Coaches Corner April 2021

Our men’s and women’s rugby teams were given the green light to commence phase one of our resocialization to rugby on Monday March 29th. We spent the week training on Hospital Point in small pods before moving back to the Brigade Sports Complex on Tuesday April 6th. We are currently in our third and final week of resocialization and are delighted to finally get back to our Blake and Malek pitches at our Prusmack Rugby Center.

In regards to our Spring schedule, our women’s teams will face Mount St Mary’s, Penn State and Army. Kicking off at 1300 tomorrow, April 17th, our women will field a young team with many Mids getting to play in their first rugby match.

Our men’s team made the difficult decision not to play against any opponents, choosing instead to focus internally on our skill development, camaraderie and culture. Our Firsties have taken significant leadership roles within the squad to ensure maximum development of our younger ruggers, who have missed out on a year of being in our unique Navy Rugby environment.

One of the challenges we faced when scheduling, was ensuring opponents met our standards of covid testing protocols. While a number of teams are testing their players, some schools have not been able to meet our testing protocols. On top of this, some teams are focusing on 7s and some teams have decided (or had the decision made for them) not to re-commence until the Fall.

All Navy Ruggers and staff are currently being tested for Coronavirus, three times per week and we continue to closely monitor everyone’s health.

We want to thank all our alums, families and friends for your continuing support of Navy Rugby.

Navy Rugby Spring 2021 Schedule

Women’s Rugby:

Saturday April 17th - at Mount St Mary’s. Kick off 1300 (stream link: HERE)

Saturday April 24th - home v Penn St. Kick off 1400

Saturday May 1st - home v Army. Kick off TBD

Men’s Rugby

Saturday April 24th - home Blue v Gold Scrimmage. Kick off 1100

MIDN 2/C Sarah Skinner

Women’s No 8 Sarah Skinner who was nominated for the Sorenson Award for the best collegiate women’s player in the country has been invited to attend two USA 7s rugby camps.

Due to Sarah’s impressive performances for Navy she has been on the radar of USA 7s for some time and will attend two 7s camps at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA.

Women’s Head Coach Murph McCarthy said, “we are very proud and excited that Sarah has been invited to the Olympic Training Center to train with the National Team. This is a great opportunity for her to showcase her skills at the highest level. I am personally grateful that her Chain-of-Command, NAAA and the Academic Dean were so supportive. Sarah has worked hard in the classroom as well as on the pitch and this is well deserved.”

Navy Rugby Boys and Girls Day Camps 2021

Boys Camp: June 21st - 24th 2021. 1000 - 1600. Ages 10-18

Girls Camp: June 28th - July 1st 2021. 1000 - 1600. Ages 10-18

Navy Rugby announces our inaugural Girls Rugby Camp this June and also the return of Navy Boys Camp.

With the ongoing constraints around the Covid pandemic, we have moved our camp to a day camp while offering campers and their families special Navy Sports Camps hotel rates in Annapolis.

Commenting on the announcement of Camp 2021, Director Hickie stated, “We are absolutely thrilled to be able to offer a Navy Rugby experience to all campers this year. We are especially excited about our first ever Navy Rugby Girls Camp and can’t wait to work with this year’s campers. We missed out on camp in 2020 due to the pandemic so we are delighted to once again work with young men and now women who wish to develop their rugby skills while experiencing elite collegiate rugby facilities at the Prusmack Rugby Center. We have a number of former campers who are now Midshipmen and are currently part of the Navy Rugby men’s squad, having fallen in love with USNA through their Navy Rugby camp experiences.”

Navy Women’s Rugby Head Coach, Murph McCarthy added, “I am super excited about our first rugby camp for girls here at Navy! The Prusmack Rugby complex is as impressive a facility as there is in the U.S. and it will be a great spot to host our camp. We are welcoming ages 10-18 and their families to come see and enjoy Annapolis.”

For more information and registration: Navy Rugby Camps

With You,

Gavin

Coaches Corner March 2021

Following the December break, the Midshipmen returned to the Yard between January 10th - 15th and went into quarantine for the following two weeks. Upon completion and following approval of our lifting request to the Commandant, our men’s and women’s teams commenced our 6 week lifting block in MacDonough Hall from 0500 - 0545, alternating between the two teams each day. While we could not get our whole squads lifting during this period, due to Covid restraints, we worked hard each morning in the gym and we have seen good progress. Our ability to lift consistently as a team remains a very high priority for the program.

We received clearance to return to phase one of rugby resocialization in small pods on February 22nd and went to work immediately on the Yard. Unfortunately, as of February 28th, all sports, except basketball has been suspended and the Midshipmen have been placed in a hard ROM (restriction of movement) for a minimum of 10 days. This hard ROM includes all classes moving to virtual, all meals in dorm rooms and Mids are permitted outdoor physical activity for a maximum of two hours per day with a maximum of one roommate.

There are currently 196 Midshipmen lodged in hotels in Annapolis due to the need for quarantine and isolation space in Bancroft Hall.

We are awaiting the lifting of the current ROM restrictions and once we get the green light to re-start our phase one of resocialization to rugby, we will do so. While these times remain challenging for all of us, we are determined to ensure Navy Rugby comes out of this pandemic in as strong a position as possible.

We want to thank all our alums, families and friends for your continuing support of Navy Rugby.

Gavin

US Naval Academy Coronavirus Guidance - More Information

Navy Rugby Spring 2021 Schedule

Our focus remains on playing games this Spring. We are awaiting approval to start resocialization and scheduling. Once we get these, both the men’s and women’s teams will need to be covid tested three times per week.

In order to play against opponents, they must comply with our standard of testing, (i.e. nasal swabs three times per week). Other than West Point, there are few programs in the country who are testing this rigorously but we remain optimistic that we will be able to face some opponents who meet these requirements, next month.

Once we get approval to schedule games and can confirm that our opponents are meeting our testing requirements, we will announce our schedule.

Navy Rugby Recruits

Director of Navy Rugby, Gavin Hickie has compiled and submitted our annual rugby recruits list to NAAA. While we do not receive any blue chip spots or guarantees, we have been fortunate in years past and hope to see a couple of new Navy Ruggers in the Class of 2025.

Commenting on the recruit list, Coach Hickie said, “we have compiled a very academically competitive list of experienced ruggers who have demonstrated their strong desire to attend the Naval Academy. One of our challenges in recruiting is losing out to West Point rugby which has the ability to guarantee admission to young High School rugby players. However, we are hopeful for the Class of 2025 and retain the firm belief that “recruiting” from within the Brigade of Midshipmen, allied to the best possible coaching, will see us continuing to compete against the best varsity rugby programs in the nation.”

The application deadline for the Class of 2025 has passed as of February 28th 2021.

Navy Rugby Boys and Girls Day Camps 2021

Boys Camp: June 21st - 24th 2021. 1000 - 1600. Ages 10-18

Girls Camp: June 28th - July 1st 2021. 1000 - 1600. Ages 10-18

Navy Rugby announces our inaugural Girls Rugby Camp this June and also the return of Navy Boys Camp.

With the ongoing constraints around the Covid pandemic, we have moved our camp to a day camp while offering campers and their families special Navy Sports Camps hotel rates in Annapolis.

Commenting on the announcement of Camp 2021, Director Hickie stated, “We are absolutely thrilled to be able to offer a Navy Rugby experience to all campers this year. We are especially excited about our first ever Navy Rugby Girls Camp and can’t wait to work with this year’s campers. We missed out on camp in 2020 due to the pandemic so we are delighted to once again work with young men and now women who wish to develop their rugby skills while experiencing elite collegiate rugby facilities at the Prusmack Rugby Center. We have a number of former campers who are now Midshipmen and are currently part of the Navy Rugby men’s squad, having fallen in love with USNA through their Navy Rugby camp experiences.”

Navy Women’s Rugby Head Coach, Murph McCarthy added, “I am super excited about our first rugby camp for girls here at Navy! The Prusmack Rugby complex is as impressive a facility as there is in the U.S. and it will be a great spot to host our camp. We are welcoming ages 10-18 and their families to come see and enjoy Annapolis.”

For more information and registration: Navy Rugby Camps

National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) Acquires CRC

The new owners of the CRC brand, founded by the late Jon Prusmack and his United World Sports Company, are resurrecting the Collegiate Rugby Championship for 2021 and beyond.

Read the full article here:

https://ncr.rugby/2021-collegiate-rugby-championship-on-memorial-day-weekend/

With You,

Gavin