High School Girl's rugby season is alive and well and the Ranch Rugby team is hanging tough. With 2 wins,1 loss, and 3 league matches to go, the coaches and players are celebrating successes as well as working hard to progress and grow. This year's side is young and fresh with a nice balance of leadership, experience, and heart. Health and weather are the 2 uncontrollable variables that have a strong impact.

For the Ranch Rugby players from Mountain Vista and Highlands Ranch High Schools, Saturday was a homecoming victory; for the entire team, it was an important league win. The weather was beautiful and only 2 players from the Ranch side were unable to play due to illness; therefore, the uncontrollable variables didn't have too big an impact. Ft. Collins brought down an equally young and hungry group of young ladies and the competition was well matched.

Both Ft. Collins and Ranch came into Saturday's match up from a recent loss. Ft.Collins relatively quickly scored the first try and missed the conversion. Ranch Rugby responded with a try and conversion setting the score at 7 to 5 in favor of Ranch Rugby. The score continued to go back and forth and stay fairly close until mid way through the second half when Ranch was able to pull ahead.The final score was 26 to 15 - RANCH RUGBY.

This is the part where I give details and stats and highlight the players right? No, this is where I change the lens and showcase the other stuff. The community building, behind the scenes, on the sidelines stuff. Certainly Saturday was a great game of rugby and the spectators could rally and enjoy. Following are some stats and information that tie into Saturday's game but might not be the usual or typical sporting event report.

*Friday Night Ranch players and coaches went to the CU/CSU men's game to
watch great rugby and see former Ranch Rugby co-captains face off as rival
college players (one player is an older brother of a current Ranch Rugby girl)
*Many former Ranch Rugby and Colorado Youth Rugby (CYR) players were
present at the CU/CSU match up, both on and off the pitch
*CU provided free food, drinks, and information for all fans
*Saturday's high school match up was coached on both sides by volunteers
*Ft. Collins and Ranch both have coaches kids playing on their sides
*After the match up Saturday, players, parents, and referees sat down together
and had a picnic style lunch hosted by Ranch Rugby Parents
*Sunday, Ranch Rugby players and coaches travelled to Ft. Collins for the
CSU/CU women's match up
*At the women's match former Ranch Rugby as well as CYR players were present both on and off the pitch
*Parents, coaches, referees, and fans all enjoyed great rugby all weekend. Sharing these events and others

Overall, at all three rugby events, there were family and friends. Food, fun, and stories were all a part of the sense of community surrounding the competition.Though there are 3 different venues and 3 different leagues represented in this story, there are endless connections and commonalities. Once again, looking through the other lens and seeing the other stuff, it looks great - 3 cheers for rugby in Colorado!