Marin Highlanders Rugby Football Club

The Marin Highlanders Rugby Club is an independent, community-based club, located in Marin County, California. Our Club is not affiliated with any school or school district as we are entirely self-supporting and organized as a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation.

We operate under the by-laws of USA Rugby, the national governing body for American rugby. As such, players must be under 19 years of age and be enrolled in school. Our players come from all schools in Marin, Elementary through to High School. With the formation of the Tam Union RFC, high school rugby returned to southern Marin county following a six-year absence. The Tam Union club was formed to provide an opportunity to play competitive rugby to high school athletes from all local schools, not just Redwood High School.

Background

The Marin Youth Rugby Program was started in 2005 with four coaches, fourteen kids and a modest goal of introducing the county's kids to one of the most fun games on Earth. Today, the program is fully integrated with the high school Highlanders organization, providing rugby instruction to more than 100 youths ages eight to eighteen. The history of rugby in Marin is illustrious: our predecessor club won the National High School Rugby Championships in 1981 and 1982 -- a team that included three of the Youth Rugby Program founders. The purpose of the club is to not only introduce youths, adolescents and teens to the game, but to do so in a safe manner and provide a seamless graduation of the sport from grade school to varsity levels. Ultimately, many of our players go on to play varsity sports in college and beyond, providing them with a community of sport for years into adulthood.