From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia USA Rugby
USA Rugby
USA Rugby
Territorial Unions
USA Rugby organizes registered rugby teams into seven
territorial unions, each of which is split in turn into Local
Area Unions. The current Territorial Unions are:
• Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union
• Midwest Rugby Football Union
• Northeast Rugby Union [2]
• Pacific Coast Rugby Football Union[1]
• Southern California Rugby Football Union
• USA Rugby South
Sport Rugby union
• Western Rugby Football Union
Founded 1975
There has been some discussion about splitting the
IRB affiliation 1987
Northeast Rugby Union (NRU) into two separate territor-
President Nigel Melville ial unions, with the local area union, NERFU, becoming a
new territorial union known as USA Rugby New England.
Official website www.usarugby.org Under this plan, the surviving LAUs within NRU (MetNY
and NYSRU) would form a separate territorial union, as
USA Rugby is the national governing body for the sport USA Rugby New York.
of rugby union in the United States. It is divided into sev- This makes a great deal of sense for LAU NERFU, as
en territorial Unions: Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Northeast, it boasts a greater membership than most territorial
Pacific Coast, Southern California, South, and West. The unions, especially in terms of college and women’s rugby.
headquarters for USA Rugby are now located in Boulder, This adjustment might also help to address a perceived
Colorado. antipathy toward New England rugby. On the other hand,
USA Rugby administers all United States national it remains to be seen whether NERFU possesses the man-
teams: senior men’s and women’s teams, sevens teams agerial strength necessary to thrive as a territorial union.
for both men and women, and under-20 national teams
for both sexes. The organization also sponsors college
rugby for both sexes, although the NCAA has also History
planned to sponsor women’s rugby starting in the The USA Men’s National Team, nicknamed the Eagles,
2010–11 academic year. Rugby Super League is organized won the Gold Medal in Olympic rugby in 1920 and 1924.
and sanctioned by USA Rugby as the Premier Level of After that time, rugby in the US stagnated while continu-
Men’s Club competition in the USA. ing to grow in other parts of the world; only recently has
Former England captain and scrum-half Nigel rugby started to become popular again in the US.
Melville was appointed CEO and President of Operations Beginning in the 1960s and continuing through the
on October 11, 2006. 1970s, the sport of rugby union enjoyed a renaissance in
the USA. This created the need for a national governing
Coaches body to represent the USA. In 1975 four territorial orga-
nizations (Pacific Coast, West, Midwest and East) gath-
• Eddie O’Sullivan is the current Men’s Head Coach. ered in Chicago, Illinois to form the United States of
• Matt Sherman is the current Men’s Back Coach. Matt America Rugby Football Union (now known as USA Rug-
also serves as a coach at ELITE Rugby Camp USA and by).
Stanford University. In 1993, the Southern California RFU, a local area
• Al Caravelli is the head coach of the men’s national union of the Pacific Coast RFU, applied to become a sepa-
sevens team. rate 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, South-
ern California, West, Midwest, South, Northeastern, and
Mid-Atlantic).
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia USA Rugby
USA Rugby lobbied for several years for a stop on
the IRB Sevens World Series and finally was awarded it
See also
for 2004-6. The Home Depot Center in Carson, California, • Rugby union in the United States
was the venue for the initial USA Sevens tournament. In • USA national rugby union team
the summer of 2006, the tournament was moved to Petco • United States national rugby union team (sevens)
Park in San Diego. In 2010 and 2011, the tournament was • Super Powers Cup
held in Las Vegas at Sam Boyd Stadium. • Churchill Cup
USA Rugby is a Founding Sports Partner of the Sports • College rugby
Museum of America, joining more than 50 other single- • A Giant Awakens: the Rise of American Rugby
sport Halls of Fame, national governing bodies, museums • Rugby World Cup 2011 Fixtures
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,
Footnotes
2008, the Sports Museum of America showcases USA Rug- [1] [1]
by in its Hall of Halls Gallery, in return for their support [2] "Chester to host collegiate rugby championship".
of the creation of the Nation’s first all-sports museum ex- Philadelphia Inquirer. November 10, 2010.
perience. http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/colleges/
The rich history spanning 135 years of American rug- 20101110_Chester_to_host_collegiate_rugby_championship.html.
by has been compiled in the documentary, A Giant Awak- Retrieved 2010-11-12.
ens: the Rise of American Rugby.
External links
Collegiate Rugby Champion- • Official site
ship
The 2011 USA Sevens Collegiate Rugby Championship
was held on 4–5 June at PPL Park, Chester, Pennsylva-
nia.[2]
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=USA_Rugby&oldid=472190540"
Categories:
• Rugby union governing bodies in the United States
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