Frisco Griffins Tell Us What They Are All About

When we started the Griffins, the objective was never to just offer a new club to play rugby with. While we believe there is always a need for new clubs, especially in a state the size of Texas, we saw a greater need for a new kind of club. Several of us were frustrated by the indefensible position taken by a few established names in Texas Rugby of, “that’s not how rugby works around here”. We set out to prove those people wrong. Professional rugby is not far off, but we don’t think that the current systems can sustain it.

The Frisco Griffins operates very much like a small, professional organization. Too many clubs focus on their players’ performance at the detriment to “club” concept which has sustained rugby for generations. We saw a need to sell rugby and make it more commercial, like in every other successful country. It amazes me that we give so much of our lives to the sport, but many still don’t give it enough credit to think that it offers something to a non-player or a paying spectator. We have successfully sold tickets to our home cup games this season and have had crowds of up to 500 people. We have a commercially viable operation that can provide a definable return on investment for our sponsors and we have a growing fan base of people who may have never even seen rugby until this year but just want to be involved in the club.

As for paying players and salaries etc…. I love how the rugby rumormill works. Myself and two others started the Griffins in 2008 but now run a separate rugby consultancy business that operates the Griffins. We have strong ties with Sale Sharks and Scotland Rugby and yes this is a full time job for me. The Griffins are one of two clubs who employ us, with a possible third in the works. While I still coach some (and if it not for injuries, I would still play), my role is to concentrate on the off-field business and leave the on-field performance to the club’s coaches. The Griffins do have several players on a contract, but the details of that are confidential as are plans for next season. Suffice to say that we’re only at about 10% of our goal for where we aim to be and we will be offering some great opportunities to the right players.

We have kept much of this quiet as there seems to be more detractors of what we’re doing in Texas than there are supporters, but we only want what is best for the sport. Our goals may not be appropriate for everybody, but hopefully after a couple more seasons, we will have established the model for other clubs to follow.