WESTERN RUGBY UNION
Process for Event Venue Selection

(Approved by the Western Board on 6 February 2000)

Overall Policy

It is the policy of the Western Rugby Union to select venues for its' championship and other events that will provide an attractive and safe playing facility for the players and spectators. Further, the West will continue to seek facilities that are under the control of local rugby administrators who have proven experience, or could acquire same, to provide outstanding administrative support of our events. It is the intention of the West to identify a number of playing facilities within our geography that are, or can be, administratively supported by capable and willing host committees.

Time Schedule

The Western board meets twice each year - in the Spring at the site of the Men's Club Championships and in the Fall at the LAU All Star event. We desire to have all events for the following calendar year (CY+1) scheduled and sited at the Spring meeting of the Board. That process will require that the format and schedule of all Western events be established prior to the Spring meeting so that parties interested in hosting Western events know the dates and number of teams that will participate in the event(s) they wish to host. The Secretary of the Western Rugby Union will be responsible to implement a program to advertise all Western events and solicit interest in hosting organizations. The Secretary will collect all information gathered from those organizations and circulate it to the Western officers for their review. The recommendations for the venues for the following calendar year's (CY+1) events will be made to the Board at the Spring meeting by the officers. The officers/Board may award an event to an organization with stipulations that the organization must improve certain areas of the proposal and/or other items such as dues or discipline compliance.

Venue Selection and Dues and Fees Compliance Status

It is a policy of the Western Rugby Union not to place events with organizations who are not in good standing with their school, LAU, TU or USA Rugby. In addition, any organization that in arrears in any dues or fees owed to the West will not be considered for hosting events. Any organization under disciplinary action by any level within the United States will not be considered for hosting Western events.

Currently, for an LAU, or any of its' members, to be considered as a host for a Western event, they must be CIPP and Western dues compliant at a level of at least 85% of their assigned target for the year. This includes hosting "wild card" or "challenge" matches that may be scheduled. The Western Board may provisionally award the hosting of an event into an area that does not yet meet its' compliance targets. However, the award will be withdrawn if the targets have not been achieved by 1 September of the year preceding the event. If the Western Board does provisionally award an event to a non-compliant organization, they must identify an alternative site should the first selected site fail to meet its' objectives. Should the West place an event into a LAU that latter fails to meet their dues compliance targets, after a period of time to rectify the compliance numbers the event will be placed elsewhere.

Event Venue Selection Criteria

The "Home Team" determination process for Challenge matches, wild card matches, and Round of Twelve matches are described elsewhere. These venues are expected to have playing facilities that meet the criteria described below. Organizations that host these events, and fail to provide adequate playing facilities will be removed from consideration as a host for future events no matter what the "Home Team" determination process specifies. The officers of the West have sole authority to determine if the playing facilities and/or performance of the host for these matches are, or were, adequate.

Playing and Practice Facilities

The West will have sole authority to determine the number of playing fields that are required for each of its' events. That number will be published and available to any interested party. Practice/warm-up facilities must be available within close proximity to the playing fields. Practice facilities must be adequate in number to enable every team to properly prepare for their matches. In no case will pre-game preparation be allowed to occur on any portion of any field being utilized for a match in the event.

Playing fields must be full size according to the current Laws of the Game. They must be 100% grass covered. The grass must have been cut to a length not exceeding X inches in the days immediately prior to the event. [ The issue of the minimum size for a field is under discussion and is unresolved at this time. ]

Accommodations and Local Facilities

The host organizing committee must provide the West with information on local hotels, restaurants, laundry facilities, area maps, etc. on a schedule to announced by the West. Hotel/motel accommodations must be relatively near the playing facility (within 15 minutes drive) and be priced according to normal rugby budgets. The host committee is responsible to make reservations (but not pay for) for match officials, and other previously identified Western officials at the designated event hotel. The host committee must reserve, and pay for, meeting facilities for team check-ins, official meetings for the event, and others as specified by the West

Ease and Cost of Travel to the Host City

The West will undertake a comparison of the travel costs for teams and officials to get to the proposed host city. Locations without frequent air service and a near-bye airport will likely not be selected due to the difficulty and/or expense of travel. While airport hub cities may be preferred, the West will entertain non hub cities with frequent and/or price competitive flight costs.

Local Host Organizing Committee

The West has published a generic paper on the details of the responsibilities of the host organization. The host must agree to meet or exceed all the requirements provided in the document. The West officers may agree, at their sole discretion to modify the detailed requirements for any Western event.

The West intends to increase the responsibilities of the host over time in order to provide better facilities and support services for the participants. However, once agreed to by the host the West may not alter the responsibilities.

Constituent Communities within the Western RFU

There are identifiable communities within the West. Examples are: Men's high school players/clubs, Women' players/clubs etc. These communities may, with the majority support of their members, agree to recommend the placement of their respective championship program at a venue that suits their purposes. However, the West reserves the right to require compliance with the objectives of a site and a host committee as outlined above. Further a host of such an event must agree to meet all the requirements contained in the current generic host packet. Such a proposed host must be in good financial and discipline standing with the LAU, the West, and USA Rugby. Assuming all requirements are met, the West will not unreasonably withhold placing the event at the venue recommended by the constituent community..