| Sport | Rugby union |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1975 |
| IRB affiliation | 1987 |
| President | Nigel Melville |
| Official website | www.usarugby.org |
USA Rugby is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. It is divided into seven territorial Unions: Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Northeast, Pacific Coast, Southern California, South, and West. The headquarters for USA Rugby are now located in Boulder, Colorado.
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 the NCAA has also planned to sponsor women's rugby starting in the 2010–11 academic year. Rugby Super League is organized and sanctioned by USA Rugby as the Premier Level of Men's Club competition in the USA.
Former England captain and scrum-half Nigel Melville was appointed CEO and President of Operations on October 11, 2006.
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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:
There has been some discussion about splitting the Northeast Rugby Union (NRU) into two separate territorial unions, with the local area union, NERFU, becoming a new territorial union known as USA Rugby New England. Under this plan, the surviving LAUs within NRU (MetNY and NYSRU) would form a separate territorial union, as USA Rugby New York.
This makes a great deal of sense for LAU NERFU, as it boasts a greater membership than most territorial unions, especially in terms of college and women's rugby. This adjustment might also help to address a perceived antipathy toward New England rugby. On the other hand, it remains to be seen whether NERFU possesses the managerial strength necessary to thrive as a territorial union.
The USA Men's National Team, nicknamed the Eagles, won the Gold Medal in Olympic rugby in 1920 and 1924. After that time, rugby in the US stagnated while continuing to grow in other parts of the world; only recently has rugby started to become popular again in the US.
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 USA. In 1975 four territorial organizations (Pacific Coast, West, Midwest and East) gathered in Chicago, Illinois to form the United States of America Rugby Football Union (now known as USA Rugby).
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 it for 2004-6. The Home Depot Center in Carson, California, was the venue for the initial USA Sevens tournament. In the summer of 2006, the tournament was moved to Petco Park in San Diego. In 2010 and 2011, the tournament was held in Las Vegas at Sam Boyd Stadium.
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.
The rich history spanning 135 years of American rugby has been compiled in the documentary, A Giant Awakens: the Rise of American Rugby.
The 2011 USA Sevens Collegiate Rugby Championship was held on 4–5 June at PPL Park, Chester, Pennsylvania.[2]
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