Thunder/Oceanside HS Youth Rugby Newsletter

Club Schedule/News 

This Saturday (Jan 24) Oceanside HS boys will be up at San Clemente HS for a morning match against the Tritons. But for the HS Girls and all the other younger teams we will be hosting. Please engage with the coaches, managers, and leadership to help out hosting! We need everyone on board!  Signup link is here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0949A8AB23A3FA7-61771594-snack#/ Pay attention to TeamSnap for the final game times…but schedule is currently:

Thunder Alumni Giving Back!

So excited that with the 2026 season we have a great group of young and dynamic coaches that all played for Thunder over the years! Coaching with the older boys are Dominic Iacovino and Dillon Wilson. Mikayla Poumele heads up our older (high school) girls program. With the younger teams we have Mario Navarro and Kiah Anglin at U10 and both Stephen and Jake Roncone at U12. So happy to see all of these young leaders giving back to the Thunder/Oceanside rugby community…means we must be doing something right! Because obviously they are doing something right! “Building leaders for GOOD through the game of rugby” never rang more true…

HS Boys 

This weekend Oceanside High School boys rugby attended the Dennis Storer Classic, a 2 day tournament hosted by UCLA men’s rugby with high school teams from 3 states and collegiate teams up and down the California coast. Oceanside Varsity opened up against the Cavemen from Utah which happened to be the no. 3 team in the nation. Oceanside showed some flashes of incredible rugby this game, showcasing power and skill but were too little too late putting the pieces together. A tough loss at 22-14

Next we faced off against Tempe in a thriller. Tempe jumped out to an early 14-0 lead but Oceanside stormed back to make the game 14-12. Tempe was able to put one over the line to extend the lend but we fired right back to close the gap to 21-19. In the final second we were able to cross the try line but Tempe’s defense held up the ball resulting in no try to finish, securing their win.

JV faced off against a talented and experienced South Orange County Raptors team and a big physical Rancho Cucamonga side. Although the scorelines were not in our favor they continue to build and learn the nuances of the game. The pieces are starting to fall into place and they get better every week.

Day 1 finished out with an amazing tour of the UCLA football facilities and powerful messaging from a few of their coaches who happen to be Oceanside natives Vic So’oto, Legi Suiauno and Nick So’oto. At the hotel the boys enjoyed a pool recovery session, dinner and a team talent show!

Day 2 was the day it all came together for Varsity. They were patient, decisive and the execution was lethal against a talented Marin County side. Sure, mistakes were made, but how the team responded showed positive growth. The team flowed nicely and were able to finish with a 36-7 win.

Varsity standouts were Thomas Reynoso, Max Ricono and Ean Glover

JV standouts were Jaden Patolo, Leonidas Lilio, Obi Paopao, Joseph Luby and Frankie Mendoza.

 HS Girls 

The girls had a great weekend at Encinitas Community Park going undefeated with a 2-0 record against LCC (24-0) and Murrieta (33-0). I saw lots of improvement from last weekend and especially with what the girls wanted to work on specifically going into the games. Blehsyd Taele did amazing this weekend both offensively and defensively! Going into a new week we still have lots to work on but very excited to keep working and improving.

U14 

U14 team played a strong match against Try Time (from Chula Vista) with a back-and-forth opening. However, in the second half the THunder forwards dominated with a maul try and some hard crashing forward pods. Need to confirm the final result with kicks/conversions but unconfirmed final was a 3-try victory for Thunder 😄

U12 

A SIDE vs Dragons

The A Side faced a tough test and was outscored 53–10 against a more experienced and older Dragons side. While the score was lopsided, our kids played well and competed hard. The biggest difference came from small and frequent mistakes that were quickly capitalized on by the opposition.

Positives stood out: we got to the ruck faster, did not lose a scrum, and showed strong effort throughout. Conditioning, lineout laws, backs' alignment, ball movement and introducing new play calls will also be priorities moving forward. We were missing a few key players, which is part of the game.

Despite the result, the group took meaningful steps forward. Heads should stay high as we build momentum and lean into competition in Week Three.

B SIDE vs Back Bay

Our B Side competed to a hard-earned tie this week. While we don’t focus closely on the score, this group, built around newcomers supported by more experienced players in new positions, did an excellent job getting to the ruck, spreading the field, and competing throughout the match. The effort and teamwork on display led to a well-earned result against Back Bay’s B Side.

U10 

Thunder U10 had a rough start to the game, but the team accomplished the goals we set last week, spreading out, communicating, and passing the ball all the way to the end. The kids gave 110% effort throughout the game. Despite limited substitutions, they pushed through being tired and showed great resilience by coming back to win the game. Moving forward, we will focus on improving our tackling and defensive execution. 

U8 

This week our U8 competed against the Encinitas Dragons in an exciting and competitive match. Both teams played with energy and determination, and our players rose to the challenge from the opening whistle. Lots of effort and resilience, along with great composure led to a 35-30 victory!