National Collegiate Rugby is proud to announce a series of strategic staff realignments and role expansions that reflect the organization's rapid growth and commitment to elevating college rugby across the country.
Driven by an unwavering focus on member service and innovation, NCR will double its full time staff from 4 to 7 people while creating new part-time roles. These organizational changes aim to align NCR’s talented team with ambitious goals to scale operations, enhance competitions, and expand content coverage on behalf of our members.
Strengthening Competition Leadership
Beginning Fall 2025, NCR will transition the Men’s and Women’s Director roles to full-time positions. These expanded roles will now oversee 7s competitions, serve as the commissioner for all divisions, and lead club development. The newly integrated structure replaces the stand-alone 7s Director role, allowing Pat Clifton to focus full-time on expanding The College Rugby Show and national rugby media coverage.
Brad Dufek and Angela Smarto will be candidates for the new Director roles, which will be posted publicly and open to all applicants. As part of this evolution, the Division III Commissioner roles will be phased out. NCR extends its sincere thanks to Kelsea Thompson and Zach Lanning for their contributions and looks forward to their continued involvement in new capacities.
NCR will also eliminate the part-time Growth and Development role. The organization deeply appreciates Christine Varga’s work and is pleased that she will continue contributing as a volunteer.
Expanding Member Services
Kelsea Thompson will continue as Eligibility Manager while taking on added responsibilities in event planning. Additionally, Kayla Dustin’s role is expanding from seasonal to year-round, enhancing NCR’s ability to support members and lead service initiatives such as the emerging teams grant.
Building a College Rugby Media Hub
Pat Clifton has been named NCR’s Content Director, overseeing all journalism, content strategy, and The College Rugby Show. Zach Lanning and Darian Lovelace will continue in their analyst roles on "The College Rugby Show," with Zach also taking on most of the print journalism across all divisions and championship events.
Finance Team Growth
To better support operations, NCR will hire a part-time Finance Manager responsible for managing financial transactions and reporting. This will allow Board Treasurer Kyle Smith to concentrate on strategic financial planning and oversight.
Each of the new roles are now open for applications with appointments expected prior to August 1.
These changes mark an important step forward for NCR as it seeks to raise the standard of collegiate rugby and better serve its rapidly growing membership base.
