Highland Rugby Info  (in no particular order):

• 2008 is our 33rd year fielding a team - for better or for worse (and there are some on both sides of this fence), I have served as the Head Coach of the team

• Varsity win-loss record to date 367-9 (361-9 over 32 full seasons and 6-0 to date this year; this W-L record is for high school competition in USA; as we regularly schedule college teams, our college W-L record  is not included in the above and I usually don't mention it because we are a HS team and it seems to confuse people why a HS is playing a college team)

• USAR National HS Championships:  17, including current defending champion.  USAR has sponsored the national event since 1985, in those 23 years Highland has won 17 national titles, 5 runner-up national championships or 2nd place nationally, and one 3rd place national finish

• Utah state HS Rugby Champion 32 straight seasons since HS rubgy started in Utah back in 1976; never have lost a match to another Utah school

• 3rd place world finish at 1998 World High School Championship held in Zimbabwe, Africa.  Three-week sponsored tournament featured the national high school champions or all the major rugby countries (as opposed to a national team, all participants were individual schools).  Highland somewhat shocked the rugby world with a bronze medal and 3rd place world finish.  We surprised everyone by winning our pool, then lost to Kelston Boys High from New Zealand (a rugby academy school) which went on to win the world title, and then beat Tupou HS from Tonga (which narrowly lost to a South Africa school) for a 3rd place world finish.

• We typically attract 100+ players every year and field five different teams.  We enter two varsity teams into our Utah HS league competition, a JV team, Frosh-Soph team (only 9th & 10th graders), and have a 7th & 8th grade non-contact program.  Each team has its own separate coaching staff.  Varsity I & Varsity II, which we call our "Black Squad" share the same staff.  Coaching staff: 13 coaches including all grade levels.  As I mentioned, I serve as Head Coach of the team and coach the Black Squad backs.  We have two Associate Head Coaches: Haloti Liava'a and Larry Wilson.  Haloti also coaches the Black Squad forwards.  Wilson oversees all administration and assists with the Black Squad forwards.

• Style of play?  It's tough to self-evaluate, but if I took a step back and made a Highland evaluation, it would probably include the following descriptions of our style of play: a New Zealand style that includes physical play in the forwards, especially at the ruck; hard running mid-field backs; speed on the wing; a big time emphasis on defense, and a very fast paced game with the ball moving around a lot.  Almost every phase will run from a "called or set" play, even in multiple phases, rather than "evolutionary" play or play that just evolves and no one knows what is going on.  We spend a lot of time in practice in what I call "situational rugby" and quiz the boys on how to react in any given set of circumstances, what to do, when to kick & when to run, etc.  I can't say we always do it right, but at least we're trying to teach them to recognize situations, strengths, & weaknesses of our opponents and then adjust accordingly, rather than just run smashmouth straight ahead which most teams do and which is incredibly easy to defend against.  We really work hard at not playing the same against every opponent, but have a formal, written game plan for every match, adjust to whomever we play and try to exploit our strengths and their weaknesses.  (Like I said before can't say we always succeed, but at least we're trying.)

• Practice:  The team practices every day from 4pm to 6pm and plays on Saturday, with three or four midweek games during a typical season

• Utah RFU:  We have 14 HS teams in our league, including Highland Varsity I and Highland Varsity II

• 2008 International Tour:  In June after school is out, we are headed to Tonga & New Zealand for a five-match, three-week tour that will include top schools in both countries, including the defending Tonga national champion.  Highland was the first American HS to ever play in New Zealand (1979) and will be the first American HS to ever play rugby in Tonga. 

• Past HR international tours include NZ & Australia (3 previous tours), Pacific Islands, UK, Zimbabwe, & South Africa

• We have hosted international HS teams from: England, Wales, Japan, Canada, & Pacific Islands

Movie - Forever Strong:

• A full-length, major motion picture will be released in theaters across the country this fall, probably September or October

• The film is based upon actual events of the Highland Rugby Team

• Film stars include Sean Faris, Sean Austin, Gary Cole, Neal McDonough, Penn Badgley, and others

• The film took true stories from 30+ years of Highland Rugby and wove selected stories into a single season in the movie

• OK, I'm biased, but it is a very inspirational movie about doing your best, being your best, and facing life's challenges

• Summary of story line is available online, reviews have been off the charts

• See http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1298896384/tt0840322 for some photos; check other sites that come up in a Google search

• It's a different story line and different sport than "Remember the Titans" and "Friday Nights Lights," but is a similar genre of film

• One of our teams mottos is "Kia Kaha," which is Maori for "Forever Strong" which, as stated, is the film title