- Roll Call
- Young
- McPhail
- Kurylas
- Hansel
- Dale
- McPhail
- Horn
- Norton
- Hughes
- Regrets
- Hanlon
- Curl
- Roche
- Martin
- Keuppens
- Regrets
- 7s
- TOLA – Huns M and Dallas W took home the titles
- RRRC – Dallas M and HEB W took home the titles
- Nationals Aug 12-13 in Madison, WI
- McPhail: Just got back from Madison this morning and it was a fantastic event! Our teams put forth dedicated efforts, achieving various positions. In the women’s category, Dallas W showed determination in the Shield Semifinal, while Little Rock W displayed their spirit in the Bowl Semifinal. HEB secured a commendable 7th place overall. On the men’s side, Dallas secured the 8th position, and the Huns demonstrated their skills despite the challenge in the Bowl Semifinal. The location of the event was great, the fields were gorgeous with regulation goal posts and extra large in-goals. The hosts were fantastic, we had a great referee crew and it went very smoothly all weekend. Lots of great comments from all the attendees so it feels like a home run from what I can tell.
- Young: There were some technical issues on day two with the stream because of data bandwidth issues. Those were resolved by 10am and the rest of the day went smoothly. Other feedback and I can give this to Fil is that from a commentator perspective, rosters were not accurate in the Google Sheets we were provided and some teams didn’t put them in RX either. That makes it really difficult to give a good “TV” product if we are calling players by the wrong name.
- McPhail: Understood. Of course we want to give kudos to Dallas and Austin Huns M and HEB W for qualifying. We also want to thank Dallas W and Little Rock W for jumping in at the last moment. More kudos to Fil as Club 7s Chair, David Dodge as USAR Club Treasurer, Kat Roche, Justin Hale as referees, Wendy as a commentator and so many others…we couldn’t have done this event without the TRU. Kirk also sent a nice note to the Leadership group that was very complimentary of the event and all the TRU participants.
- 2023-24
- League Structures & Schedule
- Promotion and Relegation post to website
- Young: Looks like we’ve got a good start on this draft, just need all the reps to review and we can get this up on the website.
- Men’s Schedule v1
- Hughes: I’ve sent out v1 in a Google Sheet and the men’s reps are reviewing.
- McPhail: Yes, we’re making good progress on this. I know there is still some work to be done on D2 and alignment with multi-sides. Trying to coordinate all the multi-sides is a big feat so we applaud Travis for his work there.
- Hughes:Since we have new folks I wanted to run through the sheet. The first sheet is a Master schedule that compiles all of the other tabs. We have blackout dates noted on here and each corresponding tab. When I begin building the schedules, I always start with MD1 since most of those have multiside clubs. D2 has been the biggest challenge this year and as McPhail mentioned we are working through some of that still. D3 should be pretty much done. I’m still waiting on the women’s schedule but can input that once we have the dates.
- **LONG DISCUSSION about schedule**
- Women
- Young: KC is out tonight but she has kept me in the loop with the changes. Lots of proposals and conversations with all of the women’s reps and teams have led to D1 remaining the same as last year (potentially a few changes to the postseason that are still being discussed) and D2 is moving to one division with home and away play. She is working on a draft schedule that will be incorporated into Travis’ schedule soon.
- Next Steps
- Schedule shared with clubs for review period
- McPhail: Travis, when are you thinking this will go to the teams for the 2 week review period?
- Hughes: I would like to send them a schedule by the end of this week (~8/20). Then they can have the traditional two weeks to send feedback.
- Competitions updated in RX
- Young: USAR is wiping out all the competition tables so we will have to add those all in place again. I’ve put this on Hansel’s plate but it can’t be done until the registration window is open on ~August 18.
- Final schedule is loaded in RX and WTR
- Young: Hansel will be working on loading these matches into RX and WTR. They do take different formats so it will take a few weeks. USAR has also removed all the competitions so those will need to be rebuilt. There are changes in most divisions so this will be normal practice each year.
- Hansel: Yes, I’ll reach out to Travis and see what the various formats need to be.
- Schedule shared with clubs for review period
- Promotion and Relegation post to website
- Eligibility
- 2023-24 Regulations (XVs and 7s)
- McPhail: This has been circulated and posted on the USAR website. Also note that the Senior Club Council is reportedly working to create a more unified approach to a rugby calendar with less overlapping of key dates; especially championships.
- 2023-24 Regulations Key Changes
- 2023-24 Senior Club Waiver Request Form
- RRRC Specific for Multiside Movement – Renew?
- Norton: We have RRRC specific language around multi-side movements and if we want to keep that going we need to renew it.
- McPhail: Ok, do we want to go a digital vote on this?
- Norton: Sure, we can do that.
- Hughes: I would like to vote that we continue, it has helped alleviate complaints and makes sense.
- McPhail: Norton, do you want to put something together so the committee can vote?
- Norton: Yes, I can do that.
- 2023-24 Regulations (XVs and 7s)
- Registration
- Young: Annual club and individual membership registration will open ~August 18 (note that RX will be offline Aug 14-17 as USAR gets ready for the new year). There was a dues increase from the USA Rugby National Office and we are awaiting an update from the USAR Senior Club Executive Committee on what the final dues will be per role. Note that your 2022-23 registration is VALID until 8/31.
- League Structures & Schedule
- RRRC Championships – April 20-21
- Young: It is likely that our Championships will be this weekend but it depends on the Gulf Coast.
- Gulf Coast Super Regionals – May 4-5
- McPhail: We are still working on a written agreement with all the Gulf Coast representatives but May 4-5 is likely. Goal is to have an agreement completed prior to the end of this month (Aug). We’ve also been inquiring about a few likely hosts and we are not getting lucky so far. We will need to seek a host as the event is in our region this year.
- XVs National Championships – May 17-19
- Young: This date is set in stone, mark it on your calendars!
- Elections
- Nominations are open and they will close August 18. We have received 9 nominations for various positions so far. After the nomination window closes I’ll verify that the nominees accept and request a statement/resume for the website. We will also hold a forum at the AGM where members can ask nominees questions before voting.
- Clubs Not in Good Standing
- Young: We’ve received inquiries about the term ‘not in good standing’. When a club is in this status, their matches lack sanctioning, rendering insurance protections for coaches and players null. TRRA won’t assign referees, and clubs can’t vote in upcoming elections.
- ORC – outstanding fines from 2022-23
- Young: We have heard rumors that ORC will play this fall but they will remain not in good standing until their fines are paid in full.
- HTX – RX dues and Eligibility
- Young: Confirmed that HTX now has two people signed up for the administration course and are on the way to satisfying that portion of their sanction. I’ve also confirmed with USAR that they have paid their dues and they’ve paid our dues. They do have a small overpayment that I’ll work with our Treasurer to get that paid back to them.
- Fort Cavazos Old Skool RFC – Eligibility
- Young: I’m really proud of this team, they initially asked for an exception to sending two people to the Summit. Through their dedicated efforts, they’ve successfully enrolled three individuals for the admin course and an additional participant for Coach L2, making a total of four attendees. This level of commitment from our clubs is truly commendable and they are well on their way to fulfilling their requirements.
- Fort Worth – Eligibility
- Young: Fort Worth has also worked hard and has two people for the admin course and two for other courses for a total of four attendees. They are on their way to fulfilling their requirements.
- OKC Tribe – Eligibility
- Young: OKC is also on the way to fulfilling their requirement as they have two people signed up for the required course.
- ORC – outstanding fines from 2022-23
- Young: We’ve received inquiries about the term ‘not in good standing’. When a club is in this status, their matches lack sanctioning, rendering insurance protections for coaches and players null. TRRA won’t assign referees, and clubs can’t vote in upcoming elections.
- Summit – August 25-27, Ft. Worth, TX
- Young: We have over 120 individuals signed up for the Summit. Early registration (includes lunch and a shirt) has closed and registration will close completely on Friday, August 21. This is the most attendees we’ve ever had and we’re really excited! By far the most popular course is the Rugby Knowledge Pathways with over 30 participants, Coach L1 on Saturday and Sunday and Coach L2 are almost full, and for the first time ever we are NOT begging for prospective referees as that course has 20 participants.
- AGM – Aug 26 in Ft. Worth at 3:30pm
- Young: We will hold an in-person AGM at the Summit on Saturday afternoon at 3:30pm. Please note the time change as we are working with the instructors to try and encourage courses to end early. Please RSVP by the Friday before. We only have 15 RSVPs so far…
- Norton: I would think that some of the people that are taking Summit courses will attend?
- Young: Yes, we think folks will wander over.
- HOF – Aug 26 in Ft. Worth
- Young: Due to the overwhelming demand, the response to our event has been beyond amazing – we’ve already sold over 260 tickets! In light of this, we’ve been diligently working with the hotel to reconfigure the planned ballroom layout to accommodate even more attendees. We’ve just released an additional 15 tickets for sale. These will be available on a first-come, first-served basis and will go quickly.
- Mary Graham All Stars, Dec 2-3, Austin, TX
- Young: We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve already secured commitments from seven teams for our event! This includes six returning teams and one new GU making their debut (Southwest). Our search for more GUs and LAU teams to join us is still ongoing, and we’re excited to welcome even more participants on board.
- New Business
- None.
- Meeting Adjournment (9:30 PM)