One of the fastest growing segments of the rugby playing population are the high school programs.  The DC area boasts one of the oldest boys high school competitions in the country, dating back to the 1970s.  Currently, there are over three dozen high school boys or under-19 teams in the Potomac Rugby Union and the number grows each year.  Many of those teams have achieved national recognition and thier players have competed for and won spots on the USA Under-19 and Under-17 national team.  Growth for the girls sides has been slower with nearly a dozen programs in recent seasons.  But growth is also expected for the girls, with many colleges recently adopting the sport for women and the NCAA declaring rugby an emerging sport.

Notably, the Maryland Inter-scholastic Athletic Association adopted rugby as a varisty sport a number of years ago and became the first recognized varsity rugby conference in the country.  With members all over the area, from Annapolis to Montgomery County to Baltimore, the growth of high school rugby in the region will surely continue.  The elevation to a varsity sport in the MIAA echos the status of other local high schools such as Gonzaga High School, St. John’s HS, Hyde Charter School and Georgetown Preparatory High School.

Links to a number of the area high schools are listed below:

• Gonzaga High School (Wash DC)
• Our Lady of good Counsel High School (Olney MD)
• Georgetown Prep High School (Bethesda,MD)
• DeMatha Catholic HS (Hyattsville, MD)
• Academy of the Holy Cross (Kensington, MD)
• St. John’s College HS (Wash DC)
• The Landon School (Bethesda, MD)
• Hyde Charter School (Wash DC)
• Derwood Stags (Magruder High School – Rockville, MD)
• John Carrol High School [MIAA] (Bel Air, MD)
• Calvert Hall (Baltimore, MD)
• Loyola-Blakefield HS [MIAA] (Towson, MD)
• Archbishop Spalding HS [MIAA] (Severn, MD)