Information

COVID Update

United Youth Rugby followed all the health guidelines of the CDC, State of California, NorCal Youth Rugby and USA Rugby. We are expecting a full return to all rugby by August 2021.

General Information

United Youth Rugby season runs from early December until the end of February for youth and the end of April for high school teams. Youth rugby is a co-ed sport until middle school and then gender based. About 40-50% of the players are brand new every year so experience is not necessary. Many kids come into rugby knowing very little about the sport. All the coaches and refs are volunteers. Most get certified through Rugby NorCal and USA Rugby in terms of coaching and referee licenses. Coaches are required to update their certificates every year and under take concussion awareness and sudden cardiac arrest courses. Some coaches will take the Positive Coaching Alliance courses which is extremely valuable especially in this day and age of over aggressive and abusive parents. Kids, parents and coaches are required to sign a Code Of Conduct document each year and are expected to abide by it.

United Youth Rugby in under the auspices of Rugby NorCal and USA Rugby; however, it runs a different playing model from other clubs. United and other sister clubs all descend on a single playing venue each Saturday and play all its games there. This is beneficial for many reasons; (1) Many families do not like playing on Sundays especially if they attend church (2) Families with lots of kids do not have to ship their children to multiple venues (3) Games are usually over within a reasonable time frame so families have time to engage in other activities on Saturdays (4) Kids get to play more games then other kids in Rugby NorCal. On average, most kids play three games a day whereas non-league clubs play one game and often have to travel great distances, usually on Sunday, for a single match (5) It has been proven that kids that play within this model improve their rugby skills, talents and IQ far more than playing kids that play in the traditional league. The vast majority of Rugby NorCal youth champions have come from the United League model.

United Youth Rugby has a robust Diversity & Inclusion policy. The organization reaches out to many under represented populations and brings them into the sport. It has worked with group foster homes and other charities to offer rugby to their youth. About 25-30% of participants receive partial or full scholarships.

United Youth Rugby’s U8 team winning one of it’s seven (7) NorCal Championships