Letter from RMR President Rich Cortez regarding the Men's Spring D3 Competition

To the Member Clubs & Teams:

Many of you are aware of the facts relating to the fall season competition in DIII and the confusion surrounding the forfeiture of games under league rules. 

The facts of the case are as follows:
·        Glendale forfeited two matches under the direction of their due to the mistaken belief that his players did not want to compete for post-season competition
·        Glendale forfeited to Queen City and the Denver Harlequins, but not to Northside or Northern Colorado
·        RMR policies stipulate that two forfeits in a season result in a team’s scores reading as 20-0 forfeits for the remainder of the season
·        RMR policies were emailed prior to 2013-2014 season but not emailed prior to 2014-2015 season and were not online before both forfeits occurred
·        Had Glendale forfeited to all 4 teams, it would be in 5th place and Northern Colorado would be in 2nd; Currently, Glendale is in 4th and Northern Colorado is in 3rd
 
Further:
·        The original D3 schedule consisted of 7 teams, with the Fall season being a play-in to a 4-team round-robin the Spring to qualify for the Frontier Conference playoffs
        Two teams (Colorado Rush, Littleton Eagles) have effectively dropped out of the league

Equitably:
·        With only 5 teams remaining, no one wishes to leave a club behind for the Spring
·        With only 5 teams remaining, there is no point in seeing the Fall as a the qualifier for the Spring
·        Teams want the Fall results to count, but also want to honor elements of the original format
·        Teams want the Glendale mistake to be accounted for but don’t necessarily want Glendale out of the competition

The Rocky Mountain Rugby Union, in weighing the facts of the case, has reached a decision regarding the Men’s Club Division III competition.

We propose the following solution:
·        A hybrid schedule will be enforced, combining the original plan with the practical realities of our existing competition
·        Glendale’s Fall results will be marked as 20-0 forfeits in accordance with RMR rules
·        A Rocky Mountain D3 Championship will be held on May 2
·        Qualifiers for this championship will be the Spring champion, which recognizes the original value assigned to the Spring season and the other participating team will be the overall champion, which recognizes the flexibility needed for our now-5-team league
·        If the Spring champion and the overall season champion are the same club, the second-place team from the overall season will participate as the other team in the game.  Of course, the Champion will already be determined and will receive the National Playoff bid. (If the Spring Champion and the overall season champion is not the same club, the National Playoff bid will be on the line.)  Nevertheless, RMR will present a trophy for that game to be given to the winner.  RMR will also award trophies for the D2 season and championship game winners.
·        Note: Glendale will be eligible for the Rocky Mountain D3 championship if it wins the Spring season

 
The adjusted Division III Fall/overall standings will then be as follows:

1.      Queen City, 5-0, 25 PTS
2.      Northern Colorado, 4-1, 21 PTS
3.      Harlequins, 3-2, 17 PTS
4.      Northside, 2-3, 12 PTS
5.      Glendale, 1-4, -4 PTS

The RMR Executive Committee believes this is the fairest solution to declare a champion—one determined on the field of play with due deference to the rules of the competition.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Kind Regards,


Rich Cortez


Note: The original draft of this letter stated Glendale's record would be 0-5 with -5 PTS. That was an error that did not reflect the Rush's departure from the competition and Glendale's forfeit victory over that side.