FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Statement on Unsanctioned Rugby Events

Tuesday, August 4th

Rugby Pennsylvania is aware of the full-contact, boys High School 7’s tournament planned for this weekend in Pennsylvania, and we have been in communication with the tournament’s organizers for more than a month.  This event is NOT sanctioned by Rugby Pennsylvania or USA Rugby.  Rugby PA strongly recommends that parents, players, coaches and match officials should NOT participate in any full-contact rugby activities within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania at this time.  Rugby Pennsylvania considers the holding of this event to be reckless and contrary to our core mission in protecting the safety of the young athletes we serve.

The tournament organizers have been repeatedly notified by Rugby PA that their planned tournament is in open non-compliance with all of the policies and directives of the international, national, and state governing body for the sport of rugby in the place where it is being held.  They have nevertheless insisted that they will proceed with holding the tournament.

In addition to the profound safety issues implicated by the behavior of the tournament organizers, this course of action has several, deeply-troubling, practical effects that the rugby-playing public should be aware of:

• There will be no CIPP insurance coverage for the unsanctioned tournament.  The organizers claim to have purchased some form of insurance policy, but the terms of that policy - and what and who it covers - remain unclear.

• Coaches and Referees will have no protection from personal liability under the USA Rugby CIPP waiver system.  As explained below, the waiver form being circulated by the tournament organizers is a lazy reproduction of the USA Rugby waiver form and is rife with confusing, misleading, and erroneous language.

• No verifiable steps have been taken to assure that the participating players are eligible to compete in the age groups described and there is no enforcement mechanism available if ineligible players do compete.

• Rugby PA cannot say that any adult present for this tournament - including coaches or referees - have been subjected to any form of criminal or child abuse background checks.

• There can be no assurance to parents that the coaches and referees who are supervising the child participants have any sort of training or expertise in the sport of rugby or in the safe and positive coaching of children - much less any accreditation by a third party. 

• There is no disciplinary mechanism in place to enforce sanctions against athletes who commit foul play, or coaches or spectators who commit referee abuse, during the unsanctioned tournament.

• Should the tournament actually occur, Rugby Pennsylvania will undertake an evaluation of whether participation by accredited coaches in this particular unsanctioned tournament is a violation of the Rugby PA Coaches Code of Conduct giving rise to disciplinary action, as well as making disciplinary referrals to the home state rugby organization or union of any USA Rugby -accredited coach who participates.

The waiver materials drafted by the tournament’s organizers are also misleading because they suggest a connection to, or sanctioning by, Rugby PA and USA Rugby which does not exist.  

• The waiver form, which appears to have already been circulated by the host club, are nothing more than a reproduction of the waiver form used by USA Rugby with several hamfisted edits.  

• Despite making several other edits to the document, the tournament organizers inexplicably kept certain references in that document which require each player to be a member in good standing in USA Rugby’s CIPP Program and also a member of Rugby PA.

• The waiver documents were not reviewed by Rugby PA, are not authorized by Rugby PA, and are, in fact, contrary to Rugby PA’s policy regarding rugby activities during the Covid-19 pandemic.  

• Rugby PA has demanded, in writing, that the organizers cease and desist from the use of the forms as-circulated and provide a copy of this release to each and every person who received the original form.

Rugby is emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic in stages promulgated by USA Rugby described in the graphic below.  Rugby PA remains at Stage Three and announced yesterday plans to move to Stage 4 on August 17, 2020 - the same day that PIAA sports will resume practices prior to the fall interscholastic season.  

It is our sincere hope that we will return to Stage Five so that we can play rugby this Fall. Rugby PA encourages all teams to follow the current guidelines, and adhere to the recommendations from World Rugby, USA Rugby, and government officials. Failure to comply with the return to play guidelines may result in the cancellation of the 2020 Fall Season.

For media inquiries, contact:

Dylan Hamilton

Executive Director, Rugby Pennsylvania

(267) 614-2629

DHamilton@RugbyPA.org