Nevada Rugby Union - Battleborn Rugby

High School All-Americans

The High School All Americans has been recently formed in the Spring of 2009. This Age Grade National Team will be composed of the best High School enrolled players in the country. The purpose of this team will be to identify and develop the best high school aged players in the country as part of USA Rugby's elite player pathway. There are multiple pathways to selection to the High School All Americans listed below: 1: Competing at one of the six Regional All Star U19 and U17 Tournaments is the primary way toward selection to the U20 National team. These tournaments are competed in by all star sides from Local Area Unions and State Based Rugby Organizations. Each tournament will be attended by National Team Age Grade selectors. 2: Competing at the High School and U19 club National Championships. 3: Players are nominated by their individual coaches to U20 coaches and/or Age Grade Director

Prize Players are not simply born, not the rugby playing variety at any rate. They are nurtured and shaped through identification, training programs, skills development and hard yards put in over many years before they even qualify for selection consideration in the Professional Era.

The Nevada Rugby Union has, since 2004, implemented a mufti-faceted youth program to identify talented players in-the-making and guide them through the ranks to the professional arena.
One of the newer plans involves the establishment of a High Performance Program that identifies and develops individual schoolboy players, both physically and mentally, to their maximum potential. Medium term the objective is to equip them to excel at prestigious, annual tournaments. Longer term, it is to facilitate their progression through to the next stage, acceptance at Nevada Rugby Academy and through to National levels.
The Program comprises squads: Under 17, 19, 21 and Seniors
Players are identified at schoolboy matches, tournaments and via nomination by school coaches. Aspirant squad members undergo a physical examination, measured against a required set of benchmarks, and a mental attitude assessment before they are accepted into the Program.
Coaches at the players’ schools (those in the Under 16 and under 18 squads) receive instruction in the High Performance Program and for the most part implement the rigorous, highly regimented, physical conditioning program. The players and coaches travel to Reno several times a year to be coached in technical aspects of the game by professional Nevada Rugby Union coaches. They also attend lectures on a range of subjects including mental attitude and nutrition. Further physical tests are conducted at these sessions to determine players’ progress in terms of strength, fitness and speed.
The majority of the members in the Under 21 High Performance squad attend the Nevada Academy. They undergo weekly training with coaches from the Academy and the Nevada Rugby Union as part of a strenuous, comprehensive High Performance Program. Their Program is characterized by personal attention from their respective coaches and a strong mentoring component.
Although in its infancy, the High Performance Program is best described as being comparable to a finishing school for talented young players, our job is to equip selected players with the tools to enter the competitive playing fields of professional rugby once they have left school.

See our first high school program in Reno Nevada
Reno Nightmares