The Chico State Wildcats just punched their ticket to the D1AA Spring Championship with two stellar home performances, but their dream run could come crashing down without fundraising help.

The Wildcats are expected to travel to Charlotte, NC to face the back-to-back spring champions Dartmouth, but with just under two weeks until kickoff they’ve been told their travel funding has been pulled due to California state restrictions.

“We need help.” says coach Lucas Bradbury. “We’re in a $39,000 hole.” 

Donate to Chico State Rugby Here

“We’ve been told at the state-level that our funding for our trip is no longer available because North Carolina is a restricted state.”

Without diving too deep into hot-button political issues, the team is in danger of missing out on a chance at the national title because of “bathroom laws.”

Watch the D1AA Spring Final LIVE on FloRugby

North Carolina is the only state to have passed a so-called Bathroom Bill—House Bill 2—which restricts access to multiuser restrooms, locker rooms, and other sex-segregated facilities on the basis of a definition of sex or gender consistent with sex assigned at birth or “biological sex."

That bill was passed in 2016 and then much of it was repealed in 2017. But there's been no change in the State of California policy, which restricts funding for travel to ten different states, including North Carolina. (Source California Attorney General's office website.)

Chico State’s coaches, players, and supporting members are reaching out to alumni for support, as well as local television and radio stations hoping fans will spend a penny to assist the team.

Vice-captain Anton Holm gives his thoughts after a hard-fought 24-7 victory for @ChicoStateRugby over Kansas University. @theorion_sports #TheOrion #championsaremade pic.twitter.com/X4P4VMilSa

— Ricardo Tovar (@rtovarg13) April 20, 2019

“We’ve got great families and friends coming through to help,” says Bradbury. “We’re going on TV and radio tonight.”

Chico State’s fight didn’t just start this weekend in the D1AA quarterfinal or semifinal; they’ve been beating people all season.

“We are in it. We are traveling, we are coming. Our boys are ready to die for the cause,” says Bradbury. “We knocked off Stanford and now we’re going to knock off the champs.”