Academy Students Gain Hands-On Production Experience at Rugby Wrap Up
Many young, entry-level job seekers in the twenty-first century face a catch-22: to get work, you need work experience. 91% of employers prefer to hire new graduates with previous work experience; 65% prefer candidates with relevant work experience; a mere 5% state that work experience in not a factor in hiring decisions. Access to such meaningful, hands-on work experiences is essential for young people’s workplace readiness usually years…
Read MoreExecutive Director Update
Are we over halfway through the year already?! It’s amazing how time flies when you’re having fun and the last few months have been a whirlwind with season wrap ups, Gala entertainment and our biggest tournaments of the year. To begin, as always with the programs. It was inspiring to see so many kids expressing…
Read More2019 Rugby Cup is a Success!
12th Annual NYC Rugby Cup On Saturday, June 8th 2019, Play Rugby USA hosted the 2019 NYC Rugby Cup, on Randall’s Island. Started back in 2008, the Rugby Cup is our biggest annual rugby tournament. This year, we brought together over 600 students from 52 schools from all five borough of New York City together…
Read MoreAcademy Seniors Win PSAL Wingate Awards for Rugby
The Play Rugby family would like to congratulate our Academy seniors, Destiny Quinones and Dylan Swincicki, for receiving the prestigious PSAL Wingate Award for Girls Rugby and Boys Rugby respectively. Despite many worthy nominees of PSAL rugby participants, Destiny and Dylan, were honored with these awards. Girls Rugby Winner: Destiny Quinones Senior at the Bronx…
Read MorePlay Rugby USA and Engage! Coventry Exchange Knowledge
New York City and Coventry, England are quite different from one another, but they have at least one thing in common: rugby value-based youth development programs that empower young people. Play Rugby USA calls New York City its home while Engage! Coventry, Coventry. Representatives from these two programs spent a week together in June, learning…
Read More#DHLGoForward Winner Announced
Memphis-Based Young Athlete Wins DHL Contest to Deliver Match Ball at Rugby World Cup 2019™, Japan #DHLGoForward contest winner will travel to Japan to deliver the official Match Ball on the field for the USA v France match Plantation, Fla., June 28, 2019: Jamiyah Brown, an 11-year-old rugby player from Memphis, will experience the once-in-a-lifetime…
Read MoreMeet Kevin – Youth Development Mentor
From humble beginnings, Kevin Braithwaite, started off as a player in our Academy program and fell in love with rugby. He joined the Play Rugby staff in 2014 and has been loving every moment of being a Youth Development Mentor. Kevin says he joined as Youth Development Mentor due to, “the impact my coaches had…
Read More2019 PSAL Rugby Championship
Play Rugby USA hosted the 2019 Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL) Rugby Championship on May 31st – a sunny Friday afternoon on Randall’s Island. Since 2010, Play Rugby has partnered with PSAL to host annual rugby tournaments that bring together teams from different boroughs together to play rugby and demonstrate their #GoForward spirit. This year,…
Read MoreMeet Denisse – Youth Development Mentor
Born and raised in the Dominican Republic, Denisse Zambon did not know a lick of English before she moved to New York when she was 14. But, by being immersed in rugby and high school she slowly learned and is now completely fluent. Denisse began playing in a Play Rugby program. She’s been playing rugby…
Read MoreAcademy/NYRC Girls Win the Rugby NY State Championship
On the first weekend of June, the Play Rugby Academy teams competed at the Rugby NY State Championships at Binghamton University. A total of 16 Girls’ teams — including notable teams like Syracuse, City Honors and Corning — gathered from all over New York State. Despite the tough competition, the Academy/NYRC combined team won first…
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