Aversano Influencing Y&HS as Regional Director

USA Youth and High School Rugby is a new 501(c)(3) organization that is separate from USA Rugby, but affiliated through services and a community agreement. Forty-five State Governing Bodies (SGBs) are divided into seven regions, which serve governmental purposes and do not restrict cross-border competition. There are seven regional directors, and Kat Aversano is one of two women elected into these influential roles. She represents the Southeast and is keen to connect the region’s SGBs and foster leadership opportunities for its diverse membership.

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“I was encouraged and nominated by Rugby Maryland to be the Southeast Regional Director,” said Aversano, who was first named an “interim representative” before being officially elected to the position three weeks later. “[President] John France and the board have been instrumental in getting behind me. They put their trust in me to represent the state, and then going forward with the nomination for the region, that I feel like I need to do as much as I can with the opportunity I’ve been given.”

Aversano described her fellow regional directors as collegial, open-minded and cooperative while also being dedicated to their SGBs’ needs. Aversano has high hopes for the Southeast and is encouraging SGBs to bring on additional leadership to ensure these new opportunities are well supported.

“USA Rugby was dividing their focus between a lot of different groups and that can be overwhelming,” Aversano said. “For us, we’ll be able to focus on issues that are more prevalent for youth and high school, especially when you’re talking about growth. That’s a big one that goes down to the SGB level.

“Right now our concern is standing up the organization, making sure all the documents are submitted, and that the organization itself is presented as one that will grow and be flexible, and that all of the policies we put in place won’t inhibit that,” Aversano said. “First and foremost, our goal is to make sure we’re ready to go when USA Rugby CIPP stops for youth and high school [on Aug. 31].”

Aversano wants to make sure that her SGBs feel supported, and so there’s a lot of conversation right now. Some of it is making sure that she’s transmitting any and all information to states and offering feedback, and other conversations are Covid-19 check-ins. Meanwhile, the Southeast SGB presidents have a standing call every week and are already working on a few organizational items for members, including a competitions calendar, best practices, and leadership mentorship opportunities.

“We created a Google Sheet that displays when each state plays every sector of their rugby. When is boys’ 7s? Girls’ 15s? Tag rugby? Is there a season for boys’ private schools,” Aversano explained. “It’s a visual, shared document that individuals can view at any given time. ‘We had warmer-than-usual weather so we started practicing in January and want to scrimmage in February, so who is playing right now where we can travel?’ Instead of calling up everyone, ‘Are you even playing right now,’ you check the document. It’s one extra administrative step that they don’t have to deal with.”

The group is really embracing the idea of shared resources, and wants to engender an environment where members from seven states are contributing to the best practices manual.

“With states being able to govern themselves, it’s wonderful that they can tailor their rugby environment to what they need, but at the same time, we can be sharing a lot of information that might have been stifled in the past,” Aversano said. “So for example, there’s a team in a rural area that somehow is able to get a team of 20 girls and recruit that number consistently for two years. How did you do that? Write it down for a Best Practices example. A team in rural Georgia can get that and it’s applicable. And it’s really useful regionally because we’re dealing with some of the same issues, especially weather. Being in the South, we’ll have teams playing in December, and that’s very unusual. It isn’t a factor if you’re from New England [but it’s relevant here].”

Aversano is also hoping to encourage and foster leadership mentorship in the Southeast.

“So this is all about scaling up any of our organizations,” Aversano said. “The national organization will hopefully take on bigger ideas, so we need to scale people up for leadership, and that starts on the ground at the state level, then region, to national.

“There hasn’t been the ability to do that and I’m not sure if it’s the structure or that rugby is very much a sport where every individual takes on as much as they possibly can,” she continued. “My goal would be for our state leaders to connect with their coaches in their state. ‘For three months I want you to join us on our weekly call and help with these endeavors.’ Implement at the state level so when they need to take a bigger leadership role, they’ll feel confident. … In USA Rugby, we talk about experience and credentials in doing this work, but we never give those opportunities for experience at the state level.”

As Aversano goes deeper into the organization, she’s bringing people with her. She’s made her nominations for the working groups at the national level (more on that to come), and they comprise a diverse group of individuals.

“There’s diversity of leadership and opinion, but when I talk about diversity, it’s not just race and gender,” Aversano said. “Especially in rugby, we have a problem with low-resourced teams and we definitely need to help that as much as possible, and that includes giving them a voice so they can explain where their brick walls are.”

Aversano is excited to a part of this unique endeavor to frame the youth and high school game, and is proud of the collaborative spirit uniting the board. She has found the work rewarding and attests to the receptive nature of all members.

The hope is that USA Youth and High School Rugby will hold its first to-be-annual meeting in January 2021. There, the SGBs will vote again for regional directors.

“What we’ve learned – and this goes especially to the membership – is that we don’t want to be going down the wrong path and not be able to shift gears,” Aversano said. “This gives membership the time to see the organization get stood up by people currently elected and then decide whether to re-elect them or put new people forward.”

Interested in getting involved? Contact Aversano who promises she can encourage you to sign on.

“The best thing I can say is there are people who will support you and respect your ideas and perspective,” Aversano closed. “A lot of the time, they aren’t the loudest people in the room but they’re consensus-minded and really looking to build this sport out and continue to make something we all love into something we’re proud of.”

USA YOUTH & HS REGIONAL DIRECTORS

Northwest: Jason Divine (AK, ID, MT, NorCal, OR, WA)
Southwest: David Pool (AZ, HI, NM, NV, SoCal)
Central: Owen Power (CO, IA, KS, MI, NE, SD, UT, WY)
Midwest: Bill Stevens (IL, IN, KY, MN, MO, ND, OH, WI)
South: Maggie Rouse (AL, AR, FL, LA, MS, OK, TX, Am. Terr./Poss.)
Southeast: Kat Aversano (GA, MD/DC, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV)
Northeast: Dave Lyme (CT, DE, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT)