The $20 Question

At issue isn't necessarily membership in USA Rugby, but the $20-a-player admin/services fee CRAA (which now runs all of college rugby within USA Rugby's umbrella) is charging—a fee they charged to most teams at the level of $15, and announced last year would be rising to $20 per player. However, when CRAA was not the only organization overseeing college rugby under USA Rugby, not everyone was paying that fee. Now that CRAA is the sole USA Rugby-related entity, everyone is paying the $20-per-player fee.

(GRR's previous articles about dues included the additional fee when measuring USA Rugby-related dues. 

In response to this, NCR Director of Men's College Rugby, Brad Dufek, sent an email to the NCR members of the Big 10 and the Rugby East urging them not to pay the $20-a-player fee. Be a member of USA Rugby if you want, said Dufek, but the $20-a-player fee is too much.

GRR asked Dufek to clarify, and this is what he said:

"It’s important not to conflate USA Rugby, which is the national governing body, with CRAA which is an athletic association. NCR teams in Rugby East and the Big 10 have decided to pay $45 per player to USA Rugby. This includes duplicative USA Rugby insurance (NCR insurance already fully covers teams) and presumably the administrative support that CRAA professes to handle on behalf of the governing body. 

"Not only was the $20 fee announced three days prior to registration, CRAA is effectively 'double-dipping' by charging for services that a governing body would typically provide  — and services that most NCR-registered teams do not require. If USA Rugby has out-sourced its administrative services to CRAA, the governing body should fund CRAA using the $45 membership fee that teams have already agreed to pay.

"Ultimately, the Conference and member teams will decide which registration fees provide value. We are committed to providing timely and transparent information to these teams to help guide their decisions."

Dufek reiterated two points that NCR has made repeatedly: 1. That NCR teams can register with USA Rugby if they want to and 2. That NCR believes their insurance covers games between NCR members and non-NCR members.

USA Rugby representatives do not believe that their insurance covers games with non-members—that is one of the main reasons why teams dual register.

The key word above is "presumably." Making presumptions about what the $20-a-player fee covers isn't specific, so here's a more specific breakdown of some of the things that $20-a-player fee covers:

1. Foreign player clearances
2. Clearances for players and coaches who go overseas—CRAA had to step in this year to a) help Cal Poly Humboldt make sure two players were made in good standing so they could play for University of Queensland; b) help make sure all players on the NCR All American team touring France were in good standing with World Rugby; c) help make sure coaches who accompanied the USA South U19s to the RAN U19 Championships were in good standing with World Rugby so they could coach in Mexico.
3. Referee Development through the Advantage Software system. These Advantage-developed refs are provided to college games, partially funded by the $20-a-player fee.
4. Player Development. A virtual pathway and informational program is starting this fall. 
5. Coach Development. Coaching education.
6.  port. This is an interesting one. SafeSport provides oversight and training for National Governing Bodies—NGBs pay a set rate and members usually get their screening for free. NCR is not a NGB and do not fall under SafeSport oversight, but NCR instead explains that they operate in a SafeSport compliant way and they ask their members to go through the SafeSport training. The cost to take the training on your own? $20 per person (less when renewing).

GRR asked Dufek if "there any legitimacy in your minds to CRAA's assertion they do some work (eligibility stuff, disciplinary stuff) for NCR?"

He answered:  "NCR resources make a significant contribution to the success of Rugby East and the Big 10. For example, non-NCR teams can see their schedule and conference standings on the NCR app, and the NCR staff assists with services such as discipline and referee assignments. Using CRAA’s logic, NCR should charge the non-NCR registered teams for these services, but this is neither being considered nor good for college rugby."

Dufek also added this:

"There has been an assertion that CRAA must provide assistance for international tours and international transfers. However, NCR regularly provides letters of support for international tours and transferring players. We are only aware of one example that required governing body assistance (i.e., Australia). In these rare instances, we understand that USA Rugby may require player membership or an administrative fee, and we believe that occurred. NCR actively works with Rugby East and the Big 10 to administer our Eligibility Policy and review all waiver requests. CRAA is not involved in reviewing eligibility for any NCR qualifying matches."

Cost of Play

As we have posted on GRR in the past, both CRAA and NCR charge dues; both have seen dues go up in recent years. 

USA Rugby raised their dues for the 2021-2022 season. Then CRAA added the per-player increase from $15 to $20 this year. As a result, a roster of 50 players has gone up from $2,450 in 2021-22 to $3,350 (up 36.7%). In addition, teams from different divisions pay a per-team fee to cover referee travel (D1A men), live streaming, and postseason. For D1A men it's $2,500, which has not changed in several years, and for other divisions it's a few hundred. A D1A team's dues were $4,4950 in 2021-22 and is now $5,850.

NCR's dues have gone from $2,300 for a 50-player roster in 2021-22 to $4,350 in 2024-25 (up 89%).

A dual-member team of 50 players would expect to pay $7,700 (not including coach registration).