Coach's Guide to USA Youth & High School Rugby Under 16 2026

Under USA Youth & High School Rugby's Background Check Policy, which is in substance the same as USA Rugby's, every coach, assistant coach, referee, administrator, and anyone else with direct contact with minor athletes must pass a criminal background check at least once every 2 years. You give consent online during registration. If you don't, your membership application is rejected.

You are disqualified if you:

• have any criminal disposition other than a not-guilty verdict. This includes guilty pleas, no-contest pleas, diversion programs, deferred adjudication or prosecution, and juvenile adjudications.
• have a pending criminal charge or an arrest warrant.
• are on any state, federal, territorial or tribal sex offender registry.
• are listed on the SafeSport Centralized Disciplinary Database or the USA Youth & High School Rugby Ineligible Volunteer List.
• have been barred from contact with minors by any youth organization, school, school district or government agency.

You are also ineligible while you are under investigation by law enforcement for child abuse or a violent crime, or by SafeSport, a child protection agency, USA Rugby or a school for misconduct involving a minor. You become eligible again if the investigation ends with no charge or no substantiated finding.

If you think the report is wrong: contact the background check agency to fix it. You can also ask the USA Youth & High School Rugby board in writing for a review. The board may accept the review within 30 days.

USA Rugby requires every coach to follow the USA Rugby SafeSport Handbook. That includes completing abuse, hazing and bullying awareness and prevention training, and staying current. USA Rugby's own policy must meet at least the minimums in the U.S. Center for SafeSport's Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies (MAAPP), which all organizations had to adopt by January 1, 2025. Under the MAAPP:

One-on-one contact

• Any one-on-one in-program contact with a minor athlete must be observable and interruptible. The only exceptions are emergencies and documented exceptions.

Texts, email, social media and calls

• One-on-one messages to a minor must be open and transparent. That means you copy in the athlete's parent or guardian, another adult family member, or another adult participant on every message, including replies when the athlete messages you first.
• Messages to the whole team must also include parents or guardians, or another adult.
• Content must be professional.
• If a parent asks in writing that you not contact their child electronically, you must comply, except in an emergency.
• Recommended: send messages only between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., and don't keep private social media connections with minor athletes.

Driving players

• You may drive a minor one-on-one only with advance written consent from the parent or guardian, renewed at least once a year.
• Otherwise, you must have another adult participant with you, or at least two minors who are aged 8 or older.

• Sexual misconduct or child abuse: USA Rugby and the U.S. Center for SafeSport require you to report sexual misconduct by or against any USA Rugby member to the Center's Response and Resolution Office. You can report online at https://uscenterforsafesport.org/report-a-concern/. The Center also accepts reports of child abuse (including child sexual abuse) and of intimate relationships involving an imbalance of power.
• Emotional or physical misconduct (for example bullying, hazing, stalking or harassment): you can report it to the Center, or directly to USA Rugby as the national governing body.
• Questions: contact the USA Rugby SafeSport liaison at safesport@usa.rugby.
• Checking a person: the SafeSport Centralized Disciplinary Database lists people with sanctions or restrictions. Anyone listed there can't coach or volunteer in youth rugby.

If a child is in immediate danger, call 911 first.

USA Youth & High School Rugby's Participation Policy covers every sanctioned practice, scrimmage, training session and competition.

Clubs and teams

• The club must be registered with USA Rugby, USA Youth & High School Rugby, and its State Youth Rugby Organization, with annual dues paid in Rugby Xplorer.
• Each team that takes part must be registered.
• A team needs at least 15 registered players for 15s competitions and at least 9 for 7s.

Players

• Every player must be currently registered as a player with USA Youth & High School Rugby and appear on the team's online roster.
• A player who isn't on the roster must not play. A team that lets an unrostered player compete forfeits that competition, and the registered coach may be disciplined.
• A player who plays for a high school in one season and a club in another must register with each team.
• Players aged 18 or over must complete SafeSport certification before they can take part.
• All playing members must verify their age through Rugby Xplorer by uploading a birth certificate and one government-issued ID.

Coaches

• A rostered, certified coach must be present at every rugby activity.

No contact rugby is allowed. USA Rugby's policy says that high school teams, all-star teams, and teams made up of high school or under-18 players must not play contact rugby against college or adult teams. That covers games, contact practices and scrimmages, in 7s, 15s or any other form. The policy says this is "not allowed under any circumstances."

Individual players:

• A high school or under-18 player who competes in college or adult rugby loses their youth/high school eligibility.
• Exceptional players can apply for a USA Rugby waiver to play adult or college rugby. They must be at least 17, and the waiver is sent to eligibility@usa.rugby.
• Before the waiver is approved, every player, coach and administrator aged 18 or over on the adult or college team must complete SafeSport certification.
• A youth player who joins a senior club, even just for non-contact training, must also register with senior club rugby, because USA Rugby youth/high school insurance doesn't cover adult rugby.

Yes, but only with a waiver. USA Youth & High School Rugby's High School Eligibility Policy says players must be at least 15 to play high school rugby.

• 14 and enrolled in high school: the player needs the Under 15 Waiver, signed by the player, a parent or guardian, and the coach. Submit it to the player's club and have it ready to show any opponent or administrator who asks.
• No front row: 14-year-olds must not play in the front row in 15s, 10s, 7s or any other contact form of high school rugby.
• Recommended: 14-year-olds should play Junior Varsity or an age-band equivalent such as U16, in line with World Rugby age-banding regulations.
• Middle schoolers: they can't play high school rugby where a middle school (or age-equivalent) competition exists. Where none exists, they may apply to their State Youth Rugby Organization for a case-by-case exemption to play up. The Under 15 Waiver can't be used for middle schoolers.
• Under 14: players younger than 14 must not play high school rugby in any situation.

Laws of the Game (Under-19 variation): a match lasts 70 minutes at most (two halves of no more than 35 minutes, plus time lost). Extra time is not allowed. In non-international matches the match organizer can shorten matches.

USA Rugby's youth guidance gives these maximums, based on school grade:

Other points from the same guidance:

• Players need at least 1 hour of rest between matches on the same day, and must stay within the daily limit.
• The maximum times include any time used to settle a tie in a knockout match.
• Smaller fields and shorter times are acceptable when circumstances call for them.
• The minimum field size for high school play is 90 x 53 yards.
• When 9th to 12th graders play together, use the 11th/12th grade ("Varsity") limits.

The per-day limits stop players being overextended at tournaments. Under World Rugby's laws and directives, these maximums are required for Under-19 players, not just recommended.

The Laws of the Game include a standard set of Under-19 variations for age-grade rugby. These are the scrum rules from the 2026 edition:

Uncontested scrums caused by a sending-off, a yellow card or an injury are still played with eight players per side.

Other Under-19 team rules:

• If a team names 22 players, at least six must be able to play front row, so there is cover for loosehead prop, hooker and tighthead prop.
• A player who was tactically replaced may come back on to replace an injured player, or so that scrums can stay contested.

Youth and high school rugby count as community rugby, and community rugby uses a lower tackle line than elite rugby.

• 2026 Laws of the Game (Law 14): tacklers must tackle below the high-tackle sanction line. In community rugby that line is the waist or the base of the sternum, whichever the union sets. In elite rugby it is the shoulder line. Breaking this law is a penalty, and a dangerous tackle can also be a yellow or red card under the foul play law.
• In the USA: USA Rugby adopted World Rugby's lower-tackle-height variation for community rugby from the 2024-25 membership year (September 1, 2024). It set the legal tackle height below the sternum. World Rugby made the lower community tackle height full law for seasons starting after July 1, 2026.
• Ball carriers also have a responsibility to enter contact safely.

World Rugby's research found that concussion risk is more than four times higher when the tackler's head is above the ball carrier's sternum.

USA Rugby follows World Rugby's Recognize and Remove policy for community rugby. Law 3.24 of the 2026 Laws says the same: a player who is concussed or has a suspected concussion must be immediately and permanently removed from the match.

1. Remove: if a player shows concussion symptoms before, during or after a match, take them out of play right away. They must not return during that match. There are no exceptions.
2. Refer: the player must be evaluated by appropriate medical staff before playing rugby again in any form. Best practice is a physician trained in concussion evaluation and management.
3. Recover and return: if a concussion is diagnosed, a youth or high school player must rest for at least 14 full days and be symptom-free. Then they complete a 5-day Graduated Return to Play protocol, and they need written clearance from a qualified healthcare professional before any return to contact.

USA Youth & High School Rugby's concussion policy sets these steps for youth and high school players:

1. Rest: at least 14 full days of complete rest, and the player must be symptom-free.
2. Graduated Return to Play (GRTP): a 5-day step-by-step protocol, which starts only after the rest period.
3. Clearance: the player must be symptom-free and cleared in writing by a qualified healthcare professional trained in evaluating and treating concussion.

That means the earliest a player can return to contact rugby is about 19 days after the diagnosis. Contact is not allowed until the full GRTP is complete and the player is symptom-free.

Even after clearance, coaches, parents, teammates and medical staff should keep watching for lingering symptoms. If any return, remove the player from play immediately.

World Rugby Law 4 (2026) sets the kit rules. All clothing must comply with World Rugby Regulation 12.

Required: jersey, shorts and underwear, socks and boots (cleats). Jersey sleeves must reach at least halfway from the shoulder point to the elbow.

Allowed:

• Mouthguard (World Rugby recommends every player wears one)
• Headgear and approved shoulder or chest pads
• Shin guards, elasticated supports, and ankle supports worn under socks (no higher than a third of the shin; not metal if rigid)
• Fingerless mitts, bandages and thin tape, goggles
• Cotton-blend tights or leggings under shorts and socks
• Headscarves or coverings, as long as they aren't a danger

Not allowed:

• Jewelry
• Gloves
• Anything sharp or abrasive
• Items with buckles, clips, rings, hinges, zippers, screws, bolts or rigid projections
• Shorts or leggings with padding sewn in
• Communication devices
• Any item contaminated by blood

The referee can order a player to remove anything dangerous or illegal. The player can't play until it's removed. If a player was told before the match to remove a banned item and is later found wearing it on the field, that player is sent off.