Offseason is not a word in local rugby coach Andy Ramsay’s vocabulary.

Not when he has a sport to promote.

The season ended in May for his boys and girls Rainier Junior Rugby Highlanders, but Ramsay still can be found at 6:30 p.m. each Thursday at the Auburn Valley YMCA instructing rugby sevens, which is a variation of the game where teams composed of seven players compete in seven-minute halves. The traditional rugby union has 15 players competing in 40-minute halves.

“There’s more space and movement,” Ramsay said, adding that rugby sevens has less contact. “There’s a lot more running and evasion.”

Since Ramsay founded the Highlanders, the program has continued to grow. Drawing players from Auburn, Enumclaw, Federal Way and cities in Pierce County, the program fields three boys teams – seventh and eighth grade, ninth and 10th grade, and 11th and 12th grade. The girls program for high school students, which began in 2012, expanded to seventh- and eighth-graders last season.

“It still continues to be somewhat of a niche sport, but it’s getting easier each year as the word spreads,” said Ramsay, whose oldest boys team won this year’s state championship in its classification.

Michelle Davis, a 15-year-old Auburn High School student, once watched her older brother, Michael Arrington, play for the Highlanders.

“I was at one of my brother’s games, and he just goes and hits somebody,” said the 5-foot-6 Davis. “I’m like, ‘Man, I want to be able to do that. That looks fun.’ I don’t get that contact in basketball; I don’t get that contact in soccer. I feel like with my size, I was seeking more contact in sport.”

Not everyone shares her sentiment.

Ramsay developed his passion for the sport by playing against his brothers as a youth in his native Scotland, and enhanced it playing professionally there and in Australia and New Zealand. Ramsay said new players are concerned about injuries associated with tackling, but tackling in rugby is much different from football because simply “smashing” a player draws a penalty.

Ramsay teaches his players proper tackling techniques and has seen “few injuries in rugby.” And the biggest culprit behind injuries has nothing to do with tackling another player.

“The big thing is to keep your body moving,” he said. “As soon as you become static, you become an open target.”

Ramsay said new players typically need about a month to practice before they are ready to compete in games. Practices begin in mid-January, but Ramsay is amenable to players joining the team at the conclusion of the winter sports season. The Highlanders use fields in Auburn, Bonney Lake and Sumner for practices and games, and Ramsay said he wants to continue to work with the athletic directors serving those school districts.

“We have a great relationship with the schools because we deliberately don’t try and target players who are doing spring sports,” he said.

At times, Ramsay said, athletes in spring sports also want to compete in rugby. In those situations, Ramsay reminds students that “their priority” is to focus on their school sport.

For others, less commitment, travel and cost make rugby appealing, Ramsay said.

“My daughter played premier soccer throughout high school, so I’ve seen the other side of it,” he said.

New player fees are $200 or $250 if that person wants to participate in summer sevens. For returning players, those rates are $180 or $220 if that person wants to participate in summer sevens. Ramsay said most of that money goes to USA Rugby for registration and insurance. Returning players pay less, Ramsay said, because they already have a uniform, shorts and socks.

Davis, who now is playing with some of the Highlanders’ rivals on the select Washington Loggers team, enjoys the camaraderie of the sport. After matches, the host team provides a meal.

“I feel rugby is a really family-oriented sport,” Davis said. “It’s a great atmosphere.”

For more information, visit www.rainierjuniorrugby.com, or contact Ramsay at a.s.ramsay@comcast.net or 253-330-6816.