All Posts

Colorado rugby, it’s time to get excited. We’ve got some massive news coming out of the SAFFA RUGBY camp that is set to change the game for youth development in our region. Our very own Rob Quickfall has been officially appointed as the Head Coach for the PR7s Rocky Mountain Experts U19 Girls Academy right here in Denver! This isn't just another coaching gig. This is a pivotal moment for the growth of elite girls’ rugby in Colorado and a massive step forward in our mission to

For every coach who ever trusted a player enough to let them fail: and every player who was brave enough to try. That’s how Coach Rob Quickfall opens his brand-new book, Beyond the Blueprint. It’s a powerful dedication, and it sets the stage for what is arguably the most important conversation we can have in the world of sports today. If you’ve been around SAFFA RUGBY for a while, you know we’re obsessed with the game. But we aren’t just obsessed with the scores or the set-pi

If you walk onto a rugby pitch on a Saturday morning in Colorado, you might see the scoreboard flickering, parents cheering, and kids running hard. It’s easy to get caught up in the heat of the moment and think the goal is to hoist a trophy at the end of the day. But at SAFFA RUGBY, we see things differently. For us, the goal of youth rugby isn’t about winning championships at age ten. It’s about something much deeper. It’s about creating a safe, enjoyable, and age-appropriat

Let’s be honest for a second: most rugby coaching is a bit... boring. You know the drill. Line up in a neat little row. Run toward a bag. Hit the bag. Reset. Repeat until your brain turns into a lukewarm bowl of oats. We spend hours perfecting the "perfect" scrum or the "perfect" lineout, only for the actual game to start and everything to go completely sideways within thirty seconds. The ball squirts out of a ruck like a wet bar of soap. A pass goes astray. A turnover happen

The image of school sports as a pure, innocent afternoon of amateur camaraderie: where the final score matters far less than the lessons of character and teamwork: is increasingly becoming a relic of the past. If you’ve spent any time on the sidelines of a Friday night game in the Centennial State lately, you’ve seen it: the professional-grade cameras, the scout clips being uploaded in real-time, and the undeniable hum of a high-pressure economy. Today, Colorado high school s

Ask any rugby player about their first game, and they won’t just tell you about the score. They’ll tell you about the nerves in the tunnel, the ringing in their ears after the first big hit, and the inexplicable bond they felt with the person standing next to them: even if they’d only met a week prior. At SAFFA RUGBY, we live for the game. But more importantly, we live for what the game does to a person. In Colorado, where the air is thin and the kids are tough, we’ve seen fi

Let’s be real for a second. You’re standing on the sidelines at George Washington High School, watching a sport that looks like a beautiful, chaotic mix of a wrestling match and a 100-meter dash. You see people tossing a ball backward to move forward, leaping into the air like NBA centers, and hitting with the intensity of a middle linebacker, all without a stitch of plastic armor. Your first thought? "That looks incredible." Your second thought? "I have absolutely no idea w

Colorado has always been a hub for grit, outdoor passion, and a "get after it" attitude. But today, the sports landscape in the Mile High City is changing. We aren’t just adding another club to the roster; we are igniting a movement. Welcome to the SAFFA RUGBY ACADEMY , the new home of the SAFFA PHOENIX . We are thrilled to announce that SAFFA RUGBY is officially launching its youth and high school academy program right here in Colorado, centered at our brand-new partner loca

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’ve spent your Sunday morning hauling tackle bags, your Tuesday nights under dim floodlights, and your Wednesday lunch breaks answering emails from parents about carpooling. Coaching rugby isn’t just a hobby; for most of us, it’s a calling. We do it because we love the game, we love the kids, and we love seeing that "lightbulb moment" when a complex set piece finally clicks. But let’s be real for a second. Coaching is hard. It’

Listen, we all know that feeling. It’s a Saturday morning in Colorado, the air is crisp, the mountains are glowing, and you’re standing on a pitch with a group of eager players ready to soak up everything you know about the greatest game on earth. But here’s the thing: as rugby continues to explode across the Front Range, "just winging it" doesn't cut it anymore. If we want our local clubs to produce players who can compete on the national stage: or even just ensure our kids

Every rugby club talks about culture. Respect. Discipline. Teamwork. Integrity. These words get painted on locker room walls, printed on team shirts, and repeated at every parent meeting. But here's the truth most coaches won't tell you: words don't build culture. Actions do. At SAFFA RUGBY, we live by a simple formula: Culture = Values + Behaviours Values without behaviours are just nice ideas. Behaviours without values are chaos. But when you connect the two? That's when yo

Rugby is growing fast in Colorado. From Denver to Boulder to Glendale, more kids are discovering the sport, and more coaches and clubs are asking the same question: how do we build something that lasts? This guide breaks it down. Five clear steps to create a youth rugby pathway that actually works, plus 50+ proven strategies to get more players on the pitch and keep them coming back. Let's get into it. The 5 Steps to Building a Youth Rugby Pathway Step 1: Structure Age-Appr

Rugby is exploding across American universities, and Colorado players are perfectly positioned to capitalize on this growth. Whether your teenager is a seasoned player or just discovering the sport, the path to college rugby offers incredible opportunities for athletic scholarships, character development, and lifelong connections. But here's the reality: most Colorado families don't know where to start with rugby recruiting. Unlike traditional American sports, rugby recruitin

Rugby isn't just a game: it's a character-building machine disguised as sport. Here in Colorado, we're seeing more young athletes discover that the oval ball teaches life lessons no classroom can match. The beautiful thing about rugby is how naturally it develops the exact qualities every parent wants to see in their child: discipline, respect, integrity, passion, and solidarity. These aren't just nice words on a poster. They're World Rugby's official values, and they form th

Rugby is chaos. Beautiful, intelligent chaos. And yet, walk onto most training fields today, and you'll see coaches trying to eliminate every ounce of that chaos with rigid patterns, predetermined plays, and over-structured systems that tell players exactly where to stand, when to pass, and what to do next. Here's the problem: when you remove the chaos, you remove the soul of rugby. At SAFFA RUGBY, we believe rugby thrives when players are free to read situations, make split-

Colorado is sitting on a goldmine of untapped potential when it comes to girls rugby. Right now, we're watching something incredible happen across the state: a perfect storm of Olympic inspiration, proven success, and massive unmet demand that's screaming for more girls rugby programs. If you're a parent, coach, or community leader wondering whether girls rugby is worth investing in, the answer is a resounding yes. Here's why Colorado needs to act fast to expand these program

Something special is happening with girls' rugby in Colorado, and it's not just about what's happening between the try lines. Coach Rob Quickfall is leading a movement that's transforming how we think about youth sports development, especially for young women. At SAFFA RUGBY, we're not just teaching girls how to tackle and pass – we're building future leaders, one practice at a time. Beyond the Game: A Different Kind of Coaching Philosophy When you watch Coach Rob work with

Walk into any SAFFA RUGBY training session in Colorado, and you'll witness something remarkable. It's not just kids learning to pass a...

Something incredible is happening on rugby pitches across Colorado. Girls are lacing up their boots, learning to pass backwards, and...

Picture this: Two 12-year-old rugby players show up to tryouts in Colorado. One kid is clearly the most athletic: faster, stronger, more...