Plans unveiled for Super League downsizing, promotion-relegation

USA Rugby plans to reduce the Super League by two while introducing a promotion-relegation mechanism with Division 1, persistent in the belief that more efficient club competition will drive international and commercial improvement.

The union also intends to return the all-star championship to a four-team, springtime format, a move that will advance the American game's recent movement toward the spring-summer season, and to expand the Division 1 title chase to 32 teams.

Sanctioned by the board of directors, the revised divisional format is to go into effect this fall, while changes affecting the Super League are subject to ratification. Promotion-relegation will be subject to 'minimum standards' and perhaps also a challenge match, according to an email bulletin sent to club administrators,

The report is the product of a two-year-long effort, kicked off by the arrival of the International Rugby Board's 2005 high performance grant, and largely follows known IRB views for shaping club rugby so as to nourish elite competition. In effect, lower divisions are to feed the Super League, which will funnel players for the ITT, the North American 4, and finally the Eagles. The union also hopes to address travel costs and improve the marketability of its championships.

The paper does not address the more numerous ranks of collegians, the All-Americans, or the struggling Under 20 team, and fails to provide any vision for the crossover athletes of whom chairman Kevn Roberts once spoke excitedly. Nor is there a a vision for the hundreds and thousands of volunteer club and regional administrators.

A high performance and a 'player pathway' plans are to be released 'under a separate cover,' and the union shortly expects to turn its attention to elite collegiate competition, according to a personal familiar with planning.

The championship revisions are sure to exercise America's so-called senior clubs, but ironically will not much impact the broad majority of its registered players, who are in college or high school. The report also will serve to support those who contend the Eagles's plummeting international ranking cannot be addressed until the club ranks 'professionalize'.

Separately, Eagle prop Mike MacDonald will captain Leeds Carnegie, of England's Division 1, in the coming season.

Comments

[lvrugger]

Great! It's about time we see a promotion/relegation system in the Super League. Too many weak teams at the bottom and maybe by cutting some of the travel costs, we will now see some DI Powerhouses step up to the plate and try their game at the Super League level.

Any move to get better competition for elite players is a positive step...

[Sharply]

How about a two year process that discovers promotion-relegation is the answer. Then they still can't detail how its going to happen.

Give a normal rugby guy, 10 minutes and a yellow pad and its done. What a crock this committee work is.

[committeeman]

Moving the NASC back to it's original calender slot directly after the main club season and reverting to the original four team format! How long did that take?

[here's what this means]

This solidifies the Spring as the main US club and college season.

Directly after the Spring season, the best players will be funneled into late Spring/Summer rep ball, first at a four team NASC regional level, leading to the NA4, then on to the Eagles' international season. The university players will go the summer AA route, with the best one's possibly going NA4, Churchill Cup, international.

For all intent the Fall has been designated a pre-season at best and social season at worst. It will not lead to any representative play or club/college championships. If some TUs want to use the Fall for qualification to the championship/representative season so be it.

This is both, back to the future, and a clear message of what the player and championship pathways are.

It also does away with the dis-functional TU rep teams. There will be no TU presidents EGO BOWL, which only about three TU's even cared about. A bad weekend of TU rugby has been swapped for a regional pathway competition. Let the TU start earning a living doing some real rugby administration and leave the rep rugby to those that know how.

[Dead Goat]

Sharply and committeeman,

The best systems are simple...what did you expect? Now its just up to the bitch and moaners to figure out what to gripe about next. The system sounds good.

[committeeman]

DG;

Simple, used previously, system. We agree, but why did these simple obvious recommendations take two years?

I'm just taking the piss. Its funny how these committees make a career out of the easiest of decisions. At this rate will have the same obvious recommendation for college rugby, in say what, 2011?

If Dan Payne wasn't on board, that club committee would still be in labor with this simple system. You gotta laugh.

[here's what this means]

One clear indication coming from this report is the reduction of elite teams, to numbers that more accurately reflect the quality and quantity of our players and teams.

The RSL reduction of two teams is not deep enough from a talent standpoint, but I assume the thought was to leave some teams in large geographic areas, which might make sense, although there is more than two teams worth of deadwood in the RSL. Or better said, not enough 'super players' for the team count.

The cut by half to only four regional teams from 7, 8 counting the combined services team makes more sense. We have about 100 or less players, in the right age bracket, with this type of elite potential and they should fit well into four, 25 player teams. This change should do away with the 30+yr old journeyman club player who gets selected to his TU team, because the they want to win a match in the NASC.

I hope this reality check trend continues. Just because you are in a competition called; super, premier, or all-star, it doesn't make it so.

[typical]

What does this mean?

"and to expand the Division 1 title chase to 32 teams."

Does this mean there will be a playoff bracket of 32 teams rather than 16? Where will the first round matches be played? lower seed, higher seed, nuetral location? How will the seeding be formatted? On the previous competitive regions? I am curious, if the is a round of 32 regional, how can I go about bidding on the right to host it?
Will the round of 16 weekend become the round of 32 weekend, Friday, Saturday, & Sunday?

[don't laugh]

hey, maybe one of those 32 team rugby festival in bum fart, USA.

all one big happy family, playing some rugger on a former garbage dump, in a hot, dry, howling wind with no stands.

don't laugh yet!

[typical]

never mind, I read the USA rugby explanation,

[Eric Pittelkau]

Kurt - the D1 title chase is still 32 teams, same as last year (8 teams from each of 4 CRs). The difference is that the "seeding round" or the final round of the CRx playoffs has been eliminated. This does two things at the same time - it removes a playoff game, specifically the one that is not a knockout game.

[wrt]

USA Rugby is running a picture of the Glendale park on its web site and the join is full. If you look close you can see the soccer nets. Nice pic, but slight of hand, nevertheless.

I watched the NA4 semi finals today on the tube and there wasn't 100 people in the whole venue. It was completely empty.

Mike Dunafon, of a different type of fame, comes out on the field at the end of the match with the mic and asked the players to give three cheers to the fans. The Canadian boys are looking at him like he's daft.

[typical]

The picture mentioned in Blackbaud Stadium, on Daniel's Island in Charleston, SC.

[SD Hitman]

Anybody have difficulty getting to mediazone? I keep getting the "IE cannot display the webpage" message. Tried to access just before AB/OZ match and couldn't get in.

Wondering if others had same problem.

Thanks,

[Elmer fan]

Elmer Fudd writes an article with Ron Laszewski, where they talk about "what effect the ELV's will have on the domestic game". COACHES Fudd and Laszewski, go on about an abundance of free kicks and the need for our teams to have free kick systems.

Only prob being, ah, those laws aren't part of the new ELV trials.

Funny stuff.

[RSL administrator]

There are many questions with promotion and relegation to and from the RSL. First, the RSL is a tremendous administrative and financial ask for any American club as American rugby is currently organized and financed. Over the 12-13 years that the RSL has been in existence, there have been many teams opt out due to the eligibility, financial, and administrative demands that are challenging for primarily volunteer organizations which are also either currently funded by fundraiser, gifts from alumni players, sponsorship, or sugar daddies. The list of great clubs, with great histories that come to mind that have left the RSL are: Aspen, Olympic Club, Life, KC Blues, Berkeley Old Blues (?). This list is not intended to be a complete list, but illustrates the quality of clubs that can't or have chosen not to compete in the RSL due to the demands mentioned above. Aspen and Berkeley Old Blues were multiple time national champions. So the process on who will be promoted and relegated is very important. Rugby followers will recall that Aspen had to pull out after the RSL season began (caught up in the changing RSL eligibility regs), throwing the competition into disarray for that season. What happens if a club is a one-season wonder and wins the Divison 1, gets into the RSL and can't pull it off in the above three areas (eligibility, finances, administration)? One upstart club that comes to mind is Glendale, who probably exceeded their wildest dreams in 2008 to reach the Division 1 finals. Yet, has been broadly reported that Glendale escaped eligibility snags this past season upon the intervention of USA Rugby; the same eligibility criteria that punished University of Nebraska in the same season. Additionally, Glendale did not field a "legal" side in any one of the three West RFU 7's qualification tournaments this Summer. The RSL has been amazingly devoid of eligibility issues and does not need any such problems in the future. A similar concern would arise regarding almost any Division 1 team on the financial side. So, while the concept of promotion and relegation seems an "of course it should occur" response, the selection process for promotion will be critical question to be answered. Second, the RSL was organized by clubs, who paid an entry fee into the competition, have paid annual dues to support and develop the competition, and have developed a product of value independent of USA Rugby's oversight (until recently). The current RSL Clubs would reasonably expect to be compensated for their years of investment by the clubs gaining entry. Such a concept needs to be addressed in the promotion process. Thirdly, the RSL was conceived under the premise that the strength of American rugby was with the Clubs; not some city-based, local area union-based, or territorial-based competition. Try to get a Club Old Boy to contribute to one of these other competition formats. While rugby will not move forward by Old Boy support alone, that has been the primary form of financial support for most of the RSL clubs. By this new report, USA Rugby is clearly stating that the RSL is its elite Club competition. If that is going to mean anything, USA Rugby has to step up and help fund this competition. Then promotion and relegation makes some sense and gives an up and coming club the opportunity to step in and compete. Until that financial commitment occurs, the concept of promotion and relegation creates issues of the integrity and viability of the RSL competition. The promotion concept, as presented by USA Rugby's recent report, is thus far, is silent on these issues and neeeds serious consideration for implementation.

[Sharply]

So the only bit of work, this two year in the making report offers, now looks to be in question.

Making it near worthless.

[NERFU]

There are many financial issues and inequalities within RSL as it stands now, not to mention if/when promotion/relegation is introduced. Travel cost sharing is one. The fact that not all the teams paid the same entry fee is another. For example, the last teams to enter RSL 2 years ago paid about 1/4 the cost to get in than those who came into the league when it expanded after its first season. As RSL Administrator said, all these issues will need to be sorted out before this system can be put in place.

[liars]

Another indication that these press releases from USA Rugby can't be trusted. This RSL promotion/relegation plan seems to be miles away and still in the hands of the RSL. Why does USA Rugby bullshit us with this done and dusted union propaganda. At some point it's insulting.

[Almost perfect]

RSL Administrator,

Well said on nearly every point in your post, however, do not include Olympic Club in the same sentance as Aspen, Life and even Kansas City as that does those teams a disservice. Aspen won multiple championships, Life won one of the rare East championships and was always competitive. Even Kansas City made it to the play-offs regularly and made it to the semi-finals in 2001. OC won a grand total of approximately 3 games in four years, one against perennial cellar dweller Boston (then, not now), one against NYAC when they first entered the league from D1 and Aspen the year the wheels feel off the bus and they stepped away from the RSL. They simply bought Old Blue's share in a failed merger attempt, subsequently ran it into the ground, and then forfeited it back to the RSL.

[Really?]

Fudd confused what is going on with the rules in the Tri-Nations with the ELVs that start internationally on August 1. The guy needs to be a little more professional if he wants to do media assignments and coach.

[Bruce McLane]

O club never beat AC in the RSL

and

my article on ARN cam directly from the IRB directive, nothing was confused.

BTW
Ron L did his Q and A before the IRB thing came out. Several of those interviews are done and brian prints when he wants to