Riverside Rugby Club

Rugby team
teamname = Riverside Rugby RFC
fullname = Riverside Rugby Football Club
nickname = Riverside
union = USA Rugby
country

url = www.riversiderugby.com
founded = 1976
ground = Reid Park
president = Danny Bragg
Div 1 coach = Kel Luong Po
Youth coach = Sean Lopez
league = SCRFU White Division

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Riverside Rugby Club competes in the Southern California Rugby Football Union. Riverside's style of play has been described as "Southern Hemisphere" Rugby. This style, popularized by New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji, emphasizes back-play over forward play, and focuses on quick ball movement and a high work rate.

Teams

*Men's A team
*Men's B team
*Men's 7s A team
*Men's 7s B team
*Youth A team
*Youth 7s A team

Team Accomplishments

Riverside Rugby has distinguished itself with the following accomplishments:
*2008 SCRFU White Division Champion
*2008 National Sweet 16 Qualifier 2nd Division
*2004 USA 7’s Champion
*2004 National Sweet 16 Qualifier 1st division
*2004 SCRFU Red division Champion (perfect 12-0 1st division record)
*2003 USA 7’s Champion
*2003 USA 2nd Division champion
*2003 SCRFU White division Champion
*2000 National Sweet 16 Qualifier 2nd division

Capped Players

Being selected to play for a national team is one of Rugby's highest honors. The following current and former Riverside players have played for a national team.

*Malakai Delai (USA)
*Tui Osborne (USA)
*Nelo Lui(USA)

Criticisms

Riverside has been a very inconsistent team. The club was winless in 2002. Two years later, Riverside was undefeated in 2004 in the highest SCRFU division. In 2006, the club again had the worst record in SCRFU, and was relegated. In 2007, the club won the white division, and made the play-offs.

Player development

There are many factors that can cause such inconsistent performance. One argument is that too much of Riverside's talent is concentrated in a few players. Over the years, Riverside has demonstrated an ability to recruit top-tier Fijian-american, Tongan-american and Samoan-american players. Some have argued that the club has not done enough to develop local talent, which makes it very dependent on these key players.

The club has responded to these assessments by developing a strong youth rugby program, and forming partnerships with local university programs such as UC Riverside.

Transitioning from a recreational club to a professional sports organization

Another challenge for Riverside is that the club may be under-capitalized for the level of performance expected by Riverside fans. The more consistent high powered Southern California teams, such as OMBAC and Santa Monica, are well capitalized, well run professional sports organizations, that can provide the training facilities and resources expected by top rugby professionals in the United States.

Under the leadership of Brooks Speake and Danny Bragg, Riverside has worked to bring the club in line with the fan's expectations. The improvements overseen by Brooks and Danny include:
*field and facility renovations
*improving organizational structure
*driving fund-raising efforts
*recruiting coaches who have experience working with capped players.

Sponsorship

Unlike the Super League, SCRFU does not have a national sponsor that shares operating costs with the teams. Riverside is supported by a combination of member dues and secondary sponsorships [ [http://www.riversiderugby.com/sponsors Official Riverside Sponsors] ]

External links

* [http://www.riversiderugby.com/ Official Site]
* [http://www.usarugby.org USA Rugby]

References