CHICAGO, IL (August 25, 2021) – The Executive Committee of the Midwest Rugby Football Union saw some changes after the Annual Summer Meeting held in Chicago earlier in August. Two positions, the Union’s Vice President of Competitions and Vice President of Discipline and Compliance, were up for election at the meeting.

Gary Lobaugh, who served the Union as the Vice President of Competition for more than ten years, decided to not seek reelection which opened the door for a new head of Union’s competition. Union President Al Lucas went on the record to thank Gary for his dedication and effort to the sport of rugby and the Midwest. In addition to serving as the Vice President of Competition for many years, Gary also represented the Midwest on USA Rugby Congress until 2018. Thankfully, Gary will continue to serve the game and represent the Midwest in an unofficial capacity on the Senior Club Council’s Competition Committee and continue his work within the Union as the Manager of High Performance/ Thunderbirds Program.

After receiving and accepting a nomination from the floor, current Union Treasurer Lou Raymond, who had also been serving as the Men’s Division 2 Coordinator for the past several years, was elected as the new VP of Competition unanimously. With this election, Lou resigned from his current post as Treasurer leaving a vacancy on the Executive Committee that needed filled immediately. Per the Union Bylaws, any vacancy on the Executive Committee may be filled by appointment until the next meeting of the Union’s Membership. Therefore, Al Lucas has appointed Michigan’s Tim Cowley as the interim-Treasurer until the Union’s Annual General Meeting in February 2022.

Tim Cowley began playing rugby at age 31 for the Detroit Rugby Football Club. A practicing CPA, Tim became the Treasurer for Detroit RFC and assisted the organization in purchasing their clubhouse. In 2019, Tim became the Treasurer of the Michigan Rugby Union and in 2020, after the reorganization of USA Rugby and the formation of the Senior Club Council, became an active member on the Council’s Audit & Risk Committee. Tim owns his own accounting firm, Cowley CPAs, PLC, and still resides in Detroit, Michigan.

With the appointment of Tim to the Treasurer position, Al also felt it was time to appoint an interim-Secretary, a position that’s been vacant since Bill Marnell resigned in May 2020 when he took the job as the Union’s Administrator. Al appointed current Allegheny Rugby Union President Dan Houlihan to the position.

Dan has been the President of the ARU since 2019. He began his rugby career at Slippery Rock University in 2004 where he played for four years and made several trips to the Midwest Playoffs when the Union administered collegiate rugby. In 2008, Dan began playing senior club rugby for the Westmoreland/ Pittsburgh Highlanders where he served as captain for two years. In 2013, Dan began refereeing for the Allegheny Rugby Union Referee Society and progressed to become one of the society’s top referees. From 2016 – 2019 he assisted on the coaching staff for the Kiski Valley Boys U-19 program, winning two Rugby PA State titles. Dan is an educator by trade and resides in Pittsburgh with his wife and two boys.

Finally, VP of Discipline and Compliance Megan Braun did seek reelection. She was nominated from the floor and elected unanimously. Her election keeps some continuity on the board as she’ll serve another two-year term. Megan also serves as the Disciplinary Chairperson of the Minnesota Rugby Union and as the Chairperson for Senior Club Councils Disciplinary Committee.

After the elections and appointments, the MWRFU’s Executive Committee is as follows:

President: Al Lucas
VP of Competition: Lou Raymond
VP of Discipline & Compliance: Megan Braun
Interim-Treasurer: Tim Cowley
Interim-Secretary: Dan Houlihan

Administrator: Bill Marnell (ex-officio)