Upstate Franchise Rugby Club (UFRC)
Upstate Franchise Rugby Club (UFRC) was established in November 2024 by UFBA Founder and Coach Walter Kemp, with Nazareth University Coaches Andrew Spencer and Rob Ruhland. With a goal of offering programs for youth to belong to from all backgrounds and abilities, rugby is an excellent opportunity to expand our reach and be at the forefront of bringing rugby to the younger generation of Rochester.
UFRC will offer free skills clinics over the winter, and aims to start a league in the spring. More details about the clinics can be found here, and registration is here. An introduction to our coaches can be found here.
WHY RUGBY?
- Rugby is a sport for everyone
- Any body type
- Any athleticism
- Any sport experience or lack thereof (you don’t have to have played another sport to play rugby and have success)
- Everyone passes, catches, runs with the ball, tackles, etc.
- THERE IS A POSITION FOR EVERYONE
- THERE IS PLAYING TIME FOR EVERYONE
- Rugby is a competitive and social sport
- Teams socialize after their matches. Usually the home team hosts a post game social with food and drinks for the away team.
- A rugby player can go anywhere in the world and if there is a rugby club there, that club will host you, house you, let you stay for a night or two, help you find a job, give you an immediate friend group wherever you are, etc.
- On the field there is a high level of respect, off the field there is a high level of camaraderie
- Rugby is a safe sport
- Yes there are injuries, but there are rules and guidelines that are strictly enforced on the field and at practice to keep the game as safe as possible.
- Rugby teaches players how to engage in contact properly in a manner that protects their head and the rest of their body.
- It is a contact sport without the football pads, so players have an incentive to protect themselves on both offense and defense. We teach how to do that using proper body positioning, footwork, mentality, and technique
WHAT IS RUGBY & WHAT WILL PLAYERS LEARN WITH UFRC?
- Types of Rugby
- There are two types of rugby in the world. 1. Rugby Union 2. Rugby League.
- Both types of rugby have similarities and differences to each other.
- Rugby Union is the more popular version and is what most people see on TV and in the Olympics.
- Rugby Union is what we are going to teach with Upstate Franchise, and what most clubs in the United States and around the world play.
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- Rugby Union
- There are also different versions of Rugby Union.
- The two most popular versions are 1. 15’s Rugby 2. 7’s Rugby.
- Rugby union is played on a field similar in size to a soccer field.
- There are very similar rules to both 15’s and 7’s rugby with some slight differences:
- Rugby Union
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- 15’s Rugby
- Played in two 40 minute halves (game is 80 minutes total)
- 15 vs 15 (15 players on the field for each team)
- 15’s has a more complex strategy
- 15’s Rugby
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- 7’s Rugby
- Played in two 7 minute halves (game is 14 minutes total)
- 7 vs 7 ( 7 players on the field for each team)
- Same size field as a 15’s field.
- Lots of space, lots of scoring, this version is much faster.
- 7’s Rugby
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- What players will learn with UFRC?
- We will teach you everything you need to know to play either or both versions of rugby union.
- You will learn basic rules, basic strategy.
- You will learn how to pass, receive a pass, kick, and run basic offensive patterns.
- You will learn the basics of defense including positioning and tackling.
- You will learn how to Ruck (it is a way to replay the ball).
- You will learn how and where to play locally, at the collegiate level, and beyond.
- We will do this over the course of multiple ongoing clinics in conjunction with Upstate Franchise.
Rugby basics, rules, and guidelines will be covered at UFRC skills clinics. In the meantime, you can find more information about rugby at the following websites:
https://www.majorleague.rugby/
https://www.rochestercolonials.com/home
*YouTube is also a great source for learning videos and to watch full matches.