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43-513: Girls wrestling gained MIAA status in 2011. Rugby became the MIAA's 35th sport in 2016, following a 2015 MIAC vote that passed by a wide majority. The leagues in the MIAA are separated into nine districts (numbered 1-9). The MIAA Baseball State Champions are listed below. The state champions for basketball are listed below. The state champions for ice hockey are listed below. Boys' Swimming & Diving has been an MIAA sport since 1947, competing in

86-549: A Canadian team; the Argentina Jaguars , an Argentine developmental side; and an Uruguayan team. These matches between A-sides were not considered official international test matches. The competition was held annually from 2009 through 2014, except in the World Cup year of 2011. The Americas Rugby Championship was relaunched in 2016 as a Western Hemisphere equivalent to Europe's Six Nations Championship . The new format involves

129-592: A Rugby World Cup. Nigel Melville stated that hosting the 2012 IRB JWRT was "the first step to ... hosting a Rugby World Cup." IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset has acknowledged that "the USA is a very important and exciting market for Rugby." The United States has several features that would make it a successful host of the Rugby World Cup: On June 10, 2021, the United States formally accepted their bids for

172-547: A Tier-2 rugby nation. The U.S. has been consistently ranked as one of the top 20 teams in the world since the World Rugby Rankings were developed in 2003. In recent years, Houston, Texas, has hosted U.S. men's national team matches with high attendance levels against countries such as Scotland, Italy and Ireland. In 2018 the U.S. men beat a Tier 1 national team for the first time in a test match when they defeated Scotland 30–29. The U.S. national team has played in six of

215-733: A crowd of 11,000 at Rio Tinto Stadium. A friendly match between the US and Ireland in 2009 drew 10,000 fans to Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara, and a friendly match between the US and Italy in 2012 drew over 17,000 fans to BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston. This was followed by 20,000-strong crowds at BBVA Compass Stadium vs. Ireland in June 2013 and Scotland in June 2014; these records were smashed in November 2014 however when an historic sell-out crowd of 61,500 watched

258-557: A disappointing 2015 Rugby World Cup in England, losing all four matches, including losses to Tier 2 countries Samoa 16–25 and Japan 18–28. The North America 4 was an elite-level IRB-financed tournament that ran from 2006 until 2008. The tournament was contested between four teams, two from the United States and two from Canada. The United States national team participated in the Pacific Nations Cup from 2013 to 2015. The tournament

301-497: A likely candidate to host a Rugby World Cup , due to the recent growth and future growth potential of rugby in the U.S., which has been recognized by World Rugby. In 2010, Mike Miller, at the time the CEO of what was then known as the IRB, stated that the U.S. would host a Rugby World Cup, stating that "it's a question of when, not if." USA Rugby CEO Nigel Melville revealed in November 2011 that

344-590: A member of the US Olympic Committee, allowing rugby players and programs access to Olympic resources. Attendance at rugby union matches and tournaments has grown significantly in recent years. Attendance for the USA Sevens tournament has grown steadily from 15,800 in 2004, to 52,000 fans at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas in 2011. The 2011 College Premier Division national championship match between Cal and BYU drew

387-846: A specific region within their respective GU's. More than 98,000 people are registered members of USA Rugby . The numbers of registered rugby members are highest in California, New York and Pennsylvania. On a per-person basis, rugby membership is highest in New England and in the Rocky Mountain states of Colorado and Utah. There are 32,754 men and 11,790 women playing senior-level rugby. Over 34,000 high school athletes (26,212 boys and 8,706 girls) play rugby for their schools or U19 clubs. Over 2,200 pre-teens (1,988 boys and 228 girls) play organized rugby. With over 20,000 registered females in USA Rugby,

430-416: A sustainable professional rugby club competition. The Rugby Super League was the national premier Division 1 rugby amateur club competition that ran from 1997 to 2012. The Super League was created in 1996 by the major territorial unions within USA Rugby with the intention of creating a competitive national competition. The inaugural season of the competition saw 14 teams divided into two seven-team divisions:

473-482: Is broadcast on NBC. Rugby union , usually referred to in the U.S. simply as "rugby", is played professionally ( Major League Rugby ), recreationally and in colleges, though it is not governed by the NCAA (see college rugby ). An estimated 1.2 million people in the United States play rugby. Rugby union participation in the U.S. has grown significantly in recent years, growing by 350% between 2004 and 2011. A 2010 survey by

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516-584: Is governed by World Rugby , formerly known as the International Rugby Board, which is based in Dublin , Ireland . It is the governing and law-making body for rugby globally. World Rugby has over 100 member unions. USA Rugby is the member union of the United States within World Rugby. USA Rugby is responsible for overseeing rugby union domestically and training the various national teams that they put on

559-629: Is one of the core teams in the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series , which has included a tournament in the U.S. since its first season in 2012–13. The U.S. tournament was held in Houston in the 2012–13 season, and since then has been held in the Atlanta suburb of Kennesaw, Georgia . The first recorded rugby union match between two North American schools occurred on May 14, 1874 , between Harvard University and McGill University teams. Rugby grew in

602-569: The 2007 Rugby World Cup in France without a win. One of the team's high points, though, was the winger Takudzwa Ngwenya , who scored against South Africa by out-pacing Bryan Habana for a try, earning "Try of the Year". The USA played in the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. The team's highlights included a 13–6 win against Russia, and a narrow 22–10 loss against tier-one opponent Ireland. The U.S. had

645-546: The 2011 Rugby World Cup —three on NBC and seven on Universal—marking the first time the Rugby World Cup was broadcast live on TV in the U.S. NBC broadcast a November 1, 2014, match between the United States and New Zealand, earning a 0.7 rating. NBC and Universal Sports Network broadcast nine matches (two on NBC, seven on Universal) from the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England. NBC Sports Group has broadcast matches from Premiership Rugby since spring 2016, and began broadcasting

688-533: The 2011 USA Sevens , helping increase awareness of the sport of rugby. Viewership for the 2012 USA Sevens on NBC earned successful ratings (0.7), beating the ratings for an NHL match (0.4) and five college basketball games (0.1–0.3) played that same weekend. The TV ratings on NBC for the USA Sevens and Collegiate Rugby Championships grew 14% from 2013 to 2014, with the 2014 USA Sevens drawing ratings of 0.7 on Saturday and 1.0 on Sunday. NBC, along with its Universal Sports affiliate network, broadcast ten matches of

731-591: The 2016 Summer Olympics has meant increased TV exposure. Rugby union came onto NBC's radar following the 2009 announcement. NBC has begun broadcasting several rugby tournaments on network TV, particularly rugby sevens tournaments, considered a television friendly format. NBC has shown the Collegiate Rugby Championship each year since 2010. NBC has also broadcast the USA Sevens tournament each year since 2011. Roughly 5.4 million viewers tuned in to watch

774-466: The 2027 or 2031 Rugby World Cup as well as the 2029 Women's Rugby World Cup, with their bid campaigns officially launched on October 20, 2021. The United States became the first country to bid on both Men's and Women's World Cups. On May 12, 2022, the United States was awarded the right to host the 2031 Rugby World Cup and 2033 Rugby World Cup (women's), becoming the first country in the Americas to host

817-648: The U.S. national team played Australia—in its first official match since the 1924 Olympics—before 8,000 fans at Glover Field in Anaheim, California . Australia won the match 24–12. The United States national team participated in the inaugural 1987 Rugby World Cup. Rugby in the U.S. received a significant boost in 2009 when the International Olympic Committee voted to reinstate rugby into the Summer Olympics beginning in 2016. Rugby union played anywhere

860-524: The USA Sevens , is held every February at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas , draws over 60,000 fans and is broadcast on NBC . The U.S. national team hosts international matches every June, with an attendance of around 20,000. Collegiately, the Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC) is held every June at Talen Energy Stadium in the Philadelphia suburb of Chester, Pennsylvania , draws around 20,000 fans and

903-534: The percentage of the U.S. population playing is obviously much lower. College rugby is the fastest growing college sport in the US. Rugby union is also the fastest growing sport in the US. Rugby union's profile in the U.S. has increased as a result of the International Olympic Committee 's announcement in 2009 that rugby union would return to the Olympics in 2016. USA Rugby has formally become

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946-664: The Argentina Jaguars and the full national teams of the US, Brazil , Canada , Chile , and Uruguay . All matches in the tournament, including those against Argentina Jaguars, are full international tests, and all count in the World Rugby Rankings except those involving Argentina Jaguars. The governing body for World Rugby lifted rugby union's ban on professional rugby following the 1995 Rugby World Cup . Since that time, as other nations have professionalized rugby within their countries, USA Rugby has struggled to transition to

989-541: The European Six Nations Championship in 2018. The 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens held in San Francisco set U.S. rugby viewership records—the finals day coverage averaged 1.4 million viewers. In addition, specialty cable channels have begun broadcasting an increasing amount of rugby. Select international matches and European club matches are shown on WatchESPN . The United States has been considered

1032-491: The National Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association ranked rugby union as the fastest-growing sport in the U.S. Rugby union is the fastest growing college sport and sport in general in the United States. Rugby union was first introduced to the United States in the mid nineteenth century and gained popularity throughout the late nineteenth century. However, it started to decline from

1075-551: The Rugby Men's World Cup. The popularity of rugby was given a minor boost when it was featured in the fourth season of Friends in the episode The One with all the rugby , broadcast February 26, 1998. Rugby was also featured prominently in the 2008 movie Forever Strong . Rugby was also featured briefly in the film The Departed , by virtue of being set in Boston 's Irish community. Executive and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban

1118-399: The U.S. failed to win a match, losing 25–27 to Romania. The U.S. had one of its better performances at the 2003 Rugby World Cup , winning one game 39–26 against Japan, and narrowly losing to Fiji 18–19. U.S. fly-half Mike Hercus scored 51 points in the tournament, ranked seventh highest in the tournament, even though the U.S. did not advance to the knockout rounds. The U.S. came away from

1161-465: The U.S. had been asked by the IRB to consider preparing a bid to host the Rugby World Cup, and that USA Rugby was considering bidding for the rights to host the 2023 or the 2027 Rugby World Cup. When the U.S. was then awarded the right to host the 2012 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy (a tournament now known as the World Rugby Under 20 Trophy ), it was seen as the U.S. moving a step closer to hosting

1204-414: The U.S. has grown significantly since 2000, growing by 350% between 2004 and 2011. Between 2006 and 2011, the number of high-school rugby players in the U.S. increased by 84%, with 28,000 players in 650 high school programs. By 2010, the number of registered players in the U.S. had grown to over 81,000, moving the U.S. ahead of traditional rugby powers Wales and Scotland in terms of playing numbers, although

1247-467: The U.S. has more female rugby players than any other country in the world. There are 1,582 referees within USA Rugby. A 2010 survey by the National Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association ranked rugby as the fastest growing sport in the U.S. In 2014 the Sports and Fitness Industry Association reported rugby as the fastest growing team sport in the U.S. during the previous five years. Rugby participation in

1290-582: The United States Rugby union in the United States (Almost always referred to as simply “Rugby”) is played at youth, high school, college, amateur, professional, and international levels and governed by USA Rugby . There were over 125,000 players registered with USA Rugby as of 2016. Over 2,500 rugby union clubs exist around the country, including those who are part of college rugby . Professional club competition has existed as Major League Rugby (MLR) since 2017. An international competition,

1333-575: The Western-Pacific Conference and the Midwestern-East Conference. Aspen won the first championship. Belmont Shore was the most successful club, appearing in the finals every year from 2002 to 2008, until the club left the competition. San Francisco Golden Gate then led the league, appearing in the finals every year from 2009 to 2011. The size of the league fluctuated over the years. The inclusion of some sub-par clubs and

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1376-491: The early 1900s after the formation of American football . The U.S. won the gold medal in rugby at the 1920 Olympics and again at the 1924 Olympics, but rugby collapsed in the country after the 1924 Olympics (except in certain hotbeds of rugby such as San Francisco, St. Louis, and New York, which saw continuous competition). Rugby union did not re-emerge in the US until its renaissance in the 1960s and 1970s. The United States of America Rugby Football Union (now known as USA Rugby)

1419-479: The early 1900s, spurred in part by American football 's crisis of 1905-06 due to the perception that American football was a violent sport. During this era, rugby was perceived as having the potential to challenge American football as the dominant football code on the west coast. At the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, a United States rugby team composed largely of players from Stanford University defeated France to win

1462-732: The exclusion of top-performing clubs was controversial issue since the inception of the Super League, called into question whether it was really USA's "premier" competition. Following the demise of the Super League, USA Rugby formed the Elite Cup in 2013 among the top eight clubs from the previous season's National Division I Club Championship. The competition was divided into two pools of four teams: East, consisting of Boston, Life Running Eagles, New York Athletic Club, and Old Blue of New York; and West, consisting of Denver Barbarians, Glendale Raptors, San Francisco Golden Gate, and Seattle OPSB. However,

1505-485: The gold medal. Rugby union was again included in the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, where the United States again defeated France for the gold. Despite this success, however, rugby in the United States largely faded away. Rugby began its revival in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s, as many colleges started club rugby teams. USA Rugby , the body that governs rugby in the U.S., was founded in 1975. On 31 January 1976,

1548-436: The match against New Zealand at Soldier Field ; the match also drew an average TV audience of 927,000 on NBC. Another significant development in the history of U.S. rugby union came at the 2015 London Sevens , the final tournament of the 2014–15 Sevens Series , when the US won its first-ever championship of a Sevens Series event. The announcement in 2009 that rugby union in its rugby sevens format would by admitted into

1591-477: The pitch. Rugby union started to grow in the United States in the 1960s. The United States of America Rugby Football Union formed in 1975, and joined World Rugby (then known as IRFB) in 1987. Within USA Rugby , there are several Geographical Unions (GU's) that are charged with governing a specific region of the country. Within these GU's, there are also Local Area Unions (LAU's), which are responsible for governing

1634-525: The seven Rugby World Cup tournaments held every four years since the inaugural 1987 tournament. In the 1987 Rugby World Cup , the United States won one match, beating Japan 21–18 in the pool stage. At the 1991 Rugby World Cup the United States went 0–3 with losses to New Zealand, England and Italy. The U.S. failed to qualify for the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa. At the 1999 Rugby World Cup in Wales,

1677-451: The six-nation Americas Rugby Championship every year since 2016 . USA Rugby fields other national teams. The men's national rugby sevens team has been a "core team" that has participated in every tournament since 2008 of the annual World Rugby Sevens Series . The women's national team has reached the quarterfinals of every Women's Rugby World Cup , and won the inaugural Women's Rugby World Cup in 1991. The women's national sevens team

1720-627: The winter season. Division 2 was added in 1987. The MIAA Boys' Swimming & Diving State Champions are listed below. Girls' Swimming & Diving has been an MIAA sport since 1972, beginning solely as a fall season sport. Girls' swimming & diving then expanded to become both a fall and winter season sport beginning in 1991. Division 2 was added in 2004 for the fall season and 2006 for the winter season. The MIAA Girls' Swimming & Diving State Champions are listed below. The MIAA Boys Soccer State Champions are listed below. The MIAA Girls Soccer State Champions are listed below. Rugby union in

1763-554: Was a competitive rugby athlete during his college days. At least three U.S. presidents have played the sport: The United States national rugby union team is nicknamed the Eagles. They played their first international in 1912, but did not begin playing regularly until 1976. The Eagles have qualified for six of the eight Rugby World Cups. The U.S. national team also hosts international matches every June, and generally tours against European teams each November. The United States are currently

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1806-540: Was formed in 1975. The United States men's national team , the Eagles, has competed in all but one of the Rugby World Cup tournaments held every four years since 1987. The U.S. national team plays home matches every June, including international test matches . The United States is a Tier 2 rugby nation, which means that it is not currently competitive at the elite level of the sport, but is one of World Rugby 's key development markets. The national team has competed in

1849-520: Was intended to strengthen the Tier 2 rugby nations by providing competitive test matches in a tournament format. However, the United States and Canada ended their participation after the 2015 competition. In 2009, World Rugby launched a new competition, the Americas Rugby Championship , with four teams. The teams included a " USA Selects ", effectively the United States "A" (second-level) side;

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