True South Members, 

After the 2022 AGM, the general consensus of our members was that hybrid meetings are in the best interest of our union. Therefore the Mid Year Meeting on August 20, 2022 and all subsequent union meetings, until further notice, shall be hybrid. We encourage all club representatives to consider attending in person to facilitate conversation, networking, and camaraderie. However, virtual attendance is a resource-effective alternative. The meeting will run from 9am-1pm Central time with the in-person venue at Father Ryan HS in Nashville TN. There are coach and referee courses on the same day in the same location. Send a group from your club and make a weekend of it in Nashville! 

Zoom information will be sent out closer to the meeting date. See also the Facebook event at: https://fb.me/e/eNda6Hv5R. As always, meeting documents and minutes can be found on the administration tab once they are available.

Here is a preview of the agenda:

• The 22-23 Competitions season!
• Volunteer committee opportunities
• New and probationary member applications
• USA Rugby Registration for 22-23 (these expire on September 1, so be ready!!)
• Other riveting business 

Come prepared for lively banter, friendship, and … Rugby!!!

It’s feeling like summer in the True South! Here’s the list of the 2022 sevens tournaments in our union.:

06/11/22 – Redfish 7s – Baton Rouge, LA
06/18/22 – Music City 7s – Nashville, TN
06/25/22 – Vulcan 7s – Birmingham, AL
07/09/22 – Tennessee 7s – Knoxville, TN
07/09/22 – Luau 7s – Mobile, AL
07/16/22 – Rocket City 7s – Huntsville, AL
07/30/22 – Pitch-A-Tent 7s – Chattanooga, TN
08/06/22 – Elvis 7s – Memphis, TN
08/20/22 – Hurricane 7s – Panama City Beach, FL

April 9th & 10th in Knoxville, TN

Congratulations to the 2022 True South semi-finalists!

The Knoxville Rugby Clubs and Tennessee Rugby Park look forward to welcoming the union semi-finalists to East Tennessee. All travel and match details can be found on the Union Championship page under Competitions.

The schedule can be accessed on the page. Team names will be filled in after the final round of matrix matches are played.

September 18 & 19, 2021
Rick Cooper Memorial Park
Huntsville, Alabama

The True South Union is pleased to provide a weekend of development across the game. This includes a player camp for any women’s team player that will run Saturday and Sunday. There will also be an administration/recruiting workshop and referee course Saturday morning before the camp. The courses are open to anyone that’s interested. RSVP to the Facebook Event.

WOMEN’S PLAYER CAMP – Registration Link
The player camp will focus on skills, general play, continuity with positional breakout sessions that culminate in scrimmages on Sunday. Players from any women’s team are welcome. Times are Saturday 12p-6p (Check-in 12p) and Sunday 9a-11a.

CAMP COACHES

• Martha Daines, USA Rugby Women’s High Performance Pathways Manager
• Joel Bonnaud, USA Rugby Women’s U20 Head Coach
• Lisa Jackson, USA Rugby Eagle Scout and Women’s National Pool Player

ADMINISTRATION COURSE – Registration Link
This course covers governance, finance, membership, and marketing with an emphasis on recruiting. The goal is for each participant to “walk away” with a plan of action in each area. Course runs Saturday morning, 8a-12p.

Instructed by Alex Sharland, Educator

REFEREE COURSE – Registration forthcoming
This L1 Referee certification course runs before and alongside the player camp with practical refereeing sessions on Sunday morning. Times are Saturday 8a-12p and Sunday 9a-11a. 

Instructed by Erin McCroskey, Educator

COACH DEVELOPMENT – Email regina.durkan@gmail.com
There’s also an opportunity for any coach that’s interested to get hands-on experience through the player camp. This includes a program overview and involvement with the camp coaches before and during the camp. Please email regina.durkan@gmail.com to be added.

HOTEL GROUP RATE
Fairfield Inn, Huntsville
1385 Enterprise Way, Huntsville, Alabama 35806
Phone: 256-971-0921 Fax: 256-971-2072

RESERVATIONS

• Group Name: Women’s Rugby Training Conference
• Individual book and pay. Guests may call the hotel directly at 256-971-0921
• Cut-off date: 9/10/21

https://truesouthrugby.com/36096-2/

To the True South GU clubs and their members: As many of you may have now heard, USA Rugby has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy which is a type of bankruptcy for an organization to restructure both itself and its debt. Between that and the COVID-19 pandemic our sport is dealing with an unprecedented situation. The True South board wants you to know that we are engaged with the restructuring efforts and devising a strategy with other unions to bring back competitions. With regard to USAR, our Women’s Director Michele Yarbrough is one of four USAR Congress members that have been asked to work with their Board of Directors and has been actively working to create a path forward with World Rugby and USAR. Mike Millikan has been handling the extensive communications between other GU’s and the task force that has been put together. I’m monitoring the potential competitions format and timing for the Southern Conference which includes Florida, Carolina’s and Georgia. I would not expect to see any competitive 7’s competition this summer and the union is not endorsing any social 7’s tournaments. I can say that our finances are secure and sufficient to get through this. USAR does not owe us any money, nor do we owe them any. CIPP registration and the insurance that goes with it are critical parts of the ongoing discussions. It may be that the union or conference will have to take that on internally, it’s simply not clear at this point. I have had conversations with both referee societies to gauge their concerns. Referee certification is part of what USAR handles meaning World Rugby provides the guidelines and class courses while USAR deals with the logistics. This is a bit of a sticking point as World Rugby will not act with anything less than a national governing body so our union and our conference will not have any say in this. It is important for each of you to know that as long as there is a national stop in place for playing rugby due to COVID 19 – if you play or practice during this time – your CIPP insurance will not cover you. If we reach a point where the stop is lifted and the National Governing Body is still in Chapter 11 we will provide further guidance on the CIPP insurance at that time. I expect to have more clarity with all these issues by the end of April and the board will continue to monitor the situation and provide our membership with hopeful outcomes. In the meantime, let’s look after each other, stay in touch and help our community where we can.

From Randall Johnson: MSRRS Chair:

As we are all aware, USA Rugby has filed for Chapter 11 and as such there are many unresolved questions that will hopefully be answered in short order. This letter is to state the MidSouth RRS position on USA Rugby’s circumstances as well as address the COVID situation. MidSouth RRS’s position on the COIVD situation is very simple: We will follow all mandates from the various federal, state and local governments. Once group sporting events resume, MidSouth will provide referees to member rugby organizations within our purview. In regards to the USA Rugby situation; MidSouth RRS had prepared in advance for the possibility of rugby without USA Rugby and with a gracious grant from True South Geographical Union, took steps to insure our full time referees through the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO). Understanding the uncertainty surrounding CIPP coverage, the NASO option was the most prudent path to allow uninterrupted referee coverage for our constituents. What this means for your organizations is that referee coverage for all matches will be uninterrupted once rugby is allowed to resume regardless of USA Rugby’s situation. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns. — Randall Johnson

True South Member Teams,

From Peter Steyn:

To the member clubs of the True South GU: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the board has made a decision to suspend any matches that fall under our jurisdiction until further notice. The referee societies have been notified and there will be no sanctioned matches for the foreseeable future. The True South finals in New Orleans will remain on hold also, as well as the conference finals set for Knoxville this May pending further information. We take this action in response and concern for the safety of our players and fans. The competitions committee will be considering what we can do for our finals this April in conjunction with the host club and state or federal guidelines. This is an unprecedented situation that we have never seen before in our sport so the board asks that clubs and their members take necessary precautions to remain safe and bear with us as we move forward in this difficult time.

Peter Steyn, President, True South GU

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USA RUGBY SUSPENDS SANCTIONED COMPETITION AND ACTIVITIES FOR 30 DAYS; SPRING COLLEGE CHAMPIONSHIPS (XV & 7s) CANCELED

Dear Members,

USA Rugby today announced the decision to suspend sanctioned rugby competition and activities for a 30-day period effective immediately. With the threat of Coronavirus (COVID-19) escalating day by day, the need for suspended activities was a complicated but necessary resolution. The 2020 USA Rugby Spring College Championships and College 7s National Championship have also been canceled due to precautionary measures within the union and a growing number of colleges and universities. 

USA Rugby CEO, Ross Young: “It’s been an extraordinary period of time around the globe, whereby the rugby community is of course affected. While we evaluated as best we could to keep competitions intact, the situation has risen to a point where precautionary measures take precedence and is in the best interest of not only our members, but the general public.”

Effective immediately, USA Rugby adamantly encourages all members to suspend competition and rugby activities for the next 30 days to ensure the health and safety of themselves and those around them. The USA Rugby Medical Committee will continue to monitor the condition of COVID-19 and provide further instruction before the end of this period on April 12, 2020. Playoffs, qualifiers and eventual championship events for USA Rugby Spring College XVs and 7s will not occur in 2020. 

While regional and national Senior Club competition is included in the immediate suspension, the 2020 Club XV and Club 7s Championships will remain under review. With a differing competition calendar to the scholastic game, the state of those events will be determined at the end of the 30-day period. 

Through the provisional period, members are encouraged to stay tuned with USA Rugby communication channels and social media for live updates and information on the situation.

Thank you for your continued understanding and patience during this complicated time; please remember to follow the guidance of health officials in your every day operations and we look forward to taking the pitch again soon. 

Sincerely, 
USA Rugby 

Semifinals D3 Men

Memphis 61 Huntsville 26 Pensacola 36 Clarksville 8

Semifinals D2 Women

Knoxville 55 Memphis 0 Nashville 35 Louisiana 33

Semifinals D2 Men

Nashville 31 Birmingham 22 New Orleans 29 Chattanooga 27

Finals

Pensacola 33 Memphis 19

Knoxville 39 Nashville 17

New Orleans 52 Nashville 17

All the current information for the True South Championships can be found on the Competitions – True South Championships page

The South 15’s Championships location will be in Savannah, GA. Daffin Park on May 4th and 5th. Please contact Minchul Cho, minchul.cho@gmail.com if you have any questions.