This article is intended to discuss a significant concern for American rugby and solicit solutions on how to retain members.

Membership in rugby’s national governing body continues to grow, an amazing accomplishment considering the minimal personnel resources available at USA Rugby’s national office. Even more impressive is that the sustained growth occurs despite a very poor effort in retaining registered members.

USA Rugby reports membership within the organization turns over at a rate of 50% annually (Strategic Plan, October, 2005). Each year the organization replaces one half of their membership. In corporate America, this statistic would simply be unacceptable.

Numerous business journals cite the substantial cost of gaining new “customers” (in rugby’s case, “members’) compared to the costs associated with retaining current members.

The turnover rate is despairing news considering the lost revenue that those members represent. For instance, if membership was 55,000, a fifty percent turnover equates to a loss of 27,500 players. Multiply that times the CIPP dues that each member would have contributed to the organization…that is a significant monetary loss.

The issue of member retention can be examined with a two-pronged process. The first approach would be to explore the question: “Why do members leave the sport and organization”? Conversely, the same issue could be addressed by merely changing the way in which the question is framed.

Therefore, the second aspect of the process would be to examine the question: “What motivates players to stay involved in the sport (as a player, coach, or administrator)”?

Everyone with prolonged experience in the sport can point to some common factors leading players to depart from the sport. Specifically, players fail to transition from collegiate rugby to senior club rugby because of new careers and professional obligations, starting families, etc.

Other factors are worthy of consideration as well. For example, individuals that have the good fortune to have played high school rugby may have come from a very structured environment. These players may not have the same experience in college where there is often no coach or structured organization/leadership.

Accordingly, players may discontinue their participation in rugby failing to transition from high school rugby to collegiate rugby. At the same time, this issue may also be true for players desiring to transition from collegiate rugby to senior club rugby.

Certainly, players coming from the perennial university powerhouses may be frustrated by the administration of some senior clubs, as well as the quality of play.

The goal of this article is not to “heap onto the pile of perceived faults”, but to provide the meaningful dialogue and discussion which will lead to better retention of club members. Therefore, American Rugby News would like input from you, the readers and members of USA Rugby.

In addition to the questions posed above, please reflect upon these questions, too:
1. In your club’s experience, is USA Rugby’s turnover figure of 50% conservative or liberal?
2. What retention strategies (if you even have any at all) does your club have?

Comments can be emailed to editor@americanrugbynews.com