About FPYC RUGBY

The mission of FPYC Rugby is to teach children the sport of Rugby, teamwork, and sportsmanship, in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.

Spring Rugby U-17/U-19

FPYC offers TACKLE-ONLY rugby for high school age boys and girls (grades 9-12).  No experience is necessary.  The season starts in March and ends with the VA State Championship in early June.  Practices are Mondays and Wednesdays from 4 to 6 PM. Games are either Fridays evening or Saturdays.

Summer Rugby

FPYC offers non-contact/ two-hand touch rugby for boys and girls ages 7 to 16, and TACKLE RUGBY for U-13 (11 and 12 year olds) U-15 (13 and 14 year olds) and U-17 (15 and 16 year olds).  11 year olds and up have a CHOICE to play either the tackle or the touch version of the game.  Age group chart.

Children play 2-hand touch “7s”rugby (7 players per team on the field).  The 2-hand touch game is the only difference from the standard game.  All the other rules apply.  The modified tackle game provides kids with a safe introduction to tackle rugby.  All other elements of rugby – including scrums (uncontested), and lineouts are allowed. 

FPYC Youth Rugby plays in the Potomac Rugby Union Youth League (PRUYL). 

Safety

The PRUYL and FPYC emphasize safety at all times for all age groups!  Non-contact rugby allows a broad range of children to play together.  Emphasis is placed on basic skill acquisition: passing, catching, running, kicking, and team skills.  The modified tackle game provides kids with a safe introduction to tackle rugby in addition to acquiring the basic skills.  All tackle coaches are certified by USA Rugby (www.usarugby.org).

Summer Season Schedule

The youth rugby season is short and compact.  The season runs from early June to the first week of August.  Practices are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM.  Games are played either on Thursday evenings or on Saturday mornings.  The season ends with the PRU Youth Tournament.

What is Rugby?

The sport of Rugby is often referred to as the "father" of American football.  Football evolved with many of the same principles, strategies, and tactics.  However, there are several obvious differences. 

Rugby is played at a fast pace, with few stoppages and continuous possession changes.  All players (fifteen per team on the field), regardless of position, can run, pass, kick, catch the ball, and SCORE!  Likewise, all players (in the tackle game) must also be able to tackle and defend, making each position both offensive and defensive in nature.  There is no blocking of opponents as in football and there are a maximum of seven substitutions allowed per team.  A rugby match consists of two 40-minute halves (35 minutes at U-19 level. 

Rugby is considered to be a gender equity sport as approximately 25 percent of all players in the U.S. are female.

Rugby is widely played as a club sport at many colleges and universities (over 600 clubs) in the USA.  Increasingly the sport is played at the high school level; in the NoVa-DC-Baltimore area there are over 40 HS clubs. 

Internationally, rugby is the most played contact sport in the world.  180 countries play rugby.  The sport is celebrated at the Rugby World Cup (RWC) every 4 years.  The last Rugby World Cup was in France in October 2007. The Rugby World Cup is the 3^rd most watched event after the Olympics and the soccer world cup