Officers/ Contacts

Welcome Red Raiders!

The Palmetto Union welcomes the Greenville Red Raiders, the first high school rugby club in the Upstate. The Upstate Rugby Conference is working establish more teams in the Upstate to join the five teams in the Midlands. The Red Raiders are coached by Patrick Reid and Reed Brogan. Pat and Reed are products of the Citadel and Clemson rugby programs respecitively.

Thank you National Guard!!

Eleven teams from the Palmetto Union have been awarded kits and practice equipment from the National Guard, a sponsor or USA Rugby. Each kit includes jerseys, shorts, socks, protective headgear, practice and game balls, a set of National Guard goal post pads, tackle pads & shields, training bibs, practice cones, equipment bag, field flags, kicking tees, mouth guards, coaching book, video, and a USA Rugby Law Book. The following teams -- and the Union -- are appreciative of this grant with will wear the Guard logo with pride: Clemson University (men and women), Coastal Carolina men, College of Charleston (men and women), Furman men, Lander men, The Citadel (men and women), USC (men and women).

Palmetto AGM meeting

The Palmetto AGM meeting was held November 10 at Furman. In addtion to electing officers, the group discussed the all-star program, the Palmetto Tournament, high school expansion in the state and an audacious five-year growth plan for the union. Minutes from the meeting.

2007 The Palmetto Tournament: C of C women, Charleston men CCU take home cup

The College of Charleston women's team and Coastal Carolina Univeristy successfully defended the Palmetto Cup while Charleston defeated Greenville to take first place in the men's club division.

The tournament -- held November 10-11 at Furman Unversity -- was held under sunny but somewhat blustery conditions. The Charleston men ran past defending champion Augusta 47-5 to earn a spot in the finals against Greenville who defeated Columbia Olde Grey 20-12. In a tighly contested finals, Charleston defeated Greenville 20-13.

In the women's bracket the College of Charleston cruised past Furman (37-0) and the Citadel (31-7) to recapture the Cup. Coastal Carolina defeated USC 18-5 to advance to the finals to face Furman, which defeated the Citadel 17-10 to earn a berth in the finals. CCU blitzed Furman for three trys in the first 15 minutes. By the time the Paladins recovered it was too late as CCU claimed a 28-14 victory.

For all the scores click here.

The Palmetto Union: Five years and beyond (posted 7/07)

In 2003, the Palmetto Rugby Union was bankrupt and nearly folded. One of the smallest unions in the nation, the organization was bankrupt, poorly organized, financially mismanaged and lacking direction.

The union had not fielded a competitive college all-star team since the late 1980’s and two of the union’s most reputable teams – Clemson University and Greenville – had severed ties with Palmetto in the 1990s, electing to join the Georgia Rugby Union.

Fast-forward five years later. The Palmetto Union is now one of the most vibrant, reputable and successful local area unions in the South. more...

Palmetto Union News archive