RRRC Competitions Committee Notes – 5/12/25

by

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. Dale
      4. Walker
      5. Curl
      6. Kurylas
      7. Keuppens
      8. Robinson
      9. Davies
      10. Hanson
      11. Regrets:
        1. Hunter
        2. Hanlon
        3. Wegman
        4. Hughes
    2. Compliance
      1. Registration totals:
        1. YTD 2024-2025 = 2,306
        2. YTD 2023-2024 = 2,113
          1. Growth YR over YR = 109.13%
      2. Clubs not in good standing
        1. Alamo City – refusal to pay fines related to RX input. 
          1. Violation / Sanction:
            1. 12/14 – Friday = No Roster
            2. 1/11/25 – Friday = No Roster
            3. 3/1/25 – Friday = No Roster
            4. Motion – Fine paid by end May (31st). If not paid, they are relegated to social status in the next cycle.  Vote approved by proclamation.  Motion: (MN/KC).  
      3. Club Match Compliance (TRU Match Compliance) – All Items below must be completed by club admin.
      4. Wednesday before the match- Home team confirms match location and kick off time with visiting team admin and assigned referee. 
      5. Friday 12pm before match- Team rosters In RX (1st Issue=warning, 2nd+ Issue reported to RRRC Committee for review and possible action). 
      6. Monday 5pm after match- All player movements and scores recorded In RX- DO NOT change match to result.
        1. https://sites.google.com/texasrugbyunion.com/truclubs/match-compliance?authuser=0
    3. RX items
      1. During the playoff process it was found that many of our Coaches had Safesport Background checks expiring.  Uncertain if Coaches are receiving notifications? Going to spam? Etc.  
      2. Recommendation – Have Hansel pull registration report pulled at the start of fall and spring to look six months (Sept 1st / Jan 1st) forward and get ahead of background checks as we know they can take a fair bit of time.
      3. USA Club Rugby (USACR) to work with GU’s to examine Club Compliance reports.  We review but need to complete the circle with USAR Club (Elaine).
    4. 15s
      1. Forfeits – See Compliance Report = Six (6) reported.  Others?
        1. https://sites.google.com/texasrugbyunion.com/truclubs/match-compliance?authuser=0
      2. Next Season’s schedule and structure
        1. Structure 
          1. Committee voted and approved following on 5/7/25
            1. WD1/2 Premiership & WD3
              1. Continuation of last year’s structure and approval of all appeals
                1. Dallas appeal – resolved on last call.  Appeal approved.
                2. Valks appeal – email received.  Appeal approved.
                3. The above appeals are part of completing the process with appropriate documentation.
            2. MD1
              1. 5 Teams home and away
              2. Start no earlier than January
              3. Setup derbies where all 3/2 sides play each other
              4. Top 2 championship
            3. MD3/4
              1. Retain the current MD3 Conferences. Adjust Central, South and North into a Hybrid D3/D4. 
              2. Give the clubs in the Hybrid conferences the option of declaring D3 or D4 at the beginning of the season before the first match. 
              3. Whichever division they choose is post season pathway
              4. This gives us 3 Hybrid D3/D4, 1 D3 and 1 D4 conference
              5. If there is at least one club in each MD3/4 hybrid conference that elects D3 and one D4 we end up with at least 4 “conferences” for D4 and D3. If we end up with an imbalance we’ll figure it out in a seeded playoff structure with a potential play-in.
              6. Those that choose D4 get to play under the relaxed D4 regs like guest players and such. 
            4. MD2
              1. D2 rep Rob Walker presented options in development
              2. Accept Walker proposal
                1. Motion by MN / JD.  Unanimous approval of members in attendance.
        2. Schedule 
          1. ETA end of month
            1. Rob sharing screen – Hansel provided RX format to Rob.  
            2. Rob to start codifying the entire schedule.  Target meeting on 22nd review of first draft.
          2. From National Championship Structure & Scheduling Proposal (2026–2028).pdf
            1. 2026 Nationals will be May 15, 16 & 17.
              1. USACR 15’s Committee to discuss start of bid process during May meeting
            2. GCSR will be either weekend of April 25 or May 1
              1. Likely the weekend of April 25th for Pacific & Gulf and weekend of May 1 for Atlantic & Northern – on USACR 15’s Committee Agenda meeting at end of May
            3. RRRC Championships April 11th or 18th
              1. See above
              2. Continue with Semis weekend at higher seed and Finals on a single day
              3. Call for bids needs to also weigh hosting of GCSR and potentially Nationals
            4. Easter is April 5th
    5. 2025 Championships 
      1. Gulf Coast Super Regional (GCSR)
        1. Austin Blacks took three sides (1/2/3) to NOLA.
          1. Strong effort on pitch but end results did not fall their way overall.
          2. MD1: Defeated Miami 69-10 and will be advancing to Indianapolis for the Finals.  Blacks will kick off the first day of matches against Belmont Shore.
          3. MD2: The Austin Blacks D2 advanced past Fort Lauderdale with a 26-12 semifinal win but ran into a dominant Atlanta Old White side in the final, dropping the match 50-0.
          4. MD3: The defending champions Austin Blacks fell to the Columbia Rhinos 33-22 in Saturday’s semifinal.
        2. WD2: Little Rock played valiantly and kept the fight going to the very end and took the GCSR winner, Tampa Krewe, to the very end but lost narrowly 29-35.
          1. The Krewe (national champ) beat perennial finalist Knoxville Minx 40-7.
      2. USA Club Nationals 
        1. Friday thru Sunday, May 16-18th
        2. Kuntz Soccer & Sports Complex, 1502 W 16th Street, Indianapolis IN 46202
          1. Streaming on “TRN”. 
          2. MD1: Austin Blacks vs Belmont Shore (defending champ)
          3. WD1: sHARc vs Utah Vipers (2nd last year)
        3. Working admin roles include: Norton, Keupppens, McPhail.  Rachel was invited as AR from the TRRA
    6. 7s
      1. Fil – 
        1. Working with Hansel & USACR for rosters at sevens events.
          1. David recommends coordinating with Scott Conway to set up for RRRC events and all regions within the National Sevens Committee.
          2. RRRC to get one M & W guaranteed spot.  Additional will be subjective at Sevens Committee discretion.
        2. Terms of Reference: RRRC Sevens 2025 TOR
          1. RRRC Tournaments:
            1. 6/7/25: Lonestar Classic, Dallas TX. (Seeding Tournament)
            2. 6/14/25: Bloodfest, Round Rock TX (Qualifier #1)
            3. 6/28/25: Choctaw 7s, Durant OK (Qualifier #2)
            4. 7/12/25: Hell or High Water Houston TX (Qualifier #3)
            5. August ’25: Horseshoe 7s, Shreveport Louisiana (TOLA Championship)
            6. 8/16/25: Madison, WI, USA Club Rugby 7s Championship 
    7. Referees
      1. Sevens starting up this week. 
    8. 2025 Hall of Fame – Houston TX
      1. 10th annual HOF Banquet is August 23 in Houston, TX
        1. Class has been elected; pending formal announcement
    9. 2025 Summit Conference – Houston, TX
      1. 10th annual Summit Conference is August 22-25 in Houston, TX; registrations will open in early summer.
    10. Last Month’s Meeting:
      1. Below to to be completed over summer before AGM
      2. RRRC Charter / Terms Of Reference: Competitive Region Competitions Committee Terms of Reference
  • Norton – Convener
        1. Dale
        2. KC
      2. RRRC Promotion & Relegation (Policy or Guidelines): RRRC Promotion & Relegation Policy
  • John K – Convener
        1. Rob
        2. Travis
        3. Norton
      2. Forfeit Policy Played & Unplayed: Operating Policies – Texas Rugby Union
  • Hansel – Convener
      1. Wegman
      2. Caitlin
  2. New Business
    1. New / Returning Club Interest:
      1. BCS (Bryan College Station) – Email inquiry
      2. Kingwood – Verbal indication
      3. Waco Wombats – Hansel rec’d 4/23/25
      4. Arkansas Club – Verbal inquiry – application forthcoming
      5. Louisiana Club – Verbal inquiry – likely hold off for another year
      6. Concho Valley Pearls – San Angelo, TX – Received via new club application – MD3/4
      7. Cypress Bombers – Cypress, TX – Received via new club application – MD3/4
    2. Open positions:
      1. Now Hiring: TRU Events Manager (Part-Time, Contract) – Texas Rugby Union
        1. Interviewed and extended offer on Event Manager
        2. Interview and will place interim (YE) position for Social Media
    3. Elections coming up this summer at AGM / HOF weekend in Houston
      1. Chair – McPhail – Elected by RRRC
      2. MD1 – Dale
      3. MD2 – N/A (Gordon 26 / Walker 27)
      4. MD3 – Wegman
      5. Women – Hunter
  3. Next Competitions Structure meeting set for Thursday, May-22nd at 6:30pm to discuss scheduling
  4. Meeting Adjournment 9:10 PM
    1. Motion: MN / KC