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Overview
In this episode of the With You! Rugby Podcast, host Jon Hinkin sits down with Karen "KJ" Feury, the recipient of the US Rugby Foundation's 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award. Unlike many of her fellow Hall of Fame honorees, KJ never played a single game of rugby herself, yet her impact on the sport in the United States runs generations deep.
The conversation traces KJ's path from a childhood in New York City with limited athletic options for girls, to a career as a nurse, to a chance introduction to rugby through her husband Tom. What began as sideline support for Tom's club rugby team grew into the founding of Rugby New Jersey and, through a fortuitous meeting with Pat Walsh at a youth clinic, the creation of the Denville Dogs flag rugby program that would go on to help shape USA Rugby's national Rookie Rugby model.
Along the way, KJ built a decade-long legacy of youth rugby development, athletic safety standards, and mentorship programs across New Jersey, even setting a Guinness World Record for the largest flag rugby event along the way. Her story is a reminder that some of the sport's most lasting contributions come from those working just off the field.
Show Notes
[0:01] Introduction to the With You! Rugby Podcast and a preview of Hall of Fame Week in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, including the induction ceremony and USA Men's Test Match against Argentina.
[0:58] Jon welcomes 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award winner Karen "KJ" Feury, and the story behind her nickname.
[2:24] KJ's athletic upbringing in New York City, where girls' sports options were limited, and her lifelong love of watching sports with her father.
[4:49] KJ's path to becoming a registered nurse straight out of high school, working nights and weekends while her friends were still in college.
[6:14] How meeting her husband Tom at a ski school in Canada led to her introduction to rugby through Morris Rugby and the broader New Jersey club scene.
[8:00] Getting pulled deeper into the sport as a sideline medical presence for her sons' teams, and recognizing the need for athletic trainers at youth games.
[8:58] Founding Rugby New Jersey around 2011, driven by the goal of building state-based structure for high school and youth rugby.
[9:29] The fortuitous meeting at the Can-Am Tournament in Lake Placid, where Tom crossed paths with Pat Walsh running a youth clinic, sparking the idea for a local flag rugby program.
[10:53] The first season of the Denville Dogs, played in oversized yellow t-shirts on a small soccer field with roughly 40 coaches and 20 kids.
[11:23] Structuring the program by age and division, five to fourteen years old, all flag rugby, no tackling.
[14:32] Retention rates near 80% year over year, and the natural progression of some flag players into tackle rugby, refereeing, and adult club rugby.
[16:27] How USA Rugby adapted the Denville Dogs' flag rugby framework into its national Rookie Rugby program, with credit to Tom Fury, Bob Kuretzky, and John Sutherland.
[20:31] Stepping into the role of Rugby New Jersey president in 2015 and serving for roughly a decade before stepping down at the end of 2025.
[21:45] Key highlights of her presidency, including making athletic trainers a standard presence at games from day one.
[22:04] Building Rugby New Jersey's college fair and combine, which grew from three colleges in 2014 to 44 programs represented by 2025.
[23:25] The Captain's Round Table program, connecting rugby alumni back with current high school captains to mentor leadership on and off the field.
[26:10] Bringing in inspirational guest speakers for the annual awards dinner, including US Eagle Brian Doyle in 2014.
[27:35] The cost and logistics of providing athletic trainers at games and practices, and how it's become a standard of play across New Jersey.
[29:17] Replicating a rugby injury study, originally conducted by a researcher known for the Rugby RIO studies, to help reassure parents about the sport's safety.
[31:48] The story behind Rugby New Jersey's 2009 Guinness World Record for the largest mini flag rugby event, with 832 players across 18 fields, later broken by a 2,600-player event in Hong Kong.
[34:17] Lighter memories from growing the game, including grants for free ice cream and a homemade Olympic torch relay stunt for the 2016 Rio Games.
[38:11] Jon's on-air challenge for KJ to organize a new world record attempt for touch rugby around the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Wrap Up
Jon closes the episode by celebrating KJ Feury's remarkable, if unconventional, path to the Hall of Fame. Without ever playing the game herself, KJ helped build the flag rugby framework that introduced thousands of kids across New Jersey and, eventually, the country to the sport, while making athlete safety and mentorship central to how the next generation experiences rugby.
The invitation is open to everyone: join the celebration on Friday, August 14th in Fort Lauderdale as KJ Feury and the rest of the Hall of Fame Class of 2026 are officially inducted into the US Rugby Foundation Hall of Fame.
