Player Eligibility

This page contains the current eligibility regulations associated with each level of rugby supported by IAYRA. Any game leading towards a HS Championship must conform to these regulations. 

High School Rugby

1. Any player competing in a IAYRA Sanctioned High School game must be enrolled in a high school program recognized by the State of Iowa.

     1a. A player must play for the IAYRA rugby team that serves their enrolled school and/or community in which their enrolled school is located. If the school and/or community does not  have an IAYRA team, then the Shared School Policy will be followed.

2. Any player must be registered with IAYRA and have submitted a photographic copy of a student ID.

SHARED SCHOOL POLICY

If a new player wishes to compete in a contact league, and there is not a team at their school, then the team they play for will be determined in this order. 1) Current school activity sharing agreements will be checked (IAHSAA and IAGHSAU). If the cooperating schools do not have an active rugby team available, then 2) the player must play for the closest geographical team to their school that has an established team. 3) An appeal may be made to accommodate extenuating circumstances. This appeal must be made in writing to the IAYRA Rugby Board. The appeal may be approved or denied.

The coach must submit a shared player approval to the Coaches Association Chairperson, who will determine if this player is allowed to play for the recommended team. The player is not allowed to compete in Varsity matches without this approval. They are allowed to practice with the team and are highly encouraged to recruit enough players at their school to start a team. Once the Chairman has approved this player, they are allowed to play for the submitted school, unless otherwise noted.

Teams are allowed to share up to three players from a school. Once four players have been reached, the players must break out into a separate team. The new team may be coached by the same coach, but must compete as a separate team. The new team will need to recruit additional members to compete as a full team, and to qualify for postseason. If they are unable to reach 7 players, they may compete as a JV team and fill out full sides with other team's JV members.

For the girl’s teams and players, this is a policy that currently is being handled on a one off basis. This shared player is highly encouraged to start a team at their school, but to further the development of girls contact teams, the above policy may not be enforced for the given season. The coaches from each participating team, and the coaches association chairperson, and IAYRA admin will review the submitted player and determine if all are in agreement.