One More Time: USAYHS Steps in to Run Rugby Ohio Election (Updated)
One More Time: USAYHS Steps in to Run Rugby Ohio Election (Updated)
As GRR reported on Monday, there was serious dissatisfaction in how the new Rugby Ohio election was being managed.
See the details here: This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Rugby Ohio Latest
The upshot is that the entrenched Rugby Ohio Board has repeatedly sought to slow to stymie a new election process and those who want to create some change.
This resulted in eight teams being told they couldn't vote, one elector told he couldn't represent his team, and two Board candidates taken off the ballot.
The key issue is that Rugby Ohio has seen Rookie Rugby Cleveland as a competing competition, and as such any team or person connected with that competition was being taken out of the election process. Those pushing for some change felt that connection to Rookie Rugby Cleveland should not deny a member of Rugby Ohio the right to vote or to stand for election, and the leadership at USA Youth & High School agreed.
So Monday night, an email was sent to various players in this drama from USAYHS President David Pool.
It said:
- USAYHS will take over the election process.
- The voting is going to start over, and anyone who already voted will have to vote again.
- The Board candidates that were taken off the ballot, Alan Hanson and Ashley Grace, will be put on the ballot.
- The eight teams who were not allowed to vote can now vote and association with a non-Rugby-Ohio competition is not grounds for disallowing a vote.
- Voting representatives associated with non-Rugby-Ohio competition can vote.
- USAYHS will determine whether a vote is valid.
- Each program votes in a category they compete in. So a club that has HS Boys, HS Girls, Middle-School Boys, and Middle-School Girls, can vote as separate teams in the categories that fit them.
What this means is that the cadre of Board Members that could be voted out of power are now not in control of the voting process.
the new ballot has been sent out to electors as of Wednesday evening and voters have until 6PM ET Thursday Friday evening, January 31, to cast their votes. One addition note is that there were other people nominated to run for the Board, but they never attempted to fill out the last-minute form Rugby Ohio put forth and when USAYHS tried to contact them, they didn't respond, so they aren't on the ballot.
Since the original writing of this article, two Board candidates have withdrawn their candidacy.
Regional Candidates (All teams are assigned a region, and then any teams from any division can vote for their regional candidates)
Northern Ohio
Cam Ciancutti-Toledo Celts and Cleveland Rovers
Pete Kahler-St. Edward HS Athletic Director
Central Ohio
Kyle Clark-Warrior HS Boys
Hank Harned-Businessman; former coach
Josh White-Head Coach Marysville
Alan Hanson-Coach Ohio Aviators and Ohio State University
South Ohio
Jeff Marshall-Walnut Hills Girls / RO Referees
Mark Weidner-Head Coach, St. Xavier, leader of change group
Divisions Candidates (All teams in the specified division statewide can vote for these)
High School
Rory Fitzpatrick-St. Ignatius HS Athletic Director
Don Milliken-John Marshall HS Girls
Tom Rooney-Ohio State University DOR - Withdrew Candidacy
Middle School
Michael Coyne-Current Boardmember - Withdrew Candidacy
Chris DiPierro-Highland HS Rugby Club Admin and Coach
Ashley Grace-Perry Panther Rugby Admin
Youth
Kyle Basnett-Founder, Coach Olentangy Rugby
Barton Hacker-Parent and Admin, Dublin Rugby
(Reminder and reader alert: GRR Editor Alex Goff is an assistant coach for the freshmen at St. Ignatius HS. Goff has not been involved in any of the efforts to change the Rugby Ohio voting or campaigning for any side and has only participated in this as a journalist.)
