Covid-19 hasn’t canceled girls’ high school 7s in Texas, but the pandemic has certainly altered the competition. Activity is occurring in pockets, and tournaments bring local opponents together, but kids are running around. Rugby Texas Girls’ High School Director Paul Graham estimates that numbers are at 75% of last year and hopes to host a season finale in May to celebrate the overall effort to make rugby happen.
“I have a daughter who plays sports,” Graham said of his origin in the girls’ game. “I saw at the time that maybe there wasn’t necessarily a balanced opportunity for the girls’ side of things. I got together with a group around here that decided maybe that needed to be adjusted, and that the girls needed a different experience.”
Graham moved to Texas after stints in Connecticut and California, and in addition to his current post as girls’ high school director, he is also involved with Rugby Texas High Performance. The state all-star program has sent girls’ high school and junior high teams to NAI 7s and California State Games, among other fixtures. He helps coach the DI Houston Area Rugby Club (HARC) women’s team with Eagle Nick James, is a referee, and in the World Rugby coach educator pathway.
“Numbers are an issue across the board, boys and girls,” Graham said of Texas high school rugby. “At the moment we can run a 7s series [for the girls]. Two years back, I set up the season and mirrored it after the HSBC 7s circuit, and then added an end-of-season state championship thing. Covid put the kibosh on that.”
Graham explained that the format allowed teams with low numbers to still send their players to tournaments for allocation to other teams. The hope was that the game time as well as the immersion in the community would stoke more enthusiasm to recruit and retain players in these developing programs.
The focus is obviously different during Covid-19, where safely returning to the pitch has been the chief concern. Rugby Texas introduced some variations to the game that mitigate the amount of contact, and it’s had an unexpected result.
“It’s increased the ball-in-play time,” Graham said. “We tracked that. Last weekend one boys’ game had 75% ball in play. More touches on the ball, more experience.
“We are playing within the confines of what we can do with Covid,” he continued. “Some schools can’t have players travel, so instead of being more statewide tournaments, there are more local tournaments going on against adjacent counties, where restrictions are closer to each other and allows play.
“In Laredo, for example, they’re having difficulties because of high Covid numbers and restrictions by the city,” Graham surveyed the state. “North of Houston to Montgomery County, that’s a different beast. They’re even stronger than last year with a new team that’s grown. There’s a fair amount of action in the Houston metro area. Some teams have combined their resources just to make it a better environment for the players themselves. Dallas and Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio – we’re still playing in the main centers.”
Tournaments occur every 2-3 weeks, with the next girls’ event in Brazoria (south of Houston) on March 20. Dallas is hosting game days on April 10 and May 15, and Houston will field an event on May 5. Ideally, there will be a championship in May, but that possibility is still pending.
“We’ve all been hit pretty hard here – across the country, to be fair – and what we’ve tried to do is let people play as much as possible but in the safest environment and with respect to the fact that different people have different risk tolerances,” Graham said of take-aways during the pandemic. “We want to be as accommodating as possible, and so far it’s worked.”
Traditionally the spring 7s season would flow into summer 7s opportunities, but Graham is skeptical that the Rugby Texas HP program will be fully functioning by then.
“Last year the high school team finished runner-up in the Bloodfest tournament, which was nice for them,” Graham said. “Then we took two teams to Utah and California, and that was a good experience, too. The plan was to copy that forward, but Covid won’t allow it. We’re in a situation now where people are getting used to playing again, whether that’s learning the protocols around play, or how to travel safely. Will the summer happen? I won’t say ‘no’ but I’ll be surprised [if it does], at the moment. There are a lot of moving parts for families.”
Graham indicated that he’s looking at competitive options for the fall, “but we have to be cognizant of competing school sports,” he said. “Soccer and lacrosse are big here for the girls. We’re building that relationship in the schools to let kids be multi-faceted without a huge amount of pressure.”
As for adding in 15s, that’s a more complicated issue.
“That’s a difficult one, that is,” Graham considered the build. “If you’re playing 7s and you’re playing an open and expansive game, there are certain inherent risks of jumping into full-blown 15s, not least of which is having appropriate coaching in place, escalation and safety. But the short answer is: We’re caught with 7s because of numbers.
“Clearly there’s a knowledge and skills gap for players coming from 7s to 15s for college,” Graham considered the ramifications of a 7s-only upbringing. “The best we can do at the moment is prepare them on an individual basis and make sure college coaches know their background. Is there a pathway through [to play 15s]? Yeah. Is it in Texas via the high schools? Not yet. For now, they have to pick up those skills as an aside.”
Fifteens is just another area in which Rugby Texas can expand its girls’ high school game, and Graham is passionate about developing a range of opportunities for the girls.
“From a girls’ perspective, we do want to get more on the radar, and there’s stuff I’m working on that’s not ready for prime time yet but raises the profile of girls and makes sure they’re aware of opportunities out there. Because we have girls who are at the [NIRA varsity] East Coast colleges,” Graham said. “In the HP program, there’s a requirement to complete the L100 coaching course. We encourage that. We’ve arranged with the [Texas Rugby Referee Association] to get players into their pathway. A youth player gets assignments, increases their rugby IQ, and when it comes time to fill out college applications, they have something on their resume to talk about.”
The TRRA has also set up a referee exchange with the Potomac. A handful of youth referees are scheduled to come to Texas on May 8 for a tournament with high school and younger divisions. But the focus is the youth refs. Then there will be a reciprocal trip in June/July for Texas’ young officials.
“We want to change their expectations of what a student-athlete should expect,” Graham closed. “You’re on equal footing [as the boys]. You play your hearts out and you train just as hard, and everyone should have the same opportunities. Perception is changing but it’s not there yet. We’re moving down that pathway though.”
Stay tuned as details for a season-ending tournament develop. For more information, visit @RugbyTexasGirls on Facebook or e-mail rugbytexasgirlsdirector@gmail.com.