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The president of the P.E.I. Rugby Union is pleased to see the sport continue to grow across the Island, as it begins to attract a younger demographic.

Craig Inward said programs like Rookie Rugby for children 12 years and younger and Intro to Contact for children aged 12 to 14 are important for skill development and safety.

In countries like Canada, where rugby isn’t a primary sport, children pick up the game later in life and are fighting the muscle memories and the natural instincts they acquired from other sports, he said.

“If we can get them early enough, a lot of the skills that lead to success on the pitch, safety on the pitch . . . they’re able to build the competencies at a younger age and therefore accelerate their development as they get older.”

Inward was at the Co-op Field in Queen Elizabeth Park in Charlottetown earlier this month during a Try Rookie Rugby event – a non-contact, safe and fun way to groom young ruggers.

Coach and Mudmen Tristan LeClair gives four-year-old Henry Ellis of Kingston some pointers during a try rookie rugby session at the Co-op Field in Queen Elizabeth Park in Charlottetown earlier this month.

Rather than take young children and put them into traditional rugby drills, the rookie program incorporates the sport within the context of childhood games, so they don’t realize they are playing rugby, Inward said.

“Freeze tag, for example – they have to come in and touch the other kid on the hip, they’re actually in the first part of a tackle and they don’t realize it.”

They also learn about evasion, which is what rugby is all about, he said.

“It’s not about contact, that’s the huge misnomer, unfortunately, out in the universe, that rugby’s a high impact, contact game. I mean, those things may happen, but that’s not the focus of the game,” he said. “Unlike football where you’re taught to go through the obstacle, in rugby your goal is to evade the obstacle.”

In light of the recent death of Brodie McCarthy, a Grade 12 student at Montague Regional High School who died after collapsing during a rugby game, questions around the sport’s safety have been raised, said Natalie Bulger, member of the PEIRU board.

When it comes to looking at changing the sport to increasing safety following the death, Bulger said no, “because it’s always been safety first.”

The role of the PEIRU isn’t to convince others that the sport is safe, added Inward.

“We’re convinced it’s a safe sport,” he said. “We encourage people to come out, see it for themselves, try it for themselves.”

For more information about rugby programs available on the Island, visit Peirugbyunion.ca.