From UBRAA President Pete Mancuso '07:
Dear UB Rugby Alumni,
Fall will be here soon, and with it comes another season of UB Rugby. We write to all of you to announce our inaugural fall fundraising campaign and our upcoming slate of events.
In response to a major slash in UB Rugby’s budget from the UB Student Association, the UBRAA has committed to drive an annual fall fund raiser to supplement the team’s budget.
The Need
UB Rugby’s SA funded budget has been cut down to a mere $12,000 for the entire year. To put that in perspective, 20 years ago the club's SA budget was well over $15,000 a year and had reached as high as $21,000 in 2016. These funds are needed to cover expenses that are vital to the existence of the program and to compete in Liberty East Rugby Conference, such as: practice and game balls, league fees, referee fees, athletic trainers/emergency medical staff at home matches, as well as travel expenses related to away matches. As we all know, the cost of every one of these line items has increased over the past decade and the school funded budget has decreased, instead of increasing with inflation.
The Ask
We will be holding a fundraising campaign prior to every fall season to raise money to help fill the club's budget shortfall.
We have set an initial goal for the fall '23 season of raising $5,000 from our supportive alumni base. All of the money raised in this campaign will be used solely to support team expenses during their Liberty Rugby Conference season.
We only need 50 donors of $100, 100 donors of $50, or any combination in between. Please consider helping us reach this goal so our student athletes can focus on rugby and their academics.
You can easily donate to the UBRAA using PayPal, Venmo, or thru your bank account with Zelle. Just click the Donate button below.
The UB Rugby Schedule
UB Rugby has another exciting Liberty Rugby Conference D1-AA season plus non-league matches with traditional rival Syracuse University and cross-town Canisius University. The schedule has a slate of nine matches, not including possible playoffs, and road trips to Boston and Long Island that will require at least one night in a hotel. Our fundraising campaign will help support the boys as they continue to represent UB with #StrengthAndHonor.
Aug. 26 – @ Syracuse (preseason)
Sep. 2 – RIT
Sep. 9 – Binghamton University
Sep. 16 – @ Boston College
Sep. 23 – @ Stonybrook
Sep. 30 – @ Colgate
Oct. 7 – Columbia
Oct. 14 – Canisus (Friendly)
Oct. 21 – URI
UBRAA Fall 2023 Events
The UBRAA is committed to using our network to bring UB Rugby alumni together. We several events planned for this fall:
September 8 – 2023 World Cup Opener Watch Party Come watch France take on New Zealand as the 2023 Rugby WC kicks-off at 3:15pm. We will be gathering at Pig 'n Whistle in Manhattan (36th St. between 7th and 8th Ave).
September 27 – UBRAA Speaker Series After a very successful webinar with UB Rugby Alum, Bob Swan, our professional networking program will be hosting a second speaker in our series with UB Rugby Alum and NASA engineer, Jeff Umland.
October 14 – UB Rugby Parents Weekend Please join us in Buffalo, NY for our annual Parents Weekend event. UB Rugby will be hosting a match against cross-town Canisus at our Ellicott pitch on UB's North Campus, followed by our annual banquet celebrating UB rugby on Saturday evening.
We are excited for a new season of UB Rugby, and we look forward to seeing many of you at games and our upcoming events. As always, #StrengthAndHonor.
Cheers, Pete
The UBRAA is registered with the New York State Department of State as a not-for-profit corporation and is recognized by the IRS as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization.
