BOULDER, Colo. – USA Rugby, in an effort to unlock the full
potential of rugby in the U.S., has set up a taskforce led by Alan
Sharpley to review and develop the best possible competition model
that will support the goals of the new strategic plan and make rugby
the best experience in American sport by meeting the varying needs
of youth, high school, college and men's and women's adult rugby.

"The current USA Rugby competitions model is not producing all that
it might in challenging and developing American rugby players in a
strategic and high performance sense," Alan Sharpley said. "There is
no coordinated competition policy that promotes player advancement
through the different tiers of rugby, and there needed to be a
process for evaluating the competitions structure."

The taskforce, whose members include Danita Knox, Jen Joyce, Keith
Englebrecht, Rick Humm, Kristin Richeimer, Alan Solomons, Ed Todd,
Michael Sagehorn, Morgan Buckley and Bob Karetsky, has met twice
since the appointment of the new board in July and will be making
its final report in March 2007.

In an attempt to hear from as many people as possible before the
next competitions review meeting in December, the taskforce has
requested that you fill out a brief questionnaire, found online at:

http://www.usarugby.org/about/2006CompetitionSurvey.doc
<http://www.usarugby.org/about/2006CompetitionSurvey.doc>

and email your response by November 30 to Jen Gray at:

jgray@usarugby.org <mailto:jgray%40usarugby.org>

"We will be taking account of the member's views at the December
meeting, and will be meeting again at the end of January to develop
proposals based on our review and feedback to date," Morgan Buckley,
USA Rugby's consultant for the competitions review process,
said. "In order to create the right competitions model, which will
generate an environment for real high performance rugby, in addition
to developing sustainable pathways at each level of the game and
meeting the needs of the many recreational players across the U.S.,
it is essential that we collect as much feedback as possible, in the
short amount of time that we have."

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