RRRC Competitions Committee Notes – 2/10/25

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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. Keuppens
    4. Walker
    5. Curl
    6. Hanson
    7. Davies
    8. Wegman
    9. Hughes
    10. Dale
    11. Kurylas
    12. Hanlon
    13. Regrets
      1. Hunter
      2. Robison
  2. Compliance
    1. Club Compliance and Registration Numbers – Texas Rugby Union
      1. Still tracking ahead of last year’s totals.
        1. YTD = 2114 versus Prior YTD = 1897 or 111% growth
      2. CAD – Match Changes
        1. Teams are still having cancellations for various reasons.Reminder that all teams need to thoroughly read the instructions on the website and thoroughly complete the CAD form that Hansel needs.
        2. CAD Link: https://texasrugbyunion.com/administration/addchangedrop-match-form/
        3. HURT D3 vs BARC D3 – Date is still pending, need one more week to resolve.
        4. BARC WD3 played forfeit to OKC Legion WD3 – no further action but late notification.
      3. Cancellations vs Reschedule – Reminder
        1. Clubs are responsible for following TRU protocols regarding adequate notice and proper communication of a cancellation. If the clubs are BOTH willing to move / reschedule a match, the TRU & TRRA will not likely have any objections to a mutually agreeable change. However, late notice, lack of referee resources, lack of open dates on the calendar, and other items may result in a forfeit or sanction. So please communicate early and often with your partners and representatives.
        2. Encourage everyone to use the Club Admin site! Does include Club contacts and other valuable information.
      4. An additional column will be added for fines on the Compliance Worksheet.
        1. Forfeits, Late Notices, Fail to update rosters by stated deadlines, etc. will be imposed effective immediately.
      5. Waivers
        1. USACR Eligibility created a new report to track transfers and waiver requirements 2024-25 Transfer Report
        2. All Reps can view this for their members and help sort out Team waivers through the process.
    2. Recent Infractions:
      1. 2024-2025 TRU Competition Compliance Worksheet
      2. Details on Dallas Reds D4 vs Fort Worth D4 – Need to input rosters to credit for match / side viability.
      3. No Roster for Woodlands D4 – Same comment as above.
      4. No Roster for Old Skool MD3
      5. No Roster for Alamo City MD3
      6. No Friday or Roster for Space City vs Cy-Fair
      7. No Friday for Cy-Fair MD4
    3. Update from D3 Reps
      1. Alamo City – Having numbers issues on a regular basis.
      2. McAllen – Struggling with numbers but remaining games at home.
      3. Old Skool – Numbers are better at home than on the road and struggling for wins.
  3. RX items 
    1. Hansel is working on some clean up items. Waiting on the USAR Support to respond / fix the problem.
      1. Quins D3 is missing logo and ladder results
      2. GP matches league is having issues with re-populating names that get deleted.
    2. Please have a dedicated person that is Match Day proficient to input scores, subs, cards, etc on the sideline. Helps alleviate issues, like last weekend, of conflicting scores and other details.
    3. Match Day App questions can be answered by Rob Walker. No, Saturday at 2pm is not a good time to reach out to him. 
    4. Transfers – Reminder, there is a formal process that must be followed and is led by Admin Hansel. Procedurally, these take several days and require verification and approval from multiple parties so please read the instructions carefully and be patient with the process. Notably, be very mindful of anyone that may be a Transfer as there are additional restrictions and team requirements that must be addressed before that player takes the field. 
  4. 15s
    1. Grand Prairie Matches
      1. All matches versus GP were taken out of the RX competition table.
      2. A new Competition was created for “Non-Qualifying League Matches”
      3. Scores, rosters, and player movements are tracked but there is no winner/loser in the table.
      4. Purpose of the match is to get players match time and get players more games for USA eligibility purposes. Intent is to have meaningful matches that are played by both sides and the players can use the match as part of their requirements to be eligible for National playoffs.
      5. Multi-sided clubs – these games will not count as part of your playing up or down calculation as required in USA Eligibility section 3.5.
        1. Updated player lock in D2 for 66% rule is still 6 games for multi-sided clubs
    2. Regarding multi side movement –2024-25 Player Eligibility Notes
    3. Promotion / Relegation
      1. As we move through the season we will need to be looking at changes for next season.
      2. D2 has a policy in place and the end of the season may have some teams moving divisions.
      3. Some teams have functioning D4 teams. However, the use of RX is not 100% reflective of what is going on any given Saturday. We need greater clarity with roster input and feedback from the RRRC on next year’s plans to either remain D4 or move to D3. Not an immediate ask from a structural point of view but time to start having these discussions in earnest.
    4. TRU will be having a review of Promotion / Relegation and review of next season’s proposed structure changes on Sunday, April 13th as part of our first Scheduling Meeting for 2025-26. 
  5. Forfeits
    1. HURT appealed the RRRC ruling regarding match forfeits due to playing an ineligible player. Appeal was taken to the Board. Ruling from the Board was to overturn the RRRC based on the evidence provided. Administrative sanction was deemed to be a more appropriate approach. Board will finalize the sanction on next week’s conf call. 
  6. 7s
    1. Fil and Arnal are working on a revamp of the TOLA Series and RRRC National Sevens pathway
      1. Existing Rules and Regs are being scrubbed and will hopefully be done by the March meeting.
    2. Lone Star Classic – Dallas June 7
    3. Bloodfest – Round Rock June 14
    4. Choctaw – Durant June 28
    5. Qualifier # 3 – TBC
    6. Horseshoe – Shreveport TBC
    7. Nationals – Madison WI Aug 8-9th
  7. 15s Championships 
    1. RRRC Finals – Dallas, Lake Highlands Park, 4/12
      1. D4 – Will there be a Final? Yes, we may have a North Semi-Final the weekend before.
      2. Which RRRC reps will be available to support the one day event in Dallas?
    2. Gulf Coast – Pelican Park, 63350 Pelican Blvd, Mandeville LA 70448. https://pelicanpark.recdesk.com/Community/Page?pageId=19076
    3. Nationals – TBC
  8. Referees
    1. If TRRA isn’t able to provide ARs, clubs need to ensure that teams provide Touch Judges that are suitable for the match.
  9. D1
    1. Men – No updates, all going well! Everyone is very happy!
    2. Women – So far so good. D1/D2 league is going well. Only issue was naming the multi sides in RX that caused ladder issues. Resolved.
  10. D2
    1. Men – One more game week of potential disparity. Scorlines should converge to be more competitive. Lot of Houston field issues due to weather.
    2. Women – See above.
  11. D3
    1. Men – Getting teams to keep numbers up and minimize cancellations.
    2. Women – Going well.
  12. D4
    1. Men – No updates.
  13. New Business
    1. Hal Struckman, Ryan Little, and Glen Fontenot are working on a plan to revive the Men’s TRU All Star program this Fall. Keep an eye out for a questionnaire and other communications coming in the next month.
  14. Meeting Adjournment 8:53 PM
    1. Motion: Norton / Hanlon