2012 FYRU Schedule

WRSE Email CCC   (see link)   Coaches and team administrators. You can order custom gear from World Rugby Shop at SBRO@365sport.com  instead of calling in to WRS to order.  If non-custom gear, please visit www.worldrugbyshopelite.com . This is the same reduced pricing for all high school and youth.  Collegiate and Adult teams can order as well.  You cannot get it any cheaper than this.   If there is something you want thats not on the site please call Brian Weber at 1-877-776-7651 ex# 1551 and Brian will help you out on those items as well.

The username and password are the same and are case sensitive.  User name & password is  fyru .

Please call Don Stramanak as well if you have any questions.

If anyone needs a cheap tshirt guy Don has one that will save them money.

Don can be reached at 954-725-5779 (H), 954-471-1387(C), 754-322-8364 (W).

The 2011 FYRU AGM Minutes have been posted. You can locate them under Administration>Executive Board>AGM Meeting Minutes or you can click this link http://www.floridayouthrugby.com/administration/executive-board/agm-meeting-minutes/

Ron Suarez

On behalf of Boca Raton RFC I’m proud to announce the launching of our first Rookie Rugby program in the city (Boca Raton) at the Omni Middle School, 5775 Jog Road, Boca Raton, FL 33496. 

The school will hold their first practice on Wednesday October 26^th 2011 at 4:15pm to 5:15pm.

A big thank you to Dave Meehan who graduated from this school and will be our Boca Raton RFC Rookie Rugby Ambassador. Also, to Bill Marts, head coach at J.P. Taravella High School Trojans Rugby, who has run a Rookie Rugby program in Coconut Creek for the past five years and has helped me get this youth rugby program of the ground in Boca.

My goal as head coach for BRRFC is to have over 10 middle schools within Boca Raton playing Rookie Rugby by this time next year. 

 More details and information to follow over the next few weeks.

 Yours,

Tom Gray

Coaches and Administrators,

I just wanted to thank all of those who made the AGM this year.  We made it through the Agenda, we voted in new teams, and added some new officers and executives of the board.  We’re still in need of some board members and SBRO representatives however.    Please consider volunteering for these open positions.

The meeting minutes will be posted shortly. 

Ray Campion

High School All American, Charlie Hutchings was recently invited to try our for the Leicester Academy in England.  Charlie is a 17 year old player for the Tampa Barbarians, former Florida Juice player, and selected to play for both the South U-20s and the USA U-20 touring sides against teams from Austrailia and New South Wales.    This lead to his selection to the High School All American camp in December in Santa Barbara.

Charlie was selected to the High School All-American Touring side that will go to South Africa this summer.  In addition, Leicester Academy needed a scrum half for their Senior Academy and this appears to be a good fit for both Charlie and Leicester.  An offer was accepted and Charlie will be learning from some of the best coaches in the game of rugby.

We wish Charlie well in his travels beyond Florida.  It is hoped this will be a common occurence for American youth.  Charlie has certainly proven it can be done.  More information can be found on the USA Rugby home web site for Charlie’s accomplishments.

Congratuations go out to both Steve Young (Naples Boys U-19) and Alan Dobson (Sebastian River Sharks Girls U-19) for representing the Florida Youth Rugby Union in the 2011 National Championships held in Sandy, Utah between May 20th – 22nd.  Both teams played very strong competion during the weekend. 

Naples lost the first round game 13-11 in a very hard fought and close match against Utah United that was anybody’s game right to the end.  Utah United would go onto the finals against Highland High School, the eventual winners.  Next, Naples beat Union 31-10 in a very strong showing.  The would lose to Southern California’s #1 seed Belmont Shores in the final game of their tournament.  Naples would finish 6th in the tournement and be ranked 7th overall in the USA U-19 Boys category.

Sebastian River Shark ladies had a great time playing some very strong girls teams.  They dropped three games against three powerhouse teams but had an enjoyable time in the tournament. First loss was to Pacific Coast’s #1 seed Sacramento Amazons, then Midwest’s Lakewood, and losing their final to New York Rugby Club.  Sebastian River finished 8th in the tournament and is ranked 8th in the USA Rugby Girls for U-19s.

For those interested, we are working hard on getting the South Regional Championships to be brought back to Florida for the 2012 season.  Many of the goals that we set out to do in the FYRU were met, giving these teams the opportunity to advance to the Nationals.  It is expected that the competion in the future will get more and more intense.  Stronger brackets and more teams (especially girls) are needed to improve the quality of youth rugby in Florida.  Now that Naples and Sebastian River have broken Florida youth teams into the National spotlight, we will have our work cut out for us for the future.  

We offer our congratulations to both Naples and Sebastian River for representing Florida exceptionally well in the National Championships. Fantastic!

In Summary:

On Sunday, May 1st, Sebastian River girls beat the Kennessaw Mountain girls by a score of 25 to 10 to finish first overall South Regional Championship for girls U-19.  Congratuations to Alan Dobson and his lady Sharks for an outstanding accomplishment.

In addition, the Naples Bears beat the Raleigh Rattlesnakes by a score of 22 to 3 to finish first overall in the South Regional Championship for Boys in the U-19 category.  Congratulations to Steve Young and the rest of the Bears organization again for an outstanding accomplishment. 

In addition, Jupiter High School lost to Charlotte Catholic in the Single School Boys Division in the finals to finish second overall.    They beat Providence of NC and Kennesaw Mountain of GA to advance.  Another fine showing by a Florida team to make it to the finals. 

The Tampa Barbarians, who finished 3rd overall in the U-19 Championships, were lead by Mark Van Trees and Stuart Hutching.  Thet also performed very well in this tournament with two wins, and one loss to the eventual Champions the Naples Bears.

Kudos go out to the Jupiter Girls U-19 team for overcoming travel adversity that forced them to show up only minutes before their first game.  Although they lost both their games, in the truest spirit of rugby, they took to the pitch and fought hard in both games despite the hardship.   

Additional information for the South Regional Championships can be found at USA Rugby South Youth High School Championships.

Both the Sebastian River Sharks and the Naples Bears will be needing to raise funds of more than $20,000 to travel to Sandy, Utah for the finals.  These finals are on May 20th and 21st.  Donations are being requested from each team.  More information on how you can help will be fothcoming.

The USA Rugby Boy’s High School All Americans (HSAAs) are set to assemble in Tempe, Arizona from April 21st to April 24th at Arizona State University.  Over 60 athletes from across the country will attend the camp. 

One of those athletes is Charley Hutchings, from the Tampa Barbarian U-19 team.  Charley is captain of the U-19 Barbarians, which went on to win the U-19 State of Florida Championships this year. 

USA Rugby’s Head Coach Salty Thompson has cast a wide net in search of the most talented players ahead of this summer’s HSAA tour to South Africa.  While the tour is in Thompson’s plain sight, he is also keeping one eye to the future of the program.  “Where looking for the best players in high school now but also building for future HSAA representation,” Thompson said.  “In addition to outstanding seniors, we’ve invited a significant number of underclassmen who have athletic talent and rugby skills.” With the help of Aircraft Charter Solutions, the official sponsor of the 2011 HSAA, Thompson is able to work a large amount of athletes in a short time frame.

We wish Charley the best in his pursuit of excellence.  All of us from the FYRU are excited to be represented by Charley in the USA Rugby HSAA camp.  His leadership on the field and his strength of character off the field will make him a great ambassador for Florida youth rugby.