The Mustang Middle School Rugby team won their 2nd consecutive Tennessee Middle School Rugby State Championship Saturday May 9th at MTSU. The Mustangs advanced to the championship game after dropping Stewarts Creek of Middle TN 35-5. In the championship game the Mustangs got their 7th shut out of the season dominating Woodland Middle School from Brentwood TN 20-0. 8th grader Finlay Bolan of Houston Middle received the tournament MVP award for his outstanding tackling and ball carrying performance.
The Mustangs have won 5 consecutive West TN Rugby conference championships, 2 state 15’s Rugby titles and 1 Olympic 7’s Rugby state title; making it one of the most successful Rugby programs in the state of Tennessee. Mustang Middle Rugby finished the season with a perfect 11-0 record which also included a win over the Germantown high school freshman Rugby squad. The Mustangs are coached by Kevin Roedel, Brooks Williams and Kevin Wright, who all played together at Memphis State and Memphis Blues Rugby clubs, and new assistant Paul Burdette.
The Mustangs have 10 players playing on the Tennessee Tristar Rugby squad coached by Mustang coaches Kevin Roedel and Brooks Williams. The Tristars will compete against all star middle school Rugby teams from SC, GA, FL, NC, LA and AR June 20 & 21 at the South Regional All Star tournament in Charlotte, NC. The RAST tournament is one of 6 tournaments across the country that USA Rugby selects players to participate in the High School All American program and feed the US Olympic Rugby development pool.
Rugby 7’s season runs October – December and 15’s season begins in late January – May. The Germantown Rugby Club and Mustang programs have seen tremendous participation growth and are working with Germantown City Government and Parks & Recreation to secure a home field within Germantown city limits. Rugby is the only youth sport in Germantown that does not have access to managed field space to host games in Germantown. Currently both squads and their families have to travel to Midtown, Bartlett or Millington to play home matches. For more information about youth Rugby please contact the club or find Germantown Rugby Club on Facebook. New players are welcome and no experience is necessary.
[Team photo from the original announcement — save from old site to add.]