The Allegheny Rugby Union is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

corporation whose objective is to promote, serve, and manage the game of

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

in the greater

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

area. The Allegheny area is the region described as

Western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...

Western New York Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all sources agree WNY in ...

, Northern

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

and Eastern

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

bordering Pennsylvania in the United States of America. The Allegheny Rugby Union is a member of the

Midwest Rugby Football Union The Midwest Rugby Football Union (MRFU) is a Territorial Union (TU) for rugby union teams playing in the Midwestern United States. It is one of seven TUs that governed a specific region of USA Rugby. It was founded in 1964. In 2013, USA Rugby reorg ...

(MRFU) and

USA Rugby USA Rugby (officially the United States of America Rugby Football Union, Ltd.) is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. Its role is to achieve and maintain “high levels of quality in all aspects of rugb ...

Senior Club

Men's Club

Senior Division I * Pittsburgh Forge RFC Senior Division II * Pittsburgh Forge RFC Senior Division III * Greensburg Maulers RFC * Pittsburgh Forge RFC * Presque Isle Scalawags RFC (Erie, PA) * South Pittsburgh Hooligans Rugby Club

Women's Club

Senior Division I/II * Buffalo WRFC * North Buffalo WRFC * Pittsburgh Forge WRFC * South Buffalo WRFC

Men's College

Following the bankruptcy of USA Rugby in the Spring of 2020, and the rebranding of the National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO) as

National Collegiate Rugby National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) formerly the "National Small College Rugby Organization" is a rugby union governing body in the United States. Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, NCR was created in 2007 by Chip Auscavitch and Steve Cohen to supp ...

(NCR), the Allegheny Rugby Union undertook a massive expansion returning Men's collegiate rugby to the conference. In Spring 2020, the ARU announced the re-launch of its D1/D2 Men's Collegiate Conference. Shortly after that it announced a new Small College Conference under the auspices of the ARU. The creation of a small college conference greatly expanded the reach of the Union as it added teams from as far west as

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, and

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, outside the traditional footprint of the ARU. Currently it has five members in the D1/D2 conference and 26 members in the small college conference. The first full season of competitive play for both conferences began in Fall 2021. Men's College Division I/II *Alderson Broaddus University *Kent State University *Indiana University of Pennsylvania *West Virginia University *Wheeling University Men's Small College Conference *Akron University *Ashland University *Baldwin Wallace University *Bellarmine University *California University of Pennsylvania *Case Western Reserve University *Cedarville University *Clarion University of Pennsylvania *Denison University *Earlham College *Franciscan University of Steubenville *Gannon University *Hillsdale University *John Carroll University *Kenyon College *Malone University *Oberlin College *Ohio Northern University *Ohio Wesleyan University *Rio Grande University (OH) *Robert Morris University *Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania *Taylor University *Tiffin University *Wabash College *Wittenberg University

Women's College

Women's College Division II *Indiana University of Pennsylvania WRFC *Kent State University WRFC *Notre Dame College WRFC *University of Pittsburgh WRFC *West Virginia University WRFC *Youngstown State University WRFC Women's College NSCRO *California University of Pennsylvania WRFC *Clarion University WRFC *Fairmont State University WRFC *Gannon University WRFC *Robert Morris University WRFC *St. Vincent's College WRFC

External links

Allegheny Rugby UnionNational Collegiate RugbyMidwest Rugby UnionUSA Rugby
Non-profit organizations based in Pennsylvania Rugby union governing bodies in the United States {{nonprofit-org-stub