A Rugby Life – Chase Brown
As rugby continues to grow in the United States, men and women find the sport at very different ages and stages in their lives. Unlike other sports that promote youth leagues for children to learn and develop in the sport, there are very few youth rugby leagues in the United States. When considering developing a powerful national rugby program, the first step should be investing in youth rugby.
I wanted to write an article about how these kids are developing and building towards a potential career in rugby and making the player pool for our national sides. However, in my opinion, a few pages seem too little and too light on content to get across the point, so I decided to take a different angle.
Instead, I want to give insight into one player’s story from high school to College and potentially beyond in the future. Chase played for me as a high school student-athlete and is now a college student at Mount St. Mary’s in Maryland. His story is one of few with an amazing opportunity to follow a rugby path after playing at Jesuit Preparatory School in Dallas.
Dallas Jesuit’s rugby program is now 26 years old (24 as a varsity program). On average, the club has around 80 players a season and runs 3 different match-day sides: Varsity A, Varsity B, and Junior Varsity. The program is a founding member of the Rugby Texas Varsity Cup competition and has produced countless collegiate and international athletes.
Since 2017, Matt Upton, Head Coach and Director of Rugby, has been building a program that regularly wins and places players into college programs. Chase started as an 8-man in his junior year while splitting time at Inside Center. His father, a former rugby player, got him interested, and he never looked back.
Starting in Plano youth rugby, Chase Brown entered Dallas Jesuit determined to continue his rugby career. After a tough Sophmore year where Jesuit lost the State Championship match, Chase decided it was time to up his game
“I fully committed to it after we lost the state championship (2022)—I couldn’t let that happen again. Compared to other sports like football, rugby feels more team-oriented and inclusive. We didn’t have the same funding or resources as the football team, but the experience was unmatched. The coaches genuinely cared about us as individuals, creating a supportive environment.”
– Chase
After back-to-back state championships in 2023 and 2024, Chase decided to attend Mount St Mary’s and become a part of Coach Jay Myles’s program. Jay, along with his assistant coaches, Kyle Powers, Chet Rickwoos, and Mike Keifler, turned the program around in the last 10 years with a lot of help from the University. The university handles all the operating expenses and medical expenses and helps with volunteer work and events.
Mount St Mary’s rugby program got going in the 1990s and 2000s with Don Bricks’ coaching, but challenges with the University came to a loggerhead 10 years ago, and the program was going to be disbanded. Jay was called and came in to revamp the culture. From NCR D2 to an NSCRO in a year and from a first-year Final Four appearance to a 3rd year 1st place finish. Then a Division 1AA program and playing against some of the best University competition in the country, Mount St Mary’s rugby made it clear to the University that they were worth the investment. With the help of the school, the rugby program was able to enter the CRCs D1A 3 years ago and out of the Chesapeake D1 AA. After a poor finish that first year, players decided to drive a program culture of higher standards, and in 2023-2024, The Mount finished 5th on the table.
The Mount now boasts 3 pitches with 40ft posts, fields with ONLY rugby lines with 2 practice pitches, and a match pitch. Now, they’ve added a women’s program into NIRA. The key to maintaining this progress is recruiting, where a University rugby program can make or break it. D1A gets most of the financial investment and includes most of the recruited players from High School, but there are plenty of options for walk-ons and other Pathway players to make their way from the 2nd and 3rd sides up to the 1st side.
The program casts a wide net using the assistant coaches, especially Mike Keifer, to help recruit and keep in contact with up to 300 players per season from around the country AND the globe. The program preaches academics and makes sure that the player’s academic and life goals match the opportunities that The Mount has to offer. With the understanding that rugby will not be a lifetime career for most players, Jay and his staff try to find the right match for the player, even if that means suggesting to them to visit another University program.
Playing professional rugby has to be a pursuit of passion rather than financial success. The MLR, like other professional rugby leagues, is a “meat-grinder,” and the goal of most collegiate rugby programs is not to produce professional rugby players but great young men who can pursue their own goals.
Chase Brown is one of those players in this last recruiting class who has come in and accepted the challenge of “embracing what is in front of you,” as coach Myles likes to say. A player who is also a student and a son who is held accountable and chooses to embrace hard work. Chase is and will continue to grow in the Mount St. Mary’s program as he did at Dallas Jesuit. Chase admits, “My (college) coaches continue to humble me.” Kicking, Communication, and Physicality separate high school and college rugby. Going from the biggest guy on the pitch in high school and hardly ever worrying about being hit hard to being “shocked” by the hits in college practices, Chase realizes there’s still a lot of work to do.
Having said all that, Chase has found his way to a regular spot in the Mount St. Mary’s match day 23 and continues to believe he’ll be quickly making a regular impact for The Mount going forward. He has set several goals for himself, including making the Freshmen All-American roster at the end of this season, becoming a regular on the All-American roster for the next 2-3 seasons, and then entering the MLR draft and being drafted. Of course, like many young American rugby players, Chase says, “it would mean the world to me if I can be capped for the (USA) Eagles” and represent his country after college.
As cool an opportunity as playing abroad would be, Chase loves being close to his family (his father and my friend is a fellow rugby coach at Dallas Jesuit HS) and would like to continue his rugby career playing in the states, as close to home as possible!
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