School Days:
Rugby needs to have roots in the schools. Put rugby in front of children early their imaginations can be captured and – assuming there is support from parents, coaches and teachers – students will start to see themselves as the next Todd Clever rather than Bret Favre. Catching and hooking players early is also key as far as time is concerned. When students get into their high school years, preparation for college has already kicked into full gear so the prospect of learning a brand new sport just does not seem like a feasible option. Early introduction of the sport also lets parents see the sport and get warmed up to it. They see that rugby is not a bunch of savages in short shorts and start to see that it is less dangerous than most other sports and that there are rules to keep it that way. Also, with the plethora of videos about rugby popping up on the Internet on a regular basis, the exposure learning process can got faster than ever.
Where in Cleveland can these youth programs take root.
- YMCA and YWCA – These organizations regularly offer routine fitness and athletic endeavors for children. If the proper people were approached with the proper information, it stands to reason that they would have no issue with incorporating Rookie Rugby into their rotation.
- Boys and Girls Club – Show these people how rugby aligns with their beliefs, values and goals on top of it being a vehicle to keep children off the streets and a gateway to college and they should have no issue with bringing rugby to the children they serve.
Just as important as getting a strong foot hold in the youth of the Cleveland area is to strengthen the hold on high schools while trying to expand. Strengthen the bond between the men’s teams and high school teams by getting involved with the high school teams. This can be something as simple as helping out with their practices or having social events specifically designed to include them. That way they see that not only is there a team but it’s a team that wants them around. For the ones who go off to college, they have someone to come back to. For those who stay local or don’t go to college right away, they can transition seamlessly into the fold of the team.
The tricky part is getting interest and word to spread. As always, the key is getting rugby in front of the students in order to get them interested. Traditional methods often work best. Covering the school’s hallways, publications, bulletin boards and athletic facilities with paper fliers talking about the sport, the opportunities available and general information that would be helpful to know. Showing students rugby can also instantly entrance them and get them interested in trying out the sport. This could be as direct as performing an exhibition or a clinic after school hours or during the halftime of a football game. Holding a major event or tournament on school grounds during the summer months could be an indirect way of getting the games in front of potential players. As always, the Internet can and should be used as a tool when getting rugby into the hearts and minds of young potential players and their parents. Sites like Rugby Dump, Paki’s Corner and certain channels on YouTube are good introductions for potential players so they can start to see what rugby looks like when it is all put together. The USA, Midwest and Ohio rugby sites could be used as education and introduction sites for parents.
An information session could go a long way to ease any apprehensions, uneasiness and questions parents and students have about rugby. First, introduce the sport and its information to the group at large. Then take the parents into one room and keep the students in a different room. This way the parents can get the information they need and have their questions answered and the students can get introduced to the sport in a way that encourages them to look deeper into the sport and its subtler nuances.
Above is a fairly comprehensive game plan for how to spread rugby to the potential players that lie in Cleveland’s youth. More important than what is implemented is how it is implemented. Rugby, even though it is growing by leaps and bounds, is not at a point in people’s minds and general popularity for the most part where it can go head-to-head with the mainstream sports. What this means is that rather than trying to steal players from football, wrestling and other sports, we offer up rugby as another athletic pursuit to “keep them busy” and hook them from there. This means working with athletic directors that may not be very sympathetic to our cause. Getting to the players we need will require some jumping through hoops, but jumping through the hoops now should be more than worth it in the future when the students begin to fill the ranks and clubs begin to gain favor with the staff and administration.
In order for rugby in Cleveland to graduate to the next level. Recruitment efforts must graduate as well.
Part 2: Campus Tackled…
The Cleveland Rugby Blog 