SEBASTIAN — Nobody really knows how many teenagers play rugby in the state of Florida, but on Saturday, coaches and directors of the Florida Youth Rugby Union hope to see the best of them and choose a winning team to represent the state of Florida in future competitions.
Sebastian’s North County Regional Park at 9450 County Road 512 will host three all-star games, which will serve as an open tryout to form future select teams.
At 11 a.m., 16-and-under (junior varsity) boys will be split up into two teams for a match. A girls game will follow at 1 p.m., with the 19-and-under (varsity) boys to play at 3 p.m.
“We really don’t know how many players will sign up,” said Mariana Gallo, the manager of the Florida Youth Rugby Union’s High Performance Program. “We’re thinking the more the merrier. We want to spread the sport and get the news out there that this is a sport.”
The organizers of the event hope to field 15 or more players to a side in order to conduct a regulation match. If the number of registrants is less than that, the games could be 14 on 14 or 13 on 13.
“We picked Sebastian because it’s a place in the middle of the state,” said Gallo, a resident of Weston, whose son Tomas will play in the 16-and-younger match.
“We’ve heard from kids in different parts of Orlando, Daytona Beach, Deltona, Naples and Miami who want to play. The idea is to put north players against south players. We’ve contacted coaches who didn’t know about this event.”
The girls match was a late addition to the program.
“This is a terrific way of giving exposure to our younger players and the community,” said Sebastian River High girls rugby coach Allan Dobson. “I think it’s especially good for the boys to have a High Performance Program. Getting picked to the Florida Select Team could be a springboard to bigger and better things.”
Dobson will coach the North Team in the girls match. Maggie O’Rourke, Crystal Negron, and twins Morgan Temple and Maison Temple will play for Dobson’s team.
All were standouts for the Sharks this past season. O’Rourke, who just graduated, has earned a scholarship to play for American International (Mass.) this fall.
The Temple twins, who also just graduated, earned scholarships to play for Lindenwood University (Mo.). Most of the players from the Sebastian River High squad and the Indian River County Rugby Club should play in the match.
“It should be a jolly good day of rugby,” Dobson said. “For the girls, it’s a scouting game to identify potential star players for the future rotation.”
Players should arrive at least one hour before their scheduled game to register.
Gallo and Frank Tito, who is the director of the High Performance Program, think Florida could produce future players for the United States national team.
“The beauty of rugby is that everyone can play,” Gallo said.
For information, players can contact Gallo at (954) 980-1872 or send an email to floridayouthrugby@gmail.com.
