2019 Rocky Mountain Rugby AGM Recap

The 2019 Rocky Mountain Rugby Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held on Sunday, June 9, at the Radisson Hotel Denver-Aurora, located at 3155 S Vaughn Way, Aurora, CO 80014.

In all, over 40 people attended this year's event, and several changes were approved by the union's membership.

2019 RMR AGM Presentation
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After roll call and determination of quorum, the meeting began with an address by longtime union president Rich Cortez, who warmly greeted the gathering. President Cortez then gave a general overview of the membership, spoke to happenings outside the union, congratulated the union's many champions, and spoke in memoriam of Jerry Hatem and Lloyd Chavez IV.

Soon after, Vice-President Erik Geib gave an operations update, including the union's business relationships and communications, followed by a presentation from Treasurer Bob Lesnansky concerning the union's finances. Steve Gore then presented on behalf of the Rocky Mountain Rugby Referee Society in place of RMRRS President Brian Zapp, and orchestrated a detailed discussion of how assignments are made, upcoming courses, and proposals being discussed between RMRRS and the union. Steve also spoke on issues facing the referees, including recruitment/retention and referee abuse, as well as other items.

After the officer reports were concluded, the meeting moved into representative & director reports. Rich Cortez spoke on behalf of USA Rugby Congress member John Barkmeier, providing a brief overview of Congress activities in the past year. This was followed by Charlie Haupt giving a brief update regarding Disciplinary Committee activities in place of DC chair Martin Brown, and a discussion ensued regarding some disciplinary items that have occurred recently. This, in turn, led to a discussion about the videotaping of matches by clubs. Next up were the competition reports, beginning with a presentation and discussion on the men's clubs by Erik Geib. It was noted that all men's clubs were 'scored' this year for compliance-related items, and this report was available at rockymountainrugby.org/2019-eoy. Erik then noted that nominations were open for all-league teams, and discussed the impact of last year's format changes (Eastern Rockies Cup; changes in D4) on the operation of this season's competitions. Accomplishments and ongoing issues were then noted, and a discussion about the Frontier Committee also ensued. Finally, it was noted that the scheduling survey was out and needed to be turned in by Wednesday. Women's Representative Jeanna Beard then presented, with an initial focus on communication between teams and the union, as well as notes regarding the onboarding and training of volunteer administrators. Jeanna also asked if there was broad interest regarding touch rugby and presented a 'festival' concept to encourage the growth of women's clubs, which sparked conversation regarding different approaches to building up an eventual RMR-only women's Division II-level competition. Howard Kent then spoke at length regarding 7s clubs and competition within the region and nationally, noting that the Frontier region has proven itself in recent years as the strongest 7s circuit in the country. The past three men's 7s national champions have come from the Frontier region, and 5 out of the 6 teams in those finals have also come from the region. New Mexico Highlands and Air Force women also won the NSCRO men's and USA Rugby Division 1 college 7s competitions as well. Howard also introduced Allison Hale, who is coordinating the women's club 7s competition this season, and noted the first 7s qualifier is this coming Saturday at the Rocky Mountain Challenge. Rich Cortez then concluded the representative reports by speaking on behalf of the college representatives not in attendance, speaking at length regarding the women's colleges as well as men's D1A, men's D2, and the NSCRO competitions. Rich then quickly touched on the status of the Mountain League before the reports were concluded.

Next up on the agenda was a discussion regarding proposed policies and operations amendments, and Erik Geib led the discussion over items under consideration by the executive. These items included requiring an administrator training before the season started, instituting a red card fee, and continuing issues such as the match administrator program. Charlie Keener from Queen City then requested the union formalize its playoff grant program, and a discussion regarding this topic ensued. Straw polls were taken on all topics to understand support for the various initiatives.

Following this, several proposed bylaw changes were reviewed and considered in a discussion led by Erik Geib, who submitted the proposals. It was noted that several changes proposed had been withdrawn, and the meeting focused solely on the items still in consideration. These changes included changing the titles of two officer positions (Secretary to Vice President - Communications and Treasurer to Vice President - Finance), simplification of the executive committee (reducing it to only the officers to streamline functions and limit union liability), changing the way divisional meetings are held/led (which passed at previous meetings without quorums), a practical change in the way transfers are handled to mirror USA Rugby's operating procedures, and discussion regarding the addition of an officer position, which was to be voted on prior to officer elections. Changing quorum for executive meetings was also discussed, but withdrawn after Keith Slate noted issues with the proposed change. All proposed changes then passed with large majorities (though some abstentions), and the additional-officer issue was moved to the end of the meeting.

The planned discussion regarding the Frontier Committee was then moved to the breakout session time block so lengthier discussion regarding the addition of an officer could be had prior to officer elections. Erik Geib then spoke to the proposal to add a 'Chair of the Board' position, who would, "preside over all Union and Executive Committee meetings and is responsible for the development of the union’s officers. The chair shall be annually elected from existing officers who have served the previous year in order to preserve and pass knowledge of the union’s operations. In the event of a tie during union voting matters, the Chair shall cast the deciding vote." It was noted that this position was being created to provide the union an additional active officer as well as safeguard it so that institutional knowledge could always be preserved by nature of the position ("elected from existing officers who have served the previous year"). The position would also be critical towards the development of new officers, and provide expert opinion on matters of intense debate ("In the event of a tie during union voting matters, the Chair shall cast the deciding vote"). As the expert and counsel to the other officers, the Chair would also preside over the meetings of they union they attend. The President would remain as the organizer of meetings and the administrator of activities of the other officers and committees of the union. The President would also remain in charge of determining the union's objectives, retain other bylaw-related powers, and serve as the primary face of the union to external stakeholders such as USA Rugby. It was noted in discussion that the Chair position would be like the chair of a board, while the President would be like a CEO. The measure was then discussed and passed, with a move immediately into officer nominations and elections.

With the newly-created position of 'Chair of the Board' created, long-time President Rich Cortez was immediately nominated and unanimously elected into the position. The President position was then opened, and existing Vice-President Erik Geib was elected into the President position, also unanimously. There was then a call for nominations to the Vice-President position and current Treasurer Bob Lesnansky was nominated but declined the nomination. With no other nominations received at the time, the VP position was then skipped to move to the Vice-President - Finance position previously known as Treasurer. Bob Lesnansky was nominated again and unanimously elected. Next was the position of Vice-President - Communications (formerly known was 'Secretary'). For this position, existing Women's Representative Jeanna Beard was nominated and unanimously elected. After this was the first contested election, which was for the USA Rugby Congress seat. The two-year term position garnered nominations for Erik Geib and Charlie Haupt, and lengthy debate ensued behind closed doors. Eventually, Erik Geib was elected to serve in the role with Charlie Haupt elected as the alternate. The vacant Vice-President seat was then revisited, which saw Tracy Curtis nominated and unanimously elected.

Finally, an application for new membership was discussed regarding a new women's program. After a debate of considerable length, the new club (Ronin) was eventually unanimously approved, with the note that the new club would either have to operate under the union's existing new club probationary policy and/or accept whatever limitations other match organizers (e.g. USA Rugby) might enforce. The AGM then concluded at approximately 1:20 and moved into breakout sessions, which included a college discussion, a women's clubs discussion, and a men's clubs discussion. Planning for the following season was the primary focus of these discussions, with the women's group largely talking about the best way to develop new programs and competitions, and the men's group largely focused on the divisional alignment of existing clubs and competitions. Provisions for the eventual return of the Provo Steelers were also discussed, who may return to union competition under special conditions after serving their suspension.