It's as rough as football, there are no pads and players wear ear guards to protect themselves from "cauliflower ear". [Warning: image is a bit graphic].
Sound like a fun sport to watch? I think so. And this weekend, there will be the best of the best in the state of Texas gathered at Dallas Jesuit for the TYRA and TXHSRC state championships.
The tournament is Saturday and Sunday with the TYRA (multi-school teams) and the TXHSRC (single-school teams) competing in separate brackets.
Sam Wilcox, who's the vice president of the Alliance Rugby Club based out of Keller, said the club's dues are $125 a year for the varsity high school team but they have players from 8 years of age up to adults, including himself at age 52 -- the oldest player in the league.
“We are very youth-oriented," Wilcox said. "I play in the men's league with my sons. It's a father-son contact sport.”
Alliance has kids from the following high schools, the majority of which are football players in the fall: Keller, Grapevine, Southlake Carroll, Justin Northwest, Hurst L.D. Bell and Euless Trinity. The other Dallas-based multi-school team is from Plano, featuring players from Plano, Plano East, Frisco, McKinney Boyd and Vines (a feeder school to Plano Senior High).
The tournament's bracket is as follows:
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Saturday:
10 a.m. – GAME #1 (multi-school)
Alliance (Keller) vs. Katy
11:30 a.m. – GAME #2 (single-school)
Dallas Jesuit vs. Houston Strake Jesuit
1 p.m. – GAME #3 (multi-school)
The Woodlands vs. Plano
2:30 p.m. – GAME #4 (single-school)
Houston St. Thomas vs. Austin Westlake
Sunday:
3rd/4th Place (multi-school)
10 a.m. – GAME #5
Loser Game #1 vs. Loser Game #3
3rd/4th Place (single-school)
11:30 a.m. – GAME #6
Loser Game #2 vs. Loser Game #4
TYRA Championship Final
1 p.m. – GAME #7
Winner Game #1 vs. Winner Game #3
TXHSRC Championship Final
2:30 p.m. – GAME #8
Winner Game #2 vs. Winner Game #4
Adam Boedeker is a sports writer/blogger for the Denton Record-Chronicle. He's back on the scene with a gangsta lean.
