Following Monday’s announcement of the Club Competition restructure for the 2013-14 season, USA Rugby announced today the creation of a new Elite Club Cup Competition that will be introduced in the Spring of 2013.

With the majority of former Rugby Super League clubs now migrating to the National Division-I Club Competition, the decision was made to create an Elite Cup Competition in 2013.

The competition will transition into an annual Elite Cup Competition comprised of the top eight clubs from the previous season’s National Division-I Club Championship.

In year one, the eight participating clubs will compete in two pools of four teams:

East Pool – NYAC, Old Blue, Boston and Life
West Pool – San Francisco Golden Gate, Glendale, OPSB and Denver Barbarians.

For pool competition, each team will compete in a three game round robin. The top two teams from each pool will advance to a crossover semi-final match followed by the Cup Championship.

The teams will participate under current Division-I eligibility and disciplinary regulations, and the games will be scheduled not to conflict with Division-I league schedules or playoffs.

The Elite Cup Management Board will be Chaired by USA Rugby CEO Nigel Melville and include, Gary Heavner, Tony Nash, Alan Sharpley and Greg Rocca.

“Our goal is to increase the number of quality games for our leading clubs. Qualification for the Elite Cup each year will become an important part of the Division-I National Championship season and provide a pathway for all Division-I teams to participate at the highest level of the club game," said Melville.

Additional information on the elite Cup Schedule will be available on the USA Rugby website in the coming weeks.