How a rugby program in the US is changing the lives of disadvantaged children

A program to introduce rugby into the lives of disadvantaged kids in the US has blossomed, and it’s helping participants with more than just their skills on field.

A not-for profit in the US has found a way to introduce rugby into disadvantaged American schools and lift high school graduation rates.

Play Rugby USA, which started in 2003 as a weekend rugby program for homeless youth in Brooklyn, is now helping more than 20,000 disadvantaged students aged 5-18 from New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco with more than just their skills on the field.

Introducing rugby into US schools is proving a winner for students academically. Picture: Play Rugby USA

Wil Snape-Rogers, executive director of Play Rugby USA, said introducing rugby into schools is proving a winner for students academically.

One of the teams involved in the program. Picture: Play Rugby USA

“Anyone who has been involved in rugby knows that it is a values-based sport, whether that be league or union. Those values are discipline, integrity and respect and they stay with you your entire life.

“It is the reason that a guy from England can stand in New York talking to a bunch of Australians about kids from Harlem and Brooklyn and the Bronx,” he told a gathering at the Australian Consulate in New York.

The program helps students with more than just their skills on field. picture: Play Rugby USA.

Play Rugby USA, which started in 2003 as a weekend rugby program for homeless youth in Brooklyn, is now helping more than 20,000 disadvantaged students. Picture: Play Rugby USA

“Sixty per cent of the kids in the schools we go into are living below the poverty level, obesity rates are as high at 50 per cent and high school graduation rates are lower than 50 per cent.

“This year for the fifth year in a row we have seen a 100 per cent high school graduation rate from seniors through our academy and enrolment in college. So relative through their peers they are 50 per cent more likely to graduate which is huge for them and huge for us,” he said.

Play Rugby USA says the program is achieving tangible results and outcomes that can be seen not only in the classroom and on the field but throughout communities.

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The program has helped change the lives of disadvantaged students in the US. Picture: Play Rugby USA.

Originally published as How a rugby program in the US is changing the lives of disadvantaged children