Celina's Rugby Club Is Undefeated and Nationally Ranked — With Almost No Practice Time

Nine state football championships have made Celina one of the most decorated programs in Texas — famous enough that country music star Kenny Chesney name-dropped the Bobcats in his song "The Boys of Fall." But when the football season ends, a group of Celina players trade the gridiron for the rugby pitch, and they've built something just as impressive.

The Celina Rugby Club team is ranked eighth nationally, enters the Varsity Cup in Houston undefeated, and has done it all without a dime of school funding and with only two to three hours of practice per week after school. While other programs in their league have dedicated time built into the school day to practice, Celina's players carve out what time they can — and it's been enough.

The senior core of the club has been playing together since eighth grade, giving them roughly five years of shared experience. That continuity has translated into the kind of chemistry that doesn't require a full practice schedule to maintain. Players describe knowing where teammates are on the pitch without even looking — a product of years of trust built through the sport.

For many on the roster, rugby isn't just an offseason outlet. It's become a passion in its own right. The physicality that draws football players to the sport is the same quality that keeps them coming back, and the tackling techniques developed on the rugby pitch carry over directly to the football field.

The results speak for themselves. Celina's club has been rolling through nationally ranked opponents despite its limited resources, and the senior class is now taking the sport to the next level. Five seniors have received scholarships to play rugby at Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, Oklahoma, while a sixth will compete on the club team at Oklahoma State.

For the coaches and players who have helped build the program from the ground up, the Varsity Cup represents both a milestone and a preview of what this group can accomplish beyond Celina.