Dakota United Rugby Club

Great News to Dakota United Rugby and rugby in South Dakota!
Katie Jacobs of Brookings has accepted the role of Youth Rugby Manager for the Brookings area!
A little about Katie:
• Katie is currently a teacher at Brookings High School
• She obtained her B.S. in Religion and Philosophy in 2019 from Augustana University
• Katie played 4 years of collegiate rugby at Augustana University
• Katie’s junior and senior season she was the acting captain and coach of the team
• Currently Katie is pursuing her graduate certificate from the University of South Dakota
Katie brings a large amount of knowledge and experience in the sport of rugby to the area where it is needed and we greatly appreciate her support and sacrifice in the effort to grow rugby in South Dakota.
Please can everyone welcome Katie and show your appreciation in your own ways to demonstrate the strength of rugby in our community!

Happy Holidays Everyone! Just a heads up the schedules for school visits are starting to come out for Spring High School Boys and Girls Rugby in the state of South Dakota. We will be updating the school visit list as they are scheduled and today we already have multiple schools getting us in right away.

Alcester-Hudson, SD - January 12th 11:25-12:00
Beresford, SD - January 9th 2:45-3:15
Chester, SD - January 9th 12:15-12:45
Flandreau, SD - January 10th 11:15-12:15
Menno, SD - January 17th 11:45-12:30

We will update this with all of the schools we plan to visit with the next post with a TBD until final date and times are set.

Spending the day in Mitchell, SD for a family holiday. Getting a feel for the community and how to best get the youth rugby program started here. If anyone knows of parents/youth that might be interested in rugby in the Mitchell area have them contact us!

Congratulations to the Harrisburg Tigers and all other State Football champions over this past weekend! Now that football is over let’s prepare for rugby! 64 Days until HS Rugby’s first official practice!

Good luck to the Sioux Falls Crow Rugby as they travel to Mankato today to take on the Marauders!

Dakota United Rugby Club is planning a large recruitment year and expanding to other local towns!

We have registered a float in the Dakota Days Parade to help expand awareness of growing youth rugby in South Dakota!

If you would like to help with this or volunteer please let us know!

172 DAYS! That’s how long until High School Boys and Girls Rugby starts back up! The countdown is on and we need to start getting the word out.

Dakota United would like to thank all of the K-5 families that decided to try out a new sport this year! The kids did great at learning a new sport and had plenty of fun doing. We look forward to having everyone out to next years K-5 program and/or middle school program.

Looking forward to K-5 Rugby tonight at 5:30! The warmest heat is behind us so let’s get some rugby in.

EDIT: Sports First Administrator is unable to get me contact information for players/parents until 8/10/21. Which is after the season. So please SHARE!

I guess since USA Rugby didn’t feel like showing up this week either should we!

Tuesday Practice is CANCELLED!

The temperature is going to peak at the start of practice with the index in the 100’s.

So no K-5 Rugby tonight.

On a lighter not USA Rugby did play well for a post pandemic tournament. Close games lost by simple errors showed we have the capability and now only need to execute.

Hello Everyone!

Thank you for coming to the Sunday practice and visiting Blue Rock Bar and Grill to watch some Tokyo 7’s on Sunday!

For tomorrow the weather is looking very hot. If it stays this temperature we are probably not going to have the K-5 rugby practice. The final decision will be made tomorrow morning and make sure to give as many parents as much notice as possible.

Dakota United is still waiting on all of the contact information for players from Sports First.

For tonight’s practice we will do 30 minutes of practice and then finish the practice at the Blue Rock Bar and Grill to watch some of the Tokyo Olympics where Rugby 7’s will be playing.

Important information for Tuesday!

If the weather stays consistent with the forecast we might have to cancel practice. 102 degrees is a little warm for K-5 to be running around and sweating. Official decisions will be announced Tuesday morning but wanted to give a heads up.

Beautiful day for some Rugby!

We look forward to the K-5 Practice tonight at 5:30 pm. Located at the Sanford Sports Complex behind the Pentagon!

Coach Artz has welcomed a new young rugger into this world over the weekend!

Due to this he will be unable to attend tonights K-5 Rugby Practice.

Dakota United will have Coach Drew and Coach Noa run practice this evening!

We look forward to seeing everyone out there tonight and if you haven’t been there yet please come out and give rugby a try!

6:30-7:30 pm @ Sanford Sports Complex
Field located behind the Sanford Pentagon.

Dakota United Rugby would like to thank Coach Chris Lohan for coming and helping tonight with our K-5 Rugby. It was a great night with a great practice.

We look forward to seeing all of our K-5 Rugby players tonight!

Please stop out and join if you haven’t yet!

5:30-6:30 pm at the Sanford Sports Complex behind the Pentagon!

Dakota United Rugby would like to thank Edward Reeseman with Cold Stone Creamery for surprising our K-5 Rugby program with some end of practice treats yesterday!

K-5 Youth Rugby Practice Tonight!

5:30-6:30 pm @ Sanford Sports Complex
Field behind the Sanford Pentagon!

Come all who wants to learn rugby grades K-5!

EDIT: PLEASE SHARE!!!

OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT! Dakota United and Sports First have officially ended their partnership in the Youth Rugby endeavor.

K-5 Youth Rugby is still finishing their season!

Dakota United will now be in charge of scheduling and communication.

Dakota United guarantees there will be a minimum of one Level 200 certified USA Rugby coach at every practice going forward.

We will be attempting to reach out to each player and parents individually. If we haven’t spoken with you please feel free to call the Director - Patrick Artz at (605)951-8901 or email us at [email protected]

In case anyone has not received an email from First Source. K-5 Rugby has been cancelled this evening!

K-5 practice tonight at 5:30! Make sure to be there and if you haven’t yet please still bring your kids out and have a good time trying something new!

Sanford Sports Complex behind the Pentagon.

Sioux Falls Native still making the USA Rugby roster! Great job Gannon Moore

USA Men’s XVs National Team names extended 41-player roster for July Tests Traveling roster for tests against England and Ireland will be selected from this group

21 Days until Sanford Legends Rugby Clinic!

Please Like and Share to spread the word!

Today we are sharing another person that has joined the efforts this year in growing youth rugby in the area. Andrew Dedula. I asked him to type a 1-2 paragraph introduction and this is what I got. I guess this just means he cares a little more than 1-2 paragraphs!

Hi, my name is Andrew Dedula. I usually just go by Drew as I share the same name with my 6 year old son, Andrew. As of last year, I'm also married to the most amazing woman by the name of Amanda. I've been trying a couple years to get her into playing rugby, but instead have successfully gotten my son involved on the pitch this summer!


I started rugby about a decade ago right here in Sioux Falls with the Crow. My life took me back down to my birth home Columbus, GA for a while where I was captain of the Columbus/Ft Benning club there while also traveling and playing with the Yellowhammers out of Montgomery, AL. I have gotten to travel to over 15 states to enjoy rugby during my time so far. I have gotten to experience beautiful landscapes, small towns, parts of big cities that are unknown, and meet the most unique and interesting characters in the country.

This past year or so with Covid slowed down a lot of rugby play all over the world. Fortunately for us, we have the internet. Since Covid struck, I have been named an admin for a very successful rugby group that has donated over $60,000 to mental health charities, I've become the Technical Director for the Minnesota Rugby Union, Social Chair for the Sioux Falls Crow Rugby club, and Operations Manager for Dakota United Rugby.

All these new avenues of rugby have made it possible for me to help with the growth, development, and longevity of rugby for all people ages 6-99.
Rugby is more than just another sport, it's access to the most uniquely compassionate community on Earth. I can't wait to see what rugby can do for the surrounding communities moving forward.

22 Days until the Sanford Legends Rugby Clinic!

Please hit the Like and Share button! You never know if someone else might see it from you and decide to get their child into the sport.

Today I’m going to tell you a little about myself. My name is Patrick Artz and I’m the Head Coach/Director of the program. This will be my 4th year coaching even though last year was cancelled due to COVID. I took over from Jim Anderson who coached for 18 years and even coached me during my high school years.

After high school I played all over challenging myself as much as possible and playing as high of competition I could. After my playing career I decided to go back to school and got my Master’s Degree in Biomechanics and helped coach the USD team for a few years.

After my education my wife and I moved back to Sioux Falls and I decided to focus on the grassroots of rugby by developing youth rugby. I have not looked back since and thoroughly enjoy it.

My personal life is that I’m married to my beautiful wife Afton and have three amazing daughters Adylee, Avery, and Ellie. Oh and I have a fourth daughter due in July. Pretty soon I will have my own girls 7’s team.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about rugby and I always have time for this sport.

Checking into the Sanford Wellness Center for a lunch time jog.

Parents and Kids! Sanford is one of our primary sponsors and a benefit of playing youth rugby is that you get a free membership while registered to play!

Great way to learn a new sport and no excuse to get in better shape when the membership is free!

23 Days! 23 more days until Rugby will have its inaugural camp in the Sanford Legends Clinics! We are super excited to be involved with this and will be posting information every single day leading up to it!

For now get on the website and get your kids registered to try it out! It’s going to be a blast and with the current COVID Pandemic the spots are limited!

Have You Heard? Sports First will be offering Summer Rugby for K-5th Grades!
A Fun Curriculum built by Sports First and Dakota United Ruby Club staff will teach your player the basics of rugby through Flag Rugby.
Register Your Player Today at sportsfirstsiouxfalls.com

Dakota United is partnering with Sports First in offering youth rugby to grades K-5!

Youth Rugby is Coming to Sioux Falls... More Details to Come!

First High School informational meeting will be this Thursday on February 25th from 5:30-6:30 pm.

This will be at the Sanford Fieldhouse and will be strictly introductory for information pickup and a short Q&A.

Greetings Everyone.

What a cold one it has been this past few days. We wanted to reach out to let everyone know YOUTH RUGBY IS BACK!

We will be officially starting our season on March 16, 2021! Further informational meetings and team meetings will take place prior to. Start planning for a fun and eventful 2021 for Rugby! More info to come!

Secondly, we are posting today that there is going to be a full-time position to be filled within Dakota United Rugby as the Operations Manager! If you know anyone who may be interested please have them look at the attached information. No Rugby IQ required.