It also looks to be planting the groundwork for American Rugby domination 100 years from now. Call Americans impatient etc. but a plan should be nothing less than situating the US Rugby team with the talent to gather 3 victories over Top 6 International teams in a 6 year period. That should be the goal not just more of the same patty-cake. To do that a structure needs to be developed to draft and contract non-rugby US athletic talent to learn the game and what they lack on the skill side will hopefully be made up on the athleticism. Great stuff can only happen after the audacity line has been crossed.

I think the US is always gunna be using the same athletes for XV and 7's rugby for the foreseeable future. So the Gran Prix 7's comp will likely provide a consistent training program for a good number of rugby athletes that will allow them to train and play rugby (of some form) for most of the year. The American Rugby Championship is another great tool. It is likely that this will revert to a new format this season, with one Canadian Domestic Team, one US Domestic team (probably from the Super League), the Argentinean Jaguars and a team from Uraguay. This comp is IRB funded and provides some good regular rugby for the US before they attend the Churchill Cup (another important comp). It's this kind of stage that the US needs to get their athletes exposed on TV to European clubs. If they can get players out of America and into professional setups in Europe (or South Africa, like Todd Clever) then they can mimic the Argentinean rise to success. The US has very little chance of getting a proper pro comp any time soon. They might nearly have a pro 7's comp and a rapidly expanding collegiate, high school and senior amateur setup but the pro side isn't going to happen for the time being, so they need a pro outlet for the growing amateur talent. With Argentina moving towards the SANZAR competitions it might well be that the European clubs (particularly the French) start looking for an alternative American supply of talent to fill the gaps if/when the Argies start playing in Argentina.

Jimmy Nellis - It's about creating competitve pathways. - Improve the overall standard of the top domestic competition - Open opportunities for potential talent to access oversea's contract to assist further development. - Laying the foundation for future growth. It will still be some time before Rugby will be able to harness the same or at least similar calibre as American Football or Basketball. But considering the recent Olympic status, the funding that will deliver, and the development program Rookie Rugby the opportunity to reach more potential Rugby athletes has begun.

Working Class- Your interest in improving structures within US Rugby is laudable. My question is what is the goal of these structural improvements and the timeline? US athletic talent-the kind seen on display in NFL, NBA etc. applied to rugby could be interesting. Problem is that caliber of talent wouldn't even put their socks on for a sport without a substantial pay scheme. So grassroots work is welcome-and it will certainly keep many busy...I just don't see how its an efficient way of getting a 15 man US team to compete consistently with SA/AUS/NZ etc. on the international stage. For Americans...to take an interest to the game, that's a necessity. The Eagle team that recently gained WC entry by beating Uruguay ain't gonna cut it and only highlights the above. Uruguay. It's come to that for US rugby. Congress really needs to get involved by revoking their ability to use "US" in their name. Put the US Rugby adminisrators in charge of Brazil Futbol and you'll soon see them losing friendlies to the Falkland islands.

SA1stXV, "The rugby union scrum is the most awesome sight in world sport" - helps when the Tialians have a good scrum and forward pack, and that is their traditional strength (along with most of the Latin countries - interesting that). Some would say we see too much of the scrum ....

All promising signs. I agree. Let's hope things continue to build. Just wanted to pass on my strong conviction that an organically grown domestic showpiece is a bit of a pie in the sky (in terms of the best way to grow the professional game).

Greg My suggestion was made primarily with the intention of further developing the game. By creating a more streamlined and competitive championship that will not only begin to provide a pathways for the recent growth of Youth and College Rugby player's but assist in the overall standard of the Eagles. The whole idea is to improve the structures of the game not attempt to make it the next NFL. I maybe a Rugby fanatic but I'm also realistic. I agree that Sevens is the ideal platform to grow awareness of Rugby in the States and as Matt has posted above there is a rather impressive group working on establishing getting some form of Sevens up and running. On the College front there has been this persistent talk of establishing a Rugby Premier League. From what I have been able to gather this goal is one of the primary reasons USCRA has been established. Some fans have expressed concern about this but anything that progresses College Rugby in the States is fine by me. But then again I'm not American. However, from what I have seen developing a strong College structure tends to lead to strong League Competitions. Finally, I have been very interested in the Rookie Rugby program and its progress. The funding for this particular program isn't flash but overall it has been successful slowly breaking into School PE programs. It all may be marketing spiel but it looks promising. With Rugby now being an Olympic sport the opportunity to drastically expand this program could be a real boon for Rugby in the States. Considering more than more than 130,000 children this school year such a program could not only lead to the overall growth of the game in terms of participation but the overall skill and competitive standard of the game into the future as its primary target demographic are children between the ages of 5-12 years old which happen to be the key development ages.

WCR -- sorry mate, I unfortunately referred to you by the wrong acronym. LAS had my attention last time I was sober.

The US has a reasonably healthy and storied club culture but that doesn't necessarily translate into a promising commercial future in America where there is a unique and distinct gap between 'pro' and 'college/amateur' sports. Rugby is not on the agenda -- never will be like the (4) 'pro' sports, but sound commercial models and a pursuit of excellence will eventually be rewarded. Whatever they do with the national rugger comp, I hope it works for the clubs, but it's an irrelevance for the media and business. And that matters in terms of the big picture, here more than anywhere else. Suggest rugby needs to make inroads on two major fronts. COLLEGE: it'll long be Pissweak World compared to the 'big sports, but the game plan should aspire to build on a strong historic foundation with a view to hauling itself to a level of elite support enjoyed by middling sports like lacrosse. PRO: let America know the game is a professional sports option. Sevens is the best shop window at US rugby's disposal right now, but with some structured thinking, a professional franchise (America loves a franchise) competing in an elite league (NOT based in North America -- and NOT with Alain Rollland refereeing) will alert a decent niche of the American sports public to the possibilities. 7s may well be the best vehicle for growth, but a smart, sports 'business & entertainment team' competing at an elite level will connect. Forget comparisons to MLS etc. rugby is not yet on the radar. The idea is to generate an appealing idea then, much later, cash in on the infrastructual strengths of rugby -- domestically and internationally. Finally LAS's comments on media exposure for the game in the US seem positive, but in my tiny rugby centric world here in NY, it's a return to the bad old days of having to chase down coverage. BBC America's 'six nations' today for example, consisted of England out-boring Wales. (Italy-Ireland's bore fest was available on Setanta's broadband service, and probably in some Brit-Irish themed pubs -- for $20 admission). Setanta handing over to Fox Sports is not necessarily a good thing unless Fox Sports in the US actually commit to show rugby, which seems unlikely, given they had a chance about six?? years ago when launching Fox Soccer Channel and dumped the rugby within months (despite having rights). P.S. The US would be a dream recruit to real, professional international rugby, but overlooking Canada would be a tragedy ... there's no way the game should be a pitiful as it is up there.

Matt The Pro Sevens Competition you are referring to is the one lead by William Tatham Jr. From what I am able to gather they are looking to launch the concept pre-World Cup. Its actually quite interesting. There will be 16 teams. 12 international and 4 domestic with the showpiece events held in Las Vegas. The Competition will also be used to further educated people regarding the ins and outs of the game. The League was originally earmarked for late 2008 but its was decided that the 18 months they gave themselves was too short a time period to ensure the League was successful. The establishment of USCRA isn't neceassarily a bad thing. They haven't tried to break away from USARugby. In fact they are building a relationship with it. Personally having an organisation focusing entirely on the College game and ways to improve it is a win, win for both. USCRA can grow the College game while USARugby can focus on Youth and High Scholl Rugby.

Wasn't Rugby banned in most College's for supposedly being too dangerous and American Football was ment to be the safer alternative?

Just in addition, the RuggaMatrix is hosted by Djuro Sen (ex PR and communications man for the Tahs and Wallabies) and Bruce McLane (Assistant Coach of Rugby Super League club New York Athletic Club, champs in 2005 and 2008). A couple of other important developments and link for American Rugby: USA Rugby now scouting applicants for the new position of Director of College Rugby, with some hefty aims for this massive growth area. Most interesting is that one of the aims is to realign the calendar and create a system based on the traditional American collegiate model. The exploration of an Elite sponsored collegiate league is proposed also. http://rugbyamerica.net/2010/02/04/usa-rugby-looking-for-collegiate-director/ Next is some VERY important inside information about the Grand Prix Rugby World Series. This is the highly organised and researched Professional Rugby Sevens competition to be run in the USA. This is a must read for anyone interested in where American Rugby is likely to grow in the near future, especially at a pro level. Whatever they are trying to do with starting a Pro Rugby League comp in the USA will be dwarfed by these guys. There are three articles, the first is an introduction to the overall competition to come: http://rugbyamerica.net/2010/01/20/tatham-touts-professional-7s-exclusive-interview/ The second article is a role call of the guys on the organising board for the new comp, most have EXTENSIVE experience in pro sport broadcasting and the amount of expertise is staggering. These guys highlight just how much planning is going into this comp: http://rugbyamerica.net/2010/01/27/wrl-part-1-the-management-team/ The final article details the proposed competition structure: http://rugbyamerica.net/2010/01/30/grand-prix-rugby-world-series-part-2-the-competition/ Initially it will basically be a big money invitational tournament outside of the IRB 7's calendar. But the plans are for expansion over the American summer and it should offer a lot more positions for American players, with 4 American teams on the cards initially (with 15 players per squad, 60 in total). Makes for interesting reading anyway.

America is on the verge of professional 7's now. It looks likely that a 16 team comp will emerge reasonably (18months) soon with a VERY strong and experienced management board and a lot of time and money invested in setting up successful structures. The game also continues to grow at the junior levels, but it gets very complex when you start to look at the traditional American sporting structures and the role that College plays on sport. The emergence of the new United States College Rugby Association shows that there is a rapidly growing emphasis on this level of the game, but it is also considered a negative step by some fans because it throws the game into direct competition with the official USA Rugby run competitions. Essentially USA Rugby has attempted to run the game as it is run in many other nations, that it to attempt to align with the U17 and U20 comps run by the IRB and to keep a central control of player resources (like the IRU, the ARU and NZRU). But the game is getting very big in the States now with so many College players. It is not a NCAA sport and doesn't offer the same level of college scholarships, which the mainstream sports rely on for talent identification and player development. Rugby is the US also NEEDS to capture those athletes which don't qualify for college scholarships (and who need to go through Junior College or into apprenticeship programmes) because they can't afford to have good players slip through the gaps. It is certainly not as straight forward as running the game in NZ, England or Australia. The history and structures all have to be built from scratch at a time where Olympic inclusion has seen playing and commercial interesting skyrocket. If anyone wants a GREAT regular podcast on American Rugby then I definitely recommend RuggaMatrix USA. It has some amazing guest speakers including many top level coaches and administrators (quite a few Aussies) with a constant perspective on the American game. It also gives you a realistic and non-rosy look at where Rugby is at in America from those guys on the front line. http://ruggamatrixusa.heavensgame.com/?p=11 For a Kiwi Rugby fan it has been VERY illuminating and I love downloading a Podcast onto the iPod and listening to it while going for a jog.

Definitely a cause for concern. Here's a little bit more on the increasing identification and recognition of internal brain injuries in American Football: http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,64253995001_1957921,00.html http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/10/19/091019fa_fact_gladwell?currentPage=all Given the remote chance of reverting to playing American Football without the traditional hard helmet, both Rugby and Australian Football could emerge as alternatives to concerned parents.

There's growing concern in the US with the long term neural damage effects from American Football, some estimates put it as high as 40,000 a year on an ongoing basis. Rugby is actually being touted as a safer full contact sport.

Just finished reading about the explosion of junior Rugby in Southern California. Most impressive are the number teams and participants in the U14's down. This season there are 118 teams competing through 6 age grades in this particular bracket (U14 down) that's roughly 19 teams to an age grade. The efforts Rugby is going to to grow the game at the grassroots level are beginnning to pay dividends.

The thought just occured to me, that ESPN may play a pivotal role in the growth of rugby union in the 'States. It has invested heavily in RU in the England and France, for example, £30M for the rights to show a tranche of GP games in England over 3 years. It appears they also have the international rights for the 6Ns. Surely as the leading sports TV channel in the 'States if they realise through their investment in rugby union in England and France the potential of this niche market, then surely it must be only a matter of time before that awareness of that potential to TV is shown in the game in the 'States.

It is inevitable with a growing sport that there will be ups and downs. However providing the fundamental driver is at the lowest level, rugby union will continue to row and develope in the USA. As WCR has posted the growth of the game at rookie level has been impressive and as the profile of the game perhaps through the Olympics or by the USA performimg well in internationals is reinforced by onfield success so interest in the game will grow. If I recall there are circa 150K registered players, which in itself is a pretty impressive figure when compared to other rugby playing nations. It only needs a relatively small switch of interest in the USA to rugby to take place for the sheer weight of numbers playing the game to potentially increase their influence on the world stage; possibly attracting interest from sponsors, TV and potential investors. It will take years but the significance of the growth at the rookie level increases awareness and in time the future players and spectators of the senior levels.

The Olympics will certainly give the game a boost in the States. However, what I find more exciting is the organic intiatives USARugby have underway. I've mentioned it a million times before but Rookie Rugby has been a great success thus far with very limited funding. With the funds they will recieve from the USOC they could greatly expand this program many times over. The other thing is the establishment of the United States College Rugby Association or USCRA. This group is devicated to growing the game at that level. One of their main aims is to establish 'College Conferences' similar to those that already in the NCAA format. There are already three I know of in the Carolinas, Florida and Texas Leagues. Organinsing the Collegiate game in this way adds wieght to there push for NCAA status.

True Tah I'm not talking about the League going Professional. What I am saying is the RSL is becoming increasingly inviable for single organisations to cross the country in order to compete. By combining resources and forming a new RSL based on the one team one city principle they could provide a higher quality of competition with 10 teams instead of the talent being spread not only between the current RSL squads but the Div 1 teams aswell. Its about creating more competitve pathways to assist the development of the Eagles in particular. I agree in terms of grassroots growth. And its is happening. The High School level is growing at more than 15% per annum. Add in the success of Rookie Rugby with 130,000 participants and in short time they will have more players than we do.