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MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - The American Youth Rugby Union (AYRU), a Mountain View based youth sports organization, today announced that the second week of November 2012 (Nov. 11-18) is officially “Rugby Week”.
“AYRU aims to be the leading movement in the rapidly expanding world of youth rugby and hence we have initiated the inaugural Rugby Week in our locality to raise awareness of the benefits of the sport of rugby for our Youth,” said Paul Lynch, a cofounder and Director of the American Youth Rugby Union.
Rugby week will start with an Open Day on Sunday, Nov. 11 2-4PM at Huff Elementary School in Mountain View.
“The Open Days are an opportunity for children (and the extended family) to come along and try, free of charge, this relatively new sport for the first time,” explained Scott Miller, also a cofounder and director at AYRU.
On Monday Nov 12, Rugby Week will continue with a demonstration of Rookie Rugby at the German International School of Silicon Valley (GISSV).
Rookie Rugby is a fun and non-contact form of rugby that can be enjoyed by boys and girls of all ages and all shapes and sizes. This event is restricted to the 7th and 8th grade students of GISSV.
Matt Sherman, the head coach of Stanford university’s rugby team and former USA player, will make a guest appearance at GISSV.
Sharman will present Michael Rolufs , Athletic Director and teacher at GISSV, with a gift of Rugby in a Box, which will enable the athletic staff and their students to continue to enjoy playing Rookie Rugby.
Tuesday Nov 13 will see the launch of a Treasure Hunt in the city of Mountain View.
Members of the public will be invited to solve a cryptic clue which will lead them to the secret hiding place of a gold painted rugby ball.
The finder of the Golden Ball will be rewarded with a prize of $100 dollars.
There is no fee to enter the treasure hunt.
The golden rugby ball is unique and carries the autograph of Brian McClenahan, who represented the USA at the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
On Wednesday Nov. 14, Rugby week will move to Graham Middle School in Mountain View with a kicking skills competition.
Boys and girls from the Middle School will be invited to kick a rugby ball a distance of over 20 yards into a large bin.
Students who do well will be rewarded with gift tokens and any student who actually gets the ball into the bin we will earn a donation of $50 for his or her school.
On Thursday Nov. 15, Rugby Week will return to IGSSV and will concentrate on teaching Rookie Rugby to the 5th- and 6th-graders.
On Friday, Nov. 16, the focus of Rugby Week will shift to Sunnyvale, where the AYRU will have an informational booth at the Sports Authority store on El Camino.
Sports Authority is a partner to USA Rugby the governing body of all rugby activities in the states.
Bart Peterson, the Community Marketing Manager for Sport Authority in the Bay area has been instrumental in striking up a partnership with AYRU and will be making a presentation of coaching equipment to the coaches in AYRU.
On Saturday Nov. 17 AYRU will launch a competition on their website and social media sites for 10 tickets for children to attend the Men’s USA Sevens rugby tournament and festival in Las Vegas in Feb 2013, and another 10 tickets for children to attend the Women’s USA Sevens tournament in Houston Texas in January.
Rugby week will come to a close on Sunday Nov. 18 with a second, free Open Day 2-4PM at Huff Elementary School in Mountain View.
The AYRU has established one club at present - the Mountain View Bobcats Youth Rugby Club and has ambition to create additional youth rugby clubs in Los Altos and Sunnyvale in 2013 and Cupertino and Milpitas in 2014.
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