A Message from the Board of Directors
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Dear USA YHS Rugby Family,
As the 2025/26 season comes to a close, the Board of Directors wants to say thank you. Every registration, practice, sideline cheer, and volunteer hour this season came from you — our players, parents, coaches, referees, clubs, schools, and State Youth Rugby Organizations. You are the reason USA Youth & High School Rugby keeps growing, and you are the reason we can look ahead with real confidence.
Reflecting on a Season Built Together
This season carried forward the momentum our community built over the past 6 years — a year that saw registrations climb past 56,000 members nationwide, with particularly strong growth among female players and our youngest age groups, dozens of new clubs joining the fold, and championship events, High Performance camps, and school partnerships reaching more young athletes than ever. In 2025/26, our community continued to build on that foundation: more players took the field, more clubs and schools opened their doors to the sport, and more coaches and referees invested in their own development so every practice and match was a little bit better than the last.
We also zoned in on how we tell our sport's story. Through a sharpened social media and email marketing effort, we brought new attention to the game from both longtime members and new families discovering rugby for the first time. We put a greater spotlight on the people and communities that make this sport special — sharing the wins, the grit, and the character behind our SYRO and club stories, from state league fixtures through to national championships.
Looking Ahead to 2026/27
Registration for the 2026/27 season is now open — and building on this momentum, our focus for the coming season is clear:
- Grow participation nationwide: World Rugby's T1 — a non-contact, small-sided format already live in 91 countries — as the unifying national entry point for U.S. youth rugby, scaling participation ahead of two Rugby World Cups on American soil.
- Development Pathways: Create a consistent and aligned player and coaching pathway that provides clarity around the development of players at age level from entry point through high school and into the HP, College and adult ecosystem.
- Deepen our partnerships: growing our work with all our stakeholders in this critical 6 year cycle to the 2031 and 2033 World Cups.
- Advance state-level recognition: supporting our SYROs as they build sustainable structures for long-term growth.
- Girls Rugby: Move girls' rugby from organic growth to deliberate growth ahead of the 2033 Women's Rugby World Cup — developing players, coaches, and administrators as one connected pipeline, in coordination with USA Rugby and World Rugby's women's strategy.
- Raise our visibility: sharing the stories of our players and clubs to bring more families into the sport.
These goals all point toward the same horizon: our vision of more youth and high school athletes playing rugby by the USA Rugby World Cups in 2031 and 2033. Our goals and ambitions are only reachable because of a membership that keeps choosing this sport, season after season. Thank you!
With gratitude and rugby spirit,
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