PLAYING COLLEGE RUGBY

Rugby is one of the largest club (non-NCAA) sports in the country with over 900 schools playing 15s and 7s seasons.Unlike the NCAA, college rugby is divided across several different types of teams and each of these has a different recruiting process. It’s important for high school athletes to understand the differences, and what that means for them. Consider these tips:

• Your chief reason for choosing a college must be your education. It does you no good to attend a school that doesn’t offer the right course of study or the right opportunities simply because you’re excited about the rugby team.

• A scholarship is very rarely a free ride. Getting $1,000 to help you with expenses is still called a scholarship, as is full coverage of your tuition. When you hear the word “scholarship” find out what it covers, because it may not be what you expect.

• When you’re evaluating a college team, make sure you know not only the strengths of the program you are considering, but also who they play. If you’re joining a strong team that has a weak schedule, is that right for you?