Welcome to the twelfth edition of El Paso Rugby’s Monthly Newsletter!
Where we keep you updated on all things El Paso Rugby. We’re excited to have you along for the journey! Check out what we got up to in December.
Annual General Meeting: New Executive Board
In December, we hosted our first Annual General Meeting (AGM) that included more than just the three founders at the pub picking positions. Thank you to Craft Rhythm and Brews for graciously hosting us as the meeting went on for hours – so a very typical AGM.
We are so grateful to all the individuals who ran for positions and for those now starting to fulfill these new roles. It fills us with pride to see people stepping up and taking ownership over this club. We love you all.
Congratulations to the 2023 Executive Board for El Paso Rugby.
Board of Directors: Fotu Malaefono and Jollen Gutierrez were elected to serve with Arilene Hernandez and Kerry Maguire.
Club-wide Positions: Oscar Alexander Carrillo as Fundraising Chair. Salma “Socks” Lopez as Sponsorship Chair.
Women+ Board: Susan Lackey as President. Salma “Socks” Lopez as Vice President and Backs Captain. Arilene Hernandez as Treasurer. Alina “Peggy” Spera as Recruiting Chair. Perla de Lara as Social Media Chair. Jazmin Chavez as Social Chair. Jollen Gutierrez as Match Secretary and Old Person Liaison. Desiree Avalos as Operations Chair, Ombudperson, and Forwards Captain.
Men+ Board: Oscar Alexander Carrillo as President. Aaron Carrillo as Vice President. Fotu Malaefono as Treasurer and Forwards Captain. Marcus Brown as Recruiting Chair, Social Media Chair, and Backs Captain. Alex “Monti” Montiel as Social Chair. Corey Preston as Match Secretary and Ombudsperson. Nicholas Morales as Old Person Liaison.
Home Pitch Update
As you know, we have an ambitious goal of raising $4,000 to buy equipment for a home pitch here in El Paso. Thank you to all of the generous folks who have been donating to the club or who bought some delicious Phô at our December fundraiser.
So far, we’ve raised over $600 – so we’ve still got quite a way to go. Donations are always tax deductible since we are a 501c3 nonprofit. Visit the fundraising website HERE for information on how to donate!
While we are doing the work to raise the funds for a home pitch, we haven’t had luck securing a location yet.
The City of El Paso Parks and Recreation officially said they will not allow us to put uprights in any of their parks even if we provide the equipment and make the uprights removable. This is very disappointing as we’re trying to grow rugby here in the borderland. One big step would be having a rugby pitch available and accessible to the public in El Paso. While city officials are not ready to do this just yet, we are working on alternative solutions for our Spring season.
We need a regulation pitch for our women+ team to compete in D2 of USA Rugby in the Spring. We’ll be hosting teams from Albuquerque, Tucson, Phoenix, and Las Vegas starting in February. While a city park is not available, we have some promising options on the horizon and are still hopeful that we can host teams in El Paso rather than traveling outside the city to find a regulation rugby pitch.
Try Rugby Day: Sunday, January 8th
We’re hosting a Try Rugby Day on Sunday, January 8th and invite anyone who is interested in learning more about the game to come out!
We'll have a 3-hour clinic where we teach the basics of rugby rules and skills like passing and catching. We may also get into contact like rucking and tackling in a very controlled environment. This is a great introduction to the game and we hope you can join us.
All genders welcome. While the clinic is primarily for adults, we’re accepting teens age 15-17 with signed guardian permission. For athletes who also have younger kids, we’re working to make childcare available so you can fully participate if you let us know ahead of time that you’ll need childcare.
Go to our website for more info and to RSVP.
Clinic cost is $5 per player for the 3hr clinic. We’ll also invite you to socialize with us at a local pub afterwards where we’ll play games and maybe even sing rugby songs. We’ll definitely be the entertainment there, but you’ll be on your own tab.
We’re excited to meet you and introduce you to the rugby community!
Quarterly Newsletter
As the club has grown, the administrative duties have as well. We will be moving to a quarterly newsletter rather than the monthly newsletter we were producing this past year. The next newsletter will be in March and will be recapping the first part of the year, including our women+ team’s first experiences competing in D2 and the growth of the men+ team.
Expect our quarterly newsletters to be a little longer and to cover more content. You can also expect more announcements and timely info to keep you updated in the months between newsletters. Cheers!
If you have any thoughts on what we should be doing more of next year or feedback on anything that we tried this year, please feel free to send them our way (play@elpasorugby.com).
Thank you for taking this 2022 ride with us.
Cheers and Happy Holidays!
Look Ahead: Member Access Only
The Look Ahead is a special portion of the El Paso Rugby Newsletter that can only be accessed by those who are active players and social members. Become a Social Member today! We'd love to have you be a part of the club.