Indiana has become one of the premiere states for high school rugby, with the boys' top league, the Super League, crowned the 2014 toughest high school league. Indiana teams have claimed multiple national and regional championships. At the start of the 2016 season, there were approximately fifty boys teams and fifteen girls teams competing in Indiana. The fifty boys teams were organized into four programs in the Super League, eight in Division 1, twelve in Division 2, and one developmental side. In addition to varsity competition, many programs also contest in junior varsity and developmental competitions, allowing programs to put forth multiple teams.
Governance
Unlike most high school sports in Indiana, governed by the Indiana High School Athletic Association, rugby in Indiana is governed by the Indiana Youth Rugby Foundation, Inc., which was formed in 1999 to replace the Indiana Youth Rugby Association, Inc. (1990–1999). The foundation operates under the brand Rugby Indiana and is a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit corporation that operates outside the governing structure of the Indiana Rugby Football Union. Rugby Indiana's stated vision is: To make rugby a legitimate high school sport opportunity for all athletes by providing a great experience on and off the field, and by gaining recognition in High School, Middle School, and Grade School administrations Stimulate the quality, growth and development of Rugby at the High School and Youth level To raise awareness of, and educate the general public about the sport of Rugby
Top performing teams may also compete in a regional competition governed by the Midwest Rugby Football Union and a national invitational competition. These competitions, unlike Indiana state-level competition, make a distinction between whether teams are composed of players drawn from a single school or a club program open to multiple student bodies.
Play and participation
As Allyn Freeman explained in an article for RugbyToday.com, "America's high schools represented the last place of expansion" for domestic rugby. Although slow to catch on, rugby at the high school level has exploded in growth since the close of the twentieth century. From 2008 to 2013, rugby participation grew by 81% in the United States, while participation in American football fell 21.1% in the same span. In 2014, participation reached 1.2 million, making rugby the fastest growing sport in the United States. As of 2011, Indiana Rugby boasted 1,227 players at the high school level (902 boys, 325 girls).
Unlike senior level clubs, which play two forty-minute halves, youth rugby in the United States is capped below the traditional eighty-minute match. In Indiana, matches are scheduled for two thirty-minute halves, with players not allowed to participate in more than ninety minutes of scheduled match time in a single day. In competitions in which teams compete in multiple matches, the total length of the match is truncated to comport with the ninety-minute daily cap, thus, the matches are contested at two halves each of 22.5 minutes in duration. Matches consist of fifteen players on the field for each team along with eight reserves on the bench (23 total). Matches will end in a draw if level at the end of full-time unless in a championship competition. In a championship competition, if the match is level at full-time, an additional ten-minute sudden death period is played. If the match remains level after sudden death, then the outcome is decided on drop kicks. If multiple matches are to be contested in a single day, the sudden death period is foregone. Coed play at the high school level is not permitted. The coed prohibition was tested in May 2001 by the Mishawaka High School boys squads' attempt to include Nicole Kodba in its playoff lineup. Despite arguments from her coach and a community petition, Kodba was not allowed to compete for the boys team. The ruling was controversial and drew critics from among the rugby coaching ranks.