CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A North Carolina rugby club is No. 1 in the country.

The Charlotte Cardinals Rugby Club won the High School Boys National Championship for the club division in May. 

The youth rugby club, which is an all-volunteer nonprofit, started three years ago. It's for boys and girls ages 7 and up.

“The purpose behind the club was grow the game of rugby, give kids another opportunity to play in the city but also introduce kids to community service,” Head Coach and President Jason Zehmke said. 

The players and coaches come from different parts of the world, including New Zealand, Samoa, South Africa, Scotland, Ireland and the U.S. 

Zehmke volunteers his time leading the youth rugby club. He grew up playing rugby in South Africa and has 35 years of experience between coaching and playing.  

"There was this culture embedded in rugby where everybody could play. We all had fun. We all created memories together,” Zehmke said. 

The varsity red squad of the Charlotte Cardinals Rugby Club is receiving recognition. 

Jake Schumacher, who graduated from high school this year, was part of the winning squad.

He started playing rugby five years ago and will continue playing the sport at the University of Arizona. 

“It just it feels great when all the hard work paid off. It feels great,” Schumacher said. 

In late June, the Charlotte City Council recognized the team during a city council meeting. 

Zehmke said their victory includes being the first team on the east coast to earn this title. 

“We see that there's this shift away from just west coast, and rugby is gaining popularity throughout the country, not just on one section or one region,” Zehmke said.

According to the USA Bid for the Rugby World Cups, rugby is one of the fastest growing sports in the U.S. with more than 100,000 USA Rugby members playing in over 2,500 clubs nationwide. 

Zehmke is seeing the growing interest firsthand at the Cardinals. 

“The growth has been pretty crazy, right? The first year we had about 150, then 190. Now this past season we were about 220 kids in the spring alone,” Zehmke said. 

Charlotte is on the list of potential host cities for the 2031 Men’s World Cup and 2033 Women’s Rugby World Cup. In addition, Charlotte now has a major league rugby team called Anthem Carolina. 

"You get to watch professionals. And it's such a massive, massive positive for the sport of rugby, as well as recruiting and growth of the game,” Zehmke said. 

Zach Colson, who was born in Malaysia and whose father is from New Zealand, has been playing rugby since he was a toddler. 

He lived in Shanghai and Hong Kong before moving to Charlotte four years ago. He plans to continue playing rugby at Queens University. 

Colson and Schumacher also went to play for the USA Men’s Under 18 team in South America this month. 

“I never thought I would be moving to another country and be doing as successful as I am with my rugby,” Colson said. 

Jameson Beatty, a player from another youth club called Charlotte Tigers, was part of the roster of the USA Men’s Under 18 team. 

Rugby is also now considered an NCAA Emerging Sports for Women.