Welcome to the age group where we once again change the size of the rugby ball (size 5; U13 use size 4), add the final 3 new positions to the scrum (#6,7 flankers and #8; the “loose forwards”) making a full side of 15 players, along with lifting in the lineouts.
The focus of our U15 program continues to be fun and to build on the skills they learned in U13 play (no worries for “new-to-rugby” players; our coaching staff will ensure they are taught all of the skills up to and including the U15 skill sets). At this point, we expect our players to take full leadership responsibilities on the pitch as captain and team leaders. Fitness, speed, strength, and agility training will also be a part of practice sessions but because of our limited practice time, the coaching staff will remind players of the importance of working on their personal fitness improvement outside of practice times.
USA Rugby is also a proud member of the Positive Coaching Alliance. Positive Coaching Alliance focuses on coaching youth sports student athletes to learn valuable life lessons. USA Rugby provides the Positive coaching alliance online courses to all certified coaches. We at Alliance Rugby are committed to promote a ‘win-win’ attitude, winning on the field and off it and where “winning” is defined as a player giving their very best effort and measuring success in terms of personal improvement.
Leadership opportunities for the U15 players will be available leading warm ups during practice and before matches as well as helping as assistant coaches for the younger sides from time-to-time (note: because we are a 501C3 organization, the players can log community service hours by helping with the club whether coaching or in an administrative roll). In addition, U15’s practice in conjunction with the U17’s and U19’s and will often act in the opponent roll (non contact).
The 15-a-side schedule starts in November with short practices after school and then in January with practices every Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6:30-8:30 PM. Matches will be held most Saturdays starting in February and running through middle April. During that time we will have a statewide tournament in the mid state region (last year it was in Waco) and a second statewide tournament on the Texas A&M rugby grounds in early April. Both of these will offer us the opportunity to play teams we do not normally get to play. For these tournaments, we coordinate parents driving and the times are set so that the tournament does not require overnighting.
Starting in May, we transition to 7’s rugby for the summer
with a more relaxed practice schedule (1 time
a week), matches most Saturdays and 2-3 tournaments during the course of
the summer and then close up the program in mid July, depending on the
available tournaments. For details on
practices and matches, please see the ARC calendar.
So, I’m guessing you’re ready to “hit the pitch” and you wonder what’s next. Take a look at the ARC Youth Welcome Packet and the other pages in this section of our web site. Please give us a shout if you have any questions. This packet has “all things ARC” to include dues and equipment questions that are often asked. Welcome to Alliance U15 Rugby and see you out on the pitch!
Note: normal cutoff for the qualifying age group is 1 Sep (ie. a player that turns 15 on 2 Sep is eligible to play U15; a player that turns 15 on 1 Sep would normally play U15, however we want all of our kids to play where they are comfortable and so if there is a player who is not quite ready to move up to U15, they are more than welcome to continue playing U13). See ARC Youth Registration for more registration information.
ARC Coaches’, Parents’, and Players’ Code
of Ethics
USA Rugby’s “Rugby for Parents”
To access other topics, return to www.alliancerugby.org