The Sunshine Coast Stingrays are an Australian rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 club, based on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland

Sunshine Coast, Queensland

The Sunshine Coast is an urban area in South East Queensland, north of the state capital of Brisbane on the Pacific Ocean coastline. Although it does not have a central business district, by population it ranks as the 10th largest metropolis in Australia and the third largest in...

. The club currently competes in the Queensland Premier Rugby

Queensland Premier Rugby

Queensland Premier Rugby is a club rugby union competition in Queensland, Australia. Ten clubs compete in the competition, eight of which are from Brisbane, with a club each from the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast also competing. The competition has been contested in its present form since 1929...

 competition. The club is the most recent addition to the Premier competition, having their first season in 2005. The club's players were also available for selection to the Ballymore Tornadoes

Ballymore Tornadoes

The Ballymore Tornadoes were an Australian rugby union football club that played in the now-defunct Australian Rugby Championship. The Tornadoes were formed as one of Queensland's two clubs that will participate in the inaugural season of the championship, starting in August 2007...

, the region's franchise in the short-lived Australian Rugby Championship

Australian Rugby Championship

The Australian Rugby Championship, often abbreviated to the ARC , was a domestic Rugby union football club competition in Australia which ran for only one season in August–October 2007...

.

Amalgamation of regional bodies

In response to Queensland Rugby Union's efforts, in 2009 four separate organizations amalgamated to form the Sunshine Coast Rugby Union Ltd. The four organizations were the Sunshine Coast and District Rugby Union, the Sunshine Coast and District Junior Rugby Union, Sunshine Coast Rugby Union Referees Association and Sunshine Coast Rugby Union Schools Association.

Super 15 bid

The Sunshine Coast Rugby Union entered a bid to be included as the 15th team in the Super 15 competition, in 2009. A number of factors contributed to the bid being unsuccessful, namely the lack of a stadium that met the requirements of SANZAR

SANZAR

SANZAR is the body which operates Super Rugby and Tri Nations competitions in rugby union. It is a joint venture of the South African Rugby Union, the New Zealand Rugby Union and the Australian Rugby Union, formed in 1996.Created shortly after rugby's move to professionalism in 1995, SANZAR's two...

, and the lack of funding required for the operations of a Super franchise.

Season results

Queensland Premier Rugby

• 2005 10th - Last (5 competition points)
• 2006 10th - Last (12 competition points)
• 2007 10th - Last (16 competition points)
• 2008 8th (25 competition points)
• 2009 9th (20 competition points)
• 2010 2nd (52 competition points)

Country Championships

• 2010 1st place (undefeated)

Internationals

• Mike Hercus
  Mike Hercus
  Mike Hercus is a retired American rugby union footballer who played at fly-half for the USA Eagles and several top level professional clubs around the globe....
  
  , USA international
  United States national rugby union team
  USA Rugby's men's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Eagles, represents the United States in the sport of rugby union. The Eagles are currently ranked 17th by the IRB World Rankings. Their highest ranking was from November 2, 2006 – September 10, 2007 at the 14th position...
  
   fly-half. (2009)
• Toutai Kefu, Former Wallaby
  Australia national rugby union team
  The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...
  
  . (2010)
• Morgan Turinui
  Morgan Turinui
  Morgan Turinui is an Australian rugby union footballer who currently plays for French rugby side Stade Francais.-Early life:...
  
  , former Wallaby. (2010)
• Caleb Ralph
  Caleb Ralph
  Caleb Stan Ralph is a New Zealand rugby union footballer. Ralph began his first-class career with Bay of Plenty, then moved to Auckland before heading to Canterbury. He started his Super Rugby career with the Chiefs in 1997, Blues , Crusaders and a cameo role with the Queensland Reds...
  
  , former All Black. (2010)

Regional Competitions

The Sunshine Coast Rugby Union hosts a number of regional rugby competitions, with local club's competing in Seniors (A grade, reserve grade, colts, and women's), Juniors (under 7 to under 17), as well as a school based competition. The region covered by the Sunshine Coast Rugby Union extends from Caboolture in the south, to Hervey Bay in the north, and into the hinterland at Maleny.

The club's that compete in the men's senior grade competition are:

• Caboolture Rugby Union
• Caloundra Rugby Union Club Inc
• Fraser Coast Mariners Rugby Union Football Club
• Gympie Rugby Union
• Maroochydore Rugby Club
• Nambour Rugby Union Club Inc
• Noosa Rugby Union Club
• USC Rugby Club

The women's competition is made of four club teams from:

• Caboolture Rugby Union
• Caloundra Rugby Union Club Inc
• Noosa Rugby Union Club
• USC Rugby Club