The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the NCYRA was held on August 15th at the Lafayette Public Library.  There was a tremendous turnout, with more than 60 attendees representing more than 2/3 of the NCYRA Clubs.  The biggest issue on the agenda was the proposed player/coach annual dues increase to cover paying referees for high school and middle school matches, as well as increased administration costs and setting-a-side funds for a future Executive Director.  The debate was spirited but civil and in the end the "ayes" prevailed by a tally of 101 to 59 (each vote representing one Team) and the dues increase passed.  The related item was that the NCYRA is going to start paying Certified Referees: $50/varsity match, $40/junior varsity match and $30/middle school match.  This is an excellent incentive and will start the process of building a strong referee program and referee pool, which in turn will help improve the quality of rugby and move us closer to becoming a main stream American sport.   The Referee Certification courses will be posted on the 2013 Season Master Schedule in the next few weeks.  Thank you to all the attendees of the AGM.