Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union
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The Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union (MARFU) is an association of youth, high school, collegiate, and adult men's and women's rugby teams in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States.
The Mid Atlantic Rugby Football Union was incorporated on August 10, 1994 in the State of Delaware and comprises three of the Local Area Unions who were formerly members of USA Rugby East (a/k/a the Eastern Rugby Union); Eastern Pennsylvania (EPRU), Potomac (PRU) and Virginia (VRU). The states which comprise MARFU are: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Membership figures are the highest in the nation in terms of the number of players in a Territorial Union. Approx 6,800 players belong to approximately 180 rugby clubs.
Depending on age bracket, division and gender, MARFU holds playoffs and leagues leading to USA Rugby National Championships.
Currently collegiate men and women's teams participate in DI and DII playoff competitions to choose representatives the National Collegiate Championships during the spring season. The number of seeds from each LAU varies from year to year, as does the number of seeds MARFU receives at the National Collegiate Championships. Though the spring season determines placement for NCC playoffs, most DI and DII collegiate teams, both men and women, play fall seasons as well. As they are not matrix matches towards playoff qualification, many collegiate clubs choose to play their out-of-league matches (mainly between VRU and PRU clubs) during the fall season.
DIII and DIV teams have recently played ad hoc "national championships" against the LAU winners from Northeast Rugby Union and Midwest Rugby Union. However, these contests are unofficial and not endorsed as national championship events by USA Rugby.
Senior women's DI and DII both play league matches during the fall season, leading up to the official DI national championship and current unofficial DII national championship. Currently DI teams play a matrix season to determine national playoff seedings but do not hold a separate playoff weekend. DII teams play a regional, non LAU based, matrix season before holding MARFU DII playoffs.
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