RRRC Competitions Committee Notes – 10/14/24

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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
    • Curl
    • Arnal
    • Kurylas
    • Hanlon
    • Dale
    • Hunter
    • Walker
    • Hanson
    • Wegmann – late
    • Hughes – late
    • Regrets
      1. Caitlin
      2. Ross
  2. Compliance and Club Standing
    • Club Compliance and Registration Numbers – Texas Rugby Union
    • Notable takeaways from the above link:
      1. Good news is that all of the “usual” clubs have all paid and registered.  There are a few teams that have not paid yet but they are more social in nature, sevens only, or are hopeful of growing to a sustainable size.
      2. Congratulations to Cy-Fair (D4) with 24 registered and to Tulsa (D3) with 35 registered.
      3. Unfortunately the list of teams not in good standing is lengthy.  
      4. Reps – please contact your members ASAP based on the deficiencies noted as it relates to Players (min 15) and/or Coaching certification requirements.
        1. Alamo City 4
        2. Alliance 10 
        3. Collin Cty (D4) 13
        4. Corpus Christi 11
        5. Denton 8 *** Match Nov-2nd
        6. Fort Worth 3
        7. Grand Prairie 1
        8. Las Colinas (D4) 1
        9. McAllen 11
        10. OKC Mountain Boomers 11
        11. OKC Legion 12
        12. Shreveport 9
        13. Woodlands 10
      5. Coaching Certificates that need to be approved / not in good standing:
        1. Celina (D4)
        2. Fort Worth
        3. Las Colinas (D4)
        4. Woodlands
      6. Name changes / reminders:
        1. Cy Fair – new D4 mens club
        2. OKC W Mountain Boomers – reactivated membership
        3. OKC M Crusaders is now “OKC Legion”; remaining in D3N
        4. OKC Tribe has withdrawn from all TRU competitions
      7. Names to be deleted from report due to lack of good standing / folded / etc.  Reps please verify and report back with confirmation of status:
        1. Celina – one player, no fee, no coach
        2. Jackals – delete/withdrawn
        3. Gorilla – 7s only
        4. Chupacabras – 7s only
        5. Kingwood – delete/withdrawn
        6. Las Colinas – one player, no fee, no coach
        7. McAllen Maidens – no players, fee, or coach
        8. OKC Tribe – delete/withdrawn
        9. Sabercats2 – delete / new entity to replace / pending
        10. Waco Wombats – 7s only
        11. West Houston – delete/withdrawn
          1. Note: per Hansel’s report, the “delete/withdrawn” clubs are currently shaded in Grey already.  USA SCC, Elaine Vassie, will be reaching out with their list of clubs that are in/out of standing for match play in the next week or so.
      8. Teams that are NOT in good standing will not be receiving TRRA assignments until they are fully cleared by Hansel and this report.
  3. RRRC special election
    • The MD2 position was put to a special election; winner Rob Walker (San Antonio RFC).  Congratulations to Rob!
    • Rob is also working on an ad-hoc basis with Chris Hanson on Match Day RX and other items for the benefit of the Clubs.  Club Admin’s can reach out to Rob prior to their first matches for any RX issues and ensure that they are set up properly for the new cycle.
    • Also of note, Rob is on the shortlist for the USAR Club Council’s governance committee.  Good Luck!
  4. 15 Schedule
    • All levels of M/W and D1-D4 were loaded into RX based on the V4 version of master schedule.
    • All teams should have had a chance to review all those matches and make changes within the Match Change form.  Friendlies and other fixtures need to utilize the change form.
    • After discussions with Ross / Chair TRRA, they have elected to maintain use of “Who’s the Ref” for this season so please use this platform to ensure your referee’s have been assigned and all other details are also accurate.  
      1. RX is the system of record for match information. If the systems have different info RX is the system of truth
    • As noted previously, the window for RX roster loading has been changed this season and the window for your initial roster is now NOON Friday, for your Saturday matches:.  Roster Submission Deadline Moved to Noon on Fridays – Texas Rugby Union
    • MD1 leadership held a conference call a week or so ago and discussed the formal withdrawal of the Dallas Jackals and the pending impact of the former Sabercats2 squad as they are still in a state of transition and no formal TRU application has been made.
    • Discussion regarding the impact of Jackals and Sabercats on the MD1 was held.  Factors considered were the impact on 1) original MD1 schedule 2) impact of having multiple open dates on the D1 schedule 3) allowing additional time for the former Sabercats2 to continue with their reformation plan and application status, etc.
      1. Current plan is likely to be 3 matches traditional home & away structure.
  5. Championships 
    • TRU/RRRC
      1. Hosting bids -Deadline Nov-1st. ​​To date, one bid has been submitted = Choctaw, OK
      2. Reminder, current plan is for a one day event; Championship Saturday.  If weather caused delays we could move to Sunday finish if required.  Need one championship pitch and a warm up field.
    • GCSR
      1. David reached out to the GCSR committee members with a reminder that this group needs to start the bid solicitation process for the May 3-4, 2025 event.
      2. Unfortunately, there have been hurricanes in both Florida and the Carolinas which is slowing down the process.  Waiting for a reasonable amount of recovery time to pass before re-circulating the reminder to call for hosts.  
    • USAR Nationals
      1. David is working with the current 15’s Chair to confirm the venue.  The location has been identified but there is not an approved budget or executed contract in place so there is some work to be done.  Event will have the same format as prior years and be held over three days, being May 16-18th 2025.
  6. Reminder: Law Changes and Clarifications for the 2024-25 Season:
  7. New Business
    • Attendance Policy for the RRRC:
      1. The USA Club Council that we report to and governs our competition has a policy to ensure that elected members are attending meetings and providing timely reports to the committee.  
      2. David: Asking the RRRC to adopt the below language and if approved, will take the same language to the TRU Board for adoption next week.  
        1. A member is considered to have missed a meeting if they have not joined a meeting at the time of roll call. Members who are late to roll call may be considered to have attended the meeting at the discretion of the Committee Chair. 
        2. The Committee Chair shall notify the appointing or electing authorities and the individual committee member by email or mail if three (3) meetings are missed in any given year based on a rolling twelve month basis. 
        3. The Committee Chair shall notify the appointing or electing authorities and the individual committee member by email or mail if four (4) meetings are missed in a given year. At the time of missing a third  meeting, the committee member will be considered not in good standing. At such time, the member’s inclusion on the committee may go to review (if appointed) or re-election (if elected). 
        4. Motion by Norton & Hanlon;  motion approved by proclamation.
    • David:  There was a discussion about starting up a Men’s All Star program with the goal of playing by Dec-2024.  It has been concluded that the time frame is too short to get this accomplished in time and that the format may be better with a primary focus on current D2/D3 members as more of a continuing development side.  
    • Norton: Good luck to all the TRU players going to tour the UK with the USA Military select side. Note, participation with the USA Military Team does not impact eligibility. 
    • Norton: Congratulations to Dave! New 15s Competitions Chair! – USA Club Rugby 
    • Norton: USA Club Rugby added pages for Union Admins. Union Admin – USA Club Rugby 
    • Travis and Jeff discuss the potential of adding crossover matches to D3N to replace the impact of losing the OKC Tribe club.  * Discussion to have Tulsa fill the crossover spot;TBC by ad-hoc committee that will make recommendation to the RRRC for approval.  
    • Haley: Alliance and Denton trying to restart and schedule a rookie friendly event. Held in Grand Prairie during Mary Graham All Stars. 
    • KC: spoke with Clubs today, reminded them to register with the Club for the first cup match.
    • Action Item: Hansel to get with Ross on both the RRRC and TRU Board calendar invites to confirm that he has received an invite to all future RRRC and TRU calls.
  8. Meeting Adjournment 8:57 PM
    • Motion: Norton / Kurlyas
  9.