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| Sport | Rugby union |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | South ofBuenos Aires Province |
| Abbreviation | URMDP |
| Founded | 1951; 75 years ago (1951) |
| Affiliation | UAR |
| Headquarters | Mar del Plata |
| Official website | |
| unionrugbymdp | |
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TheMar del Plata Rugby Union (Spanish:Unión de Rugby de Mar del Plata), abbreviatedURMDP, is the organisational body that rules the game ofrugby union inMar del Plata town and cities of the south ofBuenos Aires Province. 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 ofBalcarce,Dolores,Mar de Ajó,Miramar,Necochea,Tandil andVilla Gesell.[1] The union was founded in 1951, and become a member of theArgentine Rugby Union that same year.
One of the first rugby union games held in Mar del Plata was played in 1925 by theBritishbattleshipRepulse's crew and a team composed of employees ofBuenos Aires Great Southern Railway that travelled to Mar del Plata specially for the occasion. A chronicle published on local newspaperLa Capital described the match as follows:[2]
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 clubsCurupaytí andHindú.[3]
The first committee was formed in Hernández's house, appointing Rómulo Tamini as president of the club.[4] 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 clubsCUBA andPucará visited the city.
(There has been) Great interest to attend this exhibition with complicated rules of the game, which main characteristics are the violence and rough of players' actions.
— La Capital, about a rugby game in the city, September 1925[2]
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 (Tandil), Ita-Carú and Duperial. On 25 May 1949 a tournament was held in the city, with Mar del Plata RC, Curupaytí, Pucará andObras Sanitarias.
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 ofPhysical 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 firstrugby 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 afour-leaf clover 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.[5]
Affiliated clubs as of July, 2019:[1]
| Club | City |
|---|---|
| Bigua[note 1] | Mar del Plata |
| Camarones | Pinamar |
| Campo de Pato | Balcarce |
| Club Los 50 | Tandil |
| Los Cardos RC | Tandil |
| Comercial[note 1] | Sierra de los Padres |
| Gnomos | Mar de Ajó |
| Mar del Plata Club[note 1] | Mar del Plata |
| Miramar RC | Miramar |
| Náutico Necochea | Necochea |
| Necochea RC | Necochea |
| Pampas | Dolores |
| Pueyrredón RC | Mar del Plata |
| San Ignacio Rugby | Mar del Plata |
| Sporting | Mar del Plata |
| Tiro Federal | Ayacucho |
| Unión del Sur | Mar del Plata |
| Universitario | Mar del Plata |
| Uncas | Tandil |
| Villa Gesell RC | Villa Gesell |
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.[6] The last TRP winner is Sociedad Sportiva ofBahía Blanca.[7]
The TRP is composed of two stages, "Clasificatorio" and "Campeonato". The first stage is contested by 8 teams, playing in a singleround-robin tournament. 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.[6]
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).[6]
There is also awomen's rugby competition.
The URMDP representative side competed in defunctCampeonato Argentino, having won its only title in1961.
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