Rugby Ohio Had a Board Meeting, But Did Anything Happen?
Rugby Ohio Had a Board Meeting, But Did Anything Happen?
The journey through Rugby Ohio’s governance change took another, albeit belated, step forward this week.
Monday night was the first phone meeting of the newly-elected Board of Directors.
This meeting was a held 11 days after the elections, which seems to be a little slow considering the speed with which both incumbents and change-advocates wanted to move.
Current Board President Chris Northup told GRR that there was some paperwork some Boardmembers needed to get straightened out, but the newer members felt some of that could have been dealt with more quickly, facilitating an earlier meeting and more information available to everyone at that meeting.
“We’ve got the new group coming in and they are getting to know each other,” said Northup. “This was the first meeting for them and we need to ensure they are members of USA Rugby and registered and then we unlock Microsoft Teams for them to have access to financial documents and legal docs and our procedures.”
While the delay in opening up the financial books rankled—change-advocates leader Mark Weidner felt all of that should have been available prior to the meeting—it does seem like the new Board Members are finally going to see beneath the hood.
“We have seen no by-laws, no contracts, and no financials,” Weidner said right after the meeting. Now the plan is to open up all of that information now and in time for a meeting next week.
“Things are moving,” said Northup. “For now it will be business as usual. There will be a financial review and next week we’ll have another meeting. This will give time for everyone to ask questions before the next meeting. Then I see my role as I will take a consensus to see how we move forward—make sure there’s a consensus and then make sure it happens.”
Some new Boardmembers have advocated taking care of what they call low-hanging fruit—some changes could be made very quickly. Among those plans are:
1. Change the executive into a part-time paid executive director as opposed to a full-time paid position. (According to FY 2023 tax documents, Rugby Ohio’s budget was about $380,000, and payroll was just over $140,000 — so payroll was 37% of a very small non-profit.)
2. Cut dues. And refund over-payments.
3. Make it easier for youth organizations to start and operate without worrying too much about income for Rugby Ohio. That can be translated into the ideal that more rugby players is better than a small increase that provides dues money to Rugby Ohio.
4. Establish how the schedules are made, and make the change that the Varsity final be held, in alternating years, in Cleveland or Cincinnati unless both finalists come from one city, in which case the final would be held in that city. That’s a plan to leverage the final that can attract the most fans and most local interest if it’s held in the home city of at least one finalist.
5. Start to look at financial details and where money is being spent and why. There are people with knowledge of financial audits Rugby Ohio can get help from.
There’s more to come, but those are some of the early goals.
New Leadership?
Northup discussed the Executive Director position, saying that “Allison [Bradfield] was on the Board when COVID hit and we didn’t have anybody else who knew the processes and procedures. But she was kind of stuck in a position that maybe wasn’t right for her. She did a great job, and Ryan [Bradfield] came on and put together a cool concept for Fall 7s. But a lot of how that is run will probably change and for the better. The key thing to remember is, everyone wants what’s best for the kids.”
There has been talk that Northup would step down as Board President but at the moment that has not happened. Northup told GRR that “I might step down as early as March if I see a clear path and things are looking good and the season’s taking off; if I am leaving it better than I found it.”
Change Now or Wait?
Scheduling should be left up to the individual teams and divisions rather than imposed from on high, said Weidner, with referee scheduling and payment handled by teams. Even if one person does the scheduling for a league or conference, that requires input from teams and shouldn’t take a huge amount of time.
So speed of action is one of the points of disagreement. As Northup put it: “Some what to keep things as is for now. Some want to slash things right away.”
He then pointed to Rory Fitzpatrick, Athletic Director at St. Ignatius, one of two ADs (Pete Kahler of St. Edward) who were newly elected to the Board, as perhaps a middle-ground voice.
“Rory came in and said let’s get a packet [for intake of new members] through and go from there.”
The Upshots
So the upshot is this: The old guard continues to move more slowly than the new guard would like. But move they must and Northup, who, in his conversation with GRR described himself as “a cork floating in the ocean,” seems to have seen which way the tide is flowing. There will be a new Board President, either soon, or in March, or, at the latest, August. There will be some changes made soon, but the slow-walking of elections and meetings has worked, as the season is now almost upon us—St. Xavier HS (coached by Weidner) has a game scheduled this week.
There (most likely) will be a new executive model that will see a part-time Executive Director and a much smaller payroll—this is something other SROs are embracing, as well.
And while it appears that USA Youth & High School Rugby had to step in to force a new election and push for change (even in the official announcement for new elections incumbent Rugby Ohio leadership stated they didn't agree with the new election process), the changes are coming.
“USA Youth & High School helped us get a free, fair election and they showed their authority and David and Gio did a great job,” said Northup. “We’ve been working for several years off a strategic plan that the Board put in place. I think that achieved its goals, and now we can get a new plan, get fired up and ready to go.”
