But instead suiting up in the locker room for football, or soccer, or lacrosse, you've got something better to do. You're headed out to play rugby. Welcome to Minnesota. Eleven girls' and boys' teams compete in a Minneapolis-area league, divided into east and west divisions. Indeed, of the 33 girls' high school teams Rugby counted in the nation earlier this year, one third are in Minnesota.
Teams play about ten games each spring, usually with three or four coaches per team.
State championships are held, with the girls' division won last year by Hopkins, a start-up team in its first year. There are also state select sides for boys and girls at the Under-19 level, to develop the top 50 youth players in the region. The reaction from the kids has been overwhelmingly positive. They fall in love with it, the same way we did as adults. The reaction from parents is, not surprisingly, more mixed, with injury worries topping the list of parent concerns.