USA Rugby continues to be under pressure from various corners to change the college eligibility rules.

Chiefly, the pressure is on to make it easier for military veterans to play. The current eligibility rules, which were adopted in 2012, start a college player’s eligibility clock when the player graduates from high school. The player then has five years in which to play five college season, but can apply for two one-year extensions.

This rule seemed to satisfy the problem for players who had to take hardship breaks from school, go on religious mission, or have a baby. But for military players, the rule has cut their playing time significantly. Athletes who enlisted in the military out of high school served for four years, but, because of enlistment and discharge dates, often missed five college rugby season. Enrolling in college as a freshman, a player could only play for his/her college for two years.

(See the story of Andrew Matyas here)

The drive to get USA Rugby to change the rule for those who have served in the military is widening, with USA Rugby getting letters from Naval Academy Coach Mike Flanagan, University of Washington Coach and former Eagle Kevin Swiryn, and many others. 

The letters have been sent to USA Rugby staff and board members in advance of the College Management Council meeting slated for August 21-22 in Boulder, Colo. The plan is to get the governing body to give military personnel a year of rugby for every year they serve, up to the five-year limit everyone else gets.

One of the reasons the rules were changed was to ease up on paperwork for USA Rugby staff. Having to go through the particulars of every case was time-consuming.

Longtime military rugby coach and support Dominic Budzisz addressed this in his own missive to USA Rugby, pointing out that everyone who serves in the military gets a Certificate of Release of Discharge which details the person’s age, date of birth, length of active service, and character of service (such as Honorable).

A simple scan of this form to provide to USA Rugby should be enough to establish how much time an athlete missed due to military service.

According to military sources, 69 known rugby players have died serving their country. The Department of Defense’s World Class Athlete Program helps fund players training at the Olympic Training Center. The US military academies continue to field some of the best rugby programs in the country, and have won major championships. Yet a college eligibility rule actually makes it harder for a student-athlete to play rugby if he or she has served in the military.

It’s possible that in a little more than a week, this will change.