USA Rugby has club start-up information on their web site.

Youth & HS/U19 clubs: http://www.usarugby.org/information/default.asp?NavPageID=58623

College clubs: http://www.usarugby.org/information/default.asp?NavPageID=60599

The PRU (and most if not all LAUs) will not recognize a HS or university rugby club that is not recognized by their school.  HS clubs have the option of forming a U19 team (community-based rather than school based), and college teams have the option of playing as a senior men’s or women’s team.

• Initially - Contact your HS or university club sports director and become a recognized club. You may not have a school affiliation if you are a youth club, U19 club, or senior club. If you are a youth or U19 club, you should consider affiliating with a youth sports organization in your area.
  
  
• On-going - Maintain contact with your club sports director and let him/her know of your deeds as well as needs.  Deeds – what you do to become a valued member of your community or campus.  Needs – what you need for continued success as a rugby club.

Decide on local area union (LAU) membership or register with USA Rugby as an at-large member.

• Initially - There are no LAU dues for about two years (maybe a little longer).  While your club is ineligible for the league championship, the team may be allocated a place in the league schedule which, if granted, guarantees fall season games.  Spring season is non-league or open season (except for playoffs) and teams schedule opponents according to their needs.

   

  At-Large membership – There are no LAU dues.  However, it will be difficult to impossible to find fall matches since all other teams are involved in their league schedule, except for a couple of open weekends at the start of the season.

   

  For this reason, the spring season is the best time to start a new rugby club; you may need to start planning in the fall.  Everyone’s schedule is potentially open and there are no obligations to a league schedule.  Also, it may be difficult for a new team to start playing when faced with a league schedule.  The PRU’s is concerned about a new team’s competitive ability and the possibility of forfeiting league games.
  
  
• On-going - Remain in good standing with your LAU.  Pay your dues and fines on time, pay your loans on time, honor your matches, be a good rugby citizen.

Contact the LAU executive cmte and the divisional director

Potomac Rugby Union (centered on Washington & Baltimore)

• Northern Virginia, all of Maryland, District of Columbia, and certain parts of south central Pennsylvania and eastern West Virginia that are closer to Washington and Baltimore than to Philadelphia or Pittsburgh; most WVA teams are directed to the Allegheny Rugby Union; please check with the PRU before making a decision

• PRU:  Find contacts at www.pru.org

Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union (centered on Philadelphia)

• Eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey (as far north as Princeton), and Delaware; most central PA teams are directed to the Allegheny Rugby Union, while some NJ teams could be directed to the Metropolitan New York Rugby Union; please check with the EPRU before making a decision

EPRU:  Find contacts at www.epru.org

Register the club, all players, and all coaches with USA Rugby and the CIPP membership system

• Initially - There are various membership registrations – club and player/coach; both are required.  The membership program is commonly known as CIPP (pronounced “sip”).  When properly registered, clubs, players, and coaches are said to be “CIPPed”.  The club must be registered, which also brings the school or parent organization under the $5M liability insurance umbrella.  Each player and coach must be registered which brings the player/coach under the $5M liability insurance umbrella of the club.  All this can be done online at www.usarugby.org

   

  As of 2008, CIPP fees are $150 for club registration and $10, $20, $25, and $35 per individual (players and coaches).  For example, a HS team with 20 players and one coach, USA Rugby registration fees will total $570 per year.|
  
  
• On-going - The CIPP registration cycle is based on the competitive cycle which is generally the same as the HS or college academic year – Sept 1 of one year through August 31 of the following year.  All returning players must be CIPPed again (there is a bulk registration feature to help with this).  Players who just graduated from HS or college can transfer their CIPP from their old club to their new club.  USA Rugby has an online transfer form.  New players must be CIPPed by September 15 to be eligible to play in games.

Complete application to the PRU for recognized membership.  Go to the PRU web site www.pru.org, then go to Bylaws and Basics, then to Apply for Membership (Recognized).

• Initially - Complete the application for membership and submit it to your divisional director.  Associate or full membership is possible but would require other than the usual circumstances faced by a new club (ie, brand new, just getting off the ground as opposed to an existing club splitting into two parts).
  
  
• On-going - Periodically assess the state of your club and work toward becoming an associate or full member of the PRU.  Complete the application for a higher level of membership and submit it to your divisional director.

Become familiar with USA Rugby and its web site www.usarugby.org

• Initially - particularly the two pages mentioned above if yours is a HS/U19 or college club.  If yours is a senior club, much of the information at these two pages is relevant, plus much of the rest of the USA Rugby web site.
  
  
• On-going - Content changes frequently.  Stay tuned to the USA Rugby web site.  The coaches portal is particularly valuable.

Provide contact info to the PRU for your club officers.

• Intially - Look at other clubs’ web sites and see what officer positions they have established and how those might suit your club.
• President (this person is the administrative leader of the club)
• Match Secretary (this person arranges the match schedule and maintains contact with opponents)
• Captain (this person is the field leader of the club)
• PRU Liaison (this person maintains contact with the PRU and attends meetings; may be the same as another club officer)
• Head Coach (see below)
• Club Sports Director (HS or College team)
• Your club may have other officer positions, but we need the ones above.  Include the following contact info for each person:
• Name
• Postal address
• Email address
• Best telephone number
• Year in school if HS/U19 or College team
  
  
• On-going - As you change officers (usually once a year at your club’s AGM), send new billing contact info to the PRU, update your club profile on the PRU web site, and update your club’s web site.

Subscribe to PRU email lists and become familiar with the web site. Email is the main communication method (we do not communicate info via telephone except in one-on-one matters).

• web site www.pru.org
• email - send an email (from each of your officers' email addresses) to one or more of the following addresses , depending on your club:
• Senior clubs – potomacrugby-subscribe@pru.org
• College clubs – prucolleges-subscribe@pru.org
• HS/U19 clubs – pruhs-subscribe@pru.org
• Youth clubs – pruyl-subscribe@pru.org
• To unsubscribe old officers, send a blank email to listname-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com   Be sure to have all new officers subscribe to the list.

Become familiar with the referees’ web site and introduce yourself (particularly the match secretary) to the PSRFR president and allocations secretary.

• www.potomacreferees.com
• The referees’ group the Potomac Society of Rugby Football Referees (PSRFR).  They are independent of the PRU and their main purpose is providing referees to games as well as referee training.  We are perennially short of referees, so an assigned referee may not be available from time to time.
• The two pages you need most on this web site are the schedule of games and the referee contact list.

Become familiar with the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union’s web site

• www.marfu.org

• MARFU, as it is commonly known, is the parent territorial union (TU) of the PRU, EPRU, and VRU.  MARFU is one of seven TUs that make up USA Rugby, the others being Northeast, South, Midwest, West, Pacific Coast, and Southern California.

• There may be policies and procedures you need to know about on this site, but the main information you’ll need is the TU playoff information.  MARFU playoffs are a layer between PRU playoffs and USA playoffs.  (The senior men and women competitions skip PRU and MARFU playoffs, and go straight to USA-sponsored playoffs.)  College men D1 go straight to MARFU playoffs.

Obtain login credentials to the PRU web site (username and password).  Read the page About this Web Site to learn how to login and a few other things.

• Initially - You will need a username and password to access some features of the PRU web site.  Most of the web site is publicly available.  Contact the PRU web master webmaster@pru.org to obtain your login credentials.  When you have your login credentials, do the following:
• Update user profile
• Update club profile 
• The PRU calendar is also available to be updated when you login.  Other site privileges are granted on an as-need basis. 
• Read the FAQ page; it has answers to many common questions.  Please read it before asking a PRU officer or director.
  
  
• On-going - As your club officers changes, pass the web site login credentials to them.  These can also be shared with anyone on your team (there is only very limited information that can be changed when you log in).  Or, contact the PRU web master to obtain refreshed login credentials.

Send your club's match schedule to the PRU and PSRFR.

• At the start of every spring or fall season, send your schedule
• Spring schedules are due by Feb 1
• Fall schedules are due by Aug 1
• Schedules should include date, time (if known), opponent, level of match (A, B, C, or multiple levels such as A/B), and venue if not your usual home field.
• Updates, including additions, cancellations, and changes to the schedule are permissible, but the bulk of the schedule should be received by the above dates.  Late games run the risk of not being assigned a referee.
• During the season, every week
• At least 72 hours prior to your match, contact your assigned referee (phone and email is best) and provide game location, kickoff time, directions, and jersey colors of both teams. 
• Failure to contact your assigned referee could mean him/her being reassigned to another game.  You will still be billed for this referee. 
• If your assigned referee has not confirmed at least 48 hours prior to kickoff, then contact the PSRFR to make other arrangements.
• These requirements are detailed on the PRU and PSRFR web sites.

Send your club's billing information to PRU and PSRFR.

• Initially - determine who in your club will pay your bills.
  • If you are a HS or college club, your bills may go to a school official for payment; otherwise, they usually go to your club treasurer. 
  • Determine who will pay your bills and send their contact and postal mailing information to the PRU Treasurer and the PSRFR Treasurer (contact info on the respective web sites). 
  • PRU bills will include dues and all-star fees (though while you are a recognized club, these fees are waived).  PSRFR bills will include referee fees for matches where they assigned a referee.
    
    
• On-going - As your club treasurer or other responsible officer changes, keep the PRU and the PSRFR up to date.

Develop an internal communications plan for your club.

• Initially - This internal communications plan details how club officers will communicate important information to players, supporters, and school officials.  Phone trees are mostly a thing of the past.  Yahoogroups offers free email lists.  A club web site is important.
  
  
• On-going - As your membership changes, so too might your communications plan.  Keep it up-to-date.

Develop a club web site.  There are plenty of tools out there to help you develop a club web site.  There is likely someone on your team who knows how to do this.

• Initially - This is the place to advertise your team, post your schedule, and keep all contact information up to date.  You’ll have a link from your club profile on the PRU web site to this page.
  
  
• On-going - Keep your club’s web site up to date, especially when contact information changes so the PRU, PSRFR, or potential new players can find you.Keep your club’s web site up to date, especially when contact information changes so the PRU, PSRFR, or potential new players can find you.

Find or become a certified Head Coach.

• Initially - For youth, HS/U19, and college clubs, this is a requirement; we strongly recommend all senior club have a certified coach.  This person is preferably someone who is not a player.  A player-coach is permissible except for HS/U19 teams who must have an adult coach (ie, at least 18 years old).
• Coaching certification is available through USA Rugby who runs coaching clinics around the country.  The PRU hosts one and sometimes two USA coaching clinics annually (historically, end of January and end of July).
• Coaching certification may be delayed until the next scheduled coaching clinic.  In that case, it is important that the coach have a playing background that can temporarily substitute for certification.
• Submit a coaching certification plan including who will become certified and when.
• On-going - It will be beneficial to have your head coach attend coaching certification or coach instruction classes whenever they are held.  It will also help if your club has more than one certified coach, particularly if one of the assistant coaches replaces the head coach.  In any case, any new head coach should become certified as soon as possible.

Find a practice and game field. This may be harder than you think.

• High school or university team - you may have access to school fields.  You will have to compete with other school sports. 
• Not a school team - check with your public parks authority.  Give the school or park authority a reason to say yes and not look at your club as just someone else looking for a handout.  Promote a clean image of a club involved in the community. 
• It is not advisable to become a “squatter” and practice/play just because nobody is using the field.  Somebody owns it, and if you tear it up, it will reflect badly on the entire rugby community, not to mention greatly reduce your chances of getting permission to use it.
• If at all possible, do not plan to use a field that is being used by another rugby club.  Fields are hard to find, but the more clubs using a field, the more wear and tear it will suffer.
• Practice minimums:  a safe practice area at least 60 x 60 yards, probably with lights if you are a senior club that practices in the evening.
• Game minimums: 120 x 65 yd playing area with sufficient buffer space around the field so obstructions and spectators are at a safe distance.
• If you don’t own your own field (and some rugby clubs do), inquire with the field owner about becoming a partner where you assist in maintaining the ground.  If you can do this, then the field owner may be more inclined to give you preferential treatment.

Purchase or borrow team equipment.

• Initially - The equipment needs for a rugby club are fairly minimal, although the USA Rugby guide has a fairly complete list of all possible equipment you would ever need or want. 
• Practice minimums:  cones, balls, rucking pads, and possibly tackling dummies.
• Game minimums: goal post pads, field flags, paint liner and paint (or field lime), sideline restraining rope and poles, game ball and kicking tee.
  
  
• On-going - You will periodically need to replace team equipment.  Balls and jerseys in particular wear out.  You may be able to donate old balls, jerseys, and other equipment to needy rugby clubs locally, elsewhere in the USA or overseas.

Develop a contingency plan to use when your field is not available.  Your field may become unavailable, particularly if you do not own your field, for these and other reasons:

• Weather
• Field conditions
• Use by other groups
• Permission revoked

In addition, the field may become unavailable on short notice.  You will have to notify your opponent and your assigned referee if the game is cancelled or moved.

Develop a game-week and game-day procedure. You should two procedures - one for home games and one for away games. Here are a few things you must  do:

• Contact your opponent ahead of time with directions and kickoff times
• Contact your referee ahead of time with directions and kickoff time (more requirements in this regard)
• Prepare the field including paint, goal posts, goal post pads, field flags
• Be prepared to follow your injury management plan (see below)
• Designate a water boy
• Before the game - follow your warm-up plan
• After the game - follow your cool-down, keep-warm plan, keep-dry plan
• Designate someone to bring game equipment - balls and kicking tee
• Designate someone to bring clean uniforms (often the one who took them home the week before) 
• Designate someone to take uniforms home and launder them
• (Almost a requirement) Plan a post-match social at the field or away from the field

Develop an injury management plan for practice and both home and away games.

• The PRU strongly recommends that you obtain the services of an athletic trainer or other medically qualified person to help you deal with injuries at least at games and possibly at practice. The cost is $25 to $30 per hour, and is money well-spent, even if they do nothing from time to time.  Eventually, you will need them.
• Build a medical kit that will enable you to deal with cuts and other common injuries. USA Rugby has information that should help you assemble this.
• Create a set of directions to one or more hospitals, including the nearest hospital, in case any player (your team or the opposing team) needs to go to the hospital.
• Know how to tell the 911 operator where you are playing and any special directions in case you have to call for an ambulance or other emergency services personnel.
• When you don’t have an athletic trainer available, use your injury management plan to guide you when injuries occur.
• Keep your injury management plan up-to-date, particular when your home field changes since the closest hospital may also change.