American Raptors
The American Raptors are a professional rugby union team based in the municipality of Glendale in Colorado. The team plays in the transcontinental Super Rugby Americas competition. Established as the amateur "Glendale Raptors" in 2006, the team became a professional club upon joining Major League Rugby as a founding member in 2017,[1] but they played there only three years, competing as the "Colorado Raptors" in their final shortened season of 2020 before withdrawing from the league.[2]
| Founded | 2006 | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Glendale, Colorado, U.S. | |
| Ground(s) | Infinity Park | |
| Coach(es) | Mose Timoteo | |
| Captain(s) | TBA | |
| League(s) | Super Rugby Americas | |
| ||
| Official website | ||
| americanraptors | ||
Following withdrawal from Major League Rugby, the team renamed themselves the "Colorado XOs" turning their attention to player development of players originally playing other sports, before becoming the "American Raptors" in 2021.[3]
History
The Glendale Raptors were founded as an amateur rugby club in 2006.[4][5] They won the national Division I Championship in 2011,[6] and were back-to-back winners of the Pacific Rugby Premiership in 2015 and 2016.
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Glendale Raptors kit and logo in 2018. | |||
In 2017, the Raptors were accepted into the professional Major League Rugby competition. The amateur Glendale teams were renamed the Glendale Merlins before the inaugural MLR season in 2018. The Raptors finished the MLR regular season in first place in 2018, but lost the Championship final to Seattle.[7] In 2019, the Raptors finished the regular season in sixth place and did not play in the finals.
The team was renamed the Colorado Raptors ahead of the 2020 season [8] but the season was shortened and eventually cancelled due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Withdrawal from Major League Rugby
On April 9, 2020, the Raptors announced that they would withdraw from Major League Rugby, effective May 2, 2020,[9] the first team to do so. Their announcement explained their withdrawal by saying that "our greater responsibility lies in the development of American players who can win the World Cup for the United States."[9] Asked to explain how the Raptors withdrawing from the league would help to develop American rugby players, Glendale City Manager Linda Cassaday said that MLR had been founded with a core mission of developing American rugby players and originally had limited teams to three foreign players, although this expanded to five players before the first season began in 2018.[9] MLR had expanded from seven teams in 2018 to 12 in 2020 without having enough American players to fill out rosters and had raised the ceiling on foreign players to 10 per team.[9] The Raptors believed that both this overall number of foreign players and the higher proportion of foreign to American players no longer best served the goal of developing American players who could compete successfully in the Rugby World Cup, and therefore chose to withdraw from the league to better focus their efforts on the development of American players who could compete on an international stage.[9]
In June 2022 Raptors played in the "Challenge Cup of the Americas" against Canadians UBC Old Boys Ravens and South Americans Peñarol Rugby and Jaguares XV.[10]
Current squad
The American Raptors squad for the 2024 Super Rugby Americas season is:[11]
Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.
- Senior 15s internationally capped players are listed in bold.
- * denotes players qualified to play for United States on dual nationality or residency grounds.
Head coaches
- David Williams (2018–2019) [12][13]
- Peter Borlase (2019–2020)
- Paul Emerick (2022)
- Sarah Chobot (2023-2024)
- Mose Timoteo (2924-current)
Captains
- Shaun Davies (2018–2019)
- Luke White (2019–2020)
Records
Season standings in Major League Rugby
| Season | Conference | Regular season | Postseason | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | +/− | BP | Pts | Pld | W | L | F | A | +/− | Result | |||
| Glendale Raptors | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | — | 1st | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 249 | 165 | +84 | 6 | 34 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 53 | 44 | +9 | Won Semifinal (Utah Warriors) 31–21 Lost final 23–19 (Seattle Seawolves) | |
| 2019 | — | 6th | 16 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 456 | 463 | −7 | 11 | 43 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Did not qualify | |
| Colorado Raptors | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2020[lower-alpha 1] | Western | 8th | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 98 | 130 | -32 | 1 | 9 | - | - | - | - | - | - | Cancelled | |
| Totals | 29 | 16 | 2 | 11 | 803 | 758 | +45 | 18 | 86 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 53 | 44 | +9 | 1 postseason appearance | |||
Home field
The team plays at Infinity Park,[14] the first rugby-specific, municipally-owned stadium in the United States.[15]
Sponsorship
| Season | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
|---|---|---|
| 2018–2019 | XBlades | None |
| 2020 | Paladin Sports |
Honors
2018 season
| Date | Opponent | Home/Away | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 10 | New Orleans Gold° | Home | Won, 38–14 |
| March 30 | Utah Warriors° | Away | Won, 42–15 |
| April 7 | New York Athletic Club RFC° | Away | Won, 35–22 |
| April 21 | Austin Elite | Home | Won, 41–26 |
| April 28 | Seattle Seawolves | Away | Won, 19–15 |
| May 5 | Utah Warriors | Away | Won, 36–29 |
| May 13 | San Diego Legion | Home | Won, 31–27 |
| June 3 | New Orleans Gold | Away | Won, 41–10 |
| June 8 | Houston SaberCats | Home | Won, 37–24 |
| June 16 | Seattle Seawolves | Home | Won, 33–11 |
| June 23 | San Diego Legion | Away | Lost, 5–23 |
| June 30 | Utah Warriors°° | Home | Won, 34–21 |
| July 7 | Seattle Seawolves°°° | Neutral | Lost, 19–23 |
° = Preseason game
°° = Playoff Semifinal
°°° = Final at Torero Stadium in San Diego, California
2019 season
Exhibition
| Date | Opponent | Home/Away | Location | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 17, 2018 | USA Collegiate All-Americans | Home | Infinity Park | Lost, 10–55 |
| September 16, 2018 | Ontario Arrows | Away | York Lions Stadium | Lost, 18–40 |
| October 6, 2018 | Denver Barbarians | Home | Infinity Park | Won, 81–7 |
| October 13, 2018 | Utah Warriors | Home | Infinity Park | Postponed |
| October 20, 2018 | Utah Warriors | Away | Postponed | |
| October 27, 2018 | Rugby Americas team | Home | Infinity Park | Lost, 31–50 |
| January 13, 2019 | San Diego Legion | Away | Torero Stadium | Won, 38–31 |
| January 19, 2019 | Houston SaberCats | Away | Constellation Field | Won, 36–21 |
Regular season
| Date | Opponent | Home/Away | Location | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 27 | Seattle Seawolves | Away | Starfire Stadium | Lost, 18–20 |
| February 2 | New Orleans Gold | Away | Archbishop Shaw Stadium | Lost, 31–40 |
| February 17 | Austin Elite | Away | Dell Diamond | Won, 24–13 |
| February 23 | Utah Warriors | Away | Zions Bank Stadium | Draw, 26–26 |
| March 2 | Toronto Arrows | Home | Infinity Park | Won, 22–0 |
| March 9 | Austin Elite | Home | Infinity Park | Won, 38–19 |
| March 16 | San Diego Legion | Home | Infinity Park | Draw, 28–28 |
| March 24 | Rugby United New York | Away | MCU Park | Lost, 19–31 |
| March 30 | New Orleans Gold | Home | Infinity Park | Won, 34–33 |
| April 6 | Houston SaberCats | Home | Infinity Park | Won, 52–44 |
| April 20 | San Diego Legion | Away | Torero Stadium | Lost, 15–46 |
| April 26 | Rugby United New York | Home | Infinity Park | Won, 20–16 |
| May 4 | Utah Warriors | Home | Infinity Park | Won, 64–22 |
| May 18 | Seattle Seawolves | Home | Infinity Park | Lost, 36–53 |
| May 26 | Toronto Arrows | Away | Lamport Stadium | Lost, 12–40 |
| May 29 | Houston SaberCats | Away | Aveva Stadium | Lost, 17–32 |
2020 season
On March 12, 2020, MLR announced the season would go on hiatus immediately for 30 days due to fears surrounding the 2019–2020 coronavirus pandemic.[16] It was cancelled the following week[17]
Regular season
| Date | Opponent | Home/Away | Location | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 8 | Houston SaberCats | Away | Aveva Stadium | Lost, 12–21 |
| February 16 | San Diego Legion | Neutral | Las Vegas Ballpark | Lost, 22-49 |
| February 22 | New Orleans Gold | Home | Infinity Park | Lost, 20-27 |
| February 29 | Utah Warriors | Home | Infinity Park | Won, 22-14 |
| March 6 | Toronto Arrows | Won, 22-19 | ||
| March 15 | Old Glory DC | Away | Cardinal Stadium | Cancelled |
| March 21 | Austin Gilgronis | Home | Infinity Park | |
| March 29 | Seattle Seawolves | Away | Starfire Sports Complex | |
| April 4 | New England Free Jacks | Away | Union Point Sports Complex | |
| April 18 | Houston SaberCats | Home | Infinity Park | |
| April 25 | Rugby United New York | Away | MCU Park | |
| May 2 | Rugby ATL | Home | Infinity Park | |
| May 8 | Utah Warriors | Away | Zions Bank Stadium | |
| May 17 | Austin Gilgronis | Round Rock Multipurpose Complex | ||
| May 24 | Seattle Seawolves | Home | Infinity Park | |
| May 30 | San Diego Legion | |||
See also
- Glendale Merlins – Formed in 2017, when the club's top side moved to Major League Rugby.
- Denver Stampede – the now defunct PRO Rugby team that played at Infinity Park in Glendale during 2016.
Notes
- 2020 regular season shortened and playoffs cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
References
- "Major League Rugby nears kick-off as next attempt to make US a union power". The Guardian. UK. 2017-11-17. Archived from the original on 2017-11-19. Retrieved 2017-11-19.
- Petersen, Will (9 April 2020). "Colorado Raptors withdraw from Major League Rugby". 9News.
- "Raptors History". American Raptors. 9 August 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
- "Raptors History". americanraptors.com. 9 August 2022. Archived from the original on 29 November 2022.
- "Major League Rugby, featuring Colorado team, signs TV deal with CBS". Denver Business Journal. 2017-10-10. Archived from the original on 2018-02-05.
- "Glendale Signs Original Raptor Casey Rock". DJ Coil Rugby. 9 January 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
- "Seawolves stun Raptors to win inaugural MLR title". Americas Rugby News. 2018-07-08. Archived from the original on 2018-07-10. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
- "Glendale Raptors are now the Colorado Raptors". 9News KUSA. 2019-11-08.
- Petersen, Will, "Updated: Colorado Raptors withdraw from Major League Rugby," 9news.com, April 10, 2020 Accessed March 27, 2021
- "Two SLAR teams to play North American opponents in Colorado". June 2022.
- "American Raptors Announce 2024 Roster". American Raptors. 11 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
- "City of Glendale made rugby its brand, a move that's paying off with a professional team". The Denver News. 2017-06-02. Archived from the original on 2018-02-05.
- "Glendale Raptors Coaches and Staff". Glendale Raptors. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
- "Glendale Raptors announce 2018 schedule". 9 News. 2017-12-01. Archived from the original on 2018-02-05. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
- "Site report" (PDF). www.rainbird.com. 2018. Retrieved 2019-09-05.
- Anonymous, "MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY SUSPENDS 2020 SEASON FOR 30 DAYS," www.majorleague.rugby, March 12, 2020 Retrieved March 14, 2020
- "Major League Rugby cancels remainder of 2020 campaign". Yahoo! Sports. AFP. March 19, 2020. Archived from the original on March 19, 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2020.