Florida Rugby Union

Florida Rugby Union Geographical Union
Abbreviation	FRU
Formation	1974
Region served	Florida, United States
President	Richard Comisky
Website	www.FloridaRugby.org

Founded by six clubs in 1974, the Florida Rugby Union (FRU) is a Geographical Union (GU) that governs the Florida peninsula for USA Rugby.^[1] The FRU has four divisions: Men's, Women's, Collegiate Men's, and Collegiate Women's.

Men's clubs

There are currently twenty-one registered voting clubs in the Men's division.^[2]

Bay Area Pelicans
Boca Raton Buccaneers
Brevard Old Red Eye
Central Florida Claymores
Daytona Beach Coconuts
Fort Lauderdale Knights
Gainesville Hogs
Jacksonville[1]
Key West
Miami[2]
SWFL Hammerheads
Ocala
Okapi Wanderers
Orlando Griffins
Palm Beach Panthers
Sarasota Surge
South Florida
Tallahassee
Tampa Bay Krewe
Trident
Treasure Coast Armada

Women's clubs

There are currently four registered voting clubs in the Women's division.

Jacksonville
Fort Miami
Orlando
Tampa

Collegiate Men's clubs

There are currently twelve registered voting clubs in the Collegiate Men's division.

Ave Maria University
Eckerd College
Florida Atlantic University
Florida International University
Florida State University
Millenia Atlantic University
Saint Thomas University
University of Central Florida
University of Florida
University of Miami
University of North Florida
University of South Florida

Previous clubs have included Florida Gulf Coast University.

Collegiate Women's clubs

There are currently nine registered clubs in the Collegiate Women's division.

University of Florida
Florida State University
Florida Atlantic University
Saint Thomas University
University of Miami
University of South Florida
University of Central Florida
Florida International University
Eckerd College

Previous clubs have included Florida Gulf Coast University.

Leadership

President

John Clements (1974-77^[3])
Bill Crusselle (1977-78^[3])
Kevin Kitto (1978-82^[3])
Jim Millar (1984^[3])^[4]
Bing Towne (1993-1995^[5])
Brian Brantley (1996^[6]^[7]-1998)
Ken Simmons (2000-2002)
Mark Etue (2003-2006)
John Devonport (2007-2010)
Franklyn Williams (2011-2013)
Dr. Kerri O'Malley (2014–2022)
Richard Comisky (2022–Present)

Vice president

Peter Gibson (1974)
Vic Langley (1996^[6])
Richard Elliott (1996,^[6] 2000)
Brad Hanafourde (2000)
Ian Henry (2019–2022)
Jessica Premet (2019–2023)
Mary Leigh Miller (2019–2023)
Gonzalo Michanie (2022-2023)
Kirk Swanner (2023-Present)
Jennifer Fasano (2023-Present)
James Woollcombe-Clarke (2023-Present)
Michael Williams (2023-Present)
Michael Gomez (2023-Present)

Secretary

Roy Brewer (1974)
James Bledsoe (1979)
Joy Striepe (1996^[6])
Kevin Kitto (2000)
Richard Comisky (2019–2021)
Melissa Butler (2022–2023)
Jennifer Joyce (2023-Present)

Treasurer

Roy Brewer (1974)
Dr. Stuart Roath (1996^[6])
Gerrardo Ferraris (2000)
Matthew Tierney (2019)
Kiel McAuley (2020–2021)
Dr. Jean-Marie Van Der Elst (2023)
Patrick Murphy (2024-Present)

President Emeritus

Dr. Kerri O'Malley (2022–2023)

References

^ "USA Club Rugby: Geographical Unions". usarugby.org/. Archived from the original on 2014-02-13. Retrieved 2014-03-04.
^ "Clubs". floridarugbyunion.org Retrieved September 15, 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "History of Rugby in Florida". Hammerhead Rugby 1st Annual Beerfoot Beach 7’s Tournament program. August 2003.
^ Jacobs, Scott (24 Feb 1984). "Ruggers earn shot at title". The Miami Hurricane. p. 9.
^ "Florida Rugby Union". Rugby Magazine. February 1995. pp. 47–49.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Florida Rugby Union, Incorporated Articles of Incorporation, 1996
^ "Leadership". USARFU Rugbysouth D2 XVs Championship program. 13–14 April 1996.

External links

USA Rugby Official Site
World Rugby Official Site

Rugby union in the United States

Governing body

USA Rugby

Geographical Unions

National teams

Men's	Eagles USA Falcons All Americans U-20 U-19 7s
Women's	Women's 7s

Competitions

International

Domestic

College

Bodies	NCR NIRA
Conferences	Colonial Coast East Coast Heart of America Ivy Northeast PAC Potomac Red River Southeastern
Competitions	Division 1-A Results NCR Champions Cup NCR Nationals Collegiate Championship (7s) USA Rugby Sevens Collegiate National Championships (7s)