Your Scrumhalf Connection - Women's Rugby Blog

12 hours at the airport. 12 hours of sleep. 2 dr peppers. 20 teammates. 25 years old yesterday.

and I'm home.

Got home last night around 7:30pm (got to the airport in Minnesota at 7:30am) and went straight to practice. I was thinking that I might jump in the drills and do some practice but once I got into Austin I was exhausted. My teammates were excited to see me and I was excited to see them. Once I got there they split and I went and hung out with the forwards...good times! We had some new players in the tight five, so it was interesting to watch their faces as we told them to put their head here and their hands there...very funny!

Of course I said hi to the girl first, but then quickly I went to find my pup! He was on his tie-out, like every practice and he was SO excited to see me! His butt was wiggling and his tail was going ninety miles an hour and he couldn't stand still. I let him off the tie-out for a few minutes and he almost knocked me over he was so excited. This morning waking up to two different kisses was the best thing ever. He hasn't left my side this morning...god I missed him.

So last night after practice the team went out to Bagpipes to have a few drinks and some good food for my birthday. I had shrimp and chips...let the good food binge continue! We watched some football and decorated some goodie bags for this weekend's rookie clinic. While there we met the coach of the UT & USA Quad Rugby team. He was a bad ass guy and was very nice.

More about the girl...she got me two awesome presents for my birthday! (Turned 25 yesterday...quarter of a century!) She got me a 3D photo book of Hollywood Classic Hotties and a 30 minute massage today!!!

Alrighty, so I don't have to work until Tuesday so I get to relax this weekend a little bit. We have the rookie clinic on Saturday and then a birthday party on Sunday...so tonight I am getting some GOOD f'in food and relaxing with the House of WAM.

Have a great weekend all!

From Womeneagles.com:

US Squad Falls to Canada in Second Match of Series

8.30.07 - Blaine, MN - The US Developmental Squad fell to a strong Canada Senior Women's team, 7-46, in the second match of their series. The two teams met at the National Sports Center fields in Blaine, MN in a newly organized NA2 competition that the US would like to see continue in future years. The US squad also fell to Canada on Tuesday, 5-18. The lone scorer for the US squad on Thursday was Farrah Douglas with a try in the second half and Maura Weikman who converted the try to bring the match to 7-31. Canada brought in reserves in the second half and poured on the offense to bring the final score to 7-46. The match up of a young US squad against a more experienced Canada Senior side was obvious and the US coaching staff hopes to use the experience for future selection venues and matches.

Next up for the Women Eagles is a tour to Europe in December where they will play 2 scheduled matches against England and potentially more teams as the schedule develops.

View a gallery of photos from the match from DropKickPhotos.com.

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I'm sitting in the Denver airport this afternoon dreading blogging about the match yesterday. I really just don't want to write about it. We trained all week with two a days almost everyday...and the team is going home today with 2 losses.

We trained hard and we played even harder but Canada took it to us. Final score was 7-46, with Farrah scoring the lone try. The game had SO many brilliant moments, but we just couldn't get it in through the posts or across the line.

Its frustrating because as a player on this developmental team you wanted to show the coaches, your teammates and the US what you could do. But we said it all weekend and I will repeat it here, its the mental toughness at this level that is the most important. Can you keep making tackles, keep rucking that ball and be a good teammate if your team is down 30 points? Can you help pick up your teammates in the try zone and if on the sidelines? The challenges of this weekend have made me such a stronger player and I owe it all to the teammates I met for the first time this weekend and the old friends I played with. I know that we all played our hardest and left it all out on the field, but it wasn't enough.

Maybe I will have more later...wishing I was home in Austin with my dog and that special someone. ;)

OH AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!! 25 TODAY...quarter of a century. Scary.

The day before a game is always tough...especially if you played the day before. The day began at 9am with breakfast and a video session at 10am. Watching yourself on tape is never fun, but we were able to identify problems as a team and now we can work on them. Our defensive work definitely was off as most of the time we were disorganized and not coming up flat. The video made that fact glaringly obvious and we diagrammed and discussed it to death!

Practice that afternoon was at 4pm after a short pool recovery workout at 11am. Practice this afternoon was very focused and intense. The team that played on Monday was intent to get the Wednesday team ready...so everything was snappy and well played. First things was getting everyone on the same page for set pieces. We reviewed scrum calls, lineout positions and lots of defense.

The last piece of the practice was defending and offending the 22meter. So the Mon team would defend as the Wed team tried to score. Each score in the try zone or just beyond the 22 was a point. Both teams were ravenous and were intent on getting each other prepared. The focus and commitment to each part of the short game was immense...we are ready for tomorrow now. After practice we had dinner and then a short jersey ceremony. I posted the roster last night so everyone can see who is playing. I will be wearing #20 again and will be coming in at scrumhalf if needed. The team is extremely focused tonight and we are about to watch 300 as a team. What a pump up movie!!!

GO USA!!

USA vs Canada Game 2 Roster

1 Jamie Burke
2 Mari Wallace
3 Libby Burg
4 Jenny Menke
5 Carrie Dubray
6 Kitt Wagner
7 Stacy Bennet
8 Liz Dilley
9 Rose Whitemore
10 Jossy Tseng
11 Nathalie Marchino
12 Elise Myer
13 Lynelle Kugler
14 Maura Weikman
15 Ashley Kmiecek

Reserves
16 Lisa Butts
17 Farrah Douglas
18 Mel Denham
19 Kristen Zdancewicz
20 Wendy Young
21 Meg Crapster-Pregont
22 Sara Leary

USA vs Canada Game 1 Roster

**So I tried to piece the roster together from memory, sorry if I got it wrong!

1 Farrah Douglas
2 Lisa Butts
3 Heather Jennings
4 Jaime Lange
5 Stacy Baker
6 Street
7 Kristen Zdancewicz
8 Liz Dilley
9 Katy Hertel
10 Meg Crapster-Pregont
11 Sheara Williamson
12 Mel Kanuk
13 San Juanita Moreno
14 Vanesha McGee
15 Sara Leary

Reserves (I can't remember every one's numbers)
Jossy Tseng
Mel Denham
Wendy Young
Ashley Kmiecek
Jaime Burk
Mari Wallace
Jenny Menke

**We are having the jersey ceremony in about 30 minutes, so I will be sure to write this one down!

More pictures from Game #1 from Dropkickphotos.com

From womeneagles.com
US Developmental Squad Falls to Canada

8.28.07 - Blaine, MN - The US Developmental squad lost a physical match against Canada's senior women's team yesterday in the first of their two-match CanAm series. The final score was 5-18 with the US falling behind early but rebounding to put points on the board late in the first second half. The U.S. missed two chances at penalty goals in the first half to to make the halftime score 5-0. US Coach Kathy Flores was pleased with the way her team responded to the early points that Canada put on the board. Flores said she "wasn't surprised at the final score given the 13-15 returning World Cup players that Canada put on the field versus our younger squad (featuring 4-5 returning World Cup players). She gave Canada credit for the win, "Canada played a tough, physical match. They played well and deserve all the credit for the win."

Unfortunately for the US, breakdowns in the defensive line allowed the early lead which they couldn't overcome. Flores said she was "pleased her team's mental discipline. For a young team, it took a lot to stay focused in this match. For tomorrow's match, we will build on our experiences, and we have an idea of what we need to do. We look forward to a challenging match. "

**If you look hard you can see me in the back of this photo...I'm waiting for my chance to shine! Otherwise the photo is a kick ass shot of Hamm about to smash the fullback.

(*UPDATE* The ending score was Canada 18 USA 5.)

This morning we woke up around 9am for breakfast (what a glorious sleep it was!!!). The night was punctuated with a massive thunderstorm and lightening storm around 3am. Those of us that were sleeping with the windows open (unheard of in Austin!) were awoken by loud thunder
and plenty of rain.

Since we knew we were playing at 3:30pm and we had already gotten our jerseys, everyone was pretty nervous the whole morning. The starting team and reserves got out and moving around 10:45am, the forwards did some live scrumming while the scrumhalves worked on their passing Meanwhile, the backs did some passing and plenty of counterattacks as we knew that Canada likes to kick.

After that we ate lunch at noon and then had the afternoon off until 2pm. That was the longest two hours of everyone's lives it seemed. All was quiet until 1:30pm when people were getting so antsy that we were running up and down the halls yelling. We even had a traveling ipod that visited each room to pump us up.

Finally 2pm rolled around and we hit the pitch. We had 30 minutes of individual warmup and then team warmup was at 3pm. Team warmup was pretty intense as Michelle the strength and conditioning coach was in charge. It felt like our fitness was being tested, like we were running the bleep test or proving we had the guts. Very very intense and almost everyone was sweating profusely. Then the reserves jumped on the bags and we did some contact and some defense.

All too soon the game was set to begin. The whistle was blown and we kicked off…and Canada promptly knocked the ball on. We were hoping that this would be how the whole match would go…but unfortunately it didn't happen that way. By no means did Canada blow us out of the
water, we kind of blew ourselves out of the water. We didn't seem to wake up until the 2nd half and by then we were down by 5 or 6 tries. (*UPDATE* The ending score was 18-5.) I don't know the ending score but it was definitely 20 something to 5.

All in all we played very well and worked well as a team. We had moments of brilliance, mind-blowing tackles and butter finger balls that were actually caught. We just couldn't finish when it came down to it…a penalty 10 meters out and we can't capitalize. I'm not trying to be a downer, but it's what happened. However the team is very positive tonight and we are excited about getting onto the pitch again on Wednesday. We definitely have a score to settle.

As for me…I got to PLAY! I played for about 10 minutes in the 2nd half and was told after the game that I really made an impact. It is almost a blur now but I kept up, made all my tackles and managed the forwards. So in my book…a success. And the cherry on top? I get to reserve on Wednesday!! Originally I was told that I wouldn't get any playing time, but I think I have proved myself. I really do belong here.

And I finally did it. I'm an Eagle.

8am breakfast
9am – noon training
12:15pm – 1:15pm lunch
1:30pm – 4:00pm training
6:00pm – 7:00pm dinner
7:30pm – 8:30pm jersey ceremony

Ever wondered what a typical training schedule for an Eagle camp is? Well there you go! This is the day before a match so we took it pretty easy contact-wise, but still a full day of eating, training and more eating. The food had definitely been interesting, but you have to eat to win…

Training this morning was focused on defense and counter attacks. Once again I played scrumhalf half the time and then second row the rest of the time. I didn't scrum down, but did all the loose play action and rucked my ass off. My favorite was the kickoff returns where I was upfront as the "big lock" as Kathy put it. Luckily the ball was only kicked to me once and I just dished it off to Jaime B and off we went. Sorry I have to keep the blogging short because the sports center doesn't have wireless internet, so I have to transfer the blog to my phone and then email it to someone that has internet. The things I do for my blog! Ha, just kidding…I love it.

Anyways, so the second training was good, we kept the contact to a very minimum as in we weren't allowed to run! That was pretty funny telling us crazy ruggers no running, we were like what? Are you serious coach? In the afternoon session we did some ball handling drills and then worked on penalty plays and defending a penalty. The jersey ceremony was pretty cool. It was short and sweet; Kathy spoke quickly about each player and then gave a motivating pep talk. Canada is returning 13 players from the World Cup and the USA is only returning 6…so the two games this week are definitely going to be interesting. Talk about experience vs youth…everyone is pretty pumped up tonight. I don't think we will be going to bed very early tonight as everyone works out the nervousness.

Wish us luck, I will be wearing #20 tomorrow at 3pm.

GO USA!!

Let me first start with last night and the traveling side of things. I love the thought of lots of rugby players traveling from all over to get to the same destination. This has always fascinated me and I have always looked for rugby players traveling when I am traveling. No one else has really ever understood my fascination with it, but it's like we are all working towards the common goal, to play more rugby. It doesn't matter what tournament you are traveling to, or what scrimmage or practice or whatever…but it makes my heart warm to know that rugby is happening all around us all the time!

So yesterday I traveled from Austin to Denver where I hooked up with Cheeks, Lynelle and Jaime L…we were conveniently on the same flights. I was however unfortunate to be sitting with a woman and her son…both of whom had never flown before. They were amazed at the TVs in the back of the seats but couldn't figure out how to change the channel or make the volume go up or down. They kept asking question after question about flying and God knows what else. All I wanted to do was read my book and take a nap! But I felt bad for them (the son was quite agitated and VERY nervous about flying) so I tried to be kind and answer their question and put their fears to rest. Once we got into a regular cruising pattern the next crisis was the TV doesn't play unless you pay the small fee, something like 5 bucks. But the woman couldn't get her debit card to work, so I swiped it like ten times and finally got it working. Then she was worried that she was going to be charged 5 dollars times ten. I assured her that it would not happen as the card reader was just simply failing to read. She didn't believe me, so we asked a nice flight attendant to verify and of course she wasn't going to be charged. It only charges if the card actually gets read and you get a confirmation message on the screen. So we got the son watching cartoons and happy with his little headset on.

At this point we are about halfway through the flight and the beverage cart was coming.The mother and son once again have never flown before, so I wasn't sure if they knew it was a complimentary service unless you wanted alcohol or something fancy. So I showed her the magazine (or brochure) that gave the list of free beverages. They were amazed that they got a free drink. All in all the flight was a little less peaceful than I wanted, but not too bad at all. The landing went off with a hitch as the son was enthralled with his TV…so thank God for that! So we arrived in Minneapolis St. Paul and met up with Jaime B and our ride. AJ was our ride and he plays for a men's club team here in Minnesota called the Mayhem. AJ was SO nice and polite to us women…but alas we did get lost and ended up spending a lot of time squished in a ford explorer. Finally we arrived at the National Sports Center Dorms here in Blaine and headed upstairs to find out our roommates and get settled in our rooms.

I had remembered the bunk beds from U23 camp a couple years ago, but had forgotten about the squishy mattress that all the air expels itself when you lay on it. Plus anytime you turn over the rustling is so loud! So we spent the night turning as quietly as we could and apologizing to each other. I actually slept a lot more than I thought I would, the first night in a new place is always a nightmare for me. All the new noises and smells, I usually don't sleep very well. We awoke at 7am the next morning for breakfast and then training.

The first training of the day was about 3 hours and we covered a whole hell of information. We spent plenty of time split working on scrums, lineouts, back plays and back row plays. There are three scrumhalfs here so we spent a lot of time trading in and out. A funny note is that each scrumhalf also had to double as a prop and even participate in the lineouts. The coaches were trying to have us play each other (we brought about 31 players) but a prop had injured her back early in the morning and a lock had also got injured…so us BIG scrumhalfs got to fill in. Of course the scrums were uncontested, but it was still fun to be in there for a few minutes. Then we rucked, mauled, scooted and ran our way as a "loose forward" through the team runs. The lineouts were particularly fun as we they were new to everyone and everyone is either a jumper or a lifter. So after finding out that I had never been really taught to lift, the jumpers would mainly get a lift from behind and I would just try to catch some shorts on the way up! So it was interesting to learn everything on the fly and ruck more than I have ever thought of or wanted to ruck in my life. The best move was when they called slow ball and a power up and I was like…well shit I don't know how to do that, but I can follow you! Also catching up at scrumhalf has been interesting as well, I had never done any of the drills while Katie and Rose are old pros at them. So I would watch a cycle and then jump right in to see if I could do it. I don't think I did half bad, but it definitely wasn't pretty. Some of the lineout drills where you bounce the ball off the soccer goal or post were particularly helpful, as I have always just tossed the ball in the air.

So after that training session we chowed down lunch and then had a short chalk talk session about defense and all that. The session was a lot shorter than we thought and we were still digesting lunch as we headed out for the second training of the day. After the meeting we did have about 20 minutes to lay down, but then the scrumhalfs, flyhalfs and back row had to be out early to work on problem solving at the back of the scrum. The drills here were AWESOME! I have never received instruction on what to do if the scrum is unstable and all that. Of course I was always taught to just have the 8man pick and fix it that way. Today we learned that you can do pitches (8man pivoting to block the opposing scrumhalf and and I take the ball on the run), a pelvic to pelvic scrumhalf pass (a pull up and out pass) and what the flyhalf can do to make a messy scrum easier on everyone.

The next cool theory we worked on was the zero ruck idea. I think I can explain this enough to make sense…at least I hope. Basically if your team is on defense in the GREEN ZONE (so 22m and in) you can call zero ruck. So that means that your team lets the other team ruck after a tackle has occurred, but NO ONE on your team returns the ruck. At this point there is still no offside line, as no ruck has occurred (a ruck is one or more players from each team over the ball) and we were instructed to flood the passing lanes. At first we were all really confused and we argued over the rules and the merits of doing this. Of course this is pretty risky, but since we are in the green zone you can afford to take some risks. Imagine being the scrumhalf of the attacking team and looking up to realize that your passing lane to the left and right is blocked and two girls are waiting to KILL you as soon as you touch the ball. You would shit a brick right?So we worked on this theory for quite some time, letting each teamwork offense and defense. We figured out some ways to go against the zero ruck and some ways to really mess with the attacking team. It is an interesting theory and is totally dependent on the referee for the match. We shall see if it works against Canada on Monday or Wednesday.

Now we just finished dinner and are heading out for a video session. No one knows what we are watching, but I'm betting that we are watching the USA vs Canada from ITT's last year. Great match and I will enjoy watching it again. Funny those only about 4 people from the video are at camp this year. A ton of new faces and young blood makeup this team. We have meshed well though on our first day and I am looking forward to the next few days. I am officially listed as a reserve for the Canada game, but am hoping to still get on the field and do some work of my own. Just wearing the USA jersey is enough excitement for me, if I got on the field…that would just be the cherry on top.

More later!

I am off to Minnesota in less than 4 hours...all packed and ready to go. Getting nervous....

Here is a slideshow of the last couple years of my life...check it out...

Still cranking away at the homework, I would venture that I am almost 3/4 done. Trying to cram 2 weeks worth of homework into three days has definitely been an adventure. Luckily I haven't been working much since I've been sick, so I have had plenty of time to read and study.

Today I am filled with nervousness as I realized today, I go tomorrow to train with the big dogs. Sure these aren't full international games, but this is a level I have never played at. I am eager with anticipation of meeting new teammates, meeting the coaches, supporting staff, trainers etc.

I haven't started packing yet, but the many emails from the coaches keep coming and I am thinking I am not going to be able to wait until tomorrow to pack. I will probably start packing tonight and finish off tomorrow. Then I leave tomorrow at 2:20 pm and will arrive in Minnesota around 7pm.

From there the schedule is pretty simple, we have two a days until Monday when we play our first match. We play Canada Monday August 27 at 3:30pm and Wednesday August 29 at 6:00pm (times subject to change). We will have a walk through practice or pool workout between Monday and Wednesday though. We have already received the line out and scrum calls, so I will begin studying those this afternoon as well.

Wish me luck everyone. Thanks for the support always...especially those of you that I have been telling since day one I would do it...

There is plenty of rugby this weekend in the United States. Clubs are getting their fall schedules amped up and so are some the Allstar and National teams.

USA Men Eagles vs. Munster - Aug 26, 2007
2pm at the Toyota Park, Bridegeview, Illinois

This is one game I wish I could go to, I still haven't seen a professional international rugby game here in the United States. Promises to be a great game though!

National All Stars 7s Championship - Aug 26 & 27, 2007
Park City, UT
This is always a fun tournament, its always HOT HOT and there are some of the best players in the United States playing at one venue. If you are anywhere near Utah you should totally check it out!

NA4 CanAm Tournament - August 4 - 30, 2007
National Olympic Training Center Blaine, MN

I leave on Friday and get back on my birthday! We will be playing Canada twice and I am going to try and blog about the whole thing. Stay tuned.

Check out Goff (subscription required) for another spotlight on EIU's Varsity Rugby Program. The comments are longer than the article!!

August 20, 2007 - History will be made September 15 when two NCAA varsity women's college rugby teams play a match for the first time.

Eastern Illinois will host West Chester at EIU's Lakeside Field in what is being made into something of a major sporting event in Charleston, Ill.

"It's not often that you can say, in this day and age, that you can be first in something, so we're very pleased to have this game come off," said EIU Sports Information director Rich Moser. "This has been in the works since West Chester became varsity and we're going to so some promotions around it."

Rest of the article and COMMENTS here.

So Canada is approaching...and I am frantically trying to get ready. I have a few days of work this week, TONS of HW and to top it all off...STILL SICK. But hell yeah I am getting excited and pumped up!

Check out this HW:

Math
Midterm due 8/27/07

Human Sexuality SS210
Week 3:
Summary of chapters 5&6
Discussion Board Participation
Internet Activity and Summaries

Week 4:
Summary of chapters 7&8
Discussion Board Participation
Internet Activity and Summaries
Quiz 2

Sports Law GM382

Week 3:
Required reading:
Wong, pp.149-277.

Please submit to the Discussion Board area your answers to the following questions:

1. Consider the eligibility requirements for NCAA and High Schools and the challenges the NCAA and High Schools face in this area. If you had a choice, do you think that you could fairly and, with some degree of success and enjoyment, work for the NCAA eligibility department and be an enforcer of the rules as they presently exist? Why or why not? In answering this, tell us a bit about your personality and interests please.

2. Write and present a rule YOU would put into place to allow a college student to participate in NCAA sports. Include the requirements regarding age, GPA, behavior, SAT scores, and any other things you would like to see covered.

3. Now, think back to your high school days. What were the requirements for participation in sports? Were they the same as those for clubs or organizations? If not, why not? If so, is that a fair method of doing things? Should high school athletes be held to a higher, the same or lesser standard than others? Explain fully your answers.

Week 4:
Required reading:
Wong, pp.280-368 (optional, but recommended).

Required examination:

Take Examination #1

Foundations of Learning RQ295

Week 3:
Packet Work
2 quizzes

Complete the series of whole-body exercises described in Chapter 3. Once you have tried them respond to the following questions, writing your response in an essay format (introduction, main body and conclusion paragraphs):

* Am I more alert?
* DoI have better focus?
* Is my concentration better?
* How about my comprehension?
* Does my head feel clear?
* Am I free of physical signs of stress?
* Do I feel more relaxed?

Week 4:
In today’s society all too often people have to ear many different hats. Responsibilities stem from work, family, friends, household, school, etc. It is no wonder that attention must be divided among so many different areas. Sometimes focusing on too many things at once can result in little accomplished. Discuss your attention and learner styles and how you better understand them now and can use them to accomplish your goals and
better focus your attention and time. Post a response to at least two other learner posts.

Write a short essay that addresses the following:

Overall do you agree or disagree with the designation that was made as to your grand type? Include the following information: your grand type, the traits that you do possess, the traits that you do not possess, the information that helped you realize something about your personality that you did not previously know. And finally, address the "goodness of fit" between your work preference scores and various vocations based on the information in the PDF file discussed above.

Rookie Collegiate Clinic - Sept 1st, 2007 in AUSTIN, TX

Schedule of events:
10:00: Warm up
10:30 - 1:00 Individual Skills
1:00 - 2:00 Lunch
2:00 - 3:30 Situational Drills
3:30 - 5:00 Scrimmage
6:45 Dinner with the Austin Valkyries

There are two options of payment for this clinic:

$10 per player includes Clinic & Small Lunch
$20 per player includes Clinic, Small Lunch & Dinner (**possible showing of a 2007 Tri-Nations Match**)

Austin can be an expensive city, so we wanted to make sure there was an option for a team dinner with the Austin Valkyries. Come meet the current team, coaches, eagles and veterans! Come experience a rugby family beyond the collegiate experience.

Please RSVP that your team or projected amount of players are attending. We also have some housing, it is FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE!

Coaches:
Meg Pace (Austin Valkyries Coach)
Meredith Bagley (USA Eagle Pool)
Heidi Whitman (USA 7s Eagle Pool)
Traci Schmidtke (USA U23 Eagle)
Wendy Young (USA Eagle Pool)

Thanks,
Wendy

Sorry all, I have been sick the last couple of days. Today is the first day I have been able to sit up without wanting to throw up my guts.

Sorry for the visual, but its been a rough couple of days. I am hoping to be a member of society again by Monday...can't believe I go to Minnesota on Thursday and I have been sick all week.

My friend Christina (Boulder Babes) pointed this out to me...evidently Outsidemag.com took the time to write an article about rugby and how its not just International anymore. Sadly they left out that just as many women play, but did not forget to mention youth rugby and collegiate rugby men. The article appears in the September 2007 Outside issue, you can see the cover there to the right.

Imagine if every women's team in the nation sent them a letter just letting them know that there is Women's rugby in the US and its a big deal. Hell, if twenty teams sent them an email, it would make a difference!

Fire away ladies: letters@outsidemag.com

via Heidi Whitman

Hi ladies,

I wanted to thank everyone for their support and kindness, it was awesome to receive all that love! I figured you all would want to hear about what happened..

It was blazing hot, I think I sweat more than Mere normally does :) I got the second fastest 40 time, of 5.13, and I didn't even do too bad in the endurance test. I am now officially in the usa 7's pool, with about 30 other girls. We'll be trying out again in preparation for the international 7's season tournaments. The ones that usa will be going to are San Diego 7's (feb.), Hong Kong 7's (march), and Amsterdam 7's (may). Then following those events and 7's ITT's in Aug. 2008, they will put together a 7's World Cup pool of about 16 players, which will be held in feb 2009,
in Dubai. That leaves them about 6 months of just world cup players to train together.

It's all very exciting! They talked about us being semi professional players and that we need to train and eat like it. Lay off the booze. We have to report injuries now to the coach, and coordinate treatments from our doctor with the team doctor. It's so much more professional than it's been in the past.

Thank you gals for the support, I'll just keep needing more of it! I'll have to keep training like
I'm Toya or something...We also fund raise like beasts because we travel so much. So I'm selling raffle tickets for San Diego 7's, full expenses paid, airplane, fancy hotel, int'l men and womens rugby, in sunny SD! Tix are 10 ea, or 3 for 25, just let me know how many you want!

I'll try and make it tues after class, but see you all thur for sure!

-Heidi

So You Think You Can Dance

You Tube this show...if you have never heard of it or seen it, become a believer. AMAZING! Makes me, Wendy Young, small amount of rhythm in her life want to jump up and move and dance...and be.

Good stuff. The finale is on Thursday, but most of the videos can be found on you tube pretty easily. Check out these videos below:

I just turned in my test to become a Level 1 Referee! How exciting!!! It takes a few weeks to get the certificate or whatever, but hopefully I will pass and I can start refereeing a few games here in Austin!

Check the info below if you are interested in becoming a referee, or are just interested in the steps.

The Introductory Level Referee course, Introducing Officiating, is required of and intended for potential referees who have yet to complete any referee certification course, particularly those individuals with little or no rugby experience.

Level 1 Referee certification is intended either for the neophyte referee who has completed the Introductory Level Referee course, Introducing Officiating, or for those beginning referees with sufficient rugby experience to have obtained authority to commence their referee training certification at the Level 1 Referee level. Level 1 Referee certification is required for all referees who referee any US match that potentially leads to a national championship. The fee for this course is $75.

Level 2 Referee certification provides more advanced referee training and is one prerequisite for attaining a C1 referee rating. Participants must have their Level 1 Referee certification in order to attend this course. The fee for this two day course is $100.

Level 3 Referee certification provides training for the elite level referee and is an intense intellectual examination of the modern game of rugby. This course is necessary to satisfy one of the requirements to earn a rating of B1 or above. Prerequisite for participation in the two day Level 3 Referee course is a referee rating of B3 or above, or status as an evaluator of B-panel and higher referees. The fee for this course is $150.

In the Texas Rugby Union and interested in reffing? Check out this link. In other unions but interested...check out this link.

Canada name Can-Am squad
by Rugby Canada

Canada National Senior Women's Team Head Coach Quentin Fyffe and his staff have named a squad of 30 players who will travel to Blaine, Minnesota to compete in the Can-Am tournament later this month. The squad will play two matches against their American counterparts on August 27th and 29th.

The Can-Am games will provide an opportunity for Fyffe, who was appointed head coach of the program in April, to see his players compete against some stringent US opponents. Player performances in this event will prove crucial in Fyffe’s selections for his team that will travel to the United Kingdom in November 2007.

“It is important that we work together with our neighbors to the south, who are our most economical resource. We will be working in conjunction with the US to hopefully expand the tournament to include a broader spectrum of athletes in 2008,” explains Fyffe.

The Can-Am is the first step in the creation of an event that will be similar to the men’s North America Four rugby tournament between four squads from the US and Canada. Players from each team will begin arriving in Minnesota on Friday, August 24th, and will train together over the weekend prior to their first meeting on August 27th.

“The Can-Am Tournament will provide us with a great opportunity to see more players compete at the international level,” stated Anne Barry, Director of Women’s Rugby for USA Rugby.

“At this point in the Women's Rugby World Cup (WRWC) cycle, we can begin testing our new players against our neighboring Canadian rivals.

“When fully implemented, this competition will give our players much needed high-level elite competitions in preparation for the 2010 WRWC."

The USA squad will be coached by USA Women’s National Team Head Coach Kathy Flores and veteran Women Eagles' center Candi Orsini. The coaches have selected a pool of 31 players who will train together beginning August 24th. The final roster for each match of the competition will be determined following the weekend training session. "This event provides an opportunity for not only player development but coaching development,” said Flores. “For our country to be successful at the next World Cup, both players and coaches need to increase their level of understanding of the international game together.”

USA and Canada Women Experiment
via Goff (subscription required)

August 9, 2007 - With the USA v. Canada women's games in just under three weeks not being full test matches, head coach Kathy Flores will take the opportunity to experiment a little.

The games were initially expected to be a women's version of the NA4, and it is symbolic of the somewhat murky Can-Am relationship in women's rugby that it didn't happen - consider that Rugby Canada expected the USA to spend $80,000 to play in the 2005 Canada Cup, but couldn't bring an expanded squad to Minnesota for six days (in fairness to the Canadians, they have always been willing to send a team to American soil). Now it's one squad against another in a two-game series, but it's got to start somewhere.

“It is important that we work together with our neighbors to the south, who are our most economical resource," said Canada head coach Quentin Fyffe, a veteran of USA v. Canada men's games who scored a try against the USA in 2003. "We will be working in conjunction with the US to hopefully expand the tournament to include a broader spectrum of athletes in 2008.”

Rest of the article here.

CANADA ROSTER TO FACE USA

FORWARDS:
Leslie Cripps (United Kingdom)
Lesley McKenzie (British Columbia)
Marlene Donaldson (British Columbia)
Dawn MacDonald (British Columbia)
Marie-Eve Brindamour-Carignan (New Zealand)
Gillian Florence (Quebec)
Jennifer Kish (Alberta)
Katie Murray (Alberta)
Kim Donaldson (British Columbia)
Natalie Bendavid (Ontario)
Heather McDonald (Alberta)
Paige Burdett (Alberta)
Megan Gibbs (Ontario)
Barbara Mervin (British Columbia)
Heather Jaques (British Columbia)
Kelly Russell (Ontario)

BACKS:
Laura Stoughton (Alberta)
Ashley Patzer (Alberta)
Sarah Ulmer (United Kingdom)
Mandy Marchak (British Columbia)
Maria Gallo (Alberta)
Rosie Cobbett (British Columbia)
Julianne Zussman (Quebec)
Julia Sugawara (British Columbia)
Meaghan Howat (Ontario)
Marie-Josee Blais (Quebec)
Brooke Hilditch (Ontario)
Heather Moyse (Ontario)
Cheryl Phillips (Ontario)
Megan Mutrie (British Columbia)

USA Squad
Forwards
Stacy Baker (Philadelphia)
Stacy Bennett (NOVA)
Jamie Burke (Berkeley)
Lisa Butts (Unattached)
Meg Crapster-Pregont (Cornell University)
Mel Denham (Beantown)
Liz Dilley (Washington)
Farrah Douglas (Chicago Northshore)
Carrie Dubray (New York)
Allyson Hemstreet (Berkeley)
Heather Jennings (Seattle)
Lynelle Kugler (Glendale)
Jamie Lange (Glendale)
Jenny Menke (Minnesota Valkyries)
Chris Trucano (Twin Cities)
Mari Wallace (Berkeley)
Kristen Zdancewicz (Minnesota Valkyries)

Backs
Katy Hertel (Minnesota Valkyries)
Mel Kanuk (Maryland).
Ashley Kmiecik (Emerald City)
Sara Leary (Cleveland).
Vanesha McGee (Philadelphia)
San Juanita Moreno (ORSU).
Elise Myer (Philadelphia)
Jossy Tseng (Stanford)
Kitt Wagner (Beantown)
Maura Weikman (New York)
Sheara Williamson (Philadelphia)
Rose Whitmore (Berkeley)
Wendy Young (Austin)

Zdanczewicz Accepts Leadership Challenge
via Goff (subscription required)

August 9, 2007 - During the Women's World Cup last year some industrious soul chose to ask the USA players a bunch of goofy questions. Among them was, who is the little sister of the team? The players chose two, Jamie Burke and Kristin Zdanczewicz.

Both players had made a huge impact on what was a veteran team, and also brought with them a fun-loving intensity to the game borne out of the fact they didn't have any leadership pressure on them.

Oh how things change. Now entering into the two-game series with a Canadian XV in two weeks, both players now are de-facto leaders. Head coach Kathy Flores didn't mention them by name, but her tone was clear:

"There is some expectation for the players involved in the last cycle to step forward," she said. "But only time will tell."

Burke, the prop from the Berkeley All Blues, and Zdanczewicz, the flanker from the Minnesota Valkyries (both USA U23 products,) and the All Blues hooker Mari Wallace should, really, take ownership of this team right now.

"I do think about the leadership aspect," Zdanczewicz told ERugbyNews. "It's not something I am worried about or anything. But I also know I am not a vocal person. When things need to be said I have said them. I like to lead by example."

Rest of the article here.

Last night was a bitter sweet night as it was the last night the Valks could attend the Touch League. We had really started to make some friendships with the men and it was a ton of fun! Not to say we will never see those guys again, but it was good rugby and a great workout. BUT, we start practice NEXT week so that is exciting as well!

Last night Bags and I played on the Hawaiian Team again and we played the a very talented team right out of the gate. They quickly scored a few tries and we were down at halftime. So we rallied with some quick teamwork doing the 3 quick pops and then trying to swing it around to get a score after they were left to scramble on defense. We came back within one but the ten minutes to a half wasn't enough time to overcome the victory.

The second game we played the mobile turbo props...or the old Huns. They are quicker than they look and pretty savvy with the ball. We had to work hard to try and draw them on defense and make the holes. I think we lost by one try as well...so not to shabby of a night. Then there was one game left so everyone that wanted another game whored on and we subbed pretty liberally. Shalay, Mark and Jen played on those two teams all night and looked to be having a great time.

After the games we were invited to the drink up so we had a beer or two and chatted with the touch players. Since the Valkyries are looking for a coach I was hitting up anyone and everyone to make sure they all know we are looking to advance our program by appointing a coach by January. I found out some good info on some possibilities, so hopefully we can get something going.

And the training continues...yesterday Traci, Jake and I headed out to the same place I went the day before. The picture to the right is a pretty accurate picture without all the people. We ran about a mile to warm up and get to Twin Falls (so named twin falls because there are falls here and just up the hill is bigger falls).

The run is good because it starts out nice and flat and about halfway through it goes from flat to almost straight up. At the rocky parts we focused on pausing just for a split second on each rock and bursting forward to create that muscle memory. Once the rocky parts round out and we start going downhill we focused on pushing off our heel so we could get the hamstrings firing as well. After the run we enter the picture above from the left and we were above the kayaker and on the other side of the falls.

There we got in the water up to our shoulders and did about a 40 minute workout. Jake made things interesting of course because he thought we were drowning, so we had to reassure him every once and awhile. He pretty much swam the whole time!! So the exercises we did were high knees, slalom, box jumps (from a lower rock to a higher rock...still under water), one-legged step ups (from a lower rock to a higher rock...still under water) and by then Jake as all worked up so we took a break and threw the stick for him. The current was pretty strong so he had to really fight it...but showed poise when actually up against the current. He realized pretty quickly that he is tall and strong and so he would just stand up. It was cute.

After that we tried a few different things actually using the current against us. I wanted to do some sort of push ups/pull ups so I was trying to think of how to do that, when Traci figured out a good solution. She realized that the falls weren't very tall, so we could actually hold onto the rocks at the falls and the water spilled over us. From there we did "pull ups" actually just pulled our bodies up the strong current and it was HARD! We did three sets of 30 and by the 25th rep you were hating yourself pretty bad!

We also figured out a way to do sit ups with the current and the falls. We switched directions from the pull ups and the current was so strong that we had to hold each others feet in a tight grasp and you were almost lifted over the falls! It was great!

So that by far is my favorite trail/river workout EVER!! I love running the trails, but this element of using the water as resistance is the best. I will be doing that more often. So then we ran the mile back in with heavy shoes and clothes (we took our shirts off, but Jake walked all over them...) and that made the mile back hard too! We made it back in the same amount of time though, so that is good.

Jake was so exhausted I actually beat him on the run...I have never beat him!!! He got in the car and immediately fell asleep. CUTE CUTE!

Greetings LAU and TU Presidents,

Please help spread the word about this upcoming event!

USA Rugby will hold its second annual Coaching Conference in conjunction with the Setanta Challenge Cup in Chicago on August 24th through the 26th, 2007. This year’s conference will be held simultaneously with a Referee/Match Officials gathering and several joint sessions are planned.

The theme of the conference is "Approaches to Coaching Decision Making" and will feature noted player centered coaching author Lynn Kidman, Lynn Evans of the RFU, an expert in Teaching Games, International Rugby Academy of New Zealand skills coach Dave Ellis, Munster coach Declan Kidney and USA national level coaches and coach development experts focusing on the use of training games to develop game sense. The conference aims to highlight the coaching style continuum ranging from player centered to coach centered methods.

A portion of the program will be held in conjunction with a gathering of territorial referee education officers to explore the use of games for understanding and athlete centered coaching for athletes engaged in match officiating. The conference will kick off with a Friday (Aug 24th) night optional gathering of College coaches led by USA Rugby’s College All American staff from 7pm-10pm.

The Coaches’ Conference will run from 9am-5pm on Saturday and 9am-12 noon Sunday. The group will transfer to Toyota Park to take in the Eagles-Munster match in the final home game for the Eagles before the World Cup. The conference will take place at the:

Holiday Inn CHICAGO-COUNTRYSIDE/LAGRANGE
6201 W. Joliet Rd, Countryside, IL 60525 Phone: 1-708-3544200
www.holiday-inn.com/countrysideil

The Holiday Inn has a complimentary shuttle from the airport, is only 15min to Toyota Park in Chicago and USA Rugby has secured a rate of only $99/night! Ask for the “USA Rugby Coach and Referee Conference” special rate before Aug 10th.

Act fast because registration is limited! Registration for the conference is $105 and includes a ticket to the Sunday match. To register go to the Coaches' Portal at http://usarugby.learn.com for more detailed information, contact either Sadie Thomas (sthomas@usarugby.org) or Jennifer Gray (jgray@usarugby.org) at USA Rugby 1-800-280-6302.

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES TO PARTICIPATE IN HISTORIC FORUM ON GAY ISSUES

Aug. 9 (this THURSDAY)

6 p.m. PT / 9 p.m. ET only on the Logo cable channel

with Co-Panelists Melissa Etheridge and Joe Solmonese

A forum on issues of importance to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community with the leading 2008 Democratic presidential candidates,

Hillary Clinton
Christopher Dodd
John Edwards
Mike Gravel
Dennis Kucinich
Barack Obama
Bill Richardson

Hopefully it will get put on youtube so we can all see it!!

To the players trying out for West Women's Sevens All-star team,

The coaching staff wants to thank all players who have participated thus far and given of their time, money and BODY to be a part of West 7s, both at the Cape Fear venue and most recently, Kansas City 7s last weekend.

Playing 7s at the territorial level is a challenge, and we hope that you all crave that competition. However, it does take a measure of sacrifice and commitment. Remember, that being part of the West 7s team is how you get viewed by the National 7s Team Coaching Staff. We urge all of you to STAY involved at the territorial level. The West Territory needs longevity and some
level of retention to experience more success and improve our national ranking as a territory! We would love to see ALL of you return next year and hope we do.

I believe Cape Fear was a wake up call for each of you. The competition made you aware of your fitness level, skill and knowledge of the game, commitment to an elite level of rugby, motivation to inspire teammates, and drive to be a better player. We walked away knowing we could compete, but clear that it would take a time, money, commitment, sweat and determination.

We entered y'all into the KC tournament with the goals to improve, connect, unite, learn, bond and determine the right energy, strength and skill to complete the West Womens 7s All Star team. This gave us the ability to make changes, additions and new combinations of players to be able to select a solid unit. We were pleased to see a natural unfolding of talent, skill, support and
determination. It was just what the West needed before the 7s NASC at end of August. As stated previously, we used KC 7s as a second selection vehicle, giving certain players a second look and some a first look.

The two venues were successful opportunities to watch you ladies perform. We are very grateful for each player who tried out for the West Womens Sevens team. We appreciate your hard work, time, and effort. We look forward to working with you all again next year.

After careful consideration, the following players have been selected to represent the West at the 7s NASC in Park City UT last weekend in August

1. Meredith Bagley
2. Chrissy Carpenter
3. Emily Bock Carlson
4. Rosalind Chou
5. Claire Gregorich
6. Angi Hurt
7. Janay Lake
8. Jenny Kuchar
9. Melissa McKibben
10. Katie Thoreson
11. Breean Walas
12. Heidi Whitman

I know that you will continue to train hard in order to be fitter in Utah than you were at Cape Fear and Kansas City. You must not rest on your laurels! The fitter we are, the better we will do in Utah.

With respect and admiration for all of you, the West coaching staff.

VIA Ros Chou:

It was a Satiated Beaver reunion of sorts in Massachusetts as six Texas Beavers joined four Florida first-time Beavs. Burnsy Burns Chamberlain, Meredith Baggity Bags, T- hole, Kitty, Krafty, and Rosalind gathered together in Boston last Thursday and Friday to see some sights and soak in the New England air before heading out to Eastham, MA for Cape Cods 7s.

Florida players Sarah G., Belkin, Sally, and Fish were introduced to the world of Beaverdom early Saturday morning as all players were asked to "Walk It Out" to determine the starting line-up.

After showing off their individual moves, the team swapped Superhero/Villain accessories in a white elephant fashion. The youngest players chose first and the older players were allowed to steal their accessories.

The team warmed up together for the first time and got off to a slow start. In their first match, they faced Union Alumni who ran from their first match right to the kick off for the match against the Beavs. The Union team was aggressive and ball hungry and the Beavers were still rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. The match ended with a Union victory and we prepared for our next match. Belkin scored the one try for the Beavers to Union's four tries.

Providence B-side was the next opponent and we Beavers were now wide awake and ready to play. There was good communication and the Beaver forwards took advantage of Providence's lineouts as Fish stole several of their throws. Belkin scored two breakaway tries and Bags put in another try.

During the long break, Beaver trivia that began in June on the Beaver tour was completed. And the winner is...Rachel Kraft who just narrowly beat out Kitty for the top scorer in trivia.

Play resumed and we were scheduled to play Beantown B, a VERY strong team for the social bracket. They put up a great fight against us and at the end of the second half the score was tied 7 to 7. Bags was responsible for the score on a breakaway run and kicked her own conversion. The game went in to sudden death. The Beavers kicked off to Beantown B, attacking aggressively bearing down on the receiver where the ball was stopped in a tackle, going to a quick ruck. Beavers recovered the ball and began their offensive attack. Every Beaver touched the ball and was finally put in by Rosalind, diving in for the try.

A 2-1 record is a very respectable showing at such a largely competitive tournament. There was still a victory to come that would surpass what happened on the pitch. In the competitive bracket, NOVA beat select side teams and all the other competitive teams to take home the first place trophy.

The Beavers have been practicing the original Beaver song for over a year and were going to perform it for the skit competition at the social after the tournament. A re-mix had been added and the new Beavers were forced to practice over and over to tighten up the performance. NOVA was the reigning skit champ three years running and were not going to give up their title easily. I am not going to go in to too much detail because this write-up will be too long. The brief story is, NOVA had a very nice musical medley with fit and scantily clad players. Yet, they were no match for the performance titled, "We're Bringing Beavers Back."

The Beavers waited patiently on stage with bowed heads for the crowd to quiet. Once silence fell over the audience we instantly went in to "Beaver One, Beaver All..." The crowd was completely enraptured by the performance and they remained hushed to hear the lyrics. The re-mix followed the freestyle dancing after "Beaver Nine" and we offered up their re-make of "Sexy Back." Unfortunately, there is no Youtube video to share, but it was amazing and yes, the crowd went wild with the T-hole knee slide, and synchronized group ending. The referees acted as the judges and quickly had their decision ready. Turboprops took third place and NOVA started to chant their name, but quickly drowned out. Somewhere in the front near the stage ruggers started chanting "Beavers, Beavers, Beavers, Beavers!" The tournament director announced the second place finishers in the skit contest, NOVA. BEAVERS WIN! BEAVERS WIN!

We were surrounded for the rest of the night by admirers and fans. We were offered women, money, and clothing for any piece of Beaver gear with which we would be willing to part. It was quite amusing at first, but as the night wore on we began to tire and wanted to just be alone with our Beaver clan. How does Paris Hilton deal with the stardom?

The next day we headed to the Provincetown to officially complete the Beaver tour 2007 that stretched from Coast-to-Coast. There were cool shops and a wild wolf ate T-hole. May she rest in peace.

So if you read my post a few days ago I was saying that I have been having a hard time training this time around. I am training, but have not been training as hard as I could. After a few well chosen words from a few email supporters & friends I realized that I need to get my butt in gear.

I play Canada in a matter of weeks, am representing the USA and therefore need to get my butt in gear. So I stepped up the training yesterday and today and feel better about things already. Yesterday I did some sprint work and a long jog to warm up. Still doing the daily push ups, pull ups and planks...added wall sits and more abdominal work. Today I did one of the harder trail runs I have found...360 and mopac down at the Green Belt. (side note: I didn't know Jake could climb sheer rock, he scared his mother climbing them without hesitation or fear!)

I tend to keep most of my personal life out of my blog...but I think this merits an explanation. I am a chronic over trainer, I love to trail run and love training with my dog Jake. However, two weeks ago I quit my job at the gym. I won't be going into details about the gym, but those that know the behind the scenes know it was getting to be too stressful and forced me to choose ethics over a job.

So basically I have been pretty stressed over making finances meet and finding a new job. To put it bluntly I have been pretty depressed. I loved the gym job, but it just got to be too much. I have had several promising interviews this week, some in the first phase and some in the second phase, so hopefully something will have worked out by the end of the week.

Regardless, I need to keep training and need to train hard. I have vowed to work out everyday until I fly to Minnesota on Aug 24. Of course I will not wear myself out, but at least twice a week will be a lighter/pool workout so I can recover. But I have got to get back into top rugby form.

Thanks for all the support and kind words over the weekend. Life is tough, but I've been down enough and I need to get back out there.

Thank you to everyone who responded regarding your availability. We wanted to inform you of the final squad selections for the August event. The players listed below will be assembling in MN at the National Sports Center as the United States prepares to face Canada in two matches (the first on August 27 and the second on August 29) .

Congratulations again on your selection to the tournament or reserve squad. It is a reflection of your hard work to date. We look forward to seeing everyone as the season progresses and we wish you luck in the selection process of future events.

Best Regards,
WNT Managers

TOURNAMENT SQUAD

BAKER, STACY
BENNETT, STACY
BURKE, JAMIE
BUTTS, LISA
CRAPSTER-PREGONT, MEG
DENHAM, MEL
DILLEY, LIZ
DOUGLAS, FARRAH
DUBRAY, CARRIE
HEMSTREET, ALLYSON
HERTEL, KATY
JENNINGS, HEATHER
KANUK, MEL
KMIECEK, ASHLEY
KUGLER, LYNELLE
LANGE, JAMIE
LEARY, SARA
MARCHINO, NATHALIE
MCGEE, VANESHA
MENKE, JENNY
MORENO, SAN JUANITA
MYER, ELISE
TRUCANO, CHRIS
TSENG, JOSSY
WAGNER, KITT
WALLACE, MARI
WEIKMAN, MAURA
WILLIAMSON, SHEARA
WHITMORE, ROSE
YOUNG, WENDY
ZDANCEWICZ, KRISTEN

Thanks to A Ride on the K Train, we have this tidbit of information. When the original NA4 was created it was determined that USA would play Canada twice and these would be warm up matches. Then Canada came back and said that they were not able to field two teams and that we would just play one match.

But here comes some new news straight from Canada...

Excerpt here:
Two Canadian teams will compete with two American teams in tests on August 27th and August 29th. “At this stage they are all new athletes to me,” says Fyffe. “I look forward to seeing everyone perform in camps and at the CanAm games.”

I am excited because I bought my ticket and it really is settling in that I will be playing with the USA. I need to get my butt in gear and start training harder. I have been training, but not nearly hard enough.

Anyone want to help? I seriously need a training buddy right now...

Auckland, NZ, August 5, 2007 - In a very competitive and physical match, the USA U23 women were defeated by the Manuwera women's senior club side on the final game of their New Zealand tour Saturday morning local time in the New Zealand capital.

The U23s scored two tries on the day, with star center Kelly Griffin touching down 15 minutes in, and Kirsten Ahrendt kicking the extras.

Just before halftime the Americans scored again, with flanker Shaina Turley finishing off the movement. But 12 points would be all they could muster as the U23 Eagles were beaten 22-12.

Final Roster:

1 Naima Reddick
2 Sheri Villa
3 Krissy Vargas
4 Kati McCormick
5 Jessica Travers
6 Shaina Turley
7 Tara McBride
8 Jillion Potter
9 Sydney Forestal
10 Sylvia Braaten
11 Schmarrah McCarthy
12 Kelly Griffin
13 Kristy Lear
14 Elaine Schlarb
15 Kirsten Ahrendt
16 Tess Kohanski
17 Libby Berg
18 Brea Hughes
19 Kate Daley
20 Phoebe Boone
21 Amber Benlian
22 Tonya Ansel

Via Goff (subscription required) U23's Update:

Auckland, NZ, August 2, 2007 - The USA U23 team finished up their New Zealand tour against Manuwera at Cox's Bay in Auckland Saturday and the players are eager to show improvement from their game against the Manawatu provincial side.

Captain Jillion Potter and vice captain Kelly Griffin acknowledge that a greater dedication to the physical side of the game is part of that improvement as they rebound from their 34-2 loss.

"One of our challenges was retaining possession," said Potter. "We've been working very hard on counter-rucking this past week and are excited to see our progression in our final match."

"Manawatu's overall physical intensity and ball handling skills were higher than Burnside's," said Griffin, referring to the U23s' 27-10 victory over the women's club team in their opening tour match.


And while a strong forward platform certainly helps, Manawatu also showcased skills that the U23s aspire to have.

"We've been really focusing on hard, sharp running lines, depth and effective communication," said Griffin. "We want to play as a team and execute everything we've been working on the past two weeks including counter-rucking, attacking space and being dangerous."

More of the article here.

Adventures in Rugby has updated her blog, check it out here.

Interesting article via Goff (subscription required) about the USA Men's Olypmpic Eagle Team bonding.

Boulder, Colo. August 2, 2007 - After the NA4 in Vancouver and the USA squad was pared down to its current list, Mike Hercus brought the players together and suggested that perhaps the time they had together might not be enough.

"We haven't had a lot of time together," said Hercus. "It's tough to replace game time, but even with game time it's got to be productive, it's got to be beneficial," Hercus said. "Personally I'm a big believer in team culture and team dynamics. After selections I merely made a suggestion - I encouraged them to do whatever they can to be the best prepared they can be for the World Cup. I said to them that afterwards for the rest of their lives they would think, 'what could I have done better?"

The result was that more than half the pre-World Cup squad have remained in Boulder, Colo. to train on their own. They are actually living in dorms together and under the supervision of USA coaches, but it's a completely voluntary act.

The rest of the article can be read here.

What a great opportunity, but the sacrifices these players are making cannot be ignored. Jobs, lives, lovers and old clubs are suffering because of their decision. Perhaps they will be able to come together and be a team like the USA has been hoping for all these years. We are a country that is living and growing rugby everyday, but we struggle to play well internationally. Our Women's team has had great successes, but our Men's team has not. Perhaps this will be the change?

I think it is a great idea I am sure their sacrifices will be worth it! Good luck TEAM!

Check out the Team's Daily Log from the Aspen Training Camp here.
Also photos from the camp are here.

Just came in my inbox:

Hello Everyone,

My name is Simone Bontly. Myself and Mandy Hancock have begun a new team here in Columbia, SC. We are the Columbia Bombshell Women's Rugby Club. We have a great mix of young and younger women with all types of experience. If you know anyone in the midland South Carolina region that would like to play please point them in our direction. Our
contact information is as follows:

Simone Bontly or Mandy Hancock
803-361-0706 803-760-3963
bombshellsrugby@yahoo.com
myspace.com/columbiawomensrugby

Thank you.