Touch & Social

The Exiles and Hilton Head have given their friendly a name and a trophy. The Palms and Pines Cup, announced Thursday, September 17, is a home-and-home: Saturday, November 14 in Hilton Head, Saturday, February 6 in North Fulton, each match one win, no aggregate, and if it finishes one apiece the Cup is decided by a boat race. The Exiles also opened a social membership on Friday, September 18, $70 a year, "you don't have to play rugby to belong to a rugby club," with the Thursday social at Olde Blind Dog in Crabapple after training and, on Sunday, October 11, the Fuel Coffee Roasters car show and Exiles fundraiser.

The Atlanta Bucks changed how they run Rugby 101 this year: it happens at practice, for two weeks from Wednesday, September 16, Mondays and Wednesdays from 7:30 to 9:30 PM at East Lake Park, "no experience needed, no tryouts, just show up." The Bucks' first bar night fundraiser of the season was Saturday, September 19 at the Atlanta Eagle. The Columbus Cruise-A-Matics are back to Tuesday and Thursday practice, 7 to 9 PM on Blanchard Boulevard, open to "active duty, veterans, spouses, locals, all skill levels," and the Gwinnett Lions and Lady Lions train Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6 to 8 PM, at Tribble Mill Park in Lawrenceville, with Saturday afternoon touch pencilled in as tentative by the club.

Two match days this month are built for families and first-timers. Atlanta Old White host the Exiles on Saturday, September 26 at 1 PM at the Atlanta Rugby Grounds, 1035 Fairburn Road SW, billed by Old White as a test match and family friendly. The Savannah Shamrocks run a home doubleheader the same afternoon, women vs the Charleston Hurricanes at 1:30 PM and men vs Hilton Head at 3 PM, and hold a recruiting event at Crunch on Monday, September 28 at 6 PM. In Athens, Georgia's rugby club hosts an alumni tailgate at Soule Hall for the Oklahoma football game on Saturday, September 26, free, RSVP at ugarugby.com. Atlanta 2.0 Selects hold a garage sale fundraiser on Sunday, October 4 from 10 AM to 4 PM.

Touch: Atlanta Touch Rugby posts each weekend's park and time in its public Facebook group, and Southern Touch runs Sunday sessions at Fair Oaks Park in Marietta from 2 to 4 PM, with the group as the place to check for this week's session. The next free way in on the calendar is the Rebels' Try Rugby and Open House on Saturday, October 10 at Elkins Pointe in Roswell. If your club runs a touch night or a social, send it to hello@therugbyradar.com and it goes up the day it lands.

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