Green Hornets Rugby Shines As Host Of Maryland Youth Championships

Severna Park served as the epicenter of Maryland youth rugby on July 26 and 27 as Green Hornets Rugby hosted the 2014 Rugby Maryland Youth Tournament at Kinder Park.

The annual tournament is the biggest youth rugby event in Maryland each year and serves as the de facto state championships. This summer’s tournament drew over 750 kids on 64 teams from 10 different youth rugby organizations throughout Maryland.

The Green Hornets entered seven total teams in the U9, U11, U13 and U15 age classes, with the U11 Green Hornets Blue highlighting an outstanding performance by the entire organization in going 5-0 and winning the Maryland Classic division state championship.

“It was an overwhelming success,” said Green Hornets rugby commissioner Pete Freeman of the tournament, recognizing both the success of hosting and the success of the teams’ play on the field. “The venue was perfect, the weather was no problem, no injuries, the two new turf fields—everything worked out great.”

With rugby sevens—a modified, seven-on-seven version of the traditional rugby union 15-a-side game—debuting as an Olympic sport in 2016, the groundswell of rugby interest throughout the country was palpable right here in Severna Park throughout the tournament, as kids of all ages enjoyed a picture-perfect weekend of competition.

The U11 Blues protected the house in no uncertain way, outscoring the opposition 87-15 in five wins en route to the state championship in the Classic division. The Green Hornet U11 Blues are manned by Callum Ackerman, Anthony Bocchetta, Aidan Byrd, Leyton Calzado, Tanner Calzado, Allyson Dearing, Joseph DeSimone, Michael George, Ryan Harrington, Paul Hilton, Daniel Jones, Domenic Morris, Adrian Perez, Max Rossmark, Zach Schindler, Aidan Seerey, Chip Shelton, Jack Simpson, Finn Spiers, Oscar Spiers and Cameron Wade. They are coached by Tim George and Nick DeSimone. The U11 Red Team went 1-3 for the tournament, falling in the Shield division title game to the Vipers of Lutherville-Timonium.

The Green Hornet U9’s went 2-1 in Saturday’s matches and based on points won a share of the state title in their division. The U9’s are manned by Finn Ackerman, Brayden Albrecht, Andrew Bennie, Liam Cleary, Ashton Christallo, William Dennison, Toby Espinosa, Chloe Gamber, Ryan Hudson, Jaydon Perez, Caleb Rassofsky, Allison Schiavone and Parker Smith. Schiavone was named tournament MVP and commended by opposing coaches and the referees for her daring and effective play.

The Green Hornets U13s fielded two teams, Red and Blue, with the Reds going 2-2 and winning the Shield division final against the Washington Warriors and the Blue side going 3-1 overall and winning the Plate final against the Howard County Hurricanes. The Green Hornets U13s are Aiden Apruzzese, Eryk Bennie, Tyler Bennie, Nick Cegelski, Cat Cleary, Anthony Coppola, Jackson Dearing, Grace Flynn, Alexis Ford, Josh Giebels, Carson Gotimer, Sean Harrington, Alex Heim, Abigail Hudson, Dominic Jones, Michael Morrison, Tad Naylor, Keith Powell, Gabriel Rocha, Tara Rutherford, Michaela Schindler, Margaret Seerey, Seamus Seerey, Robert Skelton, Carson Smith, Matt Talkovitz and Rylan Wareham. They are coached by Bethany Studnicky, Harry Gotimer and Will Freeman.

The Green Hornets U15s also fielded a Red and Blue team, with the Red team going 2-2 overall and winning the Bowl division final over the Washington Warriors and the Blue team going 4-1 overall, defeating the Howard County Hurricanes in the Bowl division final. The U15s are Caedan Ackerman, Matt Bateman, John Compere, Ben Dearing, Luke Faranetta, Chris Flynn, Quinn Freeman, Aidan Giroux, Jake Hilliard, Sarah Hoch, Matt Kramer, Luke Marcoon, Joey Maxwell, Ry McMillan, Tyler Murphy, Mika Naylor, LaLa Nissen, Alex Paul, Christian Perez, Isaac Roe, Ethan Romesburg, Collin Taylor, Dominic Triosi, Nathan Vandemulenbrocke and Kenny Watson. They are coached by Pete Freeman, Mark Triosi and Aaron Apruzzese.

Freeman applauded the efforts of many people who helped make the tournament a resounding success for all of the Maryland youth rugby community to enjoy, including Green Hornets Commisioner Josh Banks and his staff, Anne Rutherford and the players’ parents. He also applauded the work of Jim Kiriazoglu and the Kiriazoglu family and Jeno’s Cheesesteaks for running concessions and the work of Michelle Studnicky and Ben Studnicky, who organized a vendor village complete with club and college rugby recruiting stations.

“[The kids] all played fantastic,” said Freeman. “They played awesome. We had 85 kids out again this year, and we’re looking forward to having more next year.”