This past weekend’s Major League Rugby Championship underscored rugby’s arrival in Illinois. With over 50,000 youth registrations in 2024 and more than 370,000 children introduced to the sport through outreach programs in 21 states, the game is one of the fastest-growing youth sports in the country.

For those who have already sustained a brain injury, structured aerobic activity, like the non-contact formats of tag and flag rugby, offer genuine therapeutic benefit. The sport’s emphasis on teamwork and communication also supports psychosocial recovery, reducing isolation among those navigating long-term concussion symptoms.

Yet the neuroscience demands caution. A 2023 study in Acta Neuropathologica found CTE in 68% of donated former-rugby brains, with risk rising 14% per additional year of play. A 2023 NIH-backed study in JAMA Neurology found CTE in 41% of contact-sport athletes under 30. The CDC estimates up to 3.8 million sports concussions annually. Sen. Maggie Hassan (NH) has called for action, stating that “the full scope of these injuries often goes unrecognized.”