(This is an Op-Ed by Linda Smith)—Youth and high school rugby teams and organizations are trying to figure out a way to support the sport of rugby and keep their players safe and well in the midst of COVID.

Restrictions vary by state based on the status of COVID risk in each respective state. State laws and mandates (and school guidelines) govern what youth and high school rugby clubs and teams can do or not do.

Yet, some state rugby organizations seem to believe that they have power and authority to thwart or outright stop rugby clubs and teams from moving forward with their own state compliant COVID rugby plans, activities, and events. Sadly, Rugby PA even seems to be outright attacking their own members rather than trying to assist, support and guide local rugby clubs as they try to move forward in their return to play.

Last I checked, SROs are member organizations. Without club and team members, there would be no SRO. For SROs such as Rugby PA to publicly attack its own members and to try to restrict business activities of member individual organizations appears to be a blatant overreach of its authority. Rugby clubs have a right to determine their own plans regarding how they will proceed with the rugby season. USA Rugby Return to Play guidelines have been issued and state such. Nonetheless, even though USA Rugby Guidelines clearly states that each club should determine its own return to play guidelines based on state health guidelines, some SROs believe they somehow have authority to come out with statements, positions, and otherwise. Nowhere does USA Rugby specifically state that SROs should set guidelines for local clubs. Furthermore, USA Rugby did not state that SROs should even be in a position to grant approval for return to play for local clubs. There is a reason that USA Rugby did not do this. It is because they can’t and shouldn’t.

SROs have been granted no authority and have no intrinsic authority to determine what their local clubs should do with return to play. It appears that with the possible transition to a new national youth and high school organization, some board members and SROs may be engaging in a power grab. It is imperative that youth and high school rugby organizations and teams stay aware and involved as to what is happening at the SRO level and at the new USA Youth and High School Rugby level. Big decisions are being made without much input from clubs and teams. It is critical that clubs and teams do not sit idly by and allow SROs to try to grab more power for themselves that they legally cannot and should not have.

Although I think many people support the idea of a separate youth and high school rugby organization, the reorganization needs to move in a deliberate, thoughtful, slow manner with significant input from youth and high school rugby teams. You can already see the host of problems that are developing as SROs now seem to believe they have even more authority under an SGB model. Again, it is not accurate and the SROs/ SGBs need to be informed of such.

Rugby clubs and teams are permitted to participate and host non USA Rugby activities and events. This will not change if and when USA Youth and High School Rugby comes fully onboard. These national organizations do not control its members. That is not how it works. It seems time for SROs to seek some education and guidance on what they are there for in the first place, and how to stay within their authorized limits.

Upon reading some of Rugby PA’s statements and written communications, it is difficult to not perceive their actions as bullying and threatening in tone. Rugby PA seems to believe that it has authority to prevent member clubs from participating and/or hosting independent rugby events and activities in a state where wrestling, football, lacrosse, and basketball competitions and tournaments are all permitted by the state. The state of Pennsylvania has permitted a return to play for sports with recommended COVID guidance. Within this greater PA sports context, Rugby PA citing concerns about the safety of youth and high school athletes and referring to the hosting of a rugby event as reckless, seems disingenuous. Other unstated factors seem to be at play in this complete overreach for unauthorized power and control.

In my opinion, club members of Rugby PA should take a strong position against their state rugby organization. Rugby PA should consider retracting their statement or at least modifying the statement to remove those parts which are clearly an overreach of their authority. They should also consider an apology statement to all of its members for this attempted overreach of authority. Further, it is concerning that one of the new council members to USA Youth and High School Rugby appears to have been involved in Rugby PA’s recent tactics and processes. This week, the whole sport of rugby was embarrassed by these recent events. But worse than that, a lot of high school rugby players were negatively impacted and that is unacceptable. I hope PA members seriously consider a change in their Board as soon as it is possible. Power hungry SRO boards and board members need to go. The time for positive change in youth and high school rugby is now.

—Linda Smith

The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not represent any business, club, organization, or Goff Rugby Report staff.  This is an opinion column, and as such, the reader is encouraged to verify assertions made in this column.