Culture RFC

https://rfcfinder.com ⬅️⬅️⬅️

One of the questions I get more than any other is:

“How do I find a rugby club near me?”

Whether you’ve just moved, you’re travelling, or you’re thinking about giving rugby a try, it shouldn’t be difficult to find your local club.

That’s why I’ve been helping build out RFC Finder to make discovering rugby communities across the U.S. a whole lot easier.

The Tijuana match day video is next… 🇲🇽🏉

Most people don’t even know the USA is hosting another World Cup.

Over the next five years, I’m traveling across America documenting the clubs, the people, and the stories building toward Rugby World Cup 2031.

If you’re getting into rugby now… you’re still early. 🏉🇺🇸

Seattle ➡️ Tijuana 🇲🇽

A few hours after crossing the border, I was sitting with players, referees, and rugby people I’d never met before.

No phone service. No real plan. Just an invitation to come see what rugby looked like in Tijuana.

What I found was a group of people willing to do whatever it takes to make rugby happen. Organizing matches, setting up fields, traveling long distances, and building a community from the ground up.

Next up: Match Day.

From Southern California to Seattle.

Now we’re crossing borders.

Next stop: Tijuana, Mexico 🇲🇽🏉

Because if rugby exists there…

what else am I missing?

Every rugby community seems to have one.

The person connecting players to clubs.

Helping people find work.

Organising tours.

Fundraising when someone in the community needs support.

Coaching kids on a cold, wet Thursday night long after their own playing days are over.

In Seattle, one of those people is Kevin Flynn.

I actually wasn’t looking for Kevin when I arrived at Liberty Rugby. I just happened to run into him on the sideline and knew I had to have a chat.

One thing he said stuck with me:

“We need to be better at telling those stories.”

The stories of friendship.
The stories of opportunity.
The stories of people from different backgrounds coming together through a common passion.

Because rugby has always been about more than the game itself.

Seattle, Washington.

“I owe my life to rugby because my dad wouldn’t have met my mom without it.”

That might be one of the most powerful things anyone has said to me since starting Culture RFC.

TJ played for Liberty Rugby. His father came from New Zealand through rugby. Years later, TJ represented USA age-grade rugby, travelled the world through the game, and returned to coach at the same club that helped shape him.

That’s the thing about rugby.

A tour becomes a friendship.
A friendship becomes a family.
A family becomes a coach.
A coach helps shape the next generation.

What happens on Saturday matters.

But the real story is everything that happens because of rugby.

A rainy night with Liberty Rugby in Renton, Washington.

Around the 1-minute mark of this video, one of the boys says something that stuck with me:

“I have a cool life.”

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that’s what rugby has given so many of us.

A game that can take a kid from Seattle to Hong Kong. To New Zealand. To university. Into friendships and cultures they may never have experienced otherwise.

At a time when young people are spending more and more of their lives online, I think it’s important that they still have opportunities for adventure. To get muddy. To travel. To meet people who grew up differently than they did. To be part of something bigger than themselves.

Rugby isn’t perfect. It’s rough, chaotic, and occasionally ridiculous.

But it also has a way of opening doors.

A couple of young players from Liberty Rugby Club sharing what the game means to them.

And a reminder that sometimes a cool life starts with simply showing up to training.

Seattle. Day one.

A few hours after landing, I found myself standing on the sideline at Liberty Rugby watching U8s, U14s and U18s train through classic Pacific Northwest conditions.

Mud, rain, tackle drills, parents on the sideline and volunteers giving up their evenings to help grow the game.

When people talk about the future of rugby in America, it’s easy to think about professional teams, World Cups and packed stadiums. But the reality is that the future is built on Thursday nights like this.

A few weeks after this visit, Liberty’s boys side went on to win the Washington D1 State Championship. Success like that doesn’t happen by accident.

Huge thanks to everyone at Liberty Rugby for welcoming me in and showing me a small part of Seattle’s rugby community.

Rain. Hail. Rugby.

For 80 minutes, it’s collisions.

Then both teams head underground to Massive Club in Seattle for post match.

One of the best parts of club rugby is that the match ends at full time. The community doesn’t.

Seattle Quake welcomed me into their world for a weekend in the Pacific Northwest.

That’s Seattle.
And that’s club rugby.

“That’s never been any doubt in any of my teammates’ minds that I belong on this team.”

On a rainy afternoon in Seattle, I spoke with Adam from the Seattle Quake RFC about rugby, inclusion, and what it means to find community through sport.

The best rugby clubs don’t just build teams. They give people a place to belong.