Friends of Michael ‘Jonesy’ Jones may already know he recently suffered a life threading spinal cord injury while playing in the Ft. Lauderdale RuggerFest, in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida last weekend. This serious and life altering injury left the Albany Knickerbockers concerned for his well-being and the long term financial challenges his family will face in years to come.

Doctors are seeking to stabilize Jonesy and move him to a spinal injury center, which might take several weeks.  It is impossible to predict what the future holds but there is no question that an injury of this nature is a drastic life-altering event.  Met NY Rugby joins thousands of others across the sport and across the country in expressing their sadness at this tragic injury.

The Albany Knickerbockers RFC is accepting contributions to a Supplemental Needs Trust established to help Michael and his family with travel expenses and medical costs not covered by insurance etc.  Send contributions to:  MICHAEL JONES, SUPPLEMENTAL NEED TRUST, Albany Knickerbockers R.F.C., P.O. Box 1654, Albany, NY 12201.  Visit the family's Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10150121741735265

All clubs should be aware of the legalities surrounding rucks. especially those pertaining to illegal charges.  Players entering a ruck must do so in accordance with the Laws of the Game. Referees are reminded that appropriate binding is a requirement, and charging into a ruck is dangerous play and must be penalised as such.

The video clips below all show examples of illegal charges into the ruck.  

Met NY Rugby is finalizing its survey of what member clubs want from the Union, and the economic impact of rugby clubs on their communities.

The survey is partly designed to help Met NY Rugby show how rugby brings money and visitors to the New York metropolitan area.  We are also lobbying for rugby facilities to be included in parks reconstruction.,  There are only 11 questions, so no excuses, please complete the survey yourself, or ensure your club has done so.  We will be checking!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MetNYRugbySurvey2010

Pelham Youth Rugby is about to begin its 2nd year and is adding tackle to its offerings. Last year Pelham, with the help and support of Play Rugby, was successful in getting flag rugby introduced as a town sponsored recreational sport. Receiving full support from the Town of Pelham also enabled its success in introducing flag rugby to the physical education program in the Pelham School district. 

Instead of us trying to describe what rugby has meant to the kids and parents please see a copy of an email that one parent sent to another regarding her child’s participation in rugby last year.

Clubs who have elected new members to club's executive board should contact their respective division reps regarding the updates.  Correct contacts are imperative for communication purposes.  Division rep e-mails can be found here.

The Village Lions RFC is currently seeking a Head Coach for the Men’s team.  

Village Lions RFC was founded in New York City’s Greenwich Village in 1989 and the Men’s team currently competes in Division 2 of the Met-NY Union. Met-NY recently swept the Northeast Championships and is reorganizing Division 1 moving 2-3 teams from Division 2 to Division 1.  Both Division 1 and 2 will consist of 7-8 teams.  

As most people know, Met New York RFU now runs all permitting for rugby on Randall's Island.  Anyone wanting to play rugby on Randall's Island, whether on the specially lined rugby pitches or otherwise, must do so through the Met NY Randall's Island Fields Administrator, Kieran Holohan, who can be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

To help everyone understand who this system operates, Kieran memorialized the procedures and laid down some basic rules for the protection of everyone who uses these top quality facilities.  The rules were adopted by Met NY at its November 2009 directors meeting.  The rules have now been promulgated, and are now available at http://www.metnyrfu.org/images/stories/docs-forms/Randalls_Island_Rules_revised_20100114.doc.

BY Ebenezer Samuel
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Brianna Paulino was on the verge of tears.

Just moments earlier, the 10-year-old had been beaming after leading her team to the Play Rugby exhibition flag tournament title at the Henry Street Settlement's Boys & Girls Republic in Manhattan.

She was strutting around, wearing her championship t-shirt proudly; she'd earned MVP honors after scoring in every game in the four-team round-robin tournament last Tuesday.

"I love rugby," she told anybody who would listen. "It's soooo much fun."