Rugby in Katy, Texas: passing backwards to move forwards with West Houston Lions
Bryan Phillips, second row, Army class of 2002, reflects on how a promise to a revered coach led to a glorious season introducing his own kids to the game he loves so much
The future of rugby in the US could not be brighter. At least it appears that way if the volume and quality of youth rugby I have seen in my first year as a coach is any indication.
My college rugby coach, Mike Mahan, passed away last year. In the last letter I wrote to him, I promised I would find a way to give back to the game that has so enriched my life. As a father of 10- and 8 year-olds, and with connections to several clubs in the Houston area, it didn't take long to arrive at the idea of trying youth coaching. The most obvious place to start was the last club I played with, the West Houston Lions of Katy, Texas. I found several former teammates were also coaching, so off we went.
At risk of sounding reductive, rugby might be the most difficult sport to teach kids. In other sports like soccer or basketball, at the youth level the instruction is basic … get the ball in the net and prevent the other team from doing the same. Sure, skills like dribbling require additional work, but offsides, double dribbling, and traveling rarely attract the referee’s intervention. In contrast, to an 8-year-old, the concept of passing the ball backwards to go forward is as confusing as the tax code. Layer in set-pieces and tackling, at the U10 level and above, and it might as well be quantum mechanics. But when the stars align, it’s a most beautiful sight.
The best try I saw all year (and admittedly, I’m not watching all the games) was our U10 team passing the ball out through five sets of hands, forwards and backs running in support, and the ball being touched down on the wing like you might see in Edinburgh, Dublin or Paris on any spring weekend.
I’m very fortunate to have been able to try my hand with a club that already had experienced coaches and volunteers. Our team coordinator and board members handled all of the administrative duties and the other coaches were able to show me how a youth practice should flow. But if you’re thinking about trying your hand at this, and I strongly recommend all former players try, you’re going to have to curate drills that are both instructive and fun. The endless mauls and backline moves you practiced as an adult are either too advanced, or not permitted at certain age groups. On that topic, Rugby Texas has an excellent Progression of Play breakdown by age group that I found an invaluable resource.
Should you be so fortunate as to coach your own kids, you are in for some serious peaks and valleys. The valleys will almost always be some permutation of, “How does my kid make that mistake … I’m the coach for God’s sake,” as your kid makes the same mistakes as every other kid and you make a mental note for the next training session.
But the peaks are plenty.
You'll nearly pass out from joyful screaming as your sweet girl who’s obsessed with Taylor Swift and makeup drags two defenders across the line for her first try of the season. Or when, after scoring twice in a tournament, your son tells his mom, “I think I’m starting to see the fun in this.”
As a coach, you get to feel that swell of pride for all the players. Perhaps my favorite moment of the season was during the last tournament, hosted by Texas A&M Rugby, when our most playfully obstinate U8 player looked up from behind a ruck, saw a gap to her left, and did a pick-and-go to score her first try, just under the wire as the season came to a close.
Anyone who knows rugby knows the impact it has beyond the pitch. Nowhere was this more observable than at a gymnastics practice with my daughter one Wednesday. The previous Saturday, the Houston Sabercats of MLR hosted their youth tournament and she was the recipient of a crushing tackle. It hurt, but she was not injured and pleaded to go to the Sabercats match that evening. On our way to gymnastics, my girl was nervous about flipping over the bar, a skill she hadn’t yet done and the last she needed to progress. My advice was simple: what’s the worst that could happen? Falling on 6in of padding doesn’t look so intimidating after a rugby tackle. Perspective. That day, she flipped over the bar. And flipped. And flipped. And she made it to the next level.
If you’ve played rugby, you know it never fully leaves you. No matter how many knocks you’ve taken, or surgeries you’ve had, there’s a part of you that thinks you could lace up the boots and given it one more go, even for just five minutes. I’ve maybe been a little too obsessed with the game at times. But when the next generation gets excited about something you love, if there is a heaven, then it must feel a lot like that. I cannot express the joy that comes when, on a Sunday before training, your kid says, “I wish there was some rugby on right now,” and within a breath you’ve cued up an old France-Ireland Six Nations match, to discuss defensive shape.
My obsession with the game has gotten the better of me at times. I’ve been guilty of letting my passion distract from what I was meant to be doing in the moment, which is coaching kids. Miraculously, my sunglasses seem to have survived multiple frustrated launches into the dirt as I failed to keep the main thing the main thing, which is growth not perfection. It turns out we’re all learning something out here.
After seeing one season of youth rugby, I could not be more excited about the future of rugby in the United States. The amount of effort, passion, and time being poured into the sport we sometimes love a little too much is incredible. We’re all trying to grow the game and elevate the quality of play at all levels, but to me it’s about more than that. We are trying to curate the same experiences and memories for these kids that went by too fast for us and that we wished we could have savored in the moment just a little bit more.
The future of rugby in the US is bright and the next generation of American ruggers are coming. And these kids are good.
Further (archival) reading:
‘We were attracted by the aggression’: how rugby rescues lives in America, MP, The Guardian
‘Bravery, courage, trust and spirit’: Memphis Inner City Rugby looks beyond sport, MP, The Guardian
‘Rugby was a lifeline’: Bipoc group seeks to establish game in US Black colleges, MP, The Guardian
