TRU Board Meeting Notes – 4/21/2025

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At the request of our members the TRU Board will be releasing their monthly board call minutes and notes. View all of the TRU archived minutes or read on for the most recent notes:

  1. Roll Call
    1. McPhail
    2. Dodge
    3. Hiller
    4. Davies
    5. Guitan
    6. Tomsak
    7. Armstrong
    8. Hanson
      1. Regrets:
        1. Young
  2. Items from prior meetings:
    1. Grant Request  – Approved $3,000 for Sevens All Star team to travel to LA Invitational.
      1. Fil K to provide receipts to the Treasurer and post-event report.
  3. Registration
    1. Club Compliance
      1. As of April-22nd, membership sits at 2,282, up from last month’s 2,234.
      2. YR over YR totaled 2,021; 12.9% growth.  The TRU budget called for 6% growth.
  4. Compliance: https://sites.google.com/texasrugbyunion.com/truclubs/match-compliance?authuser=0
    1. Alamo City: Not in good standing. Refusing to pay a $50 fine.
  5. Results RRRC:
    1. Semi-Finals matchups
      1. D3 – Blacks 42 Tulsa 7
      2. D3 – San Antonio 14 Arrows 22
      3. D2 – Blacks 38 HURT 10
      4. D2 – San Antonio 0 Dallas 22
    2. RRRC’s – Lake Highlands Park, Dallas TX
      1. MD4 Collin County 17 Woodlands 24
      2. WD3 Dallas 55 OKC Mtn Boomers 0
      3. MD3 Blacks 86 Arrows 0
      4. WD2 Little Rock 37 SA Riveters 10
      5. MD2 Blacks 40 Dallas 32
      6. WD1 Harlequins 22 sHARCs 27
      7. MD1 Blacks 43 Dallas 32
    3. Sunday – Scheduling meeting.  All RRRC / Board / Club representatives were invited to attend
      1. 2026 RRRC Structure– discussed at the meeting and reviewed various formats as presented by Rob Walker.  Material discussion and support of moving more matches into the Fall (2025) to ease schedule density and open up referee resources.
    4. Gulf Coast Super Regional
      1. Weekend of May 3-4th.
        1. Event Info
        2. Schedule
        3. Gulf Coast – Pelican Park, 63350 Pelican Blvd, Mandeville LA 70448
        4. FAQ – https://truesouthrugby.com/2025-gulf-coast-super-regional/
    5. USA Club Nationals
      1. Friday thru Sunday, May 16-18th
      2. Kuntz Soccer & Sports Complex, 1502 W 16th Street, Indianapolis IN 46202 
  6. Discipline – Zack
    1. Update on GoPro (Huns) 
      1. Absolved of misconduct. Warned as to future conduct and required to submit educational    materials to be shared with the union as to the importance of safety with a specific emphasis on Law 4.
      2. Deadline – Prior to first RRRC/TOLA 7s competition.
    2. Lingering issues heading into 7s
      1. 3 outstanding red cards. 2 players appear to have moved. RX has them ineligible indefinitely. Need to ask USA Rugby how their profiles will look after the year turns over. 3rd card will be dealt with before 7s starts. Conflicting vacations made it difficult to schedule this hearing but I will try again. 
    3. There is another round of Judicial Officer training happening this summer. If you are interested in joining the TRU Disciplinary Committee please reach out to Zack at zhiller@gmail.com. Dates and locations of available courses are as follows:
      1. May 31 – Newark, NJ
      2. June 6 – New Orleans, LA
      3. July 12 – Charlotte, NC
      4. October 11 – Moraga, CA 
  7. Referees – Ross
    1. All good!
    2. Dealing with complaints from RRRC finals. Asked for film; review in process.
    3. L1 at Bloodfest is being discussed on the Friday to tie in with the HS matches.
    4. Another L1 to be held at the Summit (HOF / Houston).
  8. SCC
    1. Approved plan to initiate MOU for all four Super Regions.
    2. WD1 discussion was held regarding moving Comps to Fall. Questionnaire being sent to all WD1 clubs.
    3. Working with Tam for a NCS level MOU for all SCC members to follow.
  9. New Business
    1. Appeals from RRRC Promotion & Relegation
      1. Teams that met the requirements:
      2. Appeals material was shared with Board for review and discussion
        1. D1 – San Antonio – RRRC promotion (rec’d)
          1. Appeal affirmed – Remain D2
        2. D1 – HURT – RRRC promotion (rec’d)
          1. Appeal affirmed – Remain D2
        3. D1 – Dallas Harlequins – last place & delta points (rec’d)
          1. Appeal affirmed – Remain D1
        4. D2 – Grand Prairie – failed to start / complete season (rec’d)
          1. Referred back to RRRC for further discussion
        5. D2 – DARC – last place & delta points
          1. Referred back to RRRC for further discussion
        6. D3 – Dallas Reds – last place & points but N/A due to contiguous sides (D4?)
          1. Referred back to RRRC for further discussion
        7. D3 – Alamo City – Not in good standing 
    2. Discussion on Travel Grants for 2025 (Austin Blacks winning all 3 divisions)
      1. Approval to refund 100% of eligible player dues.
      2. Approval to release 100% of eligible dues immediately and is not contingent on advancement to Nationals.
    3. Dodge – discussion on Mens D2/D3 all star program.  Materials being sent to Coaches / Players via RX and TRU Social Media.
  10. Thank You’s
    1. Big thanks to April Armstrong (2x), Jeff Wegman, Travis Hughes, John Dale, John Kurylas & Wendy Young for their assistance and service working the Semis and Finals.  
    2. Additional thank you to Dr. Mathew for his support at Finals.
    3. Lastly, a big thank you to Dallas RFC & President John McAuliffe for perfect pitches, great event and the beautiful weather.  The Chamber of Commerce would have been jealous!
  11. Action Items: 
    1. None
  12. Adjournment: Motions by Dodge & Drew at  9:32pm.