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Welcome to the second part of my article on the registered rugby player numbers in the 2010 IRB report. In this second part, I will now focus on the NACRA IRB Regional Association.
NACRA stands for “North America Caribbean Rugby Association”
NACRA consists of eleven Member Unions and two Associate Unions. There have been no additions to the NACRA regional Association since 2009.
Of the eleven Member Unions, seven have shown growth, three have decreased and one has not had a recount since 2009 (St Vincent and the Grenadines – 1,036 registered player numbers).
In the NACRA Association, two members are considered the powerhouses there. They are Canada and USA, both of which have shown growth.
Canada grew from 22,218 registered players in 2009 to 23,853 in 2010, a 7.3% increase. However in my opinion Canada’s numbers should be far higher considering how long they have been playing.
More and more news from Canada seems to indicate they are focusing more on Women’s rugby (both sevens and full teams), so expect to see more registered female numbers in the future.
USA has 88,151 registered players in 2010. A 7.9% increase from last year, however recent reports from the USA rugby union themselves have shown they have over 90,000 by now with the much harder push in college and grassroots levels.
I am hoping for sometime in the future that they could at least get a professional league going very soon in the future which could at least be on par with the MLS League. This is still some time away, but here’s hoping.
Mexico has also shown a slight growth, and with the sevens being the main way of introducing the game to them, lets hope it catches on since they have such a huge population.
Of the other nations, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago have all shown growth. Not earth moving, but still growth none the less.
But three unions have shown decrease. These include Bermuda and the Bahamas, however they already had small playing numbers under 1,000 so the slight decreases are inconsequential in my view.
The biggest disappointment to me however has to be with Jamaica. In 2009 they had 9,856 members, but as of the 2010 report they have only 2,090 members, a 78% decrease. How is this possible?
My theory, which is one I hope doesn’t spark a code war, is that Rugby League seems to have made a huge impression there.
I have been seeing for myself via the Jamaica League websites that one of them have become professional and they have opened a Rugby League Academy in there as well.
Could this be the reason for the huge drop off in Rugby players in Jamaica, since there seems to be no pro-rugby team there and no pathway for higher honors? I hope not. The Jamaica Rugby Union should be really selling the Olympic Sevens gold medal as the big carrot for their Rugby players and that a Semi-Pro league could start soon. Let’s hope the numbers increase this year.
Overall the region playing numbers in 2009 for NACRA were 126,750. In 2010, the Region Playing Numbers are 128,828, a 1.6% increase in playing numbers for this region.
I give the NACRA region a pass mark, however I expect 2011 to be an even better year in Canada and USA in regards to registered playing numbers. Use sevens as a growth instrument in the Caribbean and Mexico and lets all hope Jamaica can get their ship righted.
Please discuss.
Summary of NACRA
Eleven Member Unions, two Associate Unions
Region Playing Numbers 128,828
World Playing Population Percentage 3.5%
World Population Percentage 7.2%
Full List Of NACRA (with the year they joined the IRB)
Bahamas (1994) 801
Barbados (1995) 301
Bermuda (1992) 558
Brit. Virgin Islands (2001) Associate Member
Canada (1987) 23,853
Cayman Islands (1997) 2,200
Guyana (1995) 1,324
Jamaica (1996) 2,090
Mexico (2006) 3,454
St Lucia (1996) Associate Member
St Vincent & the Grenadines (2001) 1,036
Trinidad & Tobago (1992) 5,060
United States of America (1987) 88,151
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.