Currently USA Rugby charges each player $30 plus a club fee of $150 - without which the players on that team are somehow not covered despite having paid the $30 fee. Does USA Rugby genuinely expect the sport of Rugby to expand on the interscholastic level when they have that fee structure? With the new Varsity designation, teams can pay only $250 as long as the school insurance matches an arbitrary criteria created by USA Rugby.

 

There is no way a Board of Education is going to a) pay for additional insurance coverage for student-athletes that are already covered or b) purchase an additional or different policy if USA Rugby decides that the policy which covers the entire district is not good enough.  Imagine telling a Board of Education that the insurance policy that covers collision sports like Football, Lacrosse, Hockey and the like is not good enough for Rugby. The automatic response will be: “you cannot have Rugby in this district.”  

 

What city recreation department will bring Rugby under its umbrella if there is a $30 cost per player, or if their insurance is deemed unsuitable by USA Rugby?

 

I started a program last year at my high school where I am the Dean of Students.  We are an urban parochial school located in Jersey City, New Jersey.  Of my 502 students, 255 receive some type of financial aid. The $30 registration fee IS a big deal to these families, especially coupled with the $20 SBRO fee and the cost of cleats and other miscellaneous items. Last year I personally raised every dime for the program, including uniforms, equipment, referees, food, AND the registration fees to USA Rugby, because I needed to show viability before my school would invest.  Now, although my school is still waiting to see the longevity and viability potential, it is making a small monetary investment and I will continue to fund raise the bulk. I finished with 20 boys last year and have 40 signed up this year.  Why should they have to pay if my school already provides coverage for our Athletics Program?  And now USA Rugby will decide if the insurance coverage my school currently provides for all of its school programs is adequate?

 

The Insurance Office at the Archdiocese is reviewing the requirements for Varsity status to see if we meet them. The Assistant Director of Risk Management & Insurance compared the USA Rugby insurance provided for the $30 individual registration fee with the requirements for Varsity status and saw that some requirements for Varsity status are markedly higher than what USA Rugby, itself, provides for the $30 fee.  How does that make sense?

 

In a nutshell, if you CIPP your players for $30 each, the player receives a limited catastrophic injury plan and your team has to pay a $150 registration fee. However, if you want Varsity status, you have to provide MORE INSURANCE THAN EVEN USA RUGBY PROVIDES, plus pay a $250 fee.  USA Rugby needs to reevaluate this process if it is genuine about growing Rugby on the interscholastic level.

 

Respectfully,

 

 

Terence Matthews

Dean of Students

Director of Rugby

Hudson Catholic High School