CCWRC

Rugby! Rugby! Rugby!

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This weekend we have Western Women’s University hosting Southern Oregon University and Seattle University hosting Western Oregon University. Remember play smart, play respectfully, and have fun!!

#ccwrc #SeattleUwomensrugby #WWUwomensrugby #WOUwomensrugby #SOUwomensrugby

For a full schedule this spring check out our website at https://cascadecollegiaterugby.org/schedule/

Women’s Division II National Championship

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The Spring Season for CCWRC kicks off this weekend. We hope you are all ready for some amazing rugby. As you are out there practicing in the cold and the wet; we thought we would share some motivating news with you!

USA Rugby has announced the dates for the National Championship (Locations are coming in the next 3 weeks)

USA_Rugby_Logo

Click on me for more info from USA Rugby

Selection Announcements: April 7
“Play-In” Round of 32 (If deemed appropriate by USA Rugby): April 12-13
Round of 16: April 25-27
Semi-Finals/Finals: May 9-11

A few things explained

Who goes and who stays?

The CCWRC Conference Champion team will have an automatic bid into play off rounds.

How will we decide the Champion?

USA Rugby requires (with some provisos of understanding) that all teams play 5 games to qualify for post-season. As we get scores from the last season and this seaon, CCWRC will discuss with all teams what the conference championship will look like, where it will be, and how many teams will be involved. Check your emails as the season progresses.

What if you are 2nd in the conference?

This is where the (Possible) Round of 32 comes in. If you do not get an automatic qualify bid (i.e. first place) you can submit an At Large Selection. Depending on what USA rugby feels this may qualify you for post-season play.

What does this mean for you right now?

Keep playing hard and schedule friendlies with teams that will challenge you.

Start fundraising for travel!

Send your unnoficial scores to vicepresident.ccwrc@gmail.com. While these won’t be final scores it may be a quicker way to keep our page updated.

Still have questions or are just super confused?

Email your President! president.ccwrc@gmail.com

Fall is here and the pitches are filling up!

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Get your boots on! 

 

The weather has started to turn, classes are kicking off, and rugby pitches are ready for another year of CCWRC Rugby!

 

In August CCWRC held our Annual General Meeting (AGM) on the beautiful Central Washington State University Campus. A big thank you to our Wildcat Ruggers!  While the AGM was sorely under attended there was great conversation from the teams who did come. Thank you to WOU,CWU, and U of I for representing your teams.

 

Stop. Before you read any further please check your team email and read your CCWRC By Laws. This is your chance to make changes, suggestions, and feedback. CCWRC is yours not ours and we need your input!

 

At the AGM some big things were discussed and important team concerns were brought to the attention of CCWRC. The biggest discussion point—Division I and Division II.
As many of you know by now USA Rugby has a goal of Collegiate Divisional Alignment which is causing a lot of Pac 12 University to move from their Div II standing to Div I. This means that the University of Washington and Washington State University have both moved out of CCWRC and joined the Pacific –Mountain: Pac North Conference along with Oregon and Oregon State.  
 
This means CCWRC is currently comprised of:
Central Washington State University
Western Oregon University
University of Idaho
Portland State University
Seattle University

 

CCWRC is currently also reaching out Reed to rejoin CCWRC this year.  We are also still open to other Div II teams to join—we are looking at you Willamette,  EWU, Whitman, and Whitworth!  

 

The teams at the AGM also requested that we put together a CCWRC only tournament that would allow new teams to possibly knock out some league games and cut down on travel expenses. We would also be open to letting those teams who are potential CCWRC members join us. Look for more info on this later!
Now that we have our teams confirmed your CCWRC Secretary is crunching college schedules and coming up with our CCWRC schedule. Please keep a look out for that in your team email and on our website.  If you haven’t contacted Patty about your schedule needs please do so now!  secretary.ccwrc@gmail.com
 
In the meantime here are some really awesome tournaments to keep in mind.
 
October  12, 2013: The Oregon State University Beaverfest in Corvallis, OR. This is a great tournament with an emphasis on developing new players.

 

October 19, 2013: The Oregon Sports Union (ORSU) Women host Babbfest. This is another great tournament to get more competitive play while celebrating the Family side of Rugby. The tournament is held in memory of Lindsay Babb and seeks to raise funds for  a local nonprofit supporting victims of domestic abuse.

CCWRC Team Headed to the Final Four!

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CCWRC Team Headed to the Final Four!

As we all know the Washington State University Women’s Rugby Club has recently been leading the D2 post-seasons. With multiple appearances in Post season play and lots of hardware to boot, these Cougs are set to continue on the tradition again this year.

Go Cougs!

Go Cougs!

CCWRC couldn’t be more proud to be represented by these Cougs at the USA Rugby D2 National Championship.

Read about the Cougs journey in the Spokesman-Review article here  and if you are in the Stanford area come out to cheer on the Cougs this weekend!

 

 

Way to represent and Go Cougs!

Petitions, Appeals and Rugby Family

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“Any change, even one for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.” When I read these words by Arnold Bennet, I thought to myself, “He must have been a rugger.”

Over the last few months your CCWRC President and the coaches from UW and WSU have been learning all about drawbacks and discomforts of the awesome change that has been happening within USA Rugby.

In January, USA Rugby informed WSU and UW that they would be moving up to DI in order to align with USA Rugby’s mission of Collegiate Athletic alignment. As always, they could petition to stay in DII. Both teams petitioned and both teams were denied. This denial made both teams ineligible for the DII postseason. USA Rugby gave both teams the opportunity to appeal. Ruggers are always up for another scrum down so appeal they did.

The appeals were both based on the fact that USA rugby had communicated with CCWRC that divisional alignment wasn’t required until 2015.After submitting appeals, evidence and attending a phone hearing USA Rugby did what ruggers do, they supported their rugby family. Both appeals were upheld and WSU and UW were allowed to finish out their seasons at the DII level.

The real story here isn’t the petitions or appeal but the amazing work on USA Rugby’s part to not become a faceless bureaucratic system where no voice can be heard. USA Rugby was incredibly honest and helpful during the entire process. Scrum caps off to you USA Rugby!

At CCWRC we were also excited by the amount of support from competitors that UW and WSU received. The teams that would have benefited from an ineligible decision, stood up said these teams deserve their spot in the post season.This is the magic of rugby.

I can assure you that USA Rugby is changing for the better. Through this growth they have not forgotten they are rooted in the hopes and dreams of every rugby player out there. Here at CCWRC we are excited for the future and our ready to put in the work to make it happen.

Thank you to WSU and UW for being amazing teams. We are proud of your fight!