FRU Collegiate Men’s Report

As predicted, the restructuring of College Rugby in theUSAcaused much turmoil and confusion throughout theUSAand inFlorida.  I am glad to report that the 2012 conferences have been formed and the schedules have been finalized. 

 This report will start with a recap of 2011.

 Membership

2011 Competition Summary –
15s  National Competition

 D2-      TheUniversity ofSouth Florida went undefeated in the Florida Conference to earn the qualifying spot in the USA Rugby South Championship.  USF defeated MTSU 27-5 in the first round and beatEastCarolinaUniversity 29-11 to win the championship.  USF lost to Bentley in the round of 16.

D1      Florida defeated FSU in a close game to take the USARS conference Championship and qualify for the round of 16 inBowling Green, Oh.  UF Beat Maryland 56-10 in the first round, but lost toBowling Green 21-18. 

All American Program – Darrel Meckley (UF) was selected as a D1 All American.  He was also select to represent the South along with Justin Hill (USF) in the NASC.

 Collegiate Florida Cup

Three teams improved their play enough to qualify for the cup championship and eliminating regulars FSU and FSU.  FAU, FIU UCF FAU lost a hard fought game to UF while UCF showed their dominance over FIU.  FAU beat FIU on Sunday to earn the Plate championship while UF defeated UCF to win the Cup for the third consecutive time.  (Need Scores)

2011 Collegiate Sevens

FGCU hosted the first Florida Collegiate 7s Tournament in September.  In the interest of helping the numbers, students of Edison community college (CIPPed withNaples) were allowed to enter and wound up beating USF in the final.  Congratulations to startup Club FGCU for hosting this event.

This tournament was a tune up for the D1 clubs playing in National 7s qualifiers.  Although theFloridateams did not win their tournaments, FSU and UF were invited to the first USA Rugby Collegiate 7s National Championship.  Although both teams played well in most games, they were eliminated of Shield championship in the first round.  Kudos to both clubs meet the challenge and travel to Texas A&M on the weekend of finals.

 Coaching Workshop

UF hosted Level 1 and Level 2 Coaching Workshops in August that was attended by 29 coaches.   To encourage the collegiate coaches, FRU reimbursed the registration fees for one coach per collegiate club (Men and Women).  UF plans to host another workshop in August. 

 2012 USA Rugby Collegiate Program Restructuring

 Per USA Rugby Guidelines, USF, FIU, UCF, FAU, UF and FSU had to join a D1 Collegiate Conference in order to compete towards a national championship.  Each conference independent of the LAU/TU structure that exists today.  You will see on the Membership summary what conferences the clubs now belong to. 

The biggest challenge to this change in format was sorting out referee commitments.  In order for the College clubs to have full access to the FRRA referees, we came to the following agreement:

1. The collegiate clubs would honor the commitment to pay the full dues to FRU through the end of 2011.
2. These clubs would become LAU members of the FRU starting Jan 2012.
3. The only services provided by the FRU would be referee services (FRRA) and possibly a fall Florida Cup Competition (to be discussed today)
4. The LAU dues (currently $250) would be reviewed and adjusted as needed to ensure that the referees costs are covered.

 It turned out, none of the colleges were fully aware of what was owed to the FRU for 2012.  There was much confusion when the fall invoices acme out. Although extremely painful in some cases, Lisa O’Donnell was able to sort it out get the payments form all of the colleges.  Be aware that these clubs also had  to pay dues to their conferences (Fall- Spring).

 As it stands now, FRU has 4 College clubs that are full members: UM, FGCU, Eckerd and UNF.  We were able to form a D3 Florida Conference that will send a qualifier to the South D3 Championship March 10.  This is the pathway to the NSCRO National Championship. 

 Below are the web sites for each of the conferences the Florida Collegiate clubs belong to
http://www.usarugbysouth.com/championships/collegiate-championships/
http://www.varsityrugby.com/scrc/default.html
http://sirugby.com/

What’s in store for 2012?

Only time will tell how effective the college conference structure will work.  At the D1 level, it does look promising.  Extending it to D2 and D3 could present extra challenges.

 You will see more emphasis on Collegiate 7s rugby in the fall.  The national championship will probably move into November.  SIRC and SCRC will hold their qualifiers in early fall.  I would recommend that someone inFloridahost a tournament a few weeks earlier.

 Last but not least, The University of Florida has been invited to participate in the 3^rd USA Sevens Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC) June 2 & 3 inPhiladelphia.  This will be televised live by NBC and their affiliates.  If you think you will attend or want to supportFlorida, buy your tickets here:
http://usasevenscrc.com/tickets/florida

 It’s been a challenging year, but FRU Collegiate Rugby has represented well in theUS.  I’m looking forward to seeing the successes of these clubs in the future.

 Respectfully submitted
Ken Simmons
FRU Collegiate Director
239-410-3032
nrfcken@cox.net