RRRC Competitions Committee Notes – 11/11/24

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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
    1. McPhail 
    2. Norton
    3. Curl
    4. Hunter
    5. Walker
    6. Kurylas
    7. Hanson
    8. Dale
    9. Davies
    10. Hunter
    11. Wegman
    12. Regrets
      1. Robinson
      2. Hanlon
      3. Hughes
  2. Compliance
    1. Club Compliance and Registration Numbers – Texas Rugby Union
    2. Notable takeaways from the above link with effective date of Nov-11th:
      1. There are clubs still not in compliance with matches scheduled in near term:
        1. Alamo City – 9 members / Match Dec-7th
        2. Las Colinas – 12 members, No Coach, No Fee paid (match Nov-16th) – JK to reach out.
        3. Galveston -15 (includes coach?)
        4. Alliance – 15 (includes coach?) / Match Nov-23rd
        5. Collin County – No Coach in RX / Match Dec-7th – JK to reach out.
        6. Houston Arrows – No Coach in RX (match Nov-16th) – Jeff / Travis 
      2. Teams that could use additional growth:
        1. Grand Prairie – 19 (includes coaches)
      3. Congrats to HARC – 116 players in RX
  3. RX items
    1. Plan is Chris – how is the new deadline being adhered to at this early stage? 
      1. McAllen vs HURT D3 – first match
    2. RX has no location for FTW vs Quins
    3. RX has no location for Las Colinas vs Denton *** Fee & Players for Las Colinas
    4. RX has no location for BARC vs Galveston
    5. Chris – all clubs without locations have been contacted; need Match CAD submission? 
  4. 15s Schedule
    1. John Dale summary of recent D1 discussions since last meeting.
    2. MD1 Club leadership has resolved the issues related to the withdrawal of Jackals and Sabercats
      1. There are outstanding issues related to MD1 GCSR detailed below.
      2. Four teams will play each other 3x (league) during the season.  Season ending April-5th.
        1. RX updates will be completed this week or next.
      3. Plan is to attend the Gulf Coast Super Regional. See below updates on GCSR.
  5. 7s
    1. Proposals to host 7s National championship requested 2025 Club 7s National Championship RFP 
  6. Championships 
    1. TRU/RRRC – April 12
      1. Hosting bids – Deadline passed (Nov-1st)
      2. Bids rec’d – Event Hosting Application (Responses)
        1. Kolberg – Choctaw, Oklahoma
          1. Additional details: My idea will be three (3) fields (plus warmup field), full size, bleachers on one side, team benches and field marshall tents on the other side.  no parking or entry fees, beer garden area, multiple food trucks and local sponsors providing additional amenities.  If we get the bid in reasonable lead time, I can also provide a post tourney hosted event. 
        2. McAuliffe – Dallas (Lake Highlands)
          1. To the TRU Competitions Committee:
          2. I know there could be some concern about Lake Highlands Park being the host for the 2024/2025 TRU Final; I wanted to explain what we have done to ensure a successful competition if we win the bid.
          3.  
          4. Fields
          5. We have reserved the use of all three fields for the Tournament, giving the competition two game fields and one warm-up field OR 1 game field, one warm-up field, and one back-up field if the game field were to get unusable due to weather
          6. we have spread Rye Seed on the fields to ensure the proper playing surface is in place; we will do another seeding in early spring of 2025 to ensure the pitch is in the best conditions
          7. Last year, the City of Dallas would not let us spread Rye Seed, preventing any root structure in the ground, and was the leading cause of the muddy conditions found at most games we hosted last year
          8. Inclement Weather
          9. We have reserved Saturday as well as Sunday in case games cannot be completed on 1 day
          10. We have a Beautification Agreement with the City of Dallas that allows our use of the field unless the water breaks the bank of the river.  This allows us to play unless almost all of Dallas is a flood zone.  
          11. Parking
          12. In addition to the two small lots, which would be reserved for Refs and Tournament admin, we have also begun talks with the church across the street for the use of their lot/field for spectator parking
          13. We would also rope off the section along the street for busses and team vans for easy access to the facilities
          14. Miscellaneous
          15. We have gained the ability to sell beer through specialized permits and will have Beer sales available to spectators
          16. We have relationships with local hotels to ensure fair rates and proximity to the venue
          17. We will have a food vendor selling BBQ on-site
      3. Discussion: 
        1. Dale – Clubs cover damage to the field?
        2. Haley – discussed the grass situation and amount of work put into fields already.
        3. Rye seed goes dormant in spring but does help overall quality of pitch.
        4. Choctaw has good fields.  
        5. David – Need budgets from both.  Email request sent to both parties.
        6. McPhail to send budgetary info to the committee then to decide electronically from there.
    2. GCSR – May 3-4
      1. Structure of all divisions except MD1 expected to be the same.
        1. MD1 looks to be happening.  McPhail having a call with the other GU’s tomorrow (11/12) to discuss structure and bids.
        2. WD1 will advance after league play, Frontier participating in Northern SR.
      2. There are expected to be some other GUs adding MD1 entries. Nothing has been proposed to the SCC for approval at this time. Until approved by SCC it is not set. Expected to be presented to SCC Nov 20 for approval.
      3. Post meeting update: We (15’s)  are now slated to have 3 Super Regionals, CRAA Nationals and LA 7’s on the same weekend (May 3&4).
      4. NCR 7s Championships is April 26, 27, 28
    3. USAR 15 Nationals – May 16, 17 & 18
      1. Location is TBC.  Bids being collected.
    4. USAR 7 Nationals – August 9 & 10
      1. As noted above, RFP’s are out.  Know more around the Dec/Jan timeframe. 
  7. New Business
    1. Reminder: There have been issues with touring sides coming to the US play without international clearance. This invalidates your insurance coverage. Referees should not be assigned nor matches scheduled until a clearance is produced. For more information see International Tours | USA Rugby 
    2. USA Youth & High School Rugby have updated their regulations. 
      1. They are a parallel organization to USA Club Rugby under the USA Rugby umbrella 
      2. High school and U18 players who join and participate in contact rugby with an adult rugby program have no further eligibility with youth/high school clubs.
      3. Any adult club that has a U18 player must have everyone in the club complete USA Rugby Safe Sport training. This includes all players, coaches, admins, etc. Everyone. No exceptions this year.
    3. Ross – weekly engagement with Hansel.  So far so good.
    4. 𝙅𝙤𝙗 𝙊𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜: USA Rugby is in search of a Sr. Manager of National Team Communications. 
      1. Sr. Manager, National Team Communications Application 
  8. Meeting Adjournment 8:47 PM
    1. Motion: Norton / Walker