Contact: Allison Swickard
Media and Public Relations Coordinator
USA Rugby
719-637-1022 ext. 18


COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., - June 3, 2001 - The USA Rugby Management Committee announces it will offer qualified Men's Club Division I teams an opportunity to apply for promotion to the Rugby Super League (RSL) for the 2002 playing season.

Promotion to the Rugby Super League and a full system of promotion and relegation are important to the future strength of our national men's competitive program, USA Rugby President Anne Barry said. We have developed the application process to ensure any club promoted to the RSL are qualified both on the field and financially to sustain itself in the RSL over a period of years.

Two clubs have been invited to submit applications for promotion to the RSL in 2002, via the new process. Invitations to apply were sent to these clubs based upon ranking from the 2001 USA Rugby National Championships.

Once applications are received by USA Rugby from the invited clubs, the USA Rugby Management Committee will review the qualifications of each applicant club to determine if they meet the specific criteria designed to establish current and historical level of play, administrative stability, financial security and geographic viability. The review process will be completed no later than Aug. 17, 2001. There is no guarantee either of the two applicant clubs will meet the criteria for promotion.

For promotion in 2003, aspiring clubs will be requested to file a letter of intent with USA Rugby by Aug. 24, 2001. By understanding in advance which clubs are interested in competing in the RSL, the USA Rugby Management Committee will be in a better position to continually assess the viability of promoting

these clubs.
Along with facilitating the process of promotion, USA Rugby will be monitoring the overall caliber of play in the RSL to ensure the level of play is not adversely affected by expansion.

Once it appears that the RSL has reached a level of saturation of talented teams, we will begin a full system of promotion and relegation. This will create a higher level of competition in itself by allowing for new talented clubs to compete for the opportunity to participate in RSL while existing RSL clubs will have to raise the level of their play in order to stay in the league, Barry explained.

USA Rugby, founded in 1975, is the national governing body for rugby and is a member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the International Rugby Board (IRB).

For more information, or if there is a problem with this transmission, please contact Allison Swickard, USA Rugby media and public relations coordinator, at (719) 637-1022 ext. 18 of via email at [email protected].