RRRC Competitions Committee Notes – 9/9/24

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The Red River Competitions Committee releases their monthly committee call minutes and notes. View all of the archived RRRC minutes or read on for the most recent:

  1. Roll Call
  • McPhail
  • Norton
  • Hunter
  • Wegman
  • Hanson
  • Hughes
  • Curl
  • Dale
  • Hanlon
  • Caitlin
  • Regrets
    1. Young
    2. Arnal
    3. Kurylas
    4. Ozzie/Ross
    5. Horn 
  1. A quick housekeeping note, we have not had a dedicated minutes taker for the last year or so. Wendy is trialing a new AI companion feature that is part of our current Zoom platform that will generate a summary of the meeting. We will review and evaluate the feasibility of those minutes after the meeting.
  2. Blake Horn – Sad news regarding the passing of Blake back at the beginning of September. Our best wishes and thoughts go out to his wife, children, and his club (HURT).
    • Men’s Division 2 Rep position – Blake recently had won the election (non-contested). Special election will be held over the next month or so with a call for candidates and a vote held by the MD2 clubs.
    • Goal is to have the process completed by the next meeting (Oct-14th) and have the new person elected and seated.
  3. TRU AGM
    • Meeting was held in person at the Hilton Hotel in Austin. Presentation was provided to the membership in person and online. 
    • Questions were taken from the audience and addressed accordingly. Key takeaway from the discussion is the need for the RRRC (as a whole) to have more conversations with their respective members, share proposed changes & communicate the rationale and methodology utilized when making key decisions.
    • For the Board, John Kurylas – long standing member, did not run for re-election as MD3 representative and has now been replaced by Louis Gaitan (Corpus Christi RFC) based on the election results. Congratulations Louis
    • The TRRA also held their annual elections and are now represented by Ross Davies. Ross will now be added to the RRRC and TRU monthly calls.
    • Thanks again to Ozzie and John for the service as the Chair, to TRU and commitment to the game.
    • It is noted that the Summit and HOF were once again a great success. To be covered in next week’s AGM minutes.
  4. RRRC Election – Women’s Rep
    • Kiana Curl and April Armstrong were both nominated to the position. Election results ended in a tie. Based on the RRRC’s Terms of Reference the Chair (David) will cast the deciding vote.
    • Upon being notified of the tie, David called both candidates and had a brief conversation with each.
    • Discussion with both candidates was held earlier today, with Kiana Curl being named as the Rep with the understanding that top down and bottom up dialogue is expected from all. The elected reps need to be inclusive of the stakeholders and when possible, ensure transparency and engagement across all levels of leadership.
  5. Registration is Open
    • Please note that Registration for all players / members is officially open.
    • Clubs should be aware of the early season Club deadlines that include:
      1. Renewing membership and paying fee.
      2. Minimum number of players by published deadline(s).
      3. Coaches must start the registration process early as the background checks do take a long time and when training / matches do start all Coaches should be registered and cleared in RX.
    • Reminder: USA fees have increased by $5 from last year. This increase was previously discussed in the Minutes. It is NOT a new expense but one that is no longer subsidized by the Senior Club Council.
    • Hansel to discussed naming conventions for competition:
      1. USAR has named our competition “Texas” per their naming conventions for USAR
    • Club Compliance and Registration Numbers – Texas Rugby Union
      1. Compliance data is being updated and is current on the website. Clubs that aren’t compliant will not be able to receive referee assignments, and will be considered “Not in good standing” with the Union.
  6. RX for 2024
    • Note: Change of the 7pm Friday deadline being moved to Noon on Friday. 
      1. Motion: Hughes/Norton. No objections APPROVED
      2. Discussion on potentially handling MD4 differently. Need more information as it relates to limitations of RX and D4 clubs having players from more than one club on match day.
      3. Operating Policies – Texas Rugby Union – Competition_Management_System_CMS section needs to be updated. Has some outdated verbiage (action item).
    • Rob Walker (San Antonio) has been added to the admin team on an ad hoc basis and is working with Hansel to get up to speed on current policies and procedures.
      1. Specifically, helping with “Match Day App”..
      2. Training on TRU Oper procedures and scheduling discussions.
      3. Best way to request assistance is via the Admin@TexasRugbyUnion.com account.
  7. RX League Schedule
    • All clubs need to go to RX and review their schedule. We’ve also updated the XVs Competition page with the RX modules and summaries for each division (MD2 is pending).
    • Clubs are responsible to confirm date, location, match time, etc. in RX. 
    • Match adds/changes/drops need to be worked out with the opposition first and then once mutually agreed upon can be submitted by the Match Change Form (Hansel manages process): https://texasrugbyunion.com/administration/addchangedrop-match-form/ 
    • We are working with USAR and TRRA to have Match Assignments done solely via RX. Goal is to have one platform and reduce the need to have Who’s The Ref as a secondary platform & added cost.
      1. Norton previously sent an email to the RRRC group with a link to the video. Resent again tonight.
    • Hughes indicated that there are some that weren’t happy with the schedule produced.
  8. Championship Format
    • Reminder that all divisions / leagues will have a single format for 2024/25.
    • At the end of league play, all teams will move to a semi-final format (1v4 and 2v3). The higher seeds will host the lower seed.
    • TRU / RRRC championship will be scheduled as a SINGLE day event with Championships only. Sunday will be held in reserve in case of weather delays.
    • Host bids will be published shortly; watch the webpage / facebook for upcoming announcements.
      1. Posted September 10.
    • Championships to be held Saturday, April 12, 2025. Location to be determined.
    • The Gulf Coast Super Regional is “away” this year. Location to be determined but will be held on the weekend of May 3-4, 2025.
    • The Championship page on the website has been updated.
  9. RX for 2025/26 season
    • As of now, the plan is to get an earlier jump on the fifteens schedule and approach in a different way.
    • Plan is to have a key stakeholder meeting, in person, on the Sunday after RRRC finals.
    • Key goals will be to have a Union wide (M/W) and cohesive (D1-D4) approach to the schedule.
  10. Sevens
    • RRRC / TOLA regulations need a revamp of the language and overall alignment with today’s competitions.
    • Arnal is not on the call but has been asked to provide an update to the committee on concerns, goals, and expectations for updates / timeline.
  11. Additional Law Changes and Clarifications for the 2024-25 Season: Beyond Tackle Height Adjustments
  12. New Business
  • Mens All Stars – informational only.
    1. Other GUs have them. Is there interest in the TRU doing this?
    2. Timeline for implementing before year end 2024 is a tight schedule.
    3. Is this concept better suited as “developmental” and target D2/D3 players in hopes of building the talent at each to foster growth and internal competition at training? 
  1. Meeting Adjournment 9:13 PM
    • Motion: Norton/Hughes