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Founded by six clubs in 1974, the Florida Rugby Union (FRU) is a Geographical Union (GU) that governs the Florida peninsula for USA Rugby. 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.

• Bay Area Pelicans
• Boca Raton Buccaneers
• Brevard Old Red Eye
• Central Florida Claymores
• Daytona Beach Coconuts
• Fort Lauderdale Knights
• Gainesville Hogs
• Jacksonville
• Key West
• Miami
• 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)
• Bill Crusselle (1977-78)
• Kevin Kitto (1978-82)
• Jim Millar (1984)
• Bing Towne (1993-1995)
• Brian Brantley (1996-1998)
• Ken Simmons (2000-2002)
• Mark Etue (2003-2006)
• John Devonport (2007-2010)
• Franklyn Williams (2011-2013)
• Dr. Kerri O'Malley (2014–2022)
• Richard Comisky (2022–2024)
• Dr. Kerri O'Malley (2024–Present)

Vice president

• Peter Gibson (1974)
• Vic Langley (1996)
• Richard Elliott (1996, 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)
• Kevin Kitto (2000)
• Richard Comisky (2019–2021)
• Melissa Butler (2022–2023)
• Jennifer Joyce (2023-Present)

Treasurer

• Roy Brewer (1974)
• Dr. Stuart Roath (1996)
• Gerrardo Ferraris (2000)
• Steve Mommaerts (2005)
• 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)
• Richard Comisky (2024–Present)

See also

• Rugby union in the United States

References

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

External links

• USA Rugby Official Site
• World Rugby Official Site

• Rugby union governing bodies in the United States
• Rugby union in Florida