Club Officer Roles & Responsibilities

President

The President is the leader of the club. He must have a vision for the club and persuade members to work toward it. He does not have any specific duties, and so he must be willing to work through others. The President is the contact person for the Richmond Rugby Foundation, the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union, and the Virginia Rugby Football Union for any general or administrative issues. Above all, the president must lead by example and demonstrate the highest level of integrity and concern for the members of the club.

  • Consults with club members to create the long-term vision for the club and communicates it to all members
  • Holds all other officers accountable for performing their duties
  • Conducts meetings and votes
  • Delegates authority
  • Communicates with RRF, MARFU, and VRU and attends annual meetings

Vice-President

The Vice-President is the human resources department for the club and deals primarily with personnel-related activities. He is responsible for all stages of a member’s relationship, from recruiting to alumni. The Vice-President should be skilled in dealing with people and a good administrator that can keep track of members and their contact information. It is preferred that he have an understanding of MS Access databases, MS Excel, and email programs as these are the primary tools for administration.

  • Recruit new members - college, experienced and inexperienced adults, international, and military players
  • Integrate new members into the club - make sure they are introduced to other members, have a contact on the team and know critical information
  • Track members’ contact, background, and emergency information - keep it current on shared web sites and have it on hand for matches.
  • Ensure club and players are eligible for matches by complying with league and club requirements.
  • Monitor club morale and suggest team building social activities
  • Communicate with Alumni/Old Boys
  • Develop relationships with other clubs

Treasurer

The Treasurer is the finance & accounting department for the club and deals with primarily with monetary issues. He is responsible for budgeting the income and expenses for the club. He is accountable for depositing the income from dues, fundraisers, and sponsors. He manages the bank accounts and makes payments. The Treasurer is responsible for sponsor relationships in so far as to ensure that it is an equitable arrangement for both parties. He is the main contact for the Richmond Rugby Foundation regarding financial and non-profit issues. He is also responsible for legal issues and is the main contact for the club’s attorney. The Treasurer should be familiar with finance and accounting methods and tools, especially MS Excel. He should be attentive to detail and be judicious with the club’s funds.

  • Develop the annual budget and update it monthly
  • Report monthly on the balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow
  • Deposit income from dues, fundraisers, and sponsors
  • Balance the bank account
  • Pay invoices and bills
  • Communicate with sponsors and fundraising organizations
  • Maintain club’s non-profit designation
  • Consult with club attorney on legal issues and/or risks

Secretary

The Secretary is the administrator for the club and deals primarily with communication and documentation. The Secretary is responsible for collecting timely information from officers, coaches, and members and distributing it to the club on a daily and/or weekly basis via email, web postings, and hotline. He owns all club documentation and is accountable for tracking and updating it. He is responsible for the efficiency and effectiveness of Board meetings by the creation and distribution of agendas and minutes. He is responsible for maintaining club history and artifacts such as trophies/plaques and award recipients. The Secretary should be organized, attentive to detail, and a good verbal and written communicator. It is necessary that the Secretary be skilled in word processing and email.

  • Solicit information from officers, coaches, and members and consolidate it
  • Distribute daily/weekly emails informing members of training updates, matches, socials, and general club information
  • Own the operation of the club hotline
  • Facilitate Board Meetings and retreats by developing agendas, recording discussions and distributing meeting minutes.
  • Keep physical copies of club documentation and have it available at board meetings
  • Maintain the Web FTP file-sharing directories
  • Maintain an accurate history of the club

Match Secretary

The Match Secretary is the Operations department of the club and deals primarily with playing rugby. He must coordinate with MARFU, VRU, and other teams to schedule games. He must obtain fields for training sessions and matches, ensure they are marked and setup properly, schedule referees, and ensure jerseys and equipment are at the matches. He coordinates the location and refreshments at post-match parties. The Match Secretary is the contact for VRU/MARFU scheduling issues and for other clubs. He is responsible for registering teams for tournaments. The Match Secretary should be organized, attentive to detail, and a good planner.

  • Schedule matches with MARFU, VRU, and other teams
  • Communicate with the city and county to obtain fields for training and matches
  • Setup fields for matches
  • Schedule referees, if necessary
  • Provide directions to the pitch and party (own club or opponent)
  • Confirm match details with opponents (number of sides, etc.)
  • Ensure equipment such as jerseys, balls, tackle pads, and goalpost pads will be available for matches
  • Ensure water will be at match
  • Responsible for coordinating post-match socials

Equipment & Apparel Coordinator

The E&A Secretary is the purchaser and maintainer of the club’s physical resources. He gets prices, takes orders from club members, and places orders with various vendors for items such as rugby balls, flags, pads, jerseys, shorts, socks, polos, jackets, and kit bags. He is responsible for getting consensus on style, designs, and artwork. He is responsible for negotiating the best price and communicating with the vendors. The E&A Secretary is responsible for tracking the equipment (balls, pads, unsold clothing) that belongs to the club and ensuring that it gets to training, matches, events, and parties in good condition. The E&A Secretary should have creativity, negotiating skills, and respect for the club’s investments.

  • Consult with club on style, designs, and artwork
  • Negotiate prices, delivery, and quality from multiple vendors and recommend an option
  • Take orders from club members
  • Place orders with vendors
  • Communicate with vendors
  • Distribute apparel and equipment to members
  • Inventory and track equipment owned by the club
  • Be responsible for getting equipment to training and matches
  • Repair or maintain equipment as needed

Events Coordinator

The Events Secretary is project manager for the club and primarily deals with coordinating large events. He is lead person for setting up the AGM, Annual Banquet, Porter Cup, Ed Lee, Monk Vaughan, Oyster Roast, Pig Roast, Friday Cheers, Richmond Marathon, socials, and any other event that is not specifically part of the scheduled 15’s or 7’s season. The Events Secretary does not have any specific duties for events, and is not responsible for doing all the work. The Events Secretary is accountable for making sure that all other officers understand their role in the event and that their action items are completed. He is responsible for the event schedule, coordinating resources, and communicating the status of activities. There will likely be certain activities that do not fall under any officer and the Event Secretary is expected to fill in as needed. He will track attendance at events when necessary. The Events Secretary should be an excellent planner and a good communicator.

  • Develop plans for events as necessary
  • Use and maintain event checklists
  • Staff various roles
  • Create event budget and report actual income and expenditures to Treasurer
  • Create an event schedule and distribute to participants
  • Ensure event has proper publicity
  • Send invitations, if necessary
  • Estimate and solicit attendance
  • Backup other officers and fill in gaps

Public Relations Secretary

The PR Secretary is the Marketing department for the club and deals primarily with getting the club recognized in the community. He owns the infrastructure by which the public reaches the club; specifically, the hotline, Website, and Message Board. He is responsible for developing and maintaining contacts within the local newspapers, magazines, radio stations, and TV stations. The PR Secretary sends out press releases, calendar postings, post-match scores, and writes match reports. He encourages media contacts, especially Digital Red Eye and Line Out Video, to attend matches. The PR Secretary develops flyers, hand-outs, business cards, and team banner and is responsible for getting them to all events. The PR Secretary should be creative, organized, disciplined, well-spoken, a good writer, and always on the lookout for new opportunities. It is beneficial if the PR Secretary has computer skills to manage the Website and Message Board.

  • Develop creative flyers, hand-outs, business cards, and banners and brings them to all events
  • Post events on local web, newspaper, and magazine calendars
  • Coordinate photographers and videographers
  • Write press releases and match reports
  • Maintain the hotline infrastructure
  • Maintain the web and message board infrastructure
  • Develop and update content