Western Rugby Union
Approved
by the Western Board: 2 February 2003
Amended: 11 January 2004
Last
Updated: 23
December 2008
The
Western Rugby Union is routinely asked to provide financial support to
individual members of the Western RFU to assist with their participation in
the activities of some national or representative teams. The purpose of this document is to define the WRFU policies
regarding the financial support for players who are selected to participate
with specific USA Rugby National and/or Representative teams. Such
grants are not intended for players invited to camps, trials, or team assem
1. The
West defines “National Representative” teams to include the following USA
Rugby teams: Men’s Collegiate All-Americans, Women’s Under-23; Boy’s Under-19,
Under-18 and Under-17,
and Girl’s U-19. The USA Rugby
Senior Women’s team - both XVs and VIIs - is by definition, a National Team.
2. The
West defines “events” for which grant requests will be considered: matches
or tours, camps or assemblies that lead up to, but are not scheduled in
conjunction with, matches or tours, and final selection and/or training camps.
The West does not provide grants for other types of camps
including open trials camps for any of these squads.
3. Eligible
applicants are those persons who are; 1) CIPP enrolled members in good-standing with USA
Rugby, the Western RFU, and their local area union, and 2) who have been
invited to participate by the management of a USA Rugby national or
representative team.
1. The WRFU proposes line
items for grants in the annual budget to be presented to the Board of Directors for
consideration and approval. The
amount of the line items is subject to Board approval and will vary as economic
conditions within the WRFU change.
2. By WRFU policy, all fines or
penalties levied by the WRFU against its clubs, LAUs, and individual members
are to be applied to “youth development”.
At the discretion of the WRFU Officers, these funds may be allocated
for developmental player support.
Western RFU Position Related to the Funding of All National Teams
It
is the position of the WRFU that USA Rugby should provide full funding for all
approved National or Representative teams.
Until adequate funding levels are in place, the WRFU is opposed to the
establishment of additional National or representative teams.
The
WRFU recognizes the importance of developing young players and will strive to
provide financial support for players from its geography, until such time as
USA Rugby is able to meet its financial obligations to its National and
representative teams.
The WRFU support level per player for participation in national and/or representative team activities, as defined above.
National
or representative team training camp – up to $75 per player
National
or representative domestic match – up to $150 per player
National
or representative team tour abroad – up to $300 per player
The WRFU reserves the right to adjust these amounts
depending on the number of requests or the amount of support remaining in the
budget for that year. In
determining support, the WRFU will not preferentially fund players from any
given LAU based on LAU matching funds (see below), or solicitation for
support. All WRFU members invited
to participate will receive an equal amount as determined for that event.
Generally, monies will be forwarded in a single check
from the WRFU to USA Rugby to be applied to the players’ account to offset
their team expenses. On rare
exceptions, the WRFU will remit monies directly to players, with good reason.
The
WRFU will not make player support grants contingent on matching funds from the
players’ home local area union and/or club.
However, the WRFU expects that member LAUs will provide budget line
items for the purposes of offering matching LAU supporting grants, within
their financial ability.
Grant Application Process
The
player as an individual, the player’s club, and/or the player’s LAU may
apply to the WRFU for financial support.
Clubs or LAUs may apply for a grant to cover multiple players from
their membership ranks. However,
as stated above, all WRFU members invited to participate will be treated
equally.
Please complete and submit the
Online Grant Application and submit to WRFU Secretary,
Dan Ward by either, by e-mail attachment (dward58@earthlink.net)
or surface mail (60 Webster Acres, Webster Groves, MO 63119). Dan's
home phone number is 314-961-2706.
The
grant request must clearly identify the player or players for which the grant
is requested. The event, with
date, title, purpose, and venue must be provided.
The estimated total cost of participation in the event must also be
specified with a breakdown of the costs into - at a minimum - the travel and
ground components. If the grant
request comes from a club or LAU, the funds to be provided by that entity to
the player or players must also be specified.
The grant requestor must verify that the player or players are CIPP,
Western, and LAUs dues compliant. It
is expected that the management of the squad will verify all other eligibility
issues. Grant applications should
be forwarded to the designated Western official at least four weeks before
the event for which funding is requested.
In the event of last-minute selection changes, grant applications with
shorter lead times will be considered. Grant
applications that are not generated by a Western LAU, must copy the officers
of the appropriate LAUs on the grant request.
The LAU is expected to be cooperative in providing any background
information on the grant.
If a
grant is approved and funds allocated for the player or players, the
requesting person or organization will be expected to provide current contact
information for the players, i.e., surface mailing address. The West reserves the right to distribute the approved funds
in any manner it chooses.
There
is a grant application form to be used in applying for these grants located on
the web site. While the use of the form is not an absolute requirement, at a
minimum all the information requested on the form must be included in the
grant request.
Grant Recognition
The
West reserves the right to use the information about the approved grant in any
manner it deems useful. This
includes listing the grants, the names of those who received the grants, the
amounts and purposes of the grants, etc. in any media it chooses.