There will be more coming out about what will happen at USA Rugby following revelations that the organization is in a massive financial hole.

Certainly many rugby organizations around the country are still owed money and are angry, because they need that money to do things like pay referees and pay for facilities and other commitments.

Financial Crisis Is Here Says USA Rugby

Meanwhile, the document outlining a plan forward for USA Rugby obtained by Goff Rugby Report seems to many rugby people to be woefully lacking. But there might be some good news, or a least less-infuriating news, as Goff Rugby Report understands that there are more changes afoot, they are more drastic than you might expect, and the one definitive thing we said —that Dues Will Go Up—may well be flat-out wrong.

USA Rugby's New Plan For Everything

What is very clear is that a significant portion of the American rugby public is fed up. It isn't really about how much money they spend in dues (as one comment below points it, it's not a lot), but that the dues money isn't going where it's supposed to go. Mismanagement, chronic mismanagement, has its own price.

 We asked on social media for reader comments. Here are some of note:

Ted Hardy Here's our plan folks... borrow from WR to pay back misappropriated funds. Then we'll increase your dues to pay that back. Meanwhile we'll "empower" local unions by giving them more of the workload, but not a proportionate amount of the dues cut. At this stage I have zero confidence that USAR can effectively execute any plan that will fix the damage that has been done. If local unions want change they're going to have to look within their own borders and not to Boulder.

Seems like an organization that has lost its way; although it may have never had any proper direction. #disappointed

— @BxBama (@BxBama) December 14, 2019

Anne Erickson Montgomery I ‘googled’ the definition of a task force and some of the components - got this from nsc consulting ‘Identify task force members. This is arguably the most important step. It is paramount that you have the right people on the bus. Don’t just ask for volunteers – often the best people for the job won’t step up, but they will contribute if you ask. Take a strategic approach to task force member identification, and, at all costs, you don’t want the same “usual suspects,”. Think they have already started on the wrong foot

Jen Horne There are a number of comments on here about the differing SROs. Which ones have been the most successful at the growth of the game? Most of us only see the governing body we're working with directly. It's clear that some states are experiencing much greater growth than others. It would be instructive to have a "look see" at those that are the most effective. Perhaps they could be evaluated and lessons learned promulgated to the rest. I, for one, know that we don't lack for people who are devoted to this game. But that alone isn't enough to right the ship.

David Delozier I've ran a small LAU for 4 years now so now understand a lot more of the inter working and truly wonder what a typical club rugby expects from USAR? How I see it is each club pays $161.50 to register, coaches have a few things to do to be certified and $65 to be a coach, need 15+ players paying $45 each. you get some sort of insurance out of it, which our parks dept and high schools readily accept. Referees are same fee structure as coaches. if you need any training work out a new class with Kenny. get 7-10 participants in the class with each paying $75 or $125 bucks and provide lunch. The extra membership fee overhead goes salaries and National expenses. it’s all pretty easy and all isn't that terribly expensive to participate in the best game on earth. Even with additional territory fees, whats the most an average club pays out (including individual CIPPs) around $2500? That’s less than the per person expenses of a hockey player.

“Empower local (SROs” means do less at USAR

And national dues will increase.

So, do less - charge more but they’ll have a 12 person panel put out a huge report to elongate and camouflage that basic crappy plan.

The vast majority of USAR members use USAR strictly for insurance and the ability to check others’ insurance. That costs (should cost) around $14 per year. The rest they take and we never see again. Awesome

Trust is earned. Regaining trust once squandered takes even more work. Good to see statements saying that work is begining but its actions that are most convincing. Reserving judgment.

— Jack Breen (@mauicoachjack) December 15, 2019

Dave McFadden Why don't we (rugby players and coaches) start over and form a new governing entity? A governing body that focuses on youth. college, and club rugby. One that oversees international rugby by setting policies and processes and gathers sponsors to cover 100% of the costs of running international teams.

If the focus is on supporting grassroots rugby with marketing materials, supports to help GRUs grow the game, then the popularity of rugby will increase. There will be more people willing to pay for tickets to pro/international games, companies willing to sponsor them, more people to buy team apparel. The money will follow. USA Rugby has spent decades trying to build a top down organization. They got it backwards.

Mike O'Horo How long have the task force been at their USAR positions? If that is longer than 6 months - then i’ll pass. They hid the financial woes & mis-spending.

Club Dues go up.. what a joke. They do nothing for club rugby, yet demand more.

Re-roll. Territory presidents should be looking into liability insurance options before the fall season & separate themselves from USAR. It has to be a collective effort to succeed.

MW, NE & Marfu can form their own national championships next fall for 15s. Summer 7s. Spring development new players season (hello hs leagues??). Bring back the fun to rugby.

Christopher Burge Rugby Texas is directing clubs who have not already CIPPed through USAR to direct payments directly to Rugby Texas, given that USAR owe them money.

As a high school coach of a school-sponsored program, I really see no reason why we should be affiliated with USAR at all, and I am planning on pushing that moving forward.

If the fraction of my team that is HP level wants to participate, they can CIPP and do that on their own, but I see no reason to subsidize USAR's incompetence.

Terry Matthews The simple fact that there are this many questions and so much misinformation is a bigger indictment of poor leadership than the misuse of funds. The consistent lack of information almost appears purposeful at times. We're not that big of an organization to have this many members in the dark on relatively important issues.

Stuart Meyler Seems to me that you need a total overhaul of management. The same CFO that oversaw this debacle is on board for Round II? Are you kidding me? In any other setting, corporate or non profit, this "management" team would have been shit canned. Ditch the plan. It is likely rubbish anyway if it was put together by this group that is clearly incapable of running an organization like USAR. At what point on a local basis does it make sense to opt out? As a youth coach, I have had little to no support from USAR anyway. Local SRO's unfortunately not much better in our area, but at least there is a chance to improve that. Not sure it makes senes to pay dues as a youth organization. Thoughts of going it alone and foregoing dues?

Tom Wilson As one of a few dissenting voices at the SRO conference last summer when Ross Young and crew presented this "plan" of making USA Rugby more "federated", I'm not surprised. What I am shocked about is the financial situation. We were not privy to any of it which according to the timeline, they knew about at the time of the conference. To me, this shows a coordinated effort to mislead or at least keep the main financiers of USAR in the dark. In other words, that is fiduciary impropriety. They have a legal imperative to properly steward our money and yet they have shown for at least three different CEOs that they can't do it. HOWEVER, having been in and around USAR since the 80s, I'm terrified of our sport going back to the regional fiefdoms it was once, where laws and game administration differed by territories. Without a central governing body, we lose immediate credibility with new player parents and senior players. My suggestion is to immediately put USAR into a receivership situation where a truly independent third party comes in to evaluate, assess and run USAR to accurately gauge all the damage and start building the organization back up. USAR should be a governing body not an event management company or media org which it tries to act like. They do some things very well like education. Let's find those things they are great at and keep that. Then keep a version of game oversight. Chuck the rest. Yes even the HP programs. Spin that off into its own company or leave it as a subsidiary of USAR on its own P&L with a set budget and if they burn through the budget then it's over for the year. It's the HP program and BS events that caused this problem in the first place.

And two shorter, more direct comments:

Lisa E Rosen Layoffs on the horizon?

Joe Franklin Burn. It. All. Down.