the 7 th Annual LA Rugby Cup SATURDAY MAY 13 TH Eagle Rock High School PRESENTED BY 1
LA84 Foundation is proud to support the Play Rugby Los Angeles team and the LA Rugby Cup! Good luck to all the teams playing today! 2
Canterbury North America wishes good luck to all the young girls and boys competing today at the LA Rugby Cup! We are proud of your efforts and welcome you to the wonderful rugby community! A Better World Through Rugby 3
BE A CULTURE KEEPER Player I am here to have fun! I am committed to my teammates I respect all coaches, officials and opponents I have a positive attitude and I actively listen to the coach and my peers Coach I am here to have fun! I am a positive role model I am focused solely on providing an enjoyable development experience for my players I demonstrate sportsmanship and respectful communication with players, opponents, and officials I praise positive behavior among players and reward effort above all else Spectators I am here to have fun! I use appropriate language and behavior in defeat and success I support the coach, ALL players, and officials I encourage the development of my child Let s have some fun! Any questions on the game of rugby please ask any staff member in a RED Play Rugby USA logo t-shirt to clarify 4
Our VALUES & FLAG RUGBY TERMS Keep an ear out for these Play Rugby USA Values! Switch On: Preparing physically and mentally for a tournament. Focusing on how I will treat others and want to be treated. Playing in the true spirit of the game. Go Forward: Every play, game and tournament i will put in the effort and hard work to be better for me and my team. Play What You See: I will make positive decisions on and off the field and support and encourage the decisions my teammates make. As a team we vow to learn from mistakes and become stronger to face challenges, today and in the future. Get There: I help my teammates be successful, just as they help me to be successful. My contribution and support will create an example others can follow. Try Makers Not Just Try Scorers: We before me. I always play my hardest and I do it for the good of the team, rather than my own personal statistics. I help my teammates, opponents, coaches, supporters and everyone here today, create a positive experience, we can all be proud of. Flag Rugby Terms Try: a score, which is worth 1 point in flag rugby Free Pass: used as a restart to play after a try is scored, the ball goes into touch, a penalty is committed, or a knock on is committed and no advantage is gained Into Touch: out of bounds Advantage: allowing play to continue when a penalty happens is called advantage. The referee calls Advantage while waiting to see if the non-offending team will benefit. If so, the referee announces Play On. If no advantage occurs, play restarts with a Free Pass from the point of the infringement Substitutions: subs are unlimited and are allowed at stoppages of play at the whistle Penalties that result in loss of possession and/or a free pass for the opposition Knock-On: when the ball is dropped or lost forwards towards the opponents' goal line Forward Pass: when the ball is passed forwards and not backwards or horizontal Blocking/Obstruction: when an offensive teammate stops or gets in the way of a flag being taken Flag Guarding: any time a player running with the ball blocks or guards their flag from being taken by the defense Not allowed in Flag Rugby 360 degree spinning, sliding/diving, jumping/hurdling, shoving/pushing, stripping the ball from another player. 5
FOUNDER S WELCOME Thank You for supporting Play Rugby USA and our vision to create a Better World Through Rugby. Welcome to our Rugby Cup Series, which brings together over 150 youth rugby teams across three cities for these sensational events! A huge thank you to AIG for supporting both the New York City and Bay Area legs of our Cup Series, and for all the other corporations and individuals who have made these events possible. Play Rugby USA has come a long way over the past 11 years, since I chose to retire from my banking career in 2006 to pursue my dream of bringing rugby to deserving young people who otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity. To date, we have worked in and with over 400 schools and community based organizations serving over 20,000 students, with an average of 5,500 students in our programs each year. We are incredibly proud of our young players and today, you'll see for yourself not only how engaged they are in this great sport, but the positive character traits and life skills they ve developed through our program. It is through our "Values in Action" framework that we're able to encourage and celebrate positive behaviors that can be applied as much off the field as on. It is an exciting time for rugby in the US. Rugby Sevens made its debut at the Rio Olympics where both our Men and Women's National teams competed. The Women's Eagles will head to Ireland in August to participate in the Women's Fifteens World Cup, showcasing the incredible growth of the women's game. And next summer the US will host the Rugby Sevens World Cup in San Francisco! We are proud to continue leading the field of rugby-based youth development and are confident that our young people will be well positioned to take on leadership roles on their teams, in college and in life. The future is bright for American rugby and all of the young people we support at Play Rugby USA. Thank you for being a part of this incredible journey. Sincerely, Mark Griffin Founder & CEO Play Rugby USA 6
THE LOS ANGELES RUGBY CUP It s been yet another barn storming year for Play Rugby USA in Los Angeles, with 10 tournaments scheduled in 2017. So far this year we ve hosted the Beyond the Bell Middle School tournament (12 Schools) on January 28, with upcoming events including the Woodcraft Rangers Middle School tournament on May 20 and their NVISION Day on June 3 for the Top 4 teams. The LA Cup features 25 Elementary & 12 Middle School sites from Beyond the Bell as well as 6 Middle School teams from the After-School All-Stars, totaling 48 squads! The Elementary sites will be representing teams on the HSBC Sevens World Series, while the Middle Schoolers will be either Super Rugby or English Premiership teams. For more information visit: Play Rugby USA playrugbyusa.com LA 84 Foundation la84.org After School All-Stars la-allstars.org Beyond the Bell btb.lausd.net GRYD Foundation grydfoundation.org EduCare Foundation educarefoundation.com Woodcraft Rangers woodcraftrangers.org 7
BritWeek is proud to support the Play Rugby USA Los Angeles team! Congratulations on another superb year and best of lick to the teams taking part in the LA Rugby Cup! 8
PLAY RUGBY USA LOS ANGELES The continued growth of the Play Rugby USA Los Angeles program is attributed to the generous funding support from the magnificent LA84 Foundation, as well as strategic partnerships with after school programs including Beyond the Bell, After-School All-Stars (ASAS), Woodcraft Rangers, EduCare Foundation, LA s Best, the Sheriff Youth Academies League (YAL) and Mayor Eric Garcetti s Summer Night Lights. To date we have served over 150 sites, using our Developing Youth Through Rugby curriculum to over 5,000 students. Participation numbers continue to increase, especially through the success of the train-the-trainer model. Female participation has increased from 37% in 2012 to 45% in 2016, which is something we are extremely proud of. Rugby at the Rio Olympic Games has certainly increased the sports visibility throughout North America providing many more opportunities to continue playing, and in some cases using the sport as an educational vehicle. Scholarships for Rugby (both male and female) are now available at many top Colleges in the United States. Our Los Angeles Program Director, Dallen Stanford, is also heavily involved in rugby broadcasting and will be commentating the USA vs Ireland match at Red Bull Arena on June 10th live on National Television! We expect a few mentions for Play Rugby USA! 9
PLAY RUGBY USA SAN FRANCISCO After being introduced to Los Angeles in 2010, Play Rugby USA s California operations expanded north to the Bay Area in 2012. The 2016-17 school year has seen a 100% retention rate from last year, and in increased amount of program hours for the majority of program partners, including our schools in Richmond, Oakland, San Francisco, Redwood City, and Marin City. This past year we had direct service programs running simultaneously in up to 11 schools throughout San Francisco. We also expanded our curriculum to involve classroom sessions in Richmond. Both Richmond Charter Academy and Stege Elementary are participating in rugby values sessions as well as homework help. We're really excited about our recent merger with the Oakland Warthogs, a high school tackle club from Oakland. Some of the players will be at our Rugby Cup to act as Superfans for our flag rugby players. In November, we had our first fall tournament, and we continued with some Rookie Rugby Scrimmages to get our players ready for our culminating Cup event. We're excited about this season's growth and looking forward to more of the same for next year! 10
THANK YOU TO ALL OUR SUPPORTERS Australian Consulate-General Los Angeles 11
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MEET OUR TEAM Mark Griffin, President and Founder, Play Rugby USA: Having been in charge full time of Play Rugby USA for over 8 years, Mark s passion and drive for youth development through sports and rugby has meant the organization has had another great year going from strength to strength. Mark is a former USA Eagles Player and Director of National Youth and High School for USA Rugby- the National Governing Body for rugby in America. Stuart Bagshaw, Chair of the Bay Area Advisory Board, Play Rugby USA: Stuart moved into a volunteer role last year after doing a tremendous amount of work getting our San Francisco program off the ground and ensuring that the Los Angeles branch has continued to thrive! Stuart is a true champion of Play Rugby USA and we appreciate his passion and dedication to our students and our mission. Dallen Stanford, Program Manager, Play Rugby USA, Los Angeles: Dallen is a former USA 7s Eagle who celebrates 6 years with our Los Angeles program. He led the Maccabi USA Rugby team to a Gold and Silver medal in Santiago, Chile, last year. Dallen is heavily involved in rugby broadcasting appearing on the HSBC Sevens World Series in Las Vegas and Vancouver, as well as all USA Internationals and domestic action through USA Rugby on CBS Sports Network, NBC Sports & The Rugby Channel as well as fixtures at Infinity Park in Rugbytown, USA. Dallen also founded SoCal Rugby Camps, and is the voice behind his website, The Rugby Corner. ANTHONY LENOS, Program Development Manager, Play Rugby USA, San Francisco: Anthony began his rugby playing career at Ohio University, and got his start at Play Rugby USA in 2011. While in NYC Anthony was in charge of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) procedures as well as the Sports Leadership Academy Academic component (PEACE program). Anthony also supported tournaments and enrichment events for the NYC participants including a mentor partnership with NYPD Rugby Football Club. Anthony joined the Bay Area team in November of 2016. We would also like to thank the following Youth Development Mentors for their continued efforts with Our Program: Dyala Alameddine Barnaby Audsley Monica Au-Yeung William Ayres Casey Bollinger Connor Botha Justin Boyd Chloe Butler Ronald Chan Thomas Egan Oscar Flores Samir Gangolli Jamison Hayward Harrison Herndon Lizzy Hermosillo Ann Hoang Jesse Jimenez Mayra Jimenez Ann Lease Yesenia Medina Mathew Raba Peter Sio Harrison Yeary Michelle Young Fernando Zepeda 13
MEET THE TEAMS! 25 elementary SChool Co-Ed Teams Participating Sites: Allesandro Annandale Beethoven Buchanan Bushnell Way Cahuenga Cesar Chavez Clifford Dahlia Heights Dorris Place El Sereno First Street Franklin Garvanza Ivanhoe Logan Magnolia Mayberry Monte Vista Mount Washington Norwood Plasencia Sierra Park Toland Way Yorkdale 14
MEET THE TEAMS! 24 Middle SChool Co-Ed Teams Participating Sites: Burbank Burroughs Byrd Columbus Dana Eagle Rock Elizabeth Emerson Griffith Harry Bridges Hollenbeck Irving King Maclay Nava Nightingale Pacoima Portola Reed Sepulveda Stevenson Virgil Wilmington YOKA 15
MEET THE TEAMS! 6 Middle SChool Co-Ed Teams Participating Sites: Bell Gardens Intermediate Bret Harte CRMA #12 Mount Gleason Mulholland Stella 5/6 16
Thank You Partners! Thank you to the Following Amazing Partners: 17
A BETTER WORLD THROUGH RUGBY 18
WHY WE EXIST At Play Rugby USA our mission is to use the unique power of rugby to inspire and empower youth, primarily from underserved communities, to Go Forward and realize their true potential. We believe that young people in underserved communities deserve every opportunity to be successful and we also believe rugby is a unique vehicle for developing skills that are applicable for young people to succeed in school, the community and in living a healthy life. VISION: A Better World Through Rugby Purpose: For young people to embrace a life of vitality, on and off the field. PLAYRUGBYUSA.COM 19
WHO WE ARE Play Rugby USA operates programs in New York City, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco/Bay Area. In each city, we bring together a passionate group of people committed to building a fun, open and caring community with youth, their families and supporters. The staff supporting Play Rugby USA's impact fall into the areas below: YOUTH DEVELOPMENT MENTOR (YDM) YDM FACILITATOR PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP Every Youth Development Mentor (YDM) is a sport coach and mentor who seeks to build an enjoyable and safe space for students that promotes camaraderie, teamwork, and team ownership through skill development to build positive habits. Improving the way we interact with students, the YDM Facilitator supports new YDMs. Facilitators model our values, show outstanding dedication, and identify and nurture those qualities in others. We have a dedicated team of managers, directors and board members with decades of experience in sports-based youth development, program delivery, management, rugby, coaching, and mentoring. PLAYRUGBYUSA.COM 20
Partner Programs Direct Service Youth Development Mentors deliver direct service rugby-based youth development sessions in partnership with schools and community based organizations after school. Train the Trainer YDM Facilitators train and mentor teachers and after-school staff in rugby-based youth development to form and deliver after school rugby clubs. PROGRAM ENRICHMENT Tournaments Opportunities for players, coaches and their supporters to come together and compete as a team to demonstrate the skills they ve been learning in practice. Enrichment Opportunities Including camps, cultural and educational exchange programs, internships, volunteer opportunities offered through partnerships with schools, camps and other enrichment partners. Competency Training Workshops, curriculum and on-going support for schools, school districts and rugby clubs to design, deliver and implement a rugby-based youth development program. WHAT WE DO Community Programs Rugby Academy Rugby-based college preparatory program for 9th to 12th grade students who participate in regional (travel) rugby competitions. The Academy model features mandatory academic enrichment, strength and conditioning training, financial literacy education and 1:1 mentoring programs. Borough Based Academies Based upon the Academy model, local boroughbased programs offer player development opportunities through competition at the interborough level. BBA's mirror the Academy in academic enrichment and mentoring. Community Clubs Certified instructors use Play Rugby USA s unique, age-appropriate coaching curriculum, with flag and tackle rugby sides ranging from Elementary through High School. Programs practice 1-2 days a week, with travel games on weekends for tackle sides. Play Rugby USA, in partnership with the Northeast Academy, is the nation s 16th Community Olympic Development Program and the first in the country for rugby as designated by the United States Olympic Committee. The mission of the CODP is to identify, develop, empower and support young, promising athletes from the northeast to achieve their rugby dreams, by maximizing their potential to compete effectively at the highest level they can achieve. The CODP will support several of the above mentioned programs and will create a new high performance Rugby 7s program for the most talented high school aged players in the region. 21
OUR METHOD CHOOSE A PRO-SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT BUILD TEAM MEMBERSHIP & IDENTITY EMBRACE A GO FORWARD ATTITUDE EXHIBIT POSITIVE HABITS Play Rugby USA aspires to start youth on a path toward success by creating a safe environment which encourages team membership and team identity to promote skill building and help our students form positive habits at school, in their community and personal health. This path supports the development of a Go Forward attitude and instills skills for success in life. This path is formed through three core programming elements delivered by high quality Youth Development Mentors. INTENTIONAL PROGRAMMING VITAL CONNECTIONS GO FORWARD CULTURE A coordinated series of activities for youth to develop skills. Relationships with caring YDM s that embrace our values and model skills. A culture that provides opportunity to practice the skills and exhibit Play Rugby USA values. PLAYRUGBYUSA.COM 22
OUr Impact 81% * HEALTH & WELLNESS of students are further along a pathway to happy, healthy lives, they made significant gains in their positive youth development score which is linked to long-term thriving. 88% of students report that their physical fitness has improved as a result of playing rugby SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL ACADEMic 86% of students report that rugby is helping them develop into a person with more good qualities 82% of students report that their academic performance improved as a result of playing rugby 100% of NY Academy high school seniors graduated on time and enrolled in college *this positive youth development score was calculated by aggregating each youths score on six core outcomes and has been both tested and validated 23
The LA84 Foundation is proud to present the 2017 LA Rugby Cup! Good luck to all the teams playing today and thank you for coming! Play Rugby USA Los Angeles info.la@playrugbyusa.com facebook.com/playrugbyusacalifornia @playrugbyca @Playrugbyusaca 24