City Honors School in Buffalo, N.Y., has enjoyed nice growth the past few years and recently celebrated its progress with the program’s first overseas tour to Ireland in February. For head coach Matthew Frank, it’s about building an inclusive environment, from which on-field successes may blossom.
Frank played rugby at Buffalo State and then after graduation coached the women’s team for two seasons. In 2014, when he accepted a position as an 8th grade math teacher at City Honors, he joined the girls’ coaching staff. The program had just 15 players in his first season and went 2-5 in the Western New York high school league. The focus then became building numbers, and Frank talked up the sport to the middle schoolers who crossed through his classroom. A good recruitment class arrived in 2015 and City Honors beat everyone except Orchard Park that year.
“We just try to make it fun,” Frank said of attracting and retaining players. “And the girls are so welcoming to everyone. Being a city school, we get kids from all different backgrounds and socio-economic statuses, and we preach accepting everybody regardless of sexual orientation, race, religion, etc. They do a good job getting along.”
The rugby program doesn’t receive any financial support from the school, and Frank likened its position on campus to a Girls’ Scout troupe that is allowed to operate on the grounds. While the players have to pay their own way, the team is afforded field space when it’s available and can train indoors and use the weightroom. That relationship doesn’t impact the players’ pride and spirit, however.
“There used to be a boys’ rugby team but 2014 was the last season for them,” Frank said. “There’s also no football team. The girls see that as a badge of honor – they play the toughest sport in the school – and it’s a big deal for them.
“For so many sports that are for boys and girls, the girls’ rules are always different or gentler, or changed in a way that’s meant to accommodate girls,” the head coach added. “In rugby, it’s the same for everybody, and there’s no need to make it nicer for the girls.”
That distinction attracted certain talent, like current co-captain Kate Ryan. The senior, who is heading to the NCAA varsity Long Island University rugby program in the fall, used to play ice hockey. She opted for the boys’ leagues because the girls’ leagues didn’t allow checking, but in rugby, she can hit away, just like the boys.
City Honors started traveling out of state to play for tournaments in D.C. and Pittsburgh, and then in 2017 competed in the High School National Invitational Tournament (NIT) in Mufreesboro, Tenn. That event was held in conjunction with the High School Club NIT and televised on FloRugby. The Buffalo squad played and interacted with teams from all over the country.
As numbers continued to grow, Frank started thinking next steps, and he considered the feasibility of an international rugby tour.
“Kenmore West High School from a neighboring town in Buffalo went to Ireland and Wales last year,” Frank said of inspiration. “I knew we had the numbers to do it, I just had no idea what I was supposed to do [to plan it].”
In summer 2018 Frank was playing at Can-Ams in Saranac Lake, N.Y., and salvation came in the form of an Irish Rugby Tours information booth.
“It was great,” Frank said of the resource. “They said, ‘We work with you. You tell us when, where and how much you want to pay per person, and we’ll make it happen.’”
Frank settled on February break 2020, $2,500 per person, and Ireland.
“It was amazing. They sent me back a whole 10-day, 9-night trip at $2,497 per person and jam-packed the itinerary,” Frank enthused. “They covered everything, including meals, which was great, because the less stuff I needed to figure out, the better. I didn’t have the experience to know what we needed to do in Ireland.”
The team needed 25 commitments and got it through 14 City Honors players, two Orchard Park players, six parents, two coaches and City Honors rugby program founder John McTigue. The vast majority of travelers had never been overseas or on an airplane, and the group got to work fundraising to make sure it all happened.
On Feb. 14, 2020, the tour group departed for Dublin and spent the subsequent week visiting iconic Irish landmarks like Trinity College, Guinness Brewery, Cliffs of Moher and Blarney Castle. Rugby wise, the group toured Aviva stadium and did the roof walk at Croke Park, and watched Guinness Pro14’s Leinster beat the Cheetahs 36-14. There were training sessions with international coaches and of course matches against Irish U16 and U18 teams.
“The standard was really good,” Frank said of the Irish competition. “We didn’t expect to win but wanted to be competitive. It wasn’t like we had our starting line; we had 10 forwards and six backs, and people playing out of position.”
A couple of games were washed out by torrential rains – and Irish Rugby Tours did a good job of filling those vacancies with other activities – but the first set of matches produced a 22-12 loss for the U16s and 29-0 loss for the U18s. On the Saturday before departure for the U.S., the team faced Kilrush U18s and then Waterpark U16s. The U18 opponent included an alternate for the Ireland U18 team, but City Honors prop Lexi Erdolino dominated that face-off and scored two tries in the match.
“She’s a stud,” Frank said of the Midwest Thunderbird. “She has size and speed. She does weightlifting and softball, and plays football for South Park in the fall. I believe she could be an All-American. She’s such a big offensive threat.”
City Honors lost that game 17-10 but then the U16s won their game against a quick-ball Waterford.
“We were lucky we have good strength and good forward play, and a scrumhalf [Kate Stiglmeier] who is really scrappy and able to slow things down at the breakdown,” Frank said. “That’s what really helped us maintain the ball and get some turnovers.”
The players were particularly struck by how fast Waterford moved the ball and away from the breakdown. Players and staff kept journals during the trip, not only to memorialize this life event, but with the upcoming season in mind.
“They got fresh perspective from other coaches and wrote about drills and things they saw during games so they could bring them back home and teach their teammates,” Frank said. “Me and my assistant coach did the same thing. How can we bring these elements home and fold them into what we want to do with our team?”
Playing against international competition stokes a different type of confidence, and Frank hopes it rolls into this season. Last year, City Honors beat Orchard Park for the first time (during Frank’s coaching tenure) and went on to finish second to Play Rugby in the New York state championship. The team’s looking to build on those successes in 2020.
Scrumhalf Stiglmeier and flyhalf Ryan are the two captains, and they were both great leaders on tour. They’re two of 11 returning starters from last year’s squad, and they have a nice group of young players who are looking to step onto the pitch.
“We have so many good role players who go out and grind and do dirty work,” Frank reviewed the squad. “They don’t get any recognition but they keep the ball in hand and make their tackles on defense.”
City Honors will play its first league match on April 5 against Kenmore, and then continue through the Western New York league.
“Western New York is exciting because it’s such a strong community of rugby,” Frank said. “Orchard Park gives it to us every year. … They still have a lot of good players and are our biggest competition. But there are a lot of well coached teams with players who put in the effort and challenge us. It’s a nice community of coaches, too, who want to build up the sport here. Syracuse and Corning from central New York started two years ago and are up-and-coming programs.”
In mid-May, City Honors will return to the High School NIT, now called “High School Rugby National Tournament,” which is being held at Notre Dame College outside Cleveland, Ohio.
“We’re really excited and honored to be invited back,” Frank said. “We’ll likely be in Division II like a couple of years ago, and we’re really excited to see high-level competition. We went 1-2 in 2017 so we’re hoping to improve on that.”
However 2020 pans out, this season is already one for the book for City Honors.
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