Where We're Going: The 2026-2028 Plan

The season report told you where we've been. This is where we're going.

This past season gave Gators Rugby a lot to be proud of, on both sides of the club. But the most important work of the next two years happens off the field. For the first time, the alumni association is putting a clear, written plan behind the program: a 2026-2028 Strategic Plan for both the Men's and Women's programs, grounded in our mission and built on four pillars.

This is the road ahead. Here is the mission it starts from, an honest look at where we are, the four pillars we are building on, and what is already taking shape.

Our Mission

The mission of the University of Florida Rugby Alumni Association is to support rugby at the University of Florida, to foster and support UF Rugby's development into a nationally recognized, sustainable rugby program. Additionally, to support and foster the fraternity comprised of alumni players and supporters of past University of Florida rugby clubs, with each other and with the current college clubs.

The men's club was founded in 1969 and the women's program in 1975. Today the Rugby Alumni Association is the official 501(c)(3) fundraising arm of UF Rugby, led by alumni and supporters committed to carrying that tradition forward.

Where We Are Today

Start with the honest part. The passion and the talent have always been here. What has been missing is the infrastructure to organize and activate it.

For years, Gators Rugby has lived across scattered channels: separate sites for the men's side, the women's side, and the alumni, with no single front door and no shared identity. Alumni giving has never been fully organized, and there has been no easy, consistent way for former players to stay connected or get involved. None of that reflects a lack of pride. It reflects the fact that no one had ever built the system to hold it all together.

That system is what this plan is about.

The Roadmap: Four Pillars

1. Gators Rugby Community. One community, every era of Gators Rugby. We are capturing and preserving the full history of the program, the stories, the rosters, the milestones, in a living archive, and building a verified alumni database that reaches every era. The goal is simple: connect the players of the 1970s, the 2000s, and today into one community that actually knows each other.

2. Financial Stability. Build a financial foundation that outlasts us. Growing the 1969 Society endowment and alumni membership turns one-off support into something that sustains both programs year after year, funding travel, training, and recruitment, with transparent reporting so members can see exactly where it goes.

3. Club Competition. Compete for championships. Build champions. The Men's program competes in CRAA D1AA 15s and NCR D1AA 7s; the Women's program in NCR D1AA 15s and 7s. This pillar is about giving both the resources to compete at the national level and closing the gap with the country's top clubs, on the field and in the culture around it.

4. Gators Rugby Brand. Make Gators Rugby impossible to ignore. A unified, professionally run home at GatorsRugby.com, one bold visual identity, and regular match reports, recaps, and player and alumni features, so the program looks and sounds like what it is: a program recruits seek out and sponsors want to back.

Already in Motion

This is not a wish list. The foundation is already going in.

• One front door for Gators Rugby. GatorsRugby.com goes live in mid-August as the unified home for both programs: news, schedules, the season report, events, and giving, all in one place.
• A real alumni database. Every era of Gators Rugby is being pulled into one verified system, so we can actually find each other and no alumnus falls through the cracks again.
• Communication you can count on. Consistent updates from one home, so you are never guessing what is happening with the club.

The Support Behind the Plan

The alumni association leads this plan. To deliver it, we have brought in professional support and earned backing from the sport itself.

To build and run the system behind the plan, the association has brought on Madak, a professional marketing agency, to handle the new website, the alumni database, year-round communication, and one unified Gators Rugby brand. And a US Rugby Foundation Collegiate Alumni Jumpstart Grant is helping catalyze the work, a signal from outside Gainesville that the direction Gators Rugby is headed is worth investing in.

Alumni-led. Professionally built. Backed for the work ahead.

What's Ahead

Two dates for the calendar: the inaugural Gators Rugby Family Fall Festival, September 11-13, 2026 at UF Rugby Haven, and Alumni Weekend, January 15-17, 2027 in Gainesville. More on both soon.

This Is a Living Plan

Doing this right matters more to us than doing it fast. What you see here is where we are today, not the final word. A team is actively reviewing and refining the mission, the vision, and the full strategic plan, and we want your voice in it. If you have thoughts, suggestions, or history we should capture, tell us at hello@gatorsrugby.com.

The Bottom Line

Every great program is built twice, first on the field, then off it. The players who wore the orange and blue before paved the way for the ones wearing it today, and the work we do now paves the way for the ones who come after. The alumni are here. The community is here. The tradition is here. What we are building is the system that connects all of it and makes it last.