This is an opinion column by Goff Rugby Report Editor Alex Goff—If there’s one word I have been thinking about with regard to USA Rugby’s reorganization, and the groups that have a chance to change things as a result, that word is Leverage.

Who has the leverage, and who is using that leverage?

For years, USA Rugby had the leverage, basically saying you can’t play unless you pay USA Rugby Dues, and get the insurance that comes with it.

Many of us understood that, and understood vaguely that USA Rugby sanctions certain aspects of the game, but we didn’t delve too deeply (I personally did on some issues, but on others I didn’t, so that’s on me). USA Rugby also used the “oh poor me” argument that they were just a small little ol’ NGB with a small staff trying to do the best they could. We might complain a bit here and there, but we didn’t challenge it too much.

The USA Rugby Reorg: What's At Issue And Why You Should Care

The upshot was that USA Rugby could leverage its power to control some competitions. They had to be careful, though, because sometimes an idea garnered so much support that USA Rugby had to support it, or at least leave it along (Super League, HS Nationals, RCTs, CRC).

They could also leverage our deep desire to see our national teams succeed to cover up mistakes or overspends and not get burned too badly about it.

Now, USA Rugby has lost its leverage. The organization mismanaged funds so poorly that it ended up taking money owed to a lot of players, rugby community members, vendors, referee societies, and leagues, to pay for their mismanagement. The membership had had enough. It was somewhat acceptable if you cut some stuff in the budget because last year was a rough year, but you don’t stiff people.

Thus we have Youth & HS, College, and Club rugby all creating governance models to go forward that should prevent this robbing-Peter-to-pay-Paul activity. It should … we’ll see if it does.

Youth & HS ... Or Is It Kindergarten?

Youth and HS had enormous leverage. As a single entity, the Youth & HS arena probably represents $1.5 million in USA Rugby dues. Bring all of that financial strength together under an entity that could basically walk away, and you’d have a ton of power. Add to that the fact that High School rugby has been subsidizing adult rugby on the insurance side for years, and you could see some resentment at the idea of still doing that.

This all seemed to be chugging along. Some Youth & HS members of congress were tasked with coming up with a governance place, and they used an existing 501c3, American Youth Rugby, to run it. But this past week, as we reported, there was a shift as some who didn’t support that plan (and we wary of who might wield the power) got the ear of the USA Rugby Board reorganizers, and pushed for a different model.

Who lost leverage here? The AYR and the team working to use AYR to run the Youth & HS game somewhat independently certainly lost it. They might be able to argue their points still, but it's a different situation now.

Who gained? The proponents of a new approach, probably, and certainly USA Rugby.

What about the membership? We’ve got to believe that everyone has the membership’s needs at heart, but if this ends up being a plan where USA Rugby is the gatekeeper of all the money again, that will hurt the membership.

College ... Or Battle Of The Acronyms

It’s interesting to see who has leverage here. NCR certainly does because it represents about 12,000 rugby players and about $600,000 or more in dues income. NCR has the Men’s D2 and small college competitions wrapped up, and some at USA Rugby are freaking out that they will have to operate without that income.

But CRAA has leverage too because it represents many of the very best college rugby programs, men and women (outside of NIRA). Smaller than NCR, CRAA has some big voices, and has played a little bit off the guilt USA Rugby should feel for misusing their money.

USA Rugby might have leverage if the debate over whether NCR teams run into obstacles if they’re not full USA Rugby members. But I feel like you can even look at a group like ACRA—three or four women’s D2 conferences who basically say, we aren’t worrying about all the things your guys in Colorado worry about, and we’re just going to play. 

(There's CRAA and ACRA and likely AACR ... so we're waiting on CARA, RACA, and possibly CARACARACARACA.) 

Because few who control purse strings or policy pay much attention to women’s D2 college rugby, they can blaze their own trail, and perhaps show others the way. There’s leverage in being small and overlooked.

We’ve got three organizations trying to throw their weight around, and at some point someone is going to come up with an argument that ends the debate. Likely, that argument will settle around money.

"a plan where USA Rugby is the gatekeeper of all the money again ... will hurt the membership"

We have a ton of videos on money and plans and how it might or might not work. Click here >>

Club

Club rugby’s problem is that, like the other two, if it is unified it could negotiate as a stronger group. Infighting won’t help. A splinter group might get what it wants in the short term, but in the long term you need unity.

As Benjamin Franklin is supposed to have said: “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”

You can see the whole book here, which is where we got this image>>

What Does Leverage Get Us?

Self determination, money, and protection.

Self determination is that you can have a group of your own people (club people only, college people only …) to decide how your competitions are run, what eligibility rules you use, and what things are most important to you.

Protection is that if you collect dues, and then send a portion to USA Rugby, they can’t then screw you over when the inevitable happens somebody makes a big financial mistake, again. Which would you rather, take $100 and give your unreliable brother-in-law the $25 he needs, or ask the brother-in-law to get the $100 and send you the $75 you’re owed when he gets around to it?

Thought so.

And then money. So in this case we’re talking about how much money USA Rugby needs to operate. Remember, much of what USA Rugby might be able to do will be a la carte. Are you a group of DIAA college conferences that want USA Rugby to put on playoffs and championships? You pay extra for that. It used to be that was folded into the price of the dues.

But if you take out insurance premiums, which would be billed separately, how much money should your group pay USA Rugby so it can exist, oversee membership and insurance, ensure World Rugby and USOPC membership, and provide a governance framework?

That’s the big question. In recent years USA Rugby’s National Office expense line item has been about $1.5 to $1.8 million. Not that long ago it was less than half that. Right now, for the first time, a detailed breakdown of where every dollar goes in USA Rugby, and whether that dollar is a membership or High Performance dollar, is being put together.

See our video on USA Rugby's financial trends (it's more interesting than it sounds)>>

That’s a good thing. But here are some things that organizations with leverage should be thinking about when they look at the numbers:

1. USA Rugby’s CEO does not spend half of his time on non-international tasks. No one in regular day-to-day rugby in America who we’ve talked to believes the CEO’s salary and travel budget should be split evenly between Membership and High Performance.

2. Same goes for the CFO.

3. Not too many people have mentioned this (although I have at least a little), but USA Rugby sponsorship dollars are partly the memberships. Maybe it’s 20%, maybe a little less, but since USA Rugby domestic events and newsletter and website all promote their sponsors, should the sponsorship money all go to the national teams?

4. Bad debt, bank fees, and, biggest of all, contract labor, are annual line items that should be looked at very carefully. Contract labor is often short-term pay for domestic championship work. Well that’s an a la carte item now, so should be part of the equation. 

5. The staff at USA Rugby has been cut, and should be.

If you do all that, you come up with a number—$10 per person? $15?. If you’re NCR, and there’s a reason to want to become full USA Rugby members because of some technicality, maybe you have leverage to push for a smaller number. If you’re a smaller group, you might see that cost as too unreasonable and just quietly walk away.

But every dollar not sent to Lafayette is a dollar that could be used closer to home, and you're in a position right now to negotiate that ... If you have the leverage.