The Promotion and Relegation Policy currently only applies to 15s Competitions.
The following regulations apply to Senior Club teams in good standing with the New England Rugby Union (NERFU) which compete in USA Rugby Divisions 1, 2, 3 and 4.
A club’s Divisional team shall be automatically promoted to the next highest available division if, at the end of the current season:
A club’s Divisional team shall be automatically relegated to the next lowest available division if:
Exception: Promotion or relegation is not automatic if the result is two teams from the same club competing in the same division. If the relegation of a club’s first side team results in that team being in the same division as their second side team, their second side team may also be relegated.
Automatic promotions and relegations will be reviewed by the competition committee and may be overturned. For example, special consideration will be used when promoting to Division 1.
It is possible for more than one team in a given division to be promoted or relegated within the same year. Club teams that are not in good standing, e.g. failure to comply with USA Rugby registration requirements, may be relegated even if none of the above criteria apply.
After each season, the NERFU Management Committee will release initial division placements. Clubs are provided with an opportunity to challenge these placements or request voluntary transitions. A club has the option to dispute automatic promotions or relegations, or alternatively, request voluntary advancement or descent to a different division. NERFU, when evaluating an appeal, may consider various factors including but not limited to, the number of forfeits, margin of victory/defeat, club’s geographical location and size, coaching staff, anticipated player turnover, past performance, and whether the club has teams in other divisions. Clubs should submit their appeals via email to the Vice President of Senior Clubs AND to their respective division commissioner. If the committee deems it necessary to obtain additional information, the club might be invited to join a scheduled call.
NERFU will notify all clubs of the preliminary divisional alignments for the upcoming competitive cycle no later than 30 days after the completion of the USA Rugby Club Championships.
Each club shall then have 14 days in which to submit a written appeal regarding the division in which any of its teams have been placed.
The NERFU board will rule on any appeals and notify all clubs of the final divisional alignment no later than June 1st.
Please note that competition restructure/divisional restructures are a separate mechanism, and the NERFU board reserves the right to enact this mechanism as it sees fit (normally utilized any time the competition has become imbalanced across a majority of the divisions).
The competition committee is comprised of division commissioners and VP of Senior Clubs. In the event a vote is needed, votes will be counted from division commissioners of affected divisions and the VP of Senior Clubs. In the event a tie-breaker is needed, the President of NERFU will serve as the tie-breaking vote.
