an open letter to usarl and pcrl
To the boards of directors,
As of today, we are six weeks out from the supposed start of the 2025 USARL season. Yet, the San Diego Barracudas – and we suspect many others – remain in the dark. We do not know which teams will be in our league, how many games we will play, who we will play, or even the basic format of the competition for either our men’s or women’s teams.
In this time, we have received little to no formal communication from either PCRL or USARL. We have reached out multiple times to multiple board members, and we thank those who have been responsive – your efforts have been appreciated. The only information shared has come second-hand, such as concerning information alluding to a possible reorganisation of USARL. No direct or proactive updates have been shared with clubs, hamstringing our ability to maintain player interest, morale, basic operational planning, and responsible financial budgeting.
To illustrate some examples of this lack of communication:
A draft men’s schedule was circulated from PCRL only in late March. Feedback was requested and given, with no follow up since.
Team registration for USARL only opened a few weeks ago and does not close until six weeks before the season – extremely close to the scheduled start date. This information even then was not initially sent directly to clubs, but instead solely posted on the USARL website and social media.
A new board member has apparently been appointed to the USARL board. This vacancy was never publicly advertised, nor was the appointment publicly announced.
No USARL Annual General Meeting has been held for the past 18 months – we believe this is potentially a breach of International Rugby League (IRL) expectations, rules, and best practice.
The final straw came earlier this week when the team registration deadline was pushed back even later, in an announcement that also suggested that the entire competition and USARL organisational structure might be changing yet again — the first direct communication we've had from USARL of 2025. This appears to have been done without any consultation with clubs or regional leagues.
All of this has put our players in an unfair position, where neither they nor the club can plan their time, money, and effort. Therefore, we regretfully inform you that the San Diego Barracudas men’s and women’s teams will not participate in the 2025 USARL competition structure. We do this reluctantly and with no ill will. The club as a whole remains a committed member of both USARL and PCRL – in fact we were the first club to submit our USARL registration this year, demonstrating our good faith and eagerness to compete. But we can no longer ask our players, volunteers, sponsors, and supporters to invest time and energy into a competition with so much uncertainty at such a late stage.
Instead, this summer we will focus our efforts on growing rugby league here in San Diego County through a program of touch events, intra-squad games, and invitational matches against touring sides (draft schedule attached). We will also continue to expand our successful Barrakiddos youth development program, which we launched earlier this year, and which was recently awarded a USARL development grant through the partnership with the NRL’s Sydney Roosters.
This outcome was not inevitable. It could have been mitigated – even prevented – through transparency, accountability, and a commitment to open, proactive communication with member clubs. The consistent lack of this over time has led us here.
We urge the leadership of USARL and PCRL to reflect on the current state of the competition, and to reach out – meaningfully and directly – to the clubs, players, and communities it aims to serve. There is still time to fix what is broken.
To all stakeholders in rugby league in the United States: demand better.
Yours Sincerely,
The Board of Directors,
San Diego Barracudas Rugby League Club, Inc.