To the Sweet 16s!

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The Bombers to the Sweet 16s!

If you thought the Bombers weren’t going and are now confused, it will all be explained in due time.

Back  on April 27th was the West Tournament up in Omaha and the Bombers would fell to Glendale in the opening match which meant that the Bombers season had come to an end. It was a hard blow to everyone that put so much time and effort into the season to see it just end.

Prior to any of the game all players are checked by an official to make sure they are on the roster, have photo ID, CIPP’d, and meet the numbers of games played regulations. If everything clears, you are free to play.

The Bombers challenged the eligibility of a key Glendale player, citing his CIPP registration and number of upper level games played. The basic rules are that if a team has two Division teams all players can play in both Divisions, but once a player has played in 50% or more of their League matches, that player is ineligible to play in the lower Division. And the deadline to have CIPP registration in was March 15th.

  • a) Player must be CIPP registered for the club, either upon initial enrollment or submission of an official waiver request seeking an in-season transfer, by the earlier of:       – Page 7 Section 3.2
                   i) any participation in a League/Qualifying Match, OR
                  ii) no later than 11:59 pm Mountain Standard Time Zone on:
                                         ‣March 15th for Men’s competitions.
  • d) Any player who has played in 50% or more of a club’s League/Qualifying Matches in a higher division is not eligible to play in a lower division of the USA Rugby Championships. – Page 8 Section 3.3

If either rule is violated and an ineligible player takes the field, the match is ruled of forfeit and the win is awarded to the other team.

The challenge went before the Appellate Committee of the West and was ruled that Glendale “did violate the spirit, intent and letter of the governing rules” and that the match “has been over turned and the STL shall advance to the USA R32″.

Glendale would appeal the West’s decision to USA Rugby and was overturned into Glendale’s favor citing  that there were “miscommunications, decisions and possible errors“, but felt that the decision of the West RFU “should not have imposed such a dramatic and impactful ruling“; forfeiting the game to the Bombers.

The Bombers would appeal USA Rugby’s decision and on Tuesday night the Bombers found out they would be going onto the Sweet 16s in Dallas.

The Bombers will face against Santa Rosa (CA) on Saturday at Spring Trail Park, kick off at Noon on field #2. From here on out it’s win or go home, and after 3 weeks from the original appeal the Bombers aren’t planning on going home anytime soon.


Rules cited: http://www.usarugby.org/documentation/membership/Eligibility_Regulations_2012-13.pdf