Worcester Public Schools HS Boys Rugby Team: From Vision to Reality

Upon fielding their first Boys HS XVs rugby team in Spring 2022, the Worcester Public Schools (WPS) took an initial step to become a full varsity rugby program and began fulfilling the dream of four youth rugby visionaries. In recognition of this milestone, the nascent WPS rugby program earned a U.S. Rugby Foundation grant to support establishing public high school rugby programs across the Commonwealth.

The core team of Jeff Turgeon, Chris Monaghan, Tony Poti, and Bruce Mendelsohn - well known names in the youth, Worcester, and MA rugby scenes - overcame COVID-related challenges, and communicated and coordinated with WPS administrators, faculty, and staff to plan and execute thrice-weekly practices and several scrimmages/matches. 

Reflecting The Rugby Way, the planning team drew upon their respective skills: They informed and engaged their local connections, involved current and former rugby players from Worcester’s robust rugby scene, and promoted the program to prospective players.

 

 

Worcester HS Boys Rugby XV and coaches 

 

Much of the foundational work was driven by Chris Monaghan, a long term Massachusetts Youth Rugby Organization (MYRO) leader, and Tony Poti, a Director on MYRO’s board. Monaghan and Poti socialized and sold the idea to key rugby leaders in Central Massachusetts and the Worcester area. Jeff Turgeon and Bruce Mendelsohn leveraged existing relationships with WPS through their jobs at the MassHire Central Region Workforce Board (which helps WPS graduates get career training and/or jobs after high school).

With 45 schools and more than 24,000 students, WPS has a large minority population (46% Hispanic, 17% African American, 6% Asian), many of whom had neither heard of rugby nor seen a match.

While establishing a rugby team at each high school is a long term goal, the first step was getting WPS administrators to agree to support rugby, then recruiting a team from the entire district. Through their work at MassHire, Jeff and Bruce had the contacts and credibility to hasten the start-up process. 

Recognizing that many of rugby’s core values teach and emphasize critical life lessons, Jeff and Bruce incorporated into the proposed program a weekly “Life Skills” curriculum delivered by Assistant Coach Roy Lucas (a Burncoat HS alumnus and former professional football player) that reflected rugby values, teamwork, and sportsmanship. The weekly 20-minute sessions followed practices, which began immediately after school when players were available. 

When presented the plan, WPS administrators challenged Jeff and Bruce to “show us that kids want to play, then we’ll do Varsity team district wide”. The district’s pragmatic approach will ensure that WPS achieves a critical mass of players before tackling the task of becoming a full Varsity program.

With the technical elements in place and approved, the core planning team began working with schools to recruit players and build the team.

One of the earliest and most enthusiastic supporters of the WPS HS Boys Rugby Team was Rick Cincotta, Head Football Coach at Burncoat High School. A convincing factor for Coach Cincotta was that the MIAA’s (Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association) HS XVs rugby season is in the Spring, so it doesn’t conflict with the highly competitive fall football season.

Eager for a training program to complement the Burncoat Patriots’ traditional offseason weightlifting and conditioning regimen, Coach Cincotta promoted the program to his players and provided invaluable logistical support. 

Cincotta worked with Jeff and Bruce to give them access to interested football players three days a week. He incentivized his football players to sign up for the rugby program by altering his offseason conditioning program: Normally two hours, Cincotta said athletes who signed up for rugby would do 30 minutes of strength training followed by 90 minutes of rugby. 

The cohort of Burncoat HS football players was enhanced by Tony Poti’s involvement with the Worcester Spartans (a local youth rugby team), adding a handful of experienced position players to the team. Unexpectedly, the rugby team drew student athletes from other teams–volleyball, soccer, and track.

To Jeff and Bruce, MassHire’s ‘Life Skills’ curriculum was a vital factor in convincing somewhat skeptical WPS administrators to adopt the rugby program. “The 15-20 minutes after practice when we discuss life skills with players–traits like teamwork, effective communications, conflict avoidance/resolution and networking–are linked to the concept of ‘Living Rugby’,” explains Jeff. “We emphasize how we expect our players to conduct themselves and support each other on and off the pitch.”

To communicate these traits even more, Jeff and Bruce routinely invite local leaders to speak with the players - including the Worcester PD Recruitment Officer, Army ROTC recruiter, and nonprofit organization leaders. 

The consistent involvement and modeling of coaching staff, guests, and WPS representatives was reflected in how coaches expect players to conduct and comport themselves before, during, and after matches: In addition to being friendly and respectful, these young men were resilient, committed, and competitive in all the three matches they played last Spring.

So what’s next for the WPS HS Boys XV?

During the Fall 22 Football season, Coach Cincotta noted substantial improvements in the fitness, tackling form, and sportsmanship of players involved in rugby. In fact, a half dozen of his football/rugby players were two way starters - a great example of how rugby can help more established sports programs. 

 

 

Worcester Spartans kindly lent the burgeoning Worcester HS team their kit 

 

The U.S. Rugby Foundation grant will enable the team to invest in essential gear: Kit (they currently borrow uniforms from the Worcester Spartans), rugby balls, cones, pinnies, and other items that are staples of rugby training equipment but cost money.

The plan is to build the team for the next couple of years as a MYRO/non-Varsity program to build skills, knowledge and game craft - rugby IQ - so they can enter the MIAA and become a full varsity program. At that point, WPS will take on financial responsibility for the team and be invested in growing the program as they do with other varsity athletic programs. They are also looking to try and start a girls program as well.

Jeff and Tony are committed to developing and “institutionalizing” the much-documented benefits of rugby: inter-team camaraderie, good sportsmanship, post-match bonding. As simple as it sounds, the grant will help fund “small items” like post-match gatherings with refreshments (pizza and soda) in which players from both teams can bond. These gatherings are also forums in which coaches and referees from both teams can mix and chat informally with players and build on the “Life Skills” and “Living Rugby” lessons and connections.

While the pitch hibernates this winter, the program forges ahead: Next year is growth in terms of numbers of players, reaching beyond Burncoat HS, building on the skills of players, and planning and playing more matches.

Thanks to Jeff, Tony, Chris, Rick, and Bruce for contributing the story of WPS’s rugby journey, to the WPS school district for their support of this burgeoning program and to the USRF for their generous grant to help this program grow (along with key support they provide nationwide). For more info, please contact Coach Bruce Mendelsohn (mendelsohnb@masshirecentral.com).