RRRC Competitions Committee Notes – 6/10/24

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  1. Roll Call
    1. McPhail 
    2. Norton
    3. Caitlin
    4. Arnal
    5. Dodge
    6. Kurylas
    7. Hanlon
    8. Dale
    9. Wegman
    10. Hunter
    11. Ozzie
    12. Horn
    13. Hanson
    14. Hughes
    15. Regrets:
      1. Young
      2. Curl 
  2. TRU/RRRC AGM
    1. McPhail: Saturday, August 24th,Time TBD – Hilton Austin Airport, 9515 Hotel Drive, Austin TX 78729.
      1. Proposed to be a combined RRRC/TRU meeting starting at 8am. Call in for those not onsite.
    2. McPhail: All existing members up for re-election are standing for re-election.
    3. McPhail: Reminder to be sent out to membership ~July 15th. Nominations run 8/1 thru 8/17.
  3. 2024 RRRC Promotion & Relegation
    1. McPhail: Only outstanding item at this point is Dallas Harlequin Women.  Pending further discussion from within USAR and respective teams.  Possibility of a hybrid WD1 & WD2 league.
      1. Hunter: Recruiting of women players is a major concern for all clubs. Plan is a WD1/WD2 hybrid.
      2. Robinson: Plan is that the D1 and D2 women’s teams will declare divisions and play home and away. D3 will be revitalized and we used data to determine those teams.
    2. McPhail: Promotion of HURT seconds inclusion in D3 for 2024-25.
    3. McPhail: Changes to Men’s structure ratified. Women’s structure in process and to be determined by Women’s reps. 
  4. 15s Schedule development
    1. Black out date requests Deadline was for June 10th. Blackout Dates (Responses)
      1. Wendy or hansel@texasrugbyunion.com Hansel to Post a reminder. “Last call”
    2. Structure
      1. MD1 – Update (Norton / Dale) on Dallas Jackals. jdale@quins.com Dale and Norton to get feedback from other D1 clubs before the TRU board call. Update: majority of D1 clubs voted to admit Jackals
      2. MD2 – In process.  Fixtures flipped from prior cycle based on top & bottom four sides.
        1. Request schedule alignment with D1 for multi-sided matches.
      3. MD3 
        1. D3N – Update (Travis) on Tulsa. Potential Ref resources. Proposal looks good at this time. Brought a side to 7s in Dallas. 4 year commitment based on USAR regs. – Good phone call with Luke last week and see the follow up email sent out on 6/10.  All initial indications are positive.
        2. Norton: Need more matches in TRU Men’s Division 3 1C. Only 4 sides. Perhaps set a minimum of 5 teams in each division sub conference. Crossover matches another option. 
        3. Wegmann/Hughes: We’ll work on a solution
        4. Eliminating quarter final round
      4. MD4 – Update (Kurylas) on Waco Wombats – Not going to have a side
      5. WD3 – Boomers confirmed to be reactivated.
    3. Schedule update
      1. Travis – Men’s in-process. First draft due date: TBD 
        1. Hanlon/Horn: D2 ready once other divisions in. 
      2. Hunter/Robinson: Women’s reps figuring out structure first
    4. Norton: At Ross Davies’ (TRRA scheduler) request, Concentrate matches where possible to allow for a single team of Refs to cover multiple matches. E.g DARC and Quins 1&2 v (Blacks/Reds/Huns)
    5. Gulf Coast Super Regional likely to be May 3 & 4.
      1. McPhail: Gulf Coast GU call on Tuesday, May 18th at 7pm.
    6. 2025 15s National Championship is set for May 16-18.
  5. Summer Sevens – Arnal Prasad
    1. Norton: Anyone that plays in a Recognized Competitive Tournament or Qualifying Tournament then requests a transfer will need a waiver from USAR. The form is available at https://usa.rugby/club-eligibility 
    2. Arnal: Dallas “TOLA” Results:
      1. Men’s Open – Huns, Quins, Dallas, Huns2, Gorilla, Dallas2, HEB, Tulsa 
      2. Women’s Open – HEB, Quins, sHARCs, Valks, Dallas, OKC Mtn Boomers 
    3. Eligibility Books – Arnal
    4. Discuss proposed change to avoid Clubs playing each other in knockout rounds – Arnal
    5. RRRC & TOLA Sevens Schedule – https://texasrugbyunion.com/2024/05/09/2024-rrrc-tola-7s/
    6. Nationals – Madison, WI Aug 10-11th
  6. New Business
    1. Senior Club Council elections – Will know results by end of month. 
    2. New Summit / Banquet speaker – Scot Courtney to be HOF MC with Paul Mabry
    3. Congrats to Kat Roche & Cisco Lopez on appointment to the Paris Olympics!
    4. Updates to Front Row Waiver or eliminate?
      1. Ozzie: Most refs don’t use it. We can tell if there are not enough front row
      2. Norton: None of the refs want it when I go to give it to them. Let’s ditch it.
      3. Dale: It’s already in RX now. 
      4. McPhail: Motion to dispose of it and get rid of it from game day. Norton/Hanlon 2nds. 
      5. McPhail: I’ll get with wyoung@texasrugbyunion.com to pull it from game day procedures.
  7. Meeting Adjournment 9:44 PM
    1. Kurylas/Ozzie