The 2024 Girls’ High School Rugby National 15s Tournament has finalized its full list of attendees. Fourteen single-school teams will report to Madison, Wis., on Saturday-Sunday, May 18-19 and compete for two divisional titles. Attendees will fill the Wisconsin Rugby Sports Complex while virtual fans can view the tournament via The Rugby Network live-stream. [Lead photo: Nationals newcomer Taft HS]
RELATED: HS Nationals Home Page
Eight states are sending representatives to the annual 15s tournament, and four programs are making their debuts at 2024 nationals. Idaho has three sides in the event: varsity and JV sides from Eagle, which debuted in 2022 and piqued the interest of fellow Idaho teams, and newcomer Meridian. Rocky Mountain joined the fray last year and finished 2nd overall, but switched to the high school club tournament this year for the Friday-Saturday schedule.
Also new this year are two high schools from nearby Illinois: Hononegah from Rockton and Taft from Chicago. Read more from Hononegah head coach Lassen Fleege, who wanted the players to experience a national tournament while it was still relatively close to home.
Pasefika is also new to the single-school championship and draws its players from Kahuku High School. The Hawaiian program is three years old and began playing 15s this year. It’s welcomed touring squads from California and Canada to Oahu, and is undefeated so far. The team has also just joined a new West Coast league that will debut in 2024-25. Read more.
Pasefika is the westernmost participant while returner City Honors from the Buffalo area is the easternmost competition. Columbia Central from middle Tennessee is repping the South as another veteran.
Columbia Central HS Rugby
In the Midwest, there is Indiana’s Warsaw Community High School and Michigan’s Grandville High School, and the four Wisconsin sides – reigning national champion Divine Savior Holy Angels (+ JV), Catholic Memorial and Hamilton.
The organizing committee is collecting results throughout the spring (some leagues concluded their 15s seasons in the fall, while some are just starting up) and will continue to do so until approximately a week before kickoff. Then the 14 teams will be seeded, and the top-eight teams will be placed into Division I, and the bottom-six teams will compete in Division II. DI is a traditional three-round championship, with Day 1 quarterfinals pitting the No. 1 and No. 8 teams against each other, No. 2 vs. No. 7, etc. The semifinals will also occur on Saturday, May 18. Sunday is for final places and the title match.
Division II will be two pools of three teams. Squads play two pool play games on Saturday and then standings set up the cross-pool placing matches on Sunday. The High School Club 15s National Tournament will overlap on Saturday, so buckle up!
2024 HS 15S NATIONAL TOURNAMENT
Catholic Memorial HS – Waukesha, Wis.
City Honors – Buffalo, N.Y.
Columbia Central – Columbia, Tenn.
Divine Savior Holy Angles – Milwaukee, Wis.
Divine Savior Holy Angels JV – Milwaukee, Wis.
Eagle High School – Boise, Idaho
Eagle High School JV – Boise, Idaho
Grandville High School – Grandville, Mich.
Hamilton High School – Sussex, Wis.
Hononegah Community HS – Rockton, Ill.
Meridian High School – Meridian, Idaho
Pasefika – Kahuku, Hawaii
Taft High School – Chicago, Ill.
Warsaw Community HS – Warsaw, Ind.
Major League Rugby and USA Youth & High School Rugby are the title sponsors for the second consecutive year, and their supports helps fund The Rugby Network live-stream. Not all of the games will be broadcast, but the organizing committee is working on supplemental coverage.
USA Rugby is bolstering the referee lineup and flying three officials to Wisconsin as part of its high-level developmental program.
Rhino Rugby is the official ball supplier of the national tournament, and Northwest Designs is the t-shirt and sweatshirt vendor. They’re able to customize gear on-site, but the organizing committee highly recommends ordering merchandise in advance and online to avoid the inevitable long lines.
For more information, visit https://www.eventcreate.com/e/hsgrugbynationals.