Maryland and Virginia have united for a new girls’ high school 15s league this spring. The cross-state competition not only injects some diversity in the opposition, but the two-tiered system can also be a vehicle to rehab dwindling programs and incubate developing ones.
Fort Hunt (Va.) head coach Kat Aversano is the commissioner of the to-be-named league.
“It’s been a long time in talks,” Aversano said of the league’s creation. “We’ve talked about trying to do a regional competition or league of some sort as long as I’ve coached the girls – six years now.
“We want to have something valid,” the commissioner continued. “Teams in both Maryland and Virginia have been going under or losing numbers, so this would hopefully be a way to build it back out. That’s theoretical but for years we’ve allowed them to build back out on their own and it hasn’t happened.”
Like-minded coaches like North Bay’s Scott and Jaymie Hoffman, and West Carroll’s Gabrielle Balassone have been ready for a change in Maryland. Same with West End, which is led by Phil Parks and Sarah Emory, in Virginia. All three teams have featured at the Girls’ High School National Invitational Tournament and can appreciate the value of diverse competition.
“We’ve also had some influx of new coaches from some teams, which is great,” Aversano said. “They’ve come in and realized it’s not working in Maryland or Virginia, and are open to something new.”
Aversano explained that the players themselves advocated for change.
“We just kept hearing the same thing from players: Why do we play the same 2-3 teams for matrix in the spring, but other seasons that aren’t official are more diverse,” Aversano said. “It’s about getting the girls the product they want from rugby.”
The idea was for two tiers – A and B – and programs with good numbers could enter sides in both competitions. Tier A is for the established teams, and B is for younger and developing teams. Tier A will play 15s, and that is the goal for Tier B as well, with hopefully nothing smaller than 12s occurring on game day.
“I created the first iteration of the schedule and the main purpose was to show everyone that it was possible,” Aversano said. “I didn’t’ think it’d get off the ground this spring but I was letting everyone know that functionally this would work.”
Support followed, and the states rallied around the tiered system. March 7-8 is the first of five competition weekends, and teams from within a tier will play each other once. Teams with A and B sides will travel to the same location and not be separated. Considerations for traditional game days (Maryland plays on Sunday and Virginia on Saturday) and travel distances have been made, but Aversano admitted that the schedule won’t be perfect for everyone. The goal is make sure longer-distance trips are traded between teams each year, and that year-one lessons are implemented in subsequent seasons.
MARYLAND-VIRGINIA 15s LEAGUE
A: Fort Hunt, Maryland Exiles, North Bay, TC Williams, West Carroll, West End
B: Fort Hunt, Maryland Valkyries, North Bay, Richmond/Vienna, TC Williams, West Carroll
The season will culminate on May 9-10, with semifinals on Saturday and placing matches on Sunday. Speaking for Virginia, Aversano indicated that there was room in the schedule to participate in a State Rugby Organization (SRO) high school state championship, if it’s held and which occurs later in May.
“For the last two years, Virginia has had three solid teams,” Aversano said. “We might have a state championship, but to me, a champion of three teams is not a big deal, especially when you see them all the time.”
Looking ahead, Aversano hopes the league can serve established teams and that Tier B will provide meaningful competition that alleviates the pressure of performing against the powerhouses.
“The ambition is to bring back some D.C. girls teams as well,” Aversano used an example. “There used to be a couple of teams that would struggle for numbers, but Bell Multicultural has been in contact with the Valkyries. They don’t have a full-out team to declare yet but I know they were looking for friendlies this spring, and I hope to fold them in somehow.”
WHY ARE NUMBERS DROPPING?
Aversano and member coaches are taking a pro-active step in revitalizing girls’ high school rugby in their region. But why are numbers dropping?
“There’s no concrete answer,” Aversano said. “Youth participation in sports has fallen across the board in the states, and rugby as well. My personal thought is that the SROs and coaches, especially for girls’ rugby, have tried to maintain a quality product for athletes and parents for years and years, but there’s just been lack of infrastructure and lack of organization in general. Rugby people are spread really thin. If you’re a coach, then you’re probably also an administrator and something else. Look at any rugby website that’s an SRO or youth organization, and they’re not up to date. We used to get our schedule a month or two in advance.
“Maybe it’s the expansion of youth organizations and trying to branch out more but not having the manpower to do that,” Aversano considered other factors. “When you deal with kids and kids’ parents, you have to be more accountable and organized, because you’re up against youth sports that have been in effect for decades, as opposed to the 10-15 years we’ve been running.”
Aversano also posited that enforcement of varsity of JV divisions at the Regional Cup Tournaments – which is the major talent showcase for USA Rugby’s age-grade programs – did some damage.
“A couple of years ago, the coaches and administrators didn’t do a good enough job letting USA Rugby know how devastating the JV and varsity division was,” Aversano said of the age-based groupings, which stressed states with lower numbers and forced the withdrawal of some all-star teams. “How can these kids get seen? It put the kibosh on some growth that we had been aiming toward.”
The region did host some RCT-style tournaments that catered to all-star teams that needed their freshmen through senior players on one squad. Mount St. Mary’s had been a host and also drew USA Rugby scouts. This year, the USA Rugby Girls High School All-Americans are holding a talent I.D. camp on Feb. 15 at the Barry Farm Recreation Center in D.C. It’s been a nice addition, just like the impending 15s league.
Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.
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