propects?

Question
hi,
I have been playing rugby now for going on 6 months, I am sixteen, seventeen in august. I play scrum half and spend a good 2 hours or more a day passing and kicking. Do you think that me starting rugby at 16 will have an effect on my future? have i missed many skills learnt when younger? or should I still be ok?
thanks for your time,
richard

Answer
Richard,

From your letter, I am going to assume that you are an American, or possibly Canadian.

In that case, no you are not too old to have a distinguished rugby career.

Why do I say that?  Let us look at the route the US national team:

In the US, the normal route to the national team is through a series of evaluations at each level during representative side competition.  Ultimately, you can be selected for the USA Eagles.

As an example, I will use a fictional Men's XV team from the Pacific Northwest- Walla Walla Sea Cucumbers.  

-You attend the training/evaluation camps for the Pacific Northwest Loggers, the Local Area Union Representative team.  

-You are selected for the team.  You compete with the team in Grizzly Shield, the Pacific Coast rep side tournament.  

-Through a series of evaluation criteria, performance at the tournament, previous rep side performance, and availability, the Pacific Coast Grizzlies are selected for the Territorial team.  

-The territorial teams play in December in a competition now known as the All Star National Championships, what we old farts think of as the ITT (Inter Territorial Tournament)

It is generally from this competition, or the similar process for a collegiate level player that the potential players are identified.  Half the this year's Eagles pool of players have previously been Collegiate All-Americans

It helps significantly to actually play for a top flight team, since according to USA Rugby, player pool selections are based on consistent performance in America's leading club and college competitions, as well as rep side performance with the National All-Star Championship, and the Collegiate All-American and Eagle 7s programs.

You will note that collegiate and club side rugby provides that players for the national team.  It has been only very recently that there has even been a substantial presence of trained rugby players before they reached college.  The vast majority of American rugby players learn the sport in the military or in college.  You actually have an advantage with two or three years experience prior to going to college.

Even in established rugby countries, the best players tend to be in their late twenties and early thirties.  This is not so much for the development of skills, most of which can be gained to a high level within a few years, but for the development of maturity and 搑ugby sense.? More so than most sports, rugby is a game that requires continuous play with quick decision making under stressful conditions.  In short, rugby requires mental and physical endurance, especially to play at higher levels.

Even if you are from a rugby nation, again it is not too late to play rugby for many years to come.  I started at eighteen and at 44 I am still active in rugby.

In short, go play rugby and have a long fruitful career.

Deane Shephard
Stuttgart RFC