Opinion

With the micro scope focused on USA Rugby right now I think it's very easy to criticize the Governing Union and forget that even the local unions themselves need or should be held to a standard also. For many outsiders of California especially northern California I believe the mentality is that it's a rugby 'hot bed" so there's no issues to worry about. But there actually is, from youth clubs constantly folding or having to merge with another due to lack of players or financial issues. Also there is the issue of lack of girls program's. 

I reached out to a administrator from a youth program who plays in Rugby NorCal about their opinion on some issues along with there take on USA rugby and MLR, they asked to stay anonymous. 

LLR- Over the course of the last five years have you seen growth of rugby in NorCal or has it gone stagnant?

A - Dramatic decline.

LLR- Is there more that can be done to grow the game at a youth level for both boys and girls? 

A- Yes. Get the game into high schools as a bona fide sport. This would mean Rugby NorCal losing revenue from CIPP fees but it must be done to significantly grow the game. Rugby would explode and everyone knows it. Look what happened to Lacrosse when it was made an official school sport.

LLR- The amount of girls rugby programs compared to boys through Rugby NorCal is very minimal. What should or can be done to change that and prevent programs from folding. 

A- Make girls rugby an official HS sport maybe through Title 9 efforts.

LLR- With NorCal having quite a few big cities like San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento and San Jose where would a MLR team fit best, or is there room for two teams? 

A- Sacramento for the North and San Jose for the South. The Bay Area has almost nine million people so two teams is a distinct possibility.

LLR- With the recent news of yet another financial failure from USA rugby is it time to blow it up and restart the governing Union or do you think there should be drastic changes done before we get to that point ? 

A- I wouldn’t blow up USA Rugby I’d get them to refocus their efforts on different things such as getting rugby into high schools. We could see a growth of a million new players within ten years.

I would also establish college rugby academies around the country to improve talent levels. There needs to be at least 15-20. There is currently only one which runs 15’s and that is in Santa Barbara. Coach Battle is doing a great job but there needs to a lot more of them.

LLR- What are your expectations for the USA men's xv's in the 2023 world cup (IF they qualify of course) and the women's xv's 2021 World cup. 

A- I think the women will do better then the men. It concerns me that so many of the USA men’s team are foreign born. We need to be developing much more home grown players. Coach Gold did a great job at the last RWC with the resources he had. I have no doubt that both the men and women will qualify for the next RWC in France.