The Mar del Plata Rugby Union ( es, Unión de Rugby de Mar del Plata), abbreviated URMDP, is the organisational body that rules the game of rugby union in

Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" is a s ...

town and cities of the south of

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...

. The stadium of Villa Marista is used for rugby matches played by the Union representative side. Apart from Mar del Plata, the Union has teams from the cities of Balcarce,

Dolores Dolores, Spanish for "pain; grief", most commonly refers to: * Our Lady of Sorrows or La Virgen María de los Dolores * Dolores (given name) Dolores may also refer to: Film * ''Dolores'' (2017 film), an American documentary by Peter Bratt * ' ...

Mar de Ajó Mar de Ajó is a coastal city in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, and is located in the southern end of the seaside La Costa Partido (the Coast District). The region is known as the Tuju Corner (Rincón del Tuyú). Etymology It owes its name to ...

Miramar Miramar is a place name of Spanish and Portuguese origin. It means "sea-view" or "sea sight" from ''mirar'' ("to look at, to watch") and ''mar'' ("sea"). It may refer to: Places Africa * Miramar, Port Elizabeth, see St Dominic's Priory School ...

Necochea Necochea is a port and beach city in the southwest of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The city is located on the Atlantic coast, along the mouth of the Quequén Grande River, from Buenos Aires and southwest of Mar del Plata. The city proper ha ...

Tandil Tandil is the main city of the homonymous Partidos of Buenos Aires, partido (department), located in Argentina, in the southeast of Buenos Aires Province, just north-northwest of Tandilia hills. The city was founded in 1823 and its name originate ...

and

Villa Gesell Villa Gesell is a seaside resort city in Villa Gesell Partido, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It was founded in 1931, with the intention of turning a dune field into a timber plantation.

. The union was founded in 1951, and become a member of the

Argentine Rugby Union The Argentine Rugby Union ( es, Unión Argentina de Rugby, abbreviated "UAR") is the governing body for rugby union in Argentina. It is a member of World Rugby, with a seat on that body's Executive Council, and a founding member of Sudamérica Rug ...

that same year.

History

One of the first rugby union games held in Mar del Plata was played in 1925 by the British

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

''Repulses crew and a team composed of employees of Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway that travelled to Mar del Plata specially for the occasion. A chronicle published on local newspaper ''La Capital'' described the match as follows:''La Capital'' newspaper, 5 Sep 1925 The Mar del Plata Rugby Club was the pioneer in the city, having been established on 13 July 1944. Some of the enthusiasts that made the arrangements for its foundation were Rodolfo Tonneti, José Galarce, and Alberto Hernández, some of them with a past in clubs Curupaytí and Hindú. The first committee was formed in Hernández's house, appointing Rómulo Tamini as president of the club. The team started to practise at the beach, then moving to Campo Municipal de Deportes (Municipal Sports Field). In the Spring of 1945, Buenos Aires clubs CUBA and

Pucará The Pucará culture was an archaeological culture which developed in Qullaw, along the north-western shore of Lake Titicaca. It was characterized by a hierarchy of sites made up several smaller centers and villages scattered throughout the north ...

visited the city. As the city did not have other club than Mar del Plata RC, it only played friendly matches with clubs from neighbor cities such as Independiente (

), Ita-Carú and Duperial. On 25 May 1949 a tournament was held in the city, with Mar del Plata RC, Curupaytí, Pucará and

Obras Sanitarias Club Atlético Obras Sanitarias de la Nación (mostly known simply as Obras Sanitarias or Obras) is an Argentina, Argentine professional sports club that is located in the district of Núñez, Buenos Aires. Although originally conceived as a rugb ...

. To help the spread of the sport in the city, rugby union was added to programs of Nacional, Comercial and Industrial Schools, with the collaboration of Physical education teacher Carlos Vecchio. In 1950 the first "Marplatense" championship was held, with Mar del Plata RC and the aforementioned schools contesting the competition. One year later, Bigua RC (a club founded by Jorge Alvear, another teacher of Peralta Ramos Institute) added to competitions. Other clubs added later would be General Pueyrredón and Escuela de Artillería Antiaérea (then renamed "Santa Bárbara"). In August 1951 the first rugby sevens competition was organised as part of the "Second Olympic Games of Mar del Plata", with 13 teams. All the matches were held in the Municipal Park. That would be the first step to form a body, "Unión de Rugby de Mar del Plata", on 27 October 1951 with Alberto Hernández (that had also been the first president of pioneer Mar del Plata RC in 1944) as president. The emblem chosen was a

four-leaf clover The four-leaf clover is a rare variation of the common three-leaf clover. According to traditional sayings, such clovers bring good luck, though it is not clear when or how this idea began. One early mention of "Fower-leafed or purple grasse" is ...

with the founding members (Mar del Plata RC, Comercial, Nacional, Industrial and Bigua) colors, red, green, light blue and dark blue. At the beginning of 1952, two rugby fields were built in Parque Camet. Those fields (currently owned by the Municipality) have been used as Mar del Plata RC venue up to present days.

Clubs

Affiliated clubs as of July, 2019:Clubes
on URMP website

Competitions

Clubs from URMDP compete in "Torneo Regional Pampeano" (TRP), contested by teams from the Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires South and Buenos Aires West Unions.Fixtures del Torneo Regional Pampeano
/ref> The last TRP winner is Sociedad Sportiva of

Bahía Blanca Bahía Blanca (; English: White Bay) is a city in the southwest of the provinces of Argentina, province of Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires, Argentina, by the Atlantic Ocean, and is the seat of government of the Bahía Blanca Partido. It had 3 ...

.Mar del Plata Club se quedó con las manos vacías
by Hugo Palavecino on ''La Capital'', 27 Jul 2019 The TRP is composed of two stages, "Clasificatorio" and "Campeonato". The first stage is contested by 8 teams, playing in a single

round-robin tournament A round-robin tournament (or all-go-away-tournament) is a competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero ...

. At the end of the tournament, the six best placed teams qualify for the "Torneo Campeonato A", playing in a double round-robin where the team that totalised most points is crowned champion. TRP also has second and third divisions (named "TRP B" and "TRP C" respectively). Only two clubs from Mar del Plata has won this competition to date, Sporting (five times) and Mar del Plata RC (four times). There is also a

women's rugby Women's rugby union is a full contact team sport based on running with the ball in hand. The same laws are used in men's rugby union with the same sized pitch and same equipment. Rugby was originally a men's sport, and women's rugby has become p ...

competition. The URMDP representative side competed in defunct Campeonato Argentino, having won its only title in

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Union Marplatense de rugby de Rugby MdP Sport in Mar del Plata Rugby union in Buenos Aires Province 1951 establishments in Argentina Sports organizations established in 1951