NEWS

MLR Grassroots | Old Glory DC, Youth Development

Written by Joe Harvey | Photo by Paris Malone

In the second article highlighting the grassroots programs run by Major League Rugby teams, majorleague.rugby have taken a look at the youth development work done by Old Glory DC.

IN THE COMMUNITY

Tim Brown was Old Glory’s first ever employee. Starting off as the team’s operations manager, the University of Mary Washington men’s Director of Rugby, brought with him well over two decades of rugby experience in the region.

Over time his role has changed, and he now heads up the player pathway and youth development. Charged with the creation of a pipeline from grassroots clubs to the men’s first team, it is certainly a large-scale challenge that he has on his hands.

So far, his efforts have been a success, the youth development program is among the very best in MLR, the team one of two teams to offer girls and women rugby. 

Photo by Paris Malone

Now nearly three years into the grassroots project, Brown explains some of the foundations he is currently laying, as well as the uptake that rugby clinics have had.

“One of our main goals is to increase the number of girls taking part in rugby across the region,” Brown said. “Our girls academy is just the start; we need more women involved at all levels. 

“This kicks off with a three-week series of recognition, training sessions, and games that starts in International Woman’s History Month March 26th before our home game versus NOLA” 

When we have boy’s days, we have as many kids as we can handle, so 140 to 150.

“We are working with the Virginia Rugby Union and the Maryland Rugby Union to build two new boy’s teams and two new girl’s teams. It is going to be hard to build those from the ground up.

“The other day, we had the youth coaches from DC in, and we are trying to start a DC schools league out of just the new schools playing rugby. We are talking to the athletic directors at the different schools, and we are hoping they commit to these new pathways.”

In the months to come, it is hoped that the team will also be able to establish a series of sub-academies across their region, with Philadelphia, Virginia, DC, Maryland, Raleigh-Durham and Norfolk penciled in as the ideal locations.

This would not only be to have a presence in each of these areas, but to create a competition between those sides, the groups going toe-to-toe with one another and cutting down the time and cost of traveling to the cities that other MLR teams are based.

DC has a long-established rugby heritage. This can no more be seen in the team’s ownership group, with former Eagle, Paul Sheehy, while Chris Dunlavery has been associated with club rugby in the region for over 30 years. 

Photo by Paris Malone

There is a clear identity among the senior playing group, with numerous players having played rugby at Gonzaga High School, each one of those individuals a role model for the next generation coming through the woodwork.

“Paul Sheehy was an Eagle, and he was from Gonzaga,” Brown said. “Now there are four or five guys in the first team from Gonzaga, and it is about bringing those success stories out into the community.

“We have got to get to more and more schools, get to more people, so they see what we do. Creating a pathway and an expectation is what we do. 

“Obviously we need deliverables, guys making their way to the first team, but we have got to be doing it from the bottom and keep pushing more players and people to the sport.”

ROLE MODELS

One of the things that sets rugby aside from most sports is the interaction that players and fans have. At the conclusion of the 80 minutes, fans and players will interact around the field, creating an even stronger bond between those on the sidelines and those at the epicenter of the action.

Tickets are often offered to participant at rugby clinics, with sponsors purchasing blocks of tickets for use by young players so that they can go and watch professional rugby in their own backyard, the aim being to inspire the youth players to come to another clinic.

Old Glory’s professional players are also big parts of the clinics. Going wherever they are needed, performing an invaluable role to the team’s long-term growth.

“I call our clinics Fun with Rugby,” Brown said. “You go out, play touch, we get everyone kicking a ball at the posts, you do all of it.

Photo by Colleen McCloskey

“They get out there with the pro guys too. Api Naikatini is awesome with kids, they all are, all of the players are really good with kids. When they show up, everything is set up, we want the players to have maximum time with the kids. It is not their job to be setting up the clinics or running the clinics, they are the rock stars. 

“It all comes from the ethos of the ownership group. Everything we are doing with youth; we are realizing that youth is a partnership and a sponsorship opportunity in itself.

“We run independently to the first team, with our own budget, our own staff, but we wouldn’t be able to do it without the first team, they are the celebrities and the guiding light.”

The youth setup have also established their own social media channels, Young Glory, in order to differentiate themselves from the professional side and showcase the work that is being down to grow rugby.

These social media accounts are being run by Arminta Gunkel, who was approached by Brown after having been heavily involved in the team’s Facebook supporters’ group.

Now regularly on the road with Brown, traveling across the DC region to introduce rugby to young children and has seen the youngsters be inspired first hand by the first team players.

“It has been fantastic watching a sport that has kind of struggled in the US have significant growth and to watch kids show up at half-time of OG games, seeing them identify players that they are starting to look up to,” Gunkel said.

“When you see yourself at that next level, that is when you start to believe that you can move up, that is when you see those pathways we are laying down and it is easy for those kids to see their futures.”

You can follow Young Glory on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok.