USA Rugby

This article is about the rugby union governing body. For the rugby league governing body, see USA Rugby League.
USA Rugby
Sport Rugby union
Founded 1975
WR affiliation 1987
RAN affiliation 2001
Chairman Will Chang
President Dan Payne
Men's coach John Mitchell
Sevens coach Mike Friday
Website www.usarugby.org

USA Rugby (officially the United States of America Rugby Football Union, Ltd.) is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. USA Rugby states its role as "the national governing body charged with achieving and maintaining high levels of quality in all aspects of rugby."[1] USA Rugby is responsible for the promotion and development of the sport in the U.S. and promotion of U.S. international participation.[2] USA Rugby is a member of World Rugby (WR) and a member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).

USA Rugby has over 115,000 members, the largest segment being college rugby with over 32,000 members.[3] USA Rugby oversees 1,200 high school teams, 900 college teams, 700 senior club teams, and 400 youth teams.[4] USA Rugby administers all United States national teams: senior men's and women's teams, sevens teams for both men and women, and under-20 national teams for both sexes. The organization also sponsors college rugby for both sexes, although since the 2010–11 academic year the NCAA has designated women's rugby an emerging varsity sport.

Rugby union in the United States is divided into Geographical Unions: Capital, Carolinas, Empire, Eastern Penn, Florida, Mid-America, New England, Northern California, Pacific Northwest, Southern California, Texas and True South.[5] The headquarters for USA Rugby is located in Boulder, Colorado.

Recent Achievements

Governance and Leadership

USA Rugby is governed by its Board of Directors and its Congress. The Board is composed of 9 members: 6 independent directors, 2 international athletes, and 1 representative from USA Rugby's Congress. Board members are:[9]

The Congress is composed of 27 members: 3 members from each of the 7 Territorial Unions, and 6 international athletes.[10]

Nigel Melville, former England captain, has been CEO and President of Operations of USA Rugby since October 11, 2006. One of Melville's goals at the time of his hiring was to help rugby along the path to professionalism in the US, including creating a Super 12 competition with 4 teams each from the US, Canada, and Argentina.[11]

John Mitchell has been the Head Coach of the men's national team since January 2016.[12] Mike Friday is the head coach of the men's national sevens team.

Peter Steinberg is the Women's Eagles Head Coach, and Ric Suggit is the head coach of the Women's Sevens team.

International Representation

USA Rugby became a member of the International Rugby Football Board in 1987. The worldwide body would become the International Rugby Board (IRB) in 1998 and World Rugby in 2014. USA Rugby does not hold a vote on WR's 28 member Executive Council—the majority of votes are held by the 8 founding nations—although NACRA members collectively hold one vote on the Executive Council.[13] In December 2011, for the first time, USA Rugby placed a representative on the 10-man Executive Committee. Bob Latham, in his role as chair of Rugby Americas North (RAN; known as NACRA before 2016), represents RAN on the Executive Committee.[14]

USA Rugby is a member of RAN, one of the six regional unions that comprise World Rugby. With over 80,000 registered rugby players, USA Rugby is the largest rugby member in RAN.[15]

USA Rugby also has relationships with international multi-sport organizations. USA Rugby is a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee and interacts with the International Olympic Committee. USA Rugby also interacts with the Pan American Sport Organization, and rugby has been a sport at the Pan Am Games since 2011.

Financials

USA Rugby generally earns between $8 million to $16 million in annual revenues, with the majority of the revenue coming from (1) membership dues, (2) event revenue, (3) grants, and (4) sponsorship. Their principal expenses are (1) High Performance, (2) Men's National Team, and (3) Marketing and Fundraising.[1] In 2010, USA Rugby paid over $200,000 each to its CEO Nigel Melville and its then Head Coach Eddie O'Sullivan.[1] As of 2012, Nigel Melville's compensation was $250,000.[16]

USA Rugby annual revenues are below, along with the components that generated the majority of revenue:[17]

Year Total
Revenues 		Member
dues 		Grants Sponsors Event
revenue 		International comparisons
(annual reported revenue)
2014[18] $16.4m $4.5m $2.0m $2.2m $5.4m Wales (58m GBP),[19] Scotland (44m GBP).[20]
2013[21] $12.2m $4.3m $1.7m $1.9m $1.8m Ireland (€62m), Wales (61m GBP),
New Zealand (54m GBP), Scotland (39m GBP).
2012[22] $10.2m $4.3m $1.7m $1.6m $1.1m Scotland (38m GBP).[23]
2011[24] $7.5m $3.2m $1.7m $1.5m $0.2m Scotland (35m GBP);[25] Canada (C$ 9m).[23]
2010[26] $6.4m $2.8m $1.4m $1.0m $0.2m Scotland (34m GBP)[27]
2009[28] $8.1m $2.7m $1.3m $2.4m $0.8m
2008[29] $8.0m $2.0m $1.4m $2.7m $0.9m
2007[30] $6.7m $2.2m $1.7m $0.9m $1.0m
2006[31] $5.3m $2.0m $1.3m $0.2m $0.7m

Notes:

History

The U.S. men's national team, the Eagles, won the Gold Medal in Olympic rugby in 1920 and 1924. After that time, rugby in the U.S. stagnated while continuing to grow in other parts of the world.

Beginning in the 1960s and continuing through the 1970s, the sport of rugby union enjoyed a renaissance in the USA. This created the need for a national governing body to represent the United States. On June 7, 1975, four territorial organizations (Pacific Coast, West, Midwest and East) gathered in Chicago, Illinois and formed the United States of America Rugby Football Union (now known as USA Rugby). USA Rugby then fielded its first national team on January 31, 1976 in a match against Australia in Anaheim, California, which Australia won 24–12.

In 1993, the Southern California RFU, a local area union of the Pacific Coast RFU, applied to become a separate territory. This was an impetus for others around the country to do the same, changing the make-up of USA Rugby, which now has seven territories (Pacific, Southern California, West, Midwest, South, Northeastern, and Mid-Atlantic).

USA Rugby lobbied for several years for a stop on the IRB Sevens World Series, and finally was awarded the annual USA Sevens tournament beginning in 2004. The Home Depot Center, now known as StubHub Center, in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California was the venue for the initial USA Sevens tournaments. In the summer of 2006, the tournament was moved to Petco Park in San Diego. Since 2010, the tournament has been held every year at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas and has been broadcast live on NBC.

USA Rugby is a Founding Sports Partner of the Sports Museum of America, joining more than 50 other single-sport Halls of Fame, national governing bodies, museums and other organizations across North America, to richly celebrate the history, grandeur and significance of sports in American culture. Opened in New York City on May 7, 2008, the Sports Museum of America showcases USA Rugby in its Hall of Halls Gallery, in return for their support of the creation of the Nation's first all-sports museum experience.

In 2014, USA Rugby created Rugby International Marketing, LLC (RIM), a for-profit company that is responsible for promoting the sport of rugby.[32]

The history spanning 135 years of American rugby has been compiled in the documentary, A Giant Awakens: the Rise of American Rugby.

National Teams: The Eagles

USA Rugby is responsible for organizing the various US national teams:

Men's teams

Women's teams

PRO Rugby

The Professional Rugby Organization, known as PRO Rugby, is an American professional rugby union competition. PRO began play in April 2016 with five teams, and is expected to expand in 2017. The competition is sanctioned by USA Rugby and by World Rugby. This is the first professional rugby competition in North America.[33]

Club Competitions

Rugby Super League, organized and sanctioned by USA Rugby, was the premier level of men's club competition in the USA.[34] Founded in 1996, the competition was created to provide a high level, national annual rugby competition in the United States. The competition is now defunct since 2011-2012.[35] Following the demise of the Super League, the Pacific Rugby Premiership was formed in 2013, and began play in 2014 as the top level of men's club competition in the U.S.

The USA Rugby club structure sees the United States divided into two Leagues: West and East. Within each league there are four distinct Conferences, with the winners of each Conference's division advancing to the League Semifinals, and the two League Champions competing in the National Championship.[36]

East

West

College Rugby

Main article: College rugby

The Collegiate Rugby Championship is a rugby sevens competition that has been held every year in June since 2010.[37] The tournament is the highest profile college rugby tournament in the U.S., and is broadcast live on NBC every year from PPL Park in Philadelphia. Every year, the number of spectators increase, and in 2015 the College Rugby Championship broke an attendance record at over 24,000 spectators, which shows how the popularity of the sport is expanding.

State Rugby Organizations

USA Rugby introduced state rugby organizations to be responsible for developing an administrative structure with the objective of promoting the development of youth rugby within their state. They are also responsible for day-to-day governance, including organizing league structures, collecting dues, implementing a state championship, and conducting rugby outreach. USA Rugby has 44 state rugby organizations.[38]

Hall of Fame

World Rugby Hall of Fame

The following have been inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame:

Inductee Year
Inducted 		Accomplishments
1920 U.S. Olympic rugby team 2012 Won the gold medal.
1924 U.S. Olympic rugby team 2012 Won the gold medal.
Patty Jervey 2014 Played in five Women's World Cups.

U.S. Rugby Hall of Fame

The following have been inducted into the U.S. Rugby Hall of Fame:

Inductee Year
Inducted 		Accomplishments
1920 U.S. Olympic rugby team 2011 Won the 1920 Olympic gold medal.
1924 U.S. Olympic rugby team 2011 Won the 1924 Olympic gold medal.
Patrick Vincent 2011 Co-founder of USA Rugby (1975). Governor of the U.S. Union (1975–1977).
Dennis Storer 2011 First Head Coach of the U.S. national team (1976).
Keith Seaber 2011 Served for 15 years on the U.S. Union's Board of Directors.
Managed the first Eagles team in 1976.
Miles "Doc" Hudson 2011 Head coach of the Cal Golden Bears for 36 seasons (1938–1974);
339 wins, 84 losses and 23 ties; ‘winningest’ coach in US college rugby.
Kevin Higgins 2012 Played in 28 test matches for the Eagles and was captain in three.
Played for the United States in the 1987 and 1991 Rugby World Cups.
Robinson Bordley 2012 Captained the United States in the first two tests they played in the 1970s.
Harry Langenberg 2012 Co-founded the Missouri Rugby Football Union in 1933; Secretary from 1933–1983.
Ed Lee 2012 Founding member of the USA Rugby Football Union (USA Rugby).
Colby "Babe" Slater 2012 Captain of the 1924 U.S. team than won Olympic gold.
Craig Sweeney 2012 Played in the first four tests for the United States Eagles.
Captained the team in the third and fourth tests.
Victor Hilarov 2013 Founding member and first President of U.S. Rugby Football Union (USA Rugby) in 1975.
Ray Cornbill 2013 Head coach for the USA Eagles for eight test matches during the 1970 and 1980s.
Edward Hagerty 2013 Editor in Chief of Rugby Magazine from 1977 to 2009.
Ian Nixon 2013 USARFU's 6th president from 1991–1995. Refereed several test matches.
Jon Prusmack 2013 Founded Rugby Magazine (originally known as Scrumdown) in 1968.
Purchased the USA Sevens tournament in 2005.
Created the Collegiate Rugby Championship in 2010 in partnership with NBC.
Dick Smith 2013 Founding member and Director of the U.S. Rugby Football Union (USA Rugby) in 1975.

Coaching

USA Rugby oversees the coaching of the game. USA Rugby requires coaches to register and complete a certification course.

Geographical Unions

USA Rugby organizes registered rugby teams into twelve Geographical Unions. Each of these GU's are split in turn into Local Area Unions and State Based Rugby Organizations.[5]

The current Geographical Unions are:

The following contiguous states are not currently covered by a geographic union:

Past leaders

Elected Governance history

Election Date President Vice-President Treasurer Secretary
June 1975 Victor Hilarov Richard Moneymaker Gail Tennant Edmond Lee
June 1977 Victor Hilarov Richard Moneymaker Gail Tennant Edmond Lee
June 1979 Richard Moneymaker Fritz Grunebaum David Chambers Vacant
June 1981 David Chambers Fritz Grunebaum Joe Reagan Keith Seaber
June 1983 Robert Watkins Keith Seaber Terry Fleener Robert Jones
June 1985[39] Robert Watkins Keith Seaber Terry Fleener Tom Selfridge (resigned summer of 86, and not replaced)[40]
June 1987[41] Terry Fleener Bill McEnteer Edward Kane Dick Elliot (replaced by Ian Nixon by Dec 87[42])
June 1989 Robert Watkins W.T. Haffner Brad Sharp Ian Nixon
June 1991 Ian Nixon W.T. Haffner Bill Podewils Gene Roberts
November 1992[43] Ian Nixon Randy Stainer Anne Barry W.T. Haffner (resigned June 94; replaced by Jami Jordan)
November 1994[44] John D’Amico Randy Stainer Anne Barry Jami Jordan

In June 87, the position of Chairman of the Board was added to the Executive Committee, and Bob Watkins was named to that position.[41] Effective June 89, that position was retitled Post of Past President, and remained an appointed post until the position was dropped in 1996.

Effective January 1996, an Executive Vice President was added.

Election Date President Executive Vice-President Vice-President Treasurer Secretary
January 1996[45] Gene Roberts Tony Skillbeck Neal Brendel Anne Barry Reyn Kinzey
January 1998[46] Anne Barry Neal Brendel Tristan Lewis Barbara Fugate Pat O’Connor

Effective March 2000, the Vice President was replaced with Athlete Vice President.

Election Date President Executive Vice-President Athlete Vice-President Treasurer Secretary
March 2000[47] Anne Barry Neal Brendel Mary Dixey Fred Roedel III Pat O’Connor
March 2002[48] Neal Brendel Robert Latham Jen Crawford Fred Roedel III Pat O’Connor

Effective April 2004, the President title was replace with Chairman, and an USARRA Representative was added.

Election Date Chairman Vice Chairman Athlete Vice Chairman Treasurer Secretary USARRA Rep
April 2004[49] Neal Brendel Robert Latham Don James Fred Roedel III David Pelton Buzz McClain
March 2006[50] Robert Latham Frank Merrill Alex Magelby Thomas Schmidt David Pelton John McConnell

Effective July 14, 2006 the Governance was changed to a Model with a Board of Directors nominated and approved by a Congress.[51]

National Office

The governing body of USA Rugby established a national office, and opened it on June 3, 1988.[52] The office has been headed by:

Name Title Start Date End Date
Kirk Miles Executive Director May 2, 1988[52] December 20, 1989[53]
Roger Neppl Executive Director May 1, 1995[54] September 6, 1995[55]
Paul Montville Executive Director November 24, 1997[56] April 1999[57]
Terry Fleener Interim Director April 1999[58] June 21, 1999
Mark Rudolph Executive Director June 21, 1999[59] November 9, 2001
Dean Hahn November 9, 2001
Doug Arnot CEO December 1, 2002[60] July 14, 2006[61]
Steve Griffiths
Nigel Melville CEO and President of Rugby Operations October 11, 2006 June 30, 2016[62]
Dan Payne CEO August 1, 2016[63]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 USA Rugby, 2010 Audited Financial Statements, http://www.usarugby.org/#cc=[Application]\\Structure\\Content\\Brand%20Resource%20Center\\Content\\Home\\20907F3F-1296-66EA-DD8E-5E2AF35B49C0\\21D94194-12C3-6D38-DF2C-6844DCDD2CBETemplate:View:EditLiveContentTemplate:Tab:View
  2. ↑ USA Rugby Football Union, Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2010
  3. ↑ USA Rugby, 2010-2011 Membership Data, http://www.usarugby.org/#cc%3D%5BApplication%5D%5C%5CStructure%5C%5CContent%5C%5CBrand%20Resource%20Center%5C%5CContent%5C%5CHome%5C%5C20907F3F-1296-B111-B8B9-B9B5BDF7BA96%5C%5C23181D59-1321-B9FB-311E-BB2647C1C2BF%7B%7BTab%3AView%7D%7D
  4. ↑ USA Rugby by the numbers, USArugby.org. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  5. 1 2 "USA Club Rugby: Geographical Unions". http://usarugby.org/. Retrieved 2014-03-04. External link in |publisher= (help)
  6. ↑ Universal Sports, USA Rugby named Olympic Sport member of USOC, September 27, 2010, http://www.universalsports.com/news-blogs/article/newsid=493882.html
  7. ↑ IRB Awards, Thierry Dusautoir IRB Player of the Year, October 24, 2011, http://www.irb.com/history/awards/newsid=2060050.html
  8. ↑ http://usarugby.org/womens-sevens-news/item/it-s-us-the-2018-rugby-world-cup-sevens-are-coming-to-the-usa
  9. ↑ USA Rugby, Governance, http://www.usarugby.org/#cc%3D%5BApplication%5D%5C%5CStructure%5C%5CContent%5C%5CBrand%20Resource%20Center%5C%5CContent%5C%5CHome%5C%5C20907F3F-1296-66EA-DD8E-5E2AF35B49C0%5C%5C20907F3F-129C-3DB7-096D-04AA3AB59358%5C%5C21D94194-12C0-DA0C-DDAD-B69389F24FC0%7B%7BTab%3AView%7D%7D
  10. ↑ USA Rugby, Governance, http://www.usarugby.org/#cc%3D%5BApplication%5D%5C%5CStructure%5C%5CContent%5C%5CBrand%20Resource%20Center%5C%5CContent%5C%5CHome%5C%5C20907F3F-1296-66EA-DD8E-5E2AF35B49C0%5C%5C20907F3F-129C-3DB7-096D-04AA3AB59358%5C%5C21D941C5-129D-B952-AD38-12D51E99120E%7B%7BTab%3AView%7D%7D
  11. ↑ Guardian, Nigel Melville on his American challenge, October 12, 2006, http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2006/oct/13/rugbyunion.comment
  12. ↑ USA Rugby, Men's National Teams, http://www.usarugby.org/#cc=[Application]\\Structure\\Content\\Brand%20Resource%20Center\\Content\\Home\\20907F3F-1296-67BD-B97F-842B448A46E7\\23181D59-134B-5319-F060-CE40C1E783BA\\20907F3F-129A-9F7E-0EE8-58746527276FTemplate:View:EditLiveContentTemplate:Tab:View
  13. ↑ International Rugby Board
  14. ↑ Gainline.us, IRB vote propels american to top committee, December 14, 2011, http://www.gainline.us/gainline/2011/12/irb-vote-propels-american-to-top-committee.html
  15. ↑ http://www.irb.com/unions/union=11000012/index.html
  16. ↑ US Rugby 2012 Form 990
  17. ↑ USA Rugby Financial Statements, http://usarugby.org/about-usarugby/financial-statements
  18. ↑ USA Rugby 2014 Audited Financial Statements
  19. ↑ Welsh Rugby 2014 Annual Report
  20. ↑ Scottish Rugby, 2014 Annual Report
  21. ↑ USA Rugby 2013 Audited Financial Statements
  22. ↑ USA Rugby 2012 Audited Financial Statements
  23. 1 2 Scottish Rugby Annual Report 2011/12.
  24. ↑ USA Rugby 2011 Financial Statements
  25. ↑ Scottish Rugby 2011 Annual Report
  26. ↑ http://usarugby.org/documentation/about/financials/2010_Audited_Financial_Statements.pdf
  27. ↑ Scottish Rugby, 2009-10 Annual Report
  28. ↑ USA Rugby 2009 Financial Statements
  29. ↑ USA Rugby 2008 Financial Statements
  30. ↑ USA Rugby 2007 Financial Statements
  31. ↑ USA Rugby 2006 and 2007 Financial Statements
  32. ↑ USA Rugby, 2014 Financial Statements. Accessed October 18, 2015.
  33. ↑ "USA to launch six-team rugby union competition in 2016", Fox Sports, November 9, 2015.
  34. ↑ U.S. Rugby Super League, About RSL, http://www.premier-rugby.com/page/show/468964-about-rsl
  35. ↑ U.S. Rugby Super League, History, http://www.premier-rugby.com/page/show/468962-history
  36. ↑ https://www.usarugby.org/club-competitions/?Lh0TBFQlsuqcTVlb.99
  37. ↑ Philly.com, PPL Park to host rugby college championships, November 10, 2010, http://articles.philly.com/2010-11-10/sports/24952526_1_sevens-rugby-top-priority-2-day-event
  38. ↑ http://usarugby.org/state-rugby-organizations
  39. ↑ Rugby Magazine Vol 12; No. July 5, 1986
  40. ↑ Rugby Magazine Vol 13, No. March 2, 1987 and March 87 issue of The Eagle (USARFU publication)
  41. 1 2 Rugby Magazine Vol 13; No July 5/August 1986
  42. ↑ December 87 issue of The Eagle (USARFU publication)
  43. ↑ November 92 AGM Rugby Magazine Vol 18, No. 11; 21 Dec 92
  44. ↑ AGM 11 – 13 Nov 94; Colorado Springs, CO as reported in Rugby Magazine Vol 20, No 11; 19 Dec 94
  45. ↑ AGM 6 Jan 96 in Atlanta GA as reported in Rugby Magazine Vol 22, No. 1; Feb 96
  46. ↑ 17 Jan 88 AGM at Atlanta, GA as reported in Rugby Magazine Vol. 24 No. 1; 30 Jan 98
  47. ↑ March 3–5, 2000 Board meeting reported by Rugby Magazine Vol. 26. No.4; April 28, 2000
  48. ↑ USA Rugby Official Minutes from March 1–2, 2002 AGM at New Orleans, LA
  49. ↑ USA Rugby Official Minutes from April 2–3, 2004 meeting in Philadelphia, PA
  50. ↑ USA Rugby Official Minutes from March 3–4 April 2–3, 2006 meeting in
  51. ↑ Official Minutes USA Rugby Board Meeting July 14, 2006
  52. 1 2 Rugby Magazine Vol 14; No. 4 April 88
  53. ↑ Rugby magazine Vol 16. No. 1; 22 Jan 90
  54. ↑ Rugby Union Magazine Vol 3 no. 3; July/Aug 95
  55. ↑ Rugby Magazine Vol. 21 no. 8; 18 Sep 95
  56. ↑ USA Rugby Touchline - Vol 6, Iss 1 Spring 98
  57. ↑ USA Rugby Touchline - Vol 7, Iss 3, Spring 99
  58. ↑ Rugby Magazine Vol. 25, No. 3; 15 April 99
  59. ↑ Rugby magazine Vol. 25; No. 6; 17 July 99
  60. ↑ Rugby Magazine - Vol 28, No. 11; December 2002
  61. ↑ Red Terror, Doug Arnot to Step Down as CEO of USA Rugby, April 16, 2006, http://redterror.blogspot.com/2007/03/doug-arnot-to-step-down-as-ceo-of-usa.html
  62. ↑ http://www.usarugby.org/2016/04/nigel-melville-to-step-down-as-ceo-of-usa-rugby-rugby-international-marketing
  63. ↑ http://www.usarugby.org/2016/07/usa-rugby-selects-dan-payne-to-become-new-chief-executive-officer
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