If you’ve been around Rock Rugby long enough, you may have heard about trips to Cloudcroft, New Mexico, or games outside of Texas, like in Utah or even South Africa.

Holy cow! What did I sign up for?

I just wanted my kid to play Rugby.

So what is it and what’s the difference between Rock Rugby and Rock Rugby Academy?

The simple answer: Rock Rugby Academy is Rock Rugby’s Select Travel Team, which plays 7’s, managed and coached by Coach Rock. Playing for Rock Rugby Academy is by invitation only.

Rock Rugby is the local club that plays local high school teams and surrounding cities as far as Houston to Dallas.

It is usually a day trip. You drive up, watch your kid play Rugby, and your back in your own bed that night.

Rock Rugby’s season goes from Mid-October when practice starts and ends sometime in May. Rugby games are generally scheduled in the spring. Scrimmages are typically scheduled as early as January.

Rock Rugby Academy starts after the regular season ends and goes on from May to the end of July.

Let’s not mince words here: Rock Rugby Academy is travel intensive. Rock Rugby Academy has traveled as far as Los Angeles, California, Salt Lake City, and South Africa. Sure, there are tournaments locally, like Bloodfest in July, but your summer will be busy with travel.

In addition to tournaments, Coach Rock leads a high-altitude training camp in Cloudcroft, New Mexico. It’s a fun trip up in the mountains, specifically geared toward players competing in NAI’s 7’s tournament.

Rock Rugby Academy is a great experience. You’ll be playing 7’s Rugby with some of the best high school talents in the US and Canada.

Practices are open to all players from Oct to the end of July.

The more Rugby the better. Plus, you don’t want to get rusty and always strive to learn new skills for next season.

Here’s the thing to know about playing for Rock Rugby Academy: Coach Rock wants every player to experience playing Rugby at the highest level.

So if you show up to practice, give 110% at practice and pour yourself out in games, you may be at practice one afternoon in late April and get a tap on your shoulder from Coach Rock.

Then, you just have to make sure your guardians are going to be okay with it 🙂