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MUDSOCK YOUTH RUGBY

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23

May, 2018

YMCA Summer Rugby Camp Registration is OPEN

We've been asked the question, "Why touch rugby instead of tackle for the YMCA summer rugby camp?" Liability issues aside, it is true that at some point physicality-based skills — tackling, being tackled, rucking — will have a prominent role in the game. But when you're a kid first learning about rugby, or else a rucker looking to stay fit in the offseason, what is most important? For the rookies, it's learning the game’s rules and the skills needed to play within those rules. For the veterans, it's competing in a low-impact environment that keeps them fresh for football or soccer or rugby 7s in the fall, basketball or wrestling in the winter, and finally, rugby in the spring.

Remove all of the hitting and contests for possession from rugby, and what you’re left with is a game that concentrates on the fundamentals:

Backwards passing: Arguably the most important law in the game is that the ball may only be passed backwards. It’s one thing to practice making backwards passes in a drill, and another thing entirely to reproduce it in the midst of a game.

Running in support: It’s important for the ball carrier to be able to legally and accurately pass the ball. For the other players on the ball carrier’s team, it’s important to know how they should all be arranged on the field.

Restarting play: During a game, the action briefly pauses when the ball carrier gets tackled. When these pauses occur, both the attacking and defending teams will have to quickly re-arrange themselves before the action resumes — especially with regard to being onside.

The defensive line: On defense, no skill is more important than the team-wide ability to get into, and stay in, a defensively sound line across the field.

FUN: Rugby is a brotherhood and a sisterhood like no other sport. The lessons your kids learn on the field about teamwork, sportsmanship, character, and fundamentally respecting your opponent will be invaluable at the next level of the sport, or in any sport in which they participate. And the team socials are pretty awesome!

The YMCA of Fishers Summer Rugby program is a co-ed, two-hand touch youth rugby league for all kids in Grades 2-8. League play runs Tuesday and Thursday nights, June 12-July 19, 6-7:30 p.m.  Games will be held on the Journey Lutheran soccer fields at 10401 E 116th St. in Fishers, but Fishers residency is NOT required. The cost of the four-week camp is only $65. Go to https://indymca.org/fishers/program/sports/#rugby for more info.