TRU Board Meeting Notes – 5/19/25

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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
      1. Regrets
        1. Hanson
  2. Reports:
    1. Drew – Start of 2025-26 season? More to come Thursday night RRRC meeting.
    2. Men – Dodge: TX Selects have had about 50 or so sign up as interested in the 3 camps. 22 turned up in Dallas. Up next is Austin and 31st is HOU. Slightly below goal on interest. Good coaching staff (Paul Graham Head Coach (Valkyries), Louis Elliott (OKC), Troy Mallette (Alliance). Staff – David D, Hal S, Rob W & Glenn F. Plan is to target Saranac & Aspen. Hoping to get $8K in sponsorships. David D working on budget. April and David McPhail may be avb to help with Admin work.
    3. Women – In a good place at the moment.
    4. Referees – Getting ready for 7’s. HS tourney next week then Dallas 7’s.
    5. Discipline – Compliance will be covered at this point for all events. Riverboat would need Hotel coverage.
      1. Need to add Brad D to the list of names for coverage.
  3. 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. RRRC 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).
          5. Email from Travis Hughes (MD3)
            1. I just got off the phone with Alamo City and he said he hasn’t tried reaching out to the TRU about the fines. Alamo City is of the opinion that they should not pay any fines for not posting their rosters timely. He doesn’t feel they should be fined for a software platform issue.
          6. Email from Chris Hanson (admin)
            1. Nothing from AC since they refused to pay the fine. I believe D3 reps and Dave were cc’d on those emails. 
    3. Procedure:
      1. Club Match Compliance (TRU Match Compliance) – All Items below must be completed by club admin.
      2. Friday 12pm before match- Team rosters In RX (1st Issue=warning, 2nd+ Issue reported to RRRC Committee for review and possible action). 
      3. Monday 5pm after match- All player movements and scores recorded In RX- DO NOT change match to result.
      4. https://sites.google.com/texasrugbyunion.com/truclubs/match-compliance?authuser=0
  4. 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. Reports to be pulled each Sept 1st & Jan 1st going forward.
    3. USA Club Rugby (USACR) to work with GU’s to examine Club Compliance reports. 
  5. 15s
    1. 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.
              4. Alliance W have requested to be entered into the WD3 schedule, committee reviewing.
          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.
  6. Gulf Coast & Nationals
    1. MD1 = GC – Blacks 50 Miami 0
      1. Belmont Shore 24 Blacks 10 
        1. Belmont Shore – National Champions over Old Blue 27-12
    2. MD2 = GC – Blacks 26 Ft Lauderdale 12
      1. GC – Atlanta Old White 50 Blacks 0
        1. Atlanta Old White – National Champions over Boise United 39-8
    3. MD3 = GC – Columbia Rhinos 33 Blacks 22
      1. Columbia Rhinos – National Champions over Scottsdale Blues 34-19
    4. WD1 = GC sHARCs Bye
      1. Utah Vipers 86 sHARCs 7
        1. Utah Vipers National Champions over 2024 Champion NOVA 45-36
    5.  WD2 = Tampa Krewe 35 Little Rock 29
      1. Krewe was the 2024 National Champs. Lost to Las Vegas Irish in Semi 19-22
        1. Las Vegas Irish won National Championship over Phoenixville 31-24
  7. 7s
    1. 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 26, 2025: Horseshoe 7s, Shreveport Louisiana (TOLA Championship)
        6. August 9-10, 2025: Madison, WI, USA Club Rugby 7s Championship 
  8. New Club Applications
    1. New / Returning Club Interest:
      1. BCS (Bryan College Station) – Email inquiry several months ago, nothing further.
      2. Kingwood – Verbal indication – pending application, no contact with DRM. Needs review. 
      3. Waco Wombats – Hansel rec’d 4/23/25. Needs review. 
      4. Arkansas Club – Verbal inquiry – application forthcoming. Discussion regarding travel / referees. 
      5. Concho Valley Pearls – San Angelo, TX – Received via new club application – MD3/4 – Needs review.
      6. Cypress Bombers – Cypress, TX – Received via new club application – MD3/4. Needs clarity / review.
  9. Staff Positions to be added during the upcoming transition:
    1. Events Manager – Heather Hines
    2. Social Media – Max Wilson
  10. TRU Elections coming up this summer:
    1. https://texasrugbyunion.com/contacts/
      1. Drew Tomsak – VP
      2. David Dodge – D1M
      3. April Armstrong WD1 (interim)
    2. RRRC 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
  11. 2025 Hall of Fame – Houston TX
    1. 10th annual HOF Banquet is August 23 in Houston, TX
      1. Hall of Fame
        1. Paul McCartney
        2. Fil Keuppens
        3. Doug Corrigan
        4. Kelly Kolberg
      2. Distinguished Service Awards:
        1. David Pfleger 
        2. Mattison Grey 
        3. Joe & Jackie Olivas
      3. Alan Sharpley Award: Paul Mabry
  12. 2025 Summit Conference – Houston, TX
    1. 10th annual Summit Conference is August 22-25 in Houston, TX; registrations will open in early summer.
  13. New Business:
    1. 501c3 Update – Louis to check on service.
      1. Zach – has a contact that he has emailed. 
      2. Dodge to discuss with KT.
  14. Post Office – Change of address to David P.
  15. Adjournment
    1. 9:13pm with motion made by  April A / David D