Give the Gift of Rugby This Year

USA Rugby is pleased to announce that have partnered with Abstract Concepts to continue their “Give the Gift of Rugby” campaign in association with the 2018 National Development Summit (NDS).

For every person that registers for the NDS from the 18th-25th of December 2017, USA Rugby will donate one Rookie Rugby ball to Abstract Concepts.

Abstract Concepts is a non-profit organization based out of Denver, Colorado, as a group they believe in building Restorative Communities with part of their focus being to help at risk youth avoid the school to prison pipeline. According to Darby Bailey, their Director, they aim to use the balls donated from this promotion to help get their programs off the ground. “We are still in the beginning phases of this program, and we are building interest on both ends of the spectrum.  We have hosted one event in our area to simply introduce the game to our community.  We are looking at hosting some small camps for kids who are interested to get an idea of how to play the game.”

One of the ways that they are hoping to help their mission is through connecting local officers with those at risk: “We started with the intention of getting some of our local law enforcement involved on the coaching end, and some of the at-risk youth playing.  We saw this as a good way to bridge some of the discord that we are seeing in our community.”

Overall Bailey was incredibly excited for the opportunity not just to be a part of this year’s campaign, but to get more involved with rugby, and understand the opportunities that are associated with the sport: “Youth, and parents, in our community are unaware of the opportunity associated with rugby and how positive the culture is.  We hope to bring some of that opportunity to our community… Although we are new to the sport of rugby and to the existing organizations, this is a great opportunity for us to become more integrated and connected.  It will bring strength to our growing community!”

The Gift of Rugby Campaign has already proven to be a success with last year’s recipients, Washington DC Youth Rugby, having enjoyed a period of growth after their association with the drive.

You can register for the NDS here rugbysummit.com/#register.