College Recruiting Combine Program

Chicago Combine: Start Time 1pm

seanhopper — Fri, 18 May 2012 22:45:30 +0000

Hello Chicago Participants. The Chicago Combine will be held at Eric Solorio Academy High School. The address is 5400 S. St Louis Ave, Chicago IL. Registration begins at 12pm, and the combine goes from 1pm to 4pm. Another Important note is that at the High School there will be an art fair so come early to find good parking! All questions call Sean Hopper (914) 374-2206 or Erica Garcia (909) 556-0339. We will both be on site at the combine, can’t wait to see everyone!

Buffalo Combine Update

seanhopper — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:06:15 +0000

All Participants please come to 175 Alumni Arena still at the University of Buffalo Campus. The only change is that instead of the combine being held inside of the arena it will be held in the Football Stadium as well as the fields outside of the stadium. It is across the parking lot from the arena. Signs and volunteers will be around to direct you to the combine area.

Registration begins at 9am and the combine goes from 10am to 1pm If you have any questions please call (914) 374-2206. Thank you!

Denver Combine Recap

seanhopper — Thu, 03 May 2012 20:30:12 +0000

What a weekend! The Rugby Recruiting staff traveled all the way to Denver on April 28th to put on a combine at Dick Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City Colorado, home of the Colorado Rapids MLS team. The venue was great as we put on the combine during the High School Boys State Playoffs. It was a treat to be able to watch some great high school rugby as teams such as Regis Jesuit, Aurora Saracens, Tigers RFC, Highlands Ranch Harlequins, Boulder RFC, Fort Collins, Warriors RFC, Grand Gents, PAC RFC, Castle Rock, Swarm RFC, East High School, Chaparral Wolverines, Cherry Creek RFC, Littleton Eagles, and the Colorado Springs Grizzlies. Combined with Rapids Stadium it truly was a site to see, much thanks for JR LaPierre and everyone at Rugby Colorado for setting up the event.

Although the weather was a little windy it was a beautiful day for rugby. We were fortunate enough to have an Eagles Coach, Dave Hodges come and speak to all of the participants, additionally Mark Mokhoven, a former eagle also spoke to everyone. And just for good measure both Dave and Mark stayed after and helped volunteer during the different drills. There were some great athletes in the Denver area and it showed in during the different drills on Saturday.

Great Turnout at San Diego Combine

seanhopper — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 21:14:03 +0000

Sorry everyone for getting this post out late but we just wanted to announce what a great turn out we had at the San Diego Combine held on March 25th at Cathedral Catholic High School was. For anyone who had not been to Cathedral Catholic High School I highly recommend you visit as it’s one of the most impressive prep schools in the country. While their gym and athletic area was something to marvel over, the staff there (Glenn Irvine), as well as the volunteers (Aztecs) were more than helpful leading to the combine being a success overall.

The combine had over 100 participants from around the San Diego area and had a lot of great athletes participate. In fact 4 participants in Particular posted top 2 times overall for all of the combines. Christopher Harless now owns the second fastest 20 Yard Sprint at 2.73 seconds, Austin Switzer owns the fastest 40 yard dash at 4.50 seconds, Joseph Terhaar has the second fastest Resistance run at 1.81 seconds and finally repeat combine participant Kyle Prior posted our fastest obstacle course time to date with a time of 11.47 seconds.

We also wanted to give a special thank you to Russ and everyone at Canyoupicturethis.com, they had a great stand outside of the registration area and took some incredible pictures of everyone involved in the event. Overall we couldn’t be happier with the turnout and look forward to having another combine in San Diego soon.

Rugby Recruiting Providing Educational Information on the Application Process of Today

seanhopper — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 17:57:53 +0000

One of the most important goals of RugbyRecruiting.com is to help high school athletes to not only get into college but to be able to play rugby at the next level. Our mission states we “provide opportunities for high school athletes to consider colleges perhaps not previously considered”. Because getting our participants into college is so integral to our vision is why we are excited to announce we are working with Karen Fong and the Dunbar Educational Consultants.

We want every student athlete to achieve their athletic AND academic endeavors. We are proud to host Karen Fong of Dunbar Educational Consultants to work with Rugby Recruiting attendees at select Combines. Dunbar Educational Consultants is the premiere educational consulting firm in the country. With over 20 consultants worldwide (backgrounds include former admissions counselors from elite universities such as Princeton, Yale and NYU), you benefit from a far broader base of knowledge and experience which reduces the stress of today’s admissions process. Let the experts at Dunbar Educational Consultants answer all your questions about navigating the college admission process!

About Karen Fong: Karen is based in San Diego and works with families of students seeking college admission. Karen received her B.A. from the University of California at Davis and her M.A. and School Counseling credential from Chapman University. She has been working as a youth and high school sports coach for over 10 years, and for the past 5 years has successfully guided high school students through the college admissions process. She is passionate about helping young people succeed in all aspects of their lives.

Karen is also very active in the rugby community. As a member of the UC Davis Division I Rugby Team, she was named an All-American, represented the USA on the Junior National U-23 team before continuing on to play at the elite level in both 15s and 7s. She is currently an active referee at both local and national rugby events.

You will be able to speak with Karen Fong as soon as the next combine in Denver on April 28^th. You will find her next to the Combine Registration Booth ready to help with any question or concern.

SAN DIEGO COMBINE MARCH 25th: Registration 12pm, Event Starts at 1pm

seanhopper — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:53:45 +0000

The San Diego Combine will be held on March 25th at the prestigous Cathedral Catholic High School at 5555 Del Mar Heights Rd, San Diego CA 92130. Registration for the combine begins at 12pm to 1pm. At 1pm the combine will start and last until 4pm. The earlier the come the better, you will get signed into one of the first groups and get to run through the drills first.

Don’t forget that there will be colleges and college rugby coaches in attendance so make the rounds and talk everybody. Can’t wait to see everyone Sunday!

Portland Combine at Adidas was a Great Success!

seanhopper — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 19:02:30 +0000

Everyone here at rugbyrecruiting.com has to give a big thank you all of the participants who came to our combine on March 11th at the adidas headquarters. A special thanks also needs to go to Jenn Heinrich with Rugby Oregon whose hard work was a big part of the success of the event. A final thank you goes to our wonderful sponsor adidas for letting us use their facilities at adidas village for the combine.

We were all a little worried with the inclement weather early on in the day as the rain was coming down hard and the wind was sending our tents flying. Luckily the weather cleared up and we had a great turn out of athletes from all over Portland and Washington. We were very impressed with the scores across the board, we even had our best vertical jump out of the first six combines by Alex Faison-Donahue with 39 inches! Also wanted to commend our participant Connor Kastelic who just the day before hyper extended his left arm and still decided to run through the entire combine.

All of the scores are up for the combine as we now look forward to going to beautiful San Diego this Sunday at Cathedral Catholic High School, registration starts at 12pm, if you haven’t signed up yet, hurry!

New Message from the President of the CRCP, Ray Peterson

seanhopper — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 21:23:39 +0000

American Rugby Management Group has launched the national Coaches Recruitment Program and Combine. After the initial 5 CRCPs the response to the program has been overwhelmingly positive. Five participants have been accepted to colleges as a direct result of participating in the CRCP. Over 60 colleges have presented their colleges to over 500 participating athletes and their parents, including Ivy League, Big 12, ACC, SEC, Big 10, PAC 12 and numerous smaller liberal arts colleges. This feature is the incremental and unique value to this CRCP program that differentiates it from other recruitment vehicles utilized by other sports. There are a growing number of colleges placing a higher emphasis on rugby by providing admissions support or financial aid. By discussing these opportunities with college representatives and/or coaches, the athlete’s application process is expanded by virtue of playing rugby.

The Program is designed to address several realities and needs:

High school rugby players do not know how playing rugby might assist them in admissions and financial aid. Most high school administrators don’t, either
Parents are also in the dark when it comes to admissions support, financial aid or any specifics about an individual rugby program, ie., level of play, philosophy, schedules, medical attention
College coaches at best may know a little about local or regional high school rugby athletes but nothing about the universe of potential applicants to their program nor any benchmarks of the type of athlete he/she may be
The vast majority of colleges do not have recruitment budgets
The CRCP is open to both boys and girls aspiring to play college rugby

In an effort to continue to support the growth of rugby in America (15s & 7s), American Rugby Management Group provides high school athletes and college coaches critical information about institutions and athletes.

High school coaches should strongly recommend and support their athletes participation in the CRCP. As a coach the responsibilities include not only the X’s and O’s, but the long term advancement opportunities for each of their players. Helping them find the appropriate college program for their rugby future resides heavily on them. The CRCP is one of the best ways to achieve this important goal. And, unlike “premier” and “elite” clinics/camps/combines, the CRCP is inclusive of all, not a subjective best potential only program. College coaches know underclassmen will get bigger, stronger and faster as the grow, so simply getting a minimum of one CRCP recorded puts these high school athletes into the database viewed by college coaches.

College coaches will be offered, at an annual subscription rate, all combine results from every participant across the USA. This clearly opens up the recruitment pool, as now coaches will have enough information to make contact with an athlete and determine further if the athlete is a fit for his university. Athletes will be charged a nominal fee for participation and be provided his/her individual results.

The 2011-2012 Phase I schedule is:

Dec 3 Boston, Ma

Dec 10 Chapel Hill, NC

Jan 22 Ft. Lauderdale, Fl

Feb 10-11 Las Vegas, Nv

Feb 19 Houston, Tx

Mar 9-10 Portland, Or

Mar 25 San Diego, Ca

Apr 14 Salt Lake City, Ut

Apr 22 Chicago, Il

Apr 29 Denver, Co

May 6 Buffalo, NY

Jun 2 Philadelphia, Pa

The combine drills will include:

40 yard dash
20 yard ball pick dash
10 yard from prone
10 yard Resistance run
Figure 8 agility
10 yard target accuracy (6 balls, 3 left, 3 right)
Vertical jump
8 Catch drill
Obstacle course (non-contact

Jonah Lomu, Michael Jones, Peter Fatialofa, and Paul Soliai to Sign Autographs at Friday’s CRCP

seanhopper — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:41:12 +0000

HUGE NEWS, from 11am until 12:30 pm on Friday, at the Anthem Hills CRCP, we will have an autograph signing by two all-time great, All Blacks Jonah Lomu and Michael Jones, Peter Fatialofa, one of the greatest props in Samoan rugby history, and Paul Soliai, star nose tackle of the Miami Dolphins will be signing autographs for all CRCP participants. You must be registered and have a participant number in order to get in line to meet these rugby legends! If you haven’t signed up yet please visit www.rugbyrecruiting.com.

Don’t wait to register now for the Las Vegas combines on Friday February 10th from 9am to 3pm and Saturday February 11th from 9am to 12pm. Let’s see who the best rugby athlete is in Las Vegas!!!

HIGH SCHOOL RUGBY COACHES

seanhopper — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 17:15:32 +0000

Initial feedback from high school coaches and players who have participated in the Boston and Carolina CRCPs has been overwhelmingly positive.

This program is in the best interests of the kids you coach on and off the field. Your team relies on you to improve their game and to guide them to advantages in life which typically involves college.

The CRCP will allow coaches nationwide to see every one of your kids Combine results. Freshmen will be judged as freshmen, sophomores as sophomores and so on. College coaches know kids get bigger, faster and stronger as they get older. They also know they will advance their rugby skills from where you have gotten them. What the college coaches have needed and not had , until now, is access to skills data and contact information that can enhance their recruiting.

As a high school coach you are the critical element in this program succeeding and your kids benefiting immediately. Encourage your entire team to participate. It is free this year if they pre register on www.rugbyrecruiting.com. There are team competitions between all participating teams in your local CRCP and an overall national team champion. And it is fun experience for your entire team. So, the CRCP is asking you to actively and enthusiastically promote and encourage your team’s participation. More details are available at www.rugbyrecruiting.com.