This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Rugby Ohio Latest
This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Rugby Ohio Latest
Today is supposed to be the first day of voting for the new Rugby Ohio Board, but there is trouble in paradise as the balloting and nomination procedure has been brought into question.
“We’re not happy,” said Mark Weidner, who heads up the group that wanted open elections.
Here’s what they are not happy about:
1. No communication was sent to the broader Rugby Ohio membership about who was on the ballots and who could vote. This meant that a) if a club neglected to select an elector, no one would know; b) if there were discrepancies between who was supposed to be nominated and who is on the ballot, those could not be corrected; c) it seems strange that for a representative Board, the general membership wouldn’t be made aware of who the candidates were.
2. Eight teams were deemed ineligible to vote. The key reason for this was that those teams compete in “a competing youth league.” This, of course, means Rookie Rugby Cleveland, the largest Rookie Rugby organization in the country and a league that Rugby Ohio is not, in actual fact, competing with. Those teams not allowed to vote are: Cap City Wolfpack, Dublin HS Girls, Hilliard HS Boys, Hudson HS Girls, Marysville MS Boys, Mentor HS Boys, Perry MS Boys, Perry MS Girls.
There are other reasons to be dropped off the ballot, such as not having enough players in 2023-24, or not being in good standing. But high school teams being disallowed from voting simply because their youth team plays somewhere else could actually be a Ted Stevens Act violation.
3. Of the six change-agent candidates put forth to run for the Board, two were dropped off the ballot without prior notice or warning:
Ashley Grace of Perrysburg was dropped off because she is associated with a club that plays in Rookie Rugby Cleveland.
Allen Hanson (a current Board member also) was dropped off because the current Board required candidates to fill out a form, a form emailed to the candidates on Friday evening. Hanson was on a trip and didn’t see the email until Sunday. By the time he tried to fill it out, the form was closed and he was dismissed from the ballot.
4. The way the ballot is organized, you cannot vote for everything you might want to vote for. If you represent a high school team, you can only vote for your region, and for the High School at-large rep. You cannot vote for at-large reps in other categories.
Since the current Rugby Ohio leadership has said they will remove ballots that vote multiple times, how will they police ballots from a club that competes in High School, Middle School, and Youth? It is common for clubs to have one administrator for all age levels, and it remains unclear whether such a person voting multiple times for multiple levels would be disallowed.
All of this has made the entire process much more complicated and combative than it needed to be. The expectation had been for there to be a free, clear, and transparent process. Instead it is all opaque and arbitrary.
The result could well be that USA Youth & High School leadership will lose patience and halt the voting procedure.