Boys and Girls...
...co-ed rugby encourages respect
Youth rugby is a co-ed sport. Boys and girls play together on the same team. In fact, a unique aspect of rugby, just as with any senior rugby club, is that the entire group of boys and girls, coaches, and parents is treated as a single team rather than separate and unrelated groups according to age, etc.
It's true enough that rugby's fledgling status in the world of American youth sports has forced improvisation. Given sufficient numbers of boys and girls, we would separate them into distinct teams. We recognize that there is benefit in each of the genders playing as all girls or all boys. That day will come. Meanwhile, we have been pleasantly surprised that the kids work well together, with team leaders emerging from both boys and girls and receiving equal respect from their opposites. Naturally, the coaching staff must encourage this, but we have found this to be easy to accomplish.
© Copyright 2006 Vienna Youth, Inc. (VYI) and Eric Pittelkau
|
