Aspetuck Valley Rugby Club

News Detail

4

Mar, 2020

Aspetuck in the press

Aspetuck Valley Rugby Club accepting new members

The Aspetuck Valley Rugby Club had a modest start with a youth program in 2012 in Redding.

It has rapidly expanded to over 170 players across all ages with youth teams at U-8, U-10, U-12, U-14 and a High School team.

The club has players from many towns in the area, including Redding, Easton, Weston, Wilton, Westport, Fairfield, Newtown, Ridgefield, Bethel, Danbury, Shelton and Monroe amongst others.

Starting in the 2020 season, there is now a girls U-16 team which will compete in exhibition games with plans for a regular scheduled season for the following year.

Last season marked an incredible year for Aspetuck Rugby and a real turning point in the program. The team took third place in the highly competitive Virginia Jesuit/Gonzaga Invitational, where they gave the eventual winners a real run for their money.

The club quickly garnered national attention and earned an invite to the National High School Rugby Championships in Salt Lake City, where the team went 2-1 and placed third overall in Tier 2.

The highlight of the year had to be winning the CT D1 High School Championship over the 11-time defending Greenwich High team in a hard-fought 20-12 battle.

The team finished the year ranked #14 in the country.

Beyond the success on the field, what has made Aspetuck Rugby so special is the unique bond that the players have with each other. There is a level of respect for each other, their opponents, coaches and officials that sadly is lacking in other sports today that remains unique to the culture of rugby.

Several Aspetuck players who have gone on to play at the collegiate level at schools such as Fordham, University of Tennessee, Loyola of Maryland, St Bonaventure, Arizona State, UMass Amherst, Delaware, University of Maine, University of Connecticut and the University of New Mexico continue to stay in close contact with the club and help out at practices and games when not at school.

This year, Aspetuck has initiated an outreach program to disadvantaged inner-city youth to learn and participate in this growing sport. To date, about 10 boys have been given the chance to join and have already shown up for indoor winter practice. The new home field is at 31 Pecks Lane, Newtown.

The club accepts youth players from any town and HS players from any town that does not have a Rugby program.

AVRC could not have had this level of success without a tremendous amount of support from coaches, parents, board members, volunteers and generous sponsors.

To learn more about the club and how you can support it please check out our website at www.aspetuckrugby.org or go to our Facebook page Aspetuck Valley Rugby Football Club.

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