Indiana High School Rugby

Indiana has become one of the premiere states for high school rugby, with the boys' top league, the Super League, crowned the 2014 toughest high school league. Indiana teams have claimed multiple national and regional championships. At the start of the 2016 season, there were approximately fifty boys teams and fifteen girls teams competing in Indiana. The fifty boys teams were organized into four programs in the Super League, eight in Division 1, twelve in Division 2, and one developmental side. In addition to varsity competition, many programs also contest in junior varsity and developmental competitions, allowing programs to put forth multiple teams.

Governance

Unlike most high school sports in Indiana, governed by the Indiana High School Athletic Association, rugby in Indiana is governed by the Indiana Youth Rugby Foundation, Inc., which was formed in 1999 to replace the Indiana Youth Rugby Association, Inc.. The foundation operates under the brand Rugby Indiana and is a 501 charitable non-profit corporation that operates outside the governing structure of the Indiana Rugby Football Union. Rugby Indiana's stated vision is:

To make rugby a legitimate high school sport opportunity for all athletes by providing a great experience on and off the field, and by gaining recognition in High School, Middle School, and Grade School administrations
Stimulate the quality, growth and development of Rugby at the High School and Youth level
To raise awareness of, and educate the general public about the sport of Rugby

Top performing teams may also compete in a regional competition governed by the Midwest Rugby Football Union and a national invitational competition. These competitions, unlike Indiana state-level competition, make a distinction between whether teams are composed of players drawn from a single school or a club program open to multiple student bodies.

Play and participation

As Allyn Freeman explained in an article for RugbyToday.com, "America's high schools represented the last place of expansion" for domestic rugby. Although slow to catch on, rugby at the high school level has exploded in growth since the close of the twentieth century. From 2008 to 2013, rugby participation grew by 81% in the United States, while participation in American football fell 21.1% in the same span. In 2014, participation reached 1.2 million, making rugby the fastest growing sport in the United States. As of 2011, Indiana Rugby boasted 1,227 players at the high school level.
Unlike senior level clubs, which play two forty-minute halves, youth rugby in the United States is capped below the traditional eighty-minute match. In Indiana, matches are scheduled for two thirty-minute halves, with players not allowed to participate in more than ninety minutes of scheduled match time in a single day. In competitions in which teams compete in multiple matches, the total length of the match is truncated to comport with the ninety-minute daily cap, thus, the matches are contested at two halves each of 22.5 minutes in duration. Matches consist of fifteen players on the field for each team along with eight reserves on the bench. Matches will end in a draw if level at the end of full-time unless in a championship competition. In a championship competition, if the match is level at full-time, an additional ten-minute sudden death period is played. If the match remains level after sudden death, then the outcome is decided on drop kicks. If multiple matches are to be contested in a single day, the sudden death period is foregone. Coed play at the high school level is not permitted. The coed prohibition was tested in May 2001 by the Mishawaka High School boys squads' attempt to include Nicole Kodba in its playoff lineup. Despite arguments from her coach and a community petition, Kodba was not allowed to compete for the boys team. The ruling was controversial and drew critics from among the rugby coaching ranks.
Rugby Indiana's season is broken into three different phases: a competitive season from March through June, a select side season from June through July, and a fall sevens season from September through October. Based upon team participation, competition is held across a divisional and conference structure. At the top of the boys' competition is the Super League, comprising four teams. The next tier is Division 1 which divides eight teams among a north and south conference. In addition to the typical varsity competition, both Division 1 and the Super League hold a junior varsity competition that competes for a state championship. Below Division 1 is Division 2, which presently includes twelve teams split into north and south conferences. At times, Rugby Indiana has also conducted a developmental league to aid new programs. When participation is sufficient, the girls competition is broken into two divisions. In 2016, only a single division was used for girls rugby spread across north and south conferences of unequal numbers.
In order for players to compete, they must be registered both with Rugby Indiana and USA Rugby. Players must also not have reached nineteen years of age prior to September 1. Girls in the 8th grade who are at least 14 years of age may, at the head coach's discretion, compete on a high school team. Players must be enrolled in high school, enrolled in a GED program, or meet the standards of Indiana home school requirements. Players are also required to attend at least four practices with coached supervised tackling prior to participation in a sanctioned match. Players are also required to hold amateur status.

Boys Championships

Super League

In 2014, four perennial powerhouse teams formed a new top tier, supplanting Division 1 as the highest tier. The original four teams forming the Super League were Brownsburg, the Royal Irish Rugby Club based out Cathedral and Bishop Chatard, Notre Dame de La Salette of Georgetown, Illinois, and Penn. Each team has reached tremendous heights on the national stage: the Royal Irish have claimed four national titles, Brownsburg claimed the 2005 Tier II national championship, and both Penn and La Salette have reached the national finals. After the 2014 season, this prolonged success led Goff Rugby Report to declare the Indiana Super League the toughest high school league in the United States. In 2017, Notre Dame de La Salette began to compete in Illinois, leaving the four-team super league structure missing a fourth team. The Super League was expanded to nine teams split into two divisions. In the North Division were Bishop Dwenger, Carroll, Culver, and Penn. In the South Division were Brownsburg, Fishers, Hamilton Southeast, Royal Irish, and St. Xavier. At seasons end, Royal Irish, fresh off a national championship, would edge Penn for the Super League title. The restructured competition also introduced the Challenge Cup as a consolation competition at the state playoffs. In 2019, the Super League contracted to seven teams with St. Xavier and Hamilton Southeastern dropping to Division 1.

Varsity State Champion

Season	Date	Winner	Score	Loser	Site	Semifinalists	MVP	Sources
2014	May 31, 2014	Royal Irish	5–3	Penn	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN	Brownsburg Notre Dame de La Salette	Noah Schrader Royal Irish
2015	May 30, 2015	Penn	33–14	Royal Irish	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN	Brownsburg Notre Dame de La Salette	Inoke Moala Penn
2016	May 30, 2016	Royal Irish	23–19	Penn	Cyntheanne Park Fishers, IN	Brownsburg Notre Dame de La Salette	David Hannon, Royal Irish Will Vakalahi, Penn
2017	May 29, 2017	Royal Irish	19–15	Penn	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN	Fishers Carroll	Gabe Coleman Royal Irish
2018	May 28, 2018	Royal Irish	17–12	Fishers	Cyntheanne Park Fishers, IN	Penn Culver	Andy Guhl Royal Irish
2019	May 27, 2019	Royal Irish	20–12	Penn	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN	Brownsburg Fishers	Russell Lemaster Royal Irish
2020	N/A	Cancelled
2021	May 31, 2021	Royal Irish	32-21	Bishop Dwenger	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN	Brownsburg HSE
2022	May 30, 2022	Royal Irish	20-17	HSE	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN	Penn Bishop Dwenger

Junior Varsity State Champion

Season	Date	Winner	Score	Loser	Site	Semifinalists	MVP	Sources
2014	May 31, 2014	Notre Dame de La Salette	29–17	Penn	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN	Brownsburg Royal Irish
2015	May 30, 2015	Penn	19–17	Royal Irish	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN	Brownsburg Notre Dame de La Salette
2016	May 30, 2016	Royal Irish	29–22	Penn	Cyntheanne Park Fishers, IN	Brownsburg Notre Dame de La Salette	Stuart Earnhardt Royal Irish
2017	May 29, 2017	Penn	29-14	Fishers	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN	Royal Irish Carroll
2018	May 28, 2018	Fishers	31-12	Royal Irish	Cyntheanne Park Fishers, IN	Culver Penn

Division 1

In the spring of 1990, the Indiana Youth Rugby Association was formed with teams drawn from the Indianapolis area and spearheaded by "members and alumni of the Indianapolis Rugby Football Club" Falling below the target of eight teams and 200 players, the inaugural season drew more than 100 players and produced five teams drawn from students of Scencina-Howe-Warren Central, Chatard, North Central, Lawrence Central and the Boys’ School. The teams competed in a seven-game schedule culminating in a playoff to crown a state champion. With Lawrence Central's victory in what would become the Division 1 state championship, the school was awarded both the inaugural state title and an Indianapolis city championship. By 2003, participation had expanded to 24 boys teams and 12 girls teams statewide.

Varsity State Champion

Season	Date	Winner	Score	Loser	Site	Semifinalists	MVP	Sources
1990	May 13, 1990	Lawrence Central	3–0	Northside Raiders	American Heritage Park Indianapolis, IN	Charlton Red Devils
1991	May 11, 1991	Ben Davis	11–0	North Central	Lake Sullivan Sports Complex Indianapolis, IN	Lawrence Central Lawrence North
1992	May 9, 1992	Ben Davis	4–0	North Central	Lake Sullivan Sports Complex Indianapolis, IN	Cathedral Lawrence North
1993	May 2, 1993	Ben Davis	16–11	Knightstown		Cathedral Lawrence North
1994	May 7, 1994	Knightstown	17–0	Carmel		Wellington Ben Davis
1995	May 6, 1995	Wellington	27–10	Carmel	Lake Sullivan Sports Complex Indianapolis, IN	North Central Morton Memorial
1996	May 4, 1996	Morton/Knightstown	5–0	Wellington		North Central Ben Davis
1997	May 24, 1997	North Central	29–0	Penn	Lake Sullivan Sports Complex Indianapolis, IN	Columbus	Jonathan Younger & Adam Stockholm North Central
1998	May 9, 1998
1999		North Central	–	Penn
2000	May 27, 2000	Bloomington South	22–0	Carmel	Lake Sullivan Sports Complex Indianapolis, IN	Penn
2001*	May 12, 2001	Cathedral	18–5	North Central	Major Taylor Velodrome Indianapolis, IN	Marian Pike
2002	May 18, 2002	Penn	37–8	North Central		Mishawaka Pike	Tim Bugg Penn
2003	May 24, 2003	Penn	29–17	Pike	River Road Carmel, IN	Cathedral Marian	Ben Weber Penn
2004	May 22, 2004	Bishop Dwenger	14–5	Pike	River Road Park Carmel, IN	Brownsburg
2005	May 30, 2005	Penn	20–17	Brownsburg	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN	Marian Pike
2006		Cathedral		North Central	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN	Marian
2007	May 28, 2007	North Central	22–3	Brownsburg	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN	Marian Penn
2008	May 26, 2008	Cathedral Royal Irish	–		Richard Wigh Fields Columbus, IN
2009	May 25, 2009	Cathedral Royal Irish	–	Penn	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN		Jason Harker Penn
2010	May 31, 2010	Cathedral Royal Irish	–	Brownsburg	Richard Wigh Fields Columbus, IN
2011	May 30, 2011	Cathedral Royal Irish	15–10	Penn	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN	Brownsburg
2012	May 28, 2012	Cathedral Royal Irish	38–12	Penn	Richard Wigh Fields Columbus, IN	Carmel Notre Dame de La Salette
2013	May 27, 2013	Cathedral Royal Irish	24–21	Penn	Cyntheanne, Park Fishers, IN	Brownsburg	Max Schroeder Cathedral Royal Irish
2014	May 31, 2014	North Central	29–22	Fishers	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN	Culver Hamilton Southeastern	Trevor Shirley North Central
2015	May 30, 2016	Hamilton Southeastern	7–5	Fishers	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN	Bishop Dwenger Avon	Tyler Janney Hamilton Southeastern
2016	May 30, 2016	Fishers	76–3	Avon	Cyntheanne, Park Fishers, IN	Bishop Dwenger North Central	Jake Nettleton Fishers
2017	May 29, 2017	Carmel	21-10	Avon	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN	Leo Trinity
2018	May 28, 2018	Leo	29–24	Avon	Cyntheanne Park Fishers, IN	Noblesville North Central
2019	May 27, 2019	Leo	38–5	North Central	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN	Avon Noblesville

* – Penn did not compete in state tournament due to conflict with national championship tournament schedule.

Varsity Challenge Cup

Season	Date	Winner	Score	Loser	Site	Semifinalists	MVP	Sources
2017	May 29, 2017	North Central	27-22	Warsaw	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN	Columbus Zionsville
2018	May 28, 2018	Arsenal Tech	29–19	Angola	Cyntheanne Park Fishers, IN	Carmel Columbus
2019	May 27, 2019	Carmel	55–5	Arsenal tech	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN	Marian Trinity

Junior Varsity

Historically, top-level rugby teams in Indiana would commit a B-side to playing in Division 2. In 2012, a formal Junior Varsity championship was implemented. It was abandoned following the 2016 season.

Season	Date	Winner	Score	Loser	Site	Semifinalists	MVP	Sources
2012	May 28, 2012	Penn	10–7	Cathedral	Richard Wigh Fields Columbus, IN	Carmel
2013	May 27, 2013	Penn	39–7	Notre Dame de La Salette	Cyntheanne Park Fishers, IN	Brownsburg	Cory Christman Penn
2014	May 31, 2014	Hamilton Southeastern	13–12	Fishers	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN	Culver North Central
2015	May 30, 2015	Bishop Dwenger	18–0	Hamilton Southeastern	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN	Fishers	Charlie Perez Bishop Dwenger
2016	May 30, 2016	Fishers	63–0	Hamilton Southeastern	Cyntheanne Park Fishers, IN	Bishop Dwenger	Mason Miller Fishers

Division 2

Season	Date	Winner	Score	Loser	Site	Semifinalists	MVP	Sources
1998		Carmel	15–10	Lawrence
1999	May 9, 1999	Pike	38–12	Carmel	Major Taylor Velodrome Indianapolis, IN
2000	May 27, 2000	Marian	–	Noblesville	Lake Sullivan Sports Complex Indianapolis, IN
2001	May 12, 2001	Carroll	12–0	Noblesville	Major Taylor Velodrome Indianapolis, IN	North Central Pendleton
2002		Pike	–			North Central
2003			–
2004		Hamilton Southeastern	–
2005	May 30, 2005	Columbus	16–15	Bloomington North	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN	Penn
2006		Penn	23–15	Cathedral		Lawrence North Noblesville
2007	May 28, 2007	Noblesville	12–7	Columbus	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN	Edgewood Penn
2008	May 26, 2008	Hamilton Southeastern	–	Pendleton	Richard Wigh Fields Columbus, IN	Columbus
2009	May 25, 2009	Cathedral	–	Hamilton Southeastern	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN	South Bend Mercenaries
2010	May 31, 2010	Zionsville	–	Columbus	Richard Wigh Fields Columbus, IN	Penn Noblesville	Columbus, IN
2011	May 30, 2011	Penn	12–5	Bloomington	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN	Lawrence Zionsville
2012		Columbus	15–13	Culver	Richard Wigh Fields Columbus, IN	Indianapolis Tech Zionsville
2013	May 27, 2013	Arsenal Tech	–	Carroll			Shawn Nevers Arsenal Tech
2014	May 31, 2014	Warsaw	29–10	Pike	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN	Angola Bloomington	Jason Taylor Warsaw
2015	May 30, 2015	Carroll	15–7	Pike	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN	Angola Arsenal Tech	Derek Longenberger Carroll
2016	May 30, 2016	Carroll	52–10	Pike	Cyntheanne Park Fishers, IN	Homestead Arsenal Tech	JP Anzini Carroll
No Division 2 Boys Competition in 2017–2019	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Girls Championships

Division 1

Varsity Challenge Cup

Season	Date	Winner	Score	Loser	Site	Semifinalists	MVP	Sources
2017	May 29, 2017	Avon	43–15	Westfield	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkart, IN	Carmel
2018	May 28, 2018	Westfield	66–5	Fishers	Cyntheanne Park Fishers, IN	Noblesville
2019	May 27, 2019	Brownsburg	20–12	Noblesville	Moose Rugby Grounds Elkhart, IN

Division 2

Season	Date	Winner	Score	Loser	Site	Semifinalists	MVP	Sources
2000		Noblesville	–
2011	May 22, 2011	Bishop Dwenger	–	North Central	Richard Wigh Fields Columbus, IN		Brie Rahrig Bishop Dwenger

Fall 7s Championships

Following the induction of the shortcode of Rugby Union, known as Rugby sevens, into the 2016 Summer Olympics, Rugby Indiana added a high school fall 7s competition to augment its XVs spring competitions. The inaugural season was 2016 and consists of a 4-week season, with games on Sundays. For the first three weeks, each team/side got a minimum of two matches on each Sunday. The first three weeks scores/results did not count toward the ranking for championship. The 4th week was a championship tournament.
Source:
Source:

Indiana Teams at Midwest Tournament

Boys

– represents club team designation
– represents single-school team designation
In 2018, the Midwest tournament ceased the split between single-school and club teams.

Girls

– represents club team designation
– represents single-school team designation

Indiana Teams at National Championships

Boys

In 2007, the national championship tournament split schools based upon whether their programs were made of students from a single school or a club of combined schools.
– represents club team designation
– represents Tier II contestant
– represents single-school team designation
Source:
Source:

Girls

– represents club team designation
– represents single-school team designation
Source:

Mr. & Miss Rugby

Beginning in 2016, The Indianapolis Star added rugby to its list of Spring Award recipients. In 2019, the Star did not include rugby in its Spring Awards. Prior to that time, Mr. and Miss Rugby Indiana appears to have been selected by the Indiana Rugby Football Union, coinciding with all-state selections. The data below were sourced from Indiana newspapers searched through Newspapers.com from 1990 through 2019 and represent all information that could be gleaned therefrom.