June is time for all-star play for high school teams, and if you're unfamiliar with the format, it can be a little confusing.

Five all-star (Regional Cup Tournaments) will be held from June 17 to June 25. These two-day tournaments showcase many of the best high school rugby players -- and a large number of talented middle-school players, too -- from around the country.

All in all, 51 boys varsity teams and 45 boys JV teams are expected to be in action. The monikers "varsity" and "junior varsity" are somewhat misleading, as the JV teams are still highly skilled select sides -- they are just mostly freshmen and sophomores (essentially a U16 all-star program). The fact that JV teams are limited to freshman and sophomore players (with some waiver opportunities for certain players) still makes it difficult for girls teams to field JV programs.

The RCTs boast about 30 girls teams, of which only 12 are JV squads.

The biggest tournaments are the Rocky Mountain Challenge in Aurora, CO, on June 16-18 and the Great Northwest Challenge in Corvallis, OR, on June 23-24. The Rocky Mountain Challenge will be live-streamed by FloRugby. Those two tournaments will feature about 68 teams combined, which is more than half of the squads playing in RCTs.

However, the good news for everyone is that all of the tournaments have strong attendance. This is in part because select-side programs are splitting up. What was once the territory of state-based rugby organizations is now the domain of... pretty much anyone. There are state-based teams (Rugby Colorado, Rugby Texas, Minnesota); there are teams born out of a group of small group of high school teams in close proximity (5785, Celtic Elite, NorCal Sac Valley). And there are also select-sides sponsored or developed by independent academy programs (Eagle Impact Rugby Academy, Rhino Academy, ARE, Atavus Utah).



In addition, some self-contained clubs have decided to play, including Utah high school club winners West Valley Warriors and Florida runners-up Okapi Wanderers.

Complete list of teams at RTCs

And why do they do this? It depends on who you ask. USA Rugby has downplayed these RCTs as a way to scout for the High School All-Americans, but the RCTs remain useful for exactly that. Most of the All-American scouting goes on with the JV teams, because those are players who could spend a couple of years working their way toward the main HSAA programs.

But HSAA coaches will never turn their noses up at a player who comes out of nowhere as a junior. Seniors? Well, they might be playing for USA U20 consideration. Everyone is thinking he or she might be seen by a college coach and get recruited that way.

USA Rugby touts the RCTs as showcases for college programs. They are that, and they are chances for players to be seen by HSAA coaches. The South RCT is also a final tryout for the USA South team slated to play in the Rugby Americas North U19 Championships on July 15-22 in Miramar, FL. All of that is true. But it is also just a great thing to make an all-star team, play well for an all-star team, and win.