Rugby in th USA?

Question

How much rugby (union) is played in the USA? Is it played more in some States (are there some areas where it is not played at all) and what sort of leagues are there? How many people go to watch a game, is it increasing in popularity and are games around the world watched?

Answer 1

I personally have been playing rugby since i was 17 year old in 1992... do the math- I'm 32 and still playing!!! I started in college in upstate NY, never having seen the sport before. I moved south to South Carolina and here the progress of rugby has been significantly slower. In the north, there are more teams and more people playing and more high schools teaching rugby. It is very difficult to field a full 15 + players for a team in the south (especially for women) and we end up combining 2 or 3 cities for our womens club team. The men's club has done well (DivisionII) but also struggles at times. It is a continuous goal to promote the sport of rugby and women in the sport of rugby as well. I think there is a negative stereotype asscoiated with the sport, especially when dealing with women. We are not all party animal lesbians. We are profressional, strong, healhty women who love to have fun and play team sports. We are lucky to have a few straglers to spectate at first, but usually people will stop to check it out and stay to the end- firemen, policemen- everyone- its something rare- women tackling each other! ITs an exciting sport that requires a lot of skill that every body type can play- there's a position for everyone! I love it and will continue to play until i can't... and then I'll coach! Check the internet for a team near you. Usually the club teams will play college teams too. Each rugby union has a team or 2 as well... for under 23 years old women and men, a womens team, and mens teams.

Answer 2

Rugby is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States of America. It is divided into eight territorial Unions: Independent, Mid Atlantic, Midwest, Northeast, Pacific Coast, Southern California, USA Rugby South and West. The headquarters for USA Rugby are now located in Boulder, Colorado

Answer 3

I've heard that the western states, including California tend to play a higher collegiate level. At Harvard, it's actually the Business School that has the better team than the undergrads, which has little to no funding from the college. But the girls -- Radcliffe has a good team. Yale, on the other hand, enjoys a good game. The DC area tends to have some good local games. At least, being from the US, you can get the rugby channel for less -- and get archived games as well. Other than watching online, and very occasional on satellite, you're not going to find anything on tv. See sources for some sites.

Answer 4

It's slowly gaining more popularity as time goes on, much football (soccer) is. The United States rugby team is getting pretty decent. And many a NFL rejects and colligiates are getting into the sport. I hope it will be up there (with football-soccer) along with American Football someday. And there's a Rugby game produced by EA Sports.

Answer 5

I am not going to cut and paste like some others. Rugby is slowly gaining interest in the US. I just joined a team this year. It is rarely shown on TV as it is not popular enough. Plus, no commercial breaks. The average American could not deal with non stop action. I have been to a few games. Few people show up.

Answer 6

Actually, I just started playing rugby. I live in California where I understand that it is most popular in the country. It certainly is not very popular here, but there is much potential for it. We could be one of the best teams if it was more popular. I also understand that in the southern states it's gaining more popularity such as central Tennessee and Virginia. I definately believe it is gaining popularity here in the states and it will soon become one of the great American sports like football and baseball.

Answer 7

Rugby is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States of America. It is divided into eight territorial Unions: Independent, Mid Atlantic, Midwest, Northeast, Pacific Coast, Southern California, USA Rugby South and West. The headquarters for USA Rugby are now located in Boulder, Colorado.

USA Rugby administers the United States national rugby union team and sponsors College rugby.

Rugby union in the United States is a growing national sport. It is played at the youth, high school, club, semi-professional, and national levels. The United States is a second-tier rugby nation.

Rugby union played anywhere is governed by the International Rugby Board (IRB), which is based out of Dublin, Ireland. It is the governing and law-making body for the entire world of rugby union. There are over 100 member unions of the IRB, with USA Rugby being the member union of the United States. USA Rugby is responsible for overseeing rugby union domestically and training the various national teams that they put on the pitch. Within USA Rugby, there are seven territorial area unions (TAU's) that are charged with governing a specific region of the country. Within these TAU's, there are also Local Area Unions (LAU's), which are responsible for governing a specific region within their respective TAU's.

At present, 80,000 US citizens are registered with USA Rugby (One needs to be certified by USA Rugby to participate in most matches and tournaments), and 18 teams are entered in the premier domestic competition, the Rugby Super League, for 2007. There are 745 referees within USA Rugby.

There are over 1,200 pre-teens currently playing organized rugby union (1,097 male, 197 female). There are over 20,000 high school athletes playing rugby union for their schools or U19 clubs (14,875 male, 6468 female).


For more info go to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_union_in_the_United_States
http://www.usarugby.org/

Answer 8

like some of the other said it is just get start rilly i am i hight i i'm on a team when i go collage i'll most likey be on team to there to ! so hopr that help a little