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HOT NEWS
...the latest and greatest
-- New health and safety section.
-- New section on the July U-16 tour to Canada. Keep checking for updates. Coach Dale Roach is in charge.
Fort Hunt Rugby
Come play rugby with us!
We are a youth rugby club offering a summer (May-August) season of touch and tackle rugby for boy and girl players aged 7-17, with plans for spring 2010 to expand our program toward U-19/ high school rugby for boys 14-18, with the objective of a permanent Fort Hunt Rugby U-19 team in the years to come.
Fort Hunt Eagles Rugby Football Club, Summer 2009
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Our purpose is to introduce kids--and parents--to the lifetime sport of Rugby Union Football, an oustanding and immensely fun sport to play and to watch that offers fitness and teaches decision making, teamwork, comraderie, controlled and focused full-contact in an environment of sportsmanship and respect for teammates, opponents, and officials.
FACEBOOK!
...interact with us on FB
Click here to post a message, drop a link, share some photos, etc., on our Facebok page.
2010 Info
...what's up for our fifth year
Free Spring Break Clinic
We’ll again put on a free-of-charge spring break rugby clinic during the Fairfax County Public School spring break, 29 March-2 April 2010.
Time will be 4-6 pm, and it will be held on our regular practice field at Collingwood Park.
This clinic is open to all youth rugby veterans, and to anyone new to the game. No experience is necessary. We’ll be concentraing on basic running, passing, fielding and kicking drills, and will finish each clinic with some age-based touch scrimmages.
This will be a touch-only clinic; no tackle.
On Friday, 2 April, we will conclude the clinic with a free social for all participants.
2010 Summer Season
We’ll open registration for our 2010 summer season in early April, ideally right after the clinic.
We will begin practices on our Collingwood Park fields on Tuesday, 18 May. Practices will be 6-8 pm. 
Remembering Coach Dave Poulin
...one of our most dedicated coaches
The Fort Hunt Rugby family has lost a crucial part of our program. Veteran Fort Hunt Rugby Coach  and dad Dave Poulin passed away unexpectedly on 25 August 2009.
Big thanks to all of the Fort Hunt Rugby players, parents and supporters who came out on 4 September at at Bethany Lutheran Church for Dave’s memorial ceremony. Big thanks to our Braddock Road mate, Steve "Izzy" Israel, for showing up as well. All of you showed what being a teammate is all about.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made in support of the Poulin Children’s college education to: The USAA College Savings Plan, c/o 8610 Conover Place, Alexandria, VA 22308.
Click here to view a work-in-progress Picasa album featuring Coach Dave. If you have any photos for this album, please send to Coach Dacey at rugby007@aol.com.
The club is working on memorial efforts for Coach Dave:
As an enduring memorial, we are working on having our Fairfax County Parks Authority field at Collingwood Park named in Dave’s honor. If you are interested in helping out, please contact John Dacey or Andy Vonada.
Next summer season, we will sport a "Dave" patch on the right breast of our special fifth anniversary jerseys.
FHYAA 2009 Celebration Dinner
...and Volunteer of the Year awards!
The 2009 (and third annual) Fort Hunt Athletic Association celebration dinner took place in November. Big congratulations to this year’s Fort Hunt Rugby Volunteer of the Year, Coach Jim Woods.
USA Youth Rugby Promotional Video
...a great intro to youth rugby in the United States
Click here for a really great video about youth rugby.
Practice/Field Status
...are we go or not?
Sadly, we’re done for Summer 2009, but we'll be starting up for 2010 in April...
It’s hot--every player: bring water! A single-serving water bottle is not sufficient--you should bring at least 24 ounces.
Players: bring your mouthpiece to every practice and match.
Weather Note: Parents, if you see lightning/hear thunder at home, we’re seeing and hearing the same thing at practice, so we are calling practice on weather/safety grounds, and it’s time to come and pick up your player. Rest assured, we coaches will never leave a player behind--we always will wait in the parking lot with all players until everyone is picked up and accounted for.
If you do not see otherwise, always assume practice is on.
Check out the meteorological situation at WJLA weather.
Fairfax County Parks Authority Field Status, phone 703-324-5264.
Team Announcements
...the important stuff
Fort Hunt Rugby on Facebook
Come and become a fan. Check us our here.
The Fort Hunt Rugby Store is Open!
We have a growing selection of Fort Hunt Rugby gear and gifts for you and your players. Check out our gear and gift area (left) or click here.
We’ve got jerseys, custom club balls, patches, stickers (in two sizes!) and now club pins.
All sales support the club’s finances.
Summer 2009 Wrap-Up/Stats
Click on our match section for all of the details of the 2009 season.
RUGBY MOVIE:
In 2008 a movie came out about a longtime powerhouse high school rugby program in Utah, and its coach, Larry Gelwix. The movie is Forever Strong, and I strongly recommend it for all youth rugby players and parents of youth rugby players. It’s a story of an individual who learns to be a true member of a team, who eventually learns the value of giving himself over to something bigger than himself. There are really powerful themes of honor, respect, integrity and personal conduct, in a story that is easy to follow. And it’s got lots of high school rugby, too.
I recommend you rent and watch this movie, ideally both players and parents together. Click here to see its description on Netflix, or here to read about it on the Internet Movie Database. You can check it out on Amazon.com by clicking here.
TACKLING
The fundamentals of the tackle are:
- Hips lower than the head
- A neutral, straight back position
- Head up, but not chin up in the air, or chin pressed to the chest (eyes open)
- Head to the outside/behind the seat
- Wrap with one or both arms
See more tackling info on our linked videos.
We Love Our Sponsors!
...they help make our program go
Click here to visit our Sponsorship page.
Big thanks to Primo Family Restaurant, for its second year of generous support to Fort Hunt Rugby.
Big thanks to Rooga’s Sports for stepping up to sponsor Fort Hunt Rugby for the Summer 2009 season.
Summer 2010 Season
...this season, our fourth, is now done
Registration for the Summer 2010 will open in early April 2010.
The FHYAA online registration system allows both PC and Mac users to register using Visa or MasterCard. If you do not want to pay by credit card, please contact alvonada@hotmail.com and we will assist you with getting your player registered. Register now!!
Practices start on Tuesday, 28 May. Practices will be on Tu/Wed/Th nights, 6:00-8:00pm at Collingwood Park. See our practices section, at left.
FHYAA Rugby is for both boys and girls. U-9 & U-11 teams will only play coed touch rugby, and most likely will be combined into a single U-11 team, as we have done in years past. U-13, U-15 and U-17 will play tackle rugby, but not on a coed basis. Older players may play coed touch rugby, although this will depend on the number of players who turn out. See more information to the left.
Geographic Boundaries
Fort Hunt Rugby has NO GEOGRAPHIC BOUNDARY RESTRICTIONS! You can play with us regardless of where you live or where you go to school. So, Mount Vernon HS, West Potomac HS, Walt Whitman MS, Carl Sandburg MS, Bishop Ireton, St. Louis, Browne Academy, Gonzaga and all other schools, come play summer rugby with us.
Length of Season
The summer season runs from late May to early August (end-of-season tournament). We may organize a U-16 tour to Canada in early July.
Cost
Fees for 2010 have not yet been finalized.
Last year's fees were:
$100 registration fee.
$5.50 Fairfax County Field Use Fee per registrant.
Volunteer Opt-Out Fee
Fort Hunt Rugby is run entirely by volunteers. See our Leaders area for more info, and your very own opportunity to step forward and help the club go. Volunteer opportunities available include:
- Assistant Coaches
- Match Secretary
- Team Parent
- Field Setup/Equipment Manager
- Social Chairman/Social Assistant
- Photographer/Historian
- Assistant Referee
Because Rugby is a relatively new sport with FHYAA, we have chosen not to assess a volunteer opt-out fee. Instead, we rely upon the interest and involvement of family members to ensure all support activities are fulfilled. As our program grows, we will need more parent-volunteers to fill key positions.
Knowledge of or experience in rugby is not required. We ask only for your time and enthusiasm to help your players and others enjoy learning and playing rugby.
Late Fee
A $10 late fee per registrant will start after registration has been open for some time, probably mid- to late June 2010.
Teams (Age Groups)
(all declarations for 2010 are tentative)
- U-11: Players must be under 11 years old on 1 July 2010 for this age group.
- U-13: Players must be under 13 years old on 1 July 2010 for this age group.
- U-15: Players must be under 15 years old on 1 July 2010 for this age group.
- U-17: Players must be under 17 years old on 1 January 2010 for this age group.
Refunds
FHYAA requires that a $25 administration fee be charged for all refunds. Total amount of refund is determined on a case-by-case basis. Contact Commissioner Andy Vonada with all refund requests.
Questions
What is youth rugby?...
...a great sport, for kids 7-17
Rugby is the newest Olympic sport, set for the 2016 summer Olympics. So who wouldn't want to learn about it?
Youth Rugby is a fast-paced, exciting, high-scoring sport for boys and girls, 7-17. Youth Rugby emphasizes FUN and SAFETY: running with the ball, running in support, passing, kicking, touching/tackling. No matter what position they play, every player gets to carry the ball, throughout the match. Players will pass to teammates, and teammates will pass to them, with everyone getting to score; everyone plays offense and everyone plays defense, with continuous play making things dynamic and very fast-paced. Our rugby players will have fun! Our rugby players will make tags (touch rugby) or tackles (older players), and will get tagged and tackled. Everyone gets a chance to score, probably more than once.
Our rugby players will become decision-makers, learning to think quickly about what is coming and what to do next, and how to support the team. We emphasize decision making and team skills (offense, defense, scrums, lineouts, rucks, mauls) as well as discipline, respect, and sportsmanship. Winning is fun, a lot more fun than losing, but it’s not the main point of our program. Our program's primary objective is for kids to have fun learning about and playing rugby.
And scoring? Let’s not forget scoring--who doesn’t like that? Lots of scoring for all players, regardless of size, speed, or skill level.
Youth rugby is a great way to stay in shape or get in shape for your fall sport. Your player will leave the Fort Hunt Rugby summer program more fit and ready to go for the fall, regardless of the sport. Players will stay active this summer, with three practices per week, with matches on Saturdays.
Our program does place a deep emphasis on physical fitness, and we will not undertake exercises or drills for the purpose of fitness. Since most players are rugby novices, we choose to emphasize individual and game skill development, with the drills and matches we undertake providing ample opportunities for exercise. Players who commit themselves to the team and the program will exit the season in August more fit than they began (the same is true for all volunteer coaches!).
Parents: You probably have seen rugby on TV--well, it’s not quite like that, but we mimic it, adjusting for the physical and emotional/cognitive abilities of younger players. The Laws (rules) of rugby apply, with modifications in the interest of safety and in consideration of players’ age, size, strength, and skill level. There are significant modifications to the Laws for touch rugby, and also major modifications to the tackle Laws to ease younger players into full-contact rugby, specifically with respect to scrums and individual tackling.
Fort Hunt Rugby has two coaches who have USA Rugby national certifications: Commissioner Andy Vonada and Head Coach John Dacey. Safety is our first priority. We enter our fifth season with a only three injuries for the entire program's history.
Kids, tell your parents you want to play rugby this summer. Stay active, stay fit, stay busy. Make new friends, learn a new sport, a sport you can play your entire life. Become a rugby player!
Youth Rugby In Our Region
...since 2000, and growing
Youth rugby has been part of the northern Virginia youth sports scene since 2000 (and several years before that in Maryland), having been sponsored by Southwestern Youth Association (SYA, in Centreville), Springfield Youth Club (SYC), with Alexandria and Winchester entering the league in 2003.
Since then, we have added the Chantilly Youth Association (CYA), Vienna Youth, Inc (VYI), Braddock Road Youth Club (BRYC), Fairfax Police Youth Club (FPYC), Warrenton, and now Fort Hunt Youth Athletic Association (FHYAA), bringing the number of northern Virginia teams to nine and more than doubling the previous total.
The goal of the Fort Hunt Rugby program is an enduring Fort Hunt Rugby Football Club (RFC), an organization that fields each summer at least one viable, competitive team in each age group (U-9, U-11, U-13, U-15 and U-17).
We will look to establish a U-19 Fort Hunt Rugby high school (ages 14-18) club that will participate in the spring (Feb-June) season. For 2010, we have established opportunities for U-19 players to train and play with both SYC and FPYC. Contact John Dacey at rugby007@aol.com or 703-780-5859 if you want to play, or if you want to volunteer to create this club.
Contact Us...
...we're here to help you.
For more information, please contact the FHYAA Youth Rugby Commissioner, Andrew Vonada at alvonada@hotmail.com, 703-360-1534, or head coach John Dacey at rugby007@aol.com, 703-780-5859.
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