Your Scrumhalf Connection - Women's Rugby Blog

I just purchased a copy of the USA Rugby 7's Women's National Rugby Team Calendar and I can't wait for it to arrive!

Support the team and buy yours today!

Check out this new widget I made with Google Docs that will show rugby in the 512 area!

It can be viewed live at the Austin Valkyries website, it will be updated each week!

from my inbox:

Philadelphia Women's Rugby is now selling its 2009 Women's Rugby Calendar online at www.pwrfc.org for only $15 each! This high quality calendar is filled with action shots of 17 of the top teams in the country. Please see the attached copies of the PWRFC and Back in Black spreads, or visit www.pwrfc.org for more previews.

Calendars make great holiday presents for rugby-loving friends and family members. Also, a rugby calendar in the office can be a great talking piece! If you can't afford one for yourself, send this email to a family member and ask for a calendar as a present!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at fundraising@pwrfc.org.

Thanks for your support!

Meredith Hegg
Philadelphia WRFC

This video is amazing, something like 27 phases in a row...do they finally get it across the line?

So it seems like this video was really enjoyed, so I am leaving it up as Monday's video!

View the video here if you are using a RSS reader...

Other Rugby Video Mondays:
12/15/2008: Rugby Video by Austin Blanton
12/8/2008: Rugby in the Mud!
12/1/2008: Various Drills and Workouts
11/24/2008: Rugby on the Mind
11/17/2008: I am Colorado's Female Rugby Player
11/10/2008: Oklahoma Roses Rugby
11/3/2008: Football's for Girls

Please keep sending me your favorite videos: yourscrumhalfconnection@gmail.com! Want even more videos? Make sure to check out my Vimeo profile or my Youtube channel...

NOTE: all new videos will be on Vimeo only as they are recorded in High Definition.

January 16-18: World Cup Practice Camp III, Little Rock, Arkansas
January 30 – February 23: World Cup Residence Camp, Little Rock, Arkansas
February 13-14: USA 7s Women's International Invitational, San Diego, Florida

* USA competes against England, Canada, China and Japan

March 1-9: Rugby World Cup 7s, Dubai

WNT 15's

February 26 – March 1: WNT Combined Camp, Clermont, Florida

* All three programs, WNT, USA-A and U20, will hold concurrent camps at the same location

June 20 – 28: CANAM, Glendale, Colorado

* Two matches vs Canada, one USA-A match and one Test match
* All former Eagles to be invited to attend and be honored at half-time ceremony

August 15 – 30: Nations Cup, Toronto, Canada (exact dates TBD)

* Multiple Test matches; opponents include Canada, England, France, Wales

December: Possible Test matches in Florida (confirmation TBD)

and the winner is...

Please send your postal address to my email at yourscrumhalfconnection@gmail.com and it will get shipped right out to you!

Thanks to everyone who submitted their name in the raffle, this was our best raffle yet with over 50 entries! This free raffle is courtesy of Xtreme Rugby.

Look for another FREE raffle again next month! Can't wait to see if you win the raffle? Purchase your own Your Scrumhalf Connection tshirt ($15.95) or any of my other rugby shirts by visiting my Zazzle Tshirt Shop.

I find humor in the search terms via Google and Yahoo (and those few users that use Ask Jeeves) that direct readers to my rugby blog. Here are my top 5 not so related to rugby favorites (not in any order) that have led people to my site:

5. Collegiate Quidditch Tshirts
4. Free the Grapes
3. Girls Muddy Rugby Action (please tell me this is for wholesome good video watching right?)
2. Is Matt Fry of the BBC Gay?
1. Rugby Messups (Ok, this is related to rugby, but this is one of the most popular terms that leads to my site)

Anyways, just thought that was interesting, plenty of people find my blog normally...and I have nothing compared to some of the search terms Against the Head experiences, but they are some weird search entries that direct people to my site. But whatever mighty search engines, I will take what I can get! Note: We broke 150,000 last week too! Thanks for reading!

The last month has been a flurry of activity and I apologize that I have not updated personally on the blog. Winding down rugby usually means that my schedule has more time and is not as stressful, but this does not seem to be the case lately. Early in November, The Girl and I decided that we were going to move in (yea!) together and take that next big step.

In preparation we began re-modeling my room (which will be the guest room) and our new room that we will co-habitat in. We ripped out the flooring, baseboards etc and put in beautiful hardwood floors (thanks to The Girl's Dad and my bro for the extra help!). We painted each of the rooms and just this weekend we put together our new Ikea dresser and bed...and that only took us four hours I might add. Sure, you can hire us out to put your non-assembled items together too!

While we still have a bit more to do, well not really me...The Girl wants to put up curtains and pictures, the project is almost complete!

I really enjoyed the painting and as a result of deciding to do stripes and not just slap paint on the walls, I had a lot of time to think. I made sure to bring a pad of paper into the room so I could make sure to record any brilliant thoughts I had. During that time I thought up the Submit Your Scores and Submit Your Tournament tools using Google Docs. While I love the functionality and ease of Submit Your Scores and Submit Your Tournament, I am still working on the format etc.

While the Submit Your Scores has remained mostly unused, the Submit Your Tournament has really taken off. Make sure to check it out, last time I counted we had over 15 Tournaments listed for Spring 2009! I think the Submit Your Scores is a bit time-consuming and isn't very easy to fill out, so I will be working on making that easier and faster before rugby kicks back in for everyone.

Also in November we raffled off a pair of CSS Rugby Shoulder Pads and this was our biggest raffle yet! Over 45 people entered and I wish I had more than one pair to give away. This was a 150% increase over the first few raffles and I hope they get bigger and better each time! I am working with quite a few exciting vendors and will continue to have a raffle once a month beginning on the 1st of the month. This month the raffle is a Xtreme Rugby Jersey (size L and #13 on the back). Bidding has closed, and the winner should be announced tomorrow or the next day.

On the 22nd of November I was honored to be chosen for a Women's National Team event in Ft. Lauderdale, FL (teams announced here and results are here). The event was short and sweet and was amazing as always.

We arrived Friday night and had training early Saturday morning. We ran the dreaded 300m and 40yard dash. I was pleased with my numbers as I was right with the other scrumhalves and close to the majority in both drills. I had never ran this version of the 300m and understand now why it is so dreaded!

After that we had a long leisurely lunch where Team White strategized and cultivated our game plan. After that we were set to play at 4pm, but since the U19 National All-Star Championships were running a bit behind, we got to watch a few more games than we expected. Finally we kicked off around 5:30pm and the game was highly contested. I don't feel that I played my best and fear that nerves played a bigger role than they normally do. However, I got some great feedback from the coaches and am looking forward to training and getting back to where I was before I had knee surgery. Yes, surgery was almost a year ago and I was released in June but anyone that has had major ACL or any other major surgery knows that real recovery time is almost a year (January 6th will be a year). Overall the experience was great and I hope to be invited to more and more venues.

For more photos of the Red vs. White game, make sure to check out Ramey M.'s photos on Picasa here.

For Thanksgiving, The Girl and I headed to North Carolina to visit my family. The 2nd Grandchild was recently born and so we were all dying to meet her! We spent 5 lovely days with the family and of course Turkey day was wonderful as well. We had all of our favorite foods and were surrounded by good energy and love...good times!

This picture is my four brothers and I (from left and oldest to youngest): Mike, Jeff, Me, Doug & Greg!

All in all November has been quite busy, but quite kind to me. Everyone in Austin has been sick with the flu and random colds and I have managed to avoid all the sickness! Since the Red vs White game I have taken a break from the gym so that my Plantar Fasciitis (horribly, horribly painful foot problem) can possibly heal before the Spring season begins. Fat chance of that actually happening since overuse is the most common reason this happens, but I will keep stretching and possibly look into some physical therapy. If anyone has any hints there, send them my way, it is one of the most persistent and painful things I have had to endure!

This week I plan to get back in the gym (slowly...) and begin preparing for the Spring season. I was voted into Match Secretary again for the Austin Valkyries so if you want to visit Austin or want to host us, shoot me an email!

Looks like MediaZone, which will soon be RugbyZone is upgrading their site. While they are making the changes to their website they are offering free High Definition rugby videos for viewing! Last night I watched Wales vs Australia, and it was awesome!

The quality was great, shiny and lovely! Not sure how long it will last, but make sure to check it out.

Since RugbyZone is being so generous this Holiday Season, maybe you can take a few minutes to be genrous as well? Xerox is hosting a free campaign called Let's Say Thanks where you choose a postcard, write a quick message and Xerox will print and send it to an anonymous soldier serving overseas.

Thanks for the support and enjoy the free rugby videos!

Thanks to Sally for sending this video in. It is great short film that is very creative, shot well and cute to watch! It was direct by Austin Blanton, and submitted to Youtube by ImAus10.

View the video here if you are using a RSS reader...

Other Rugby Video Mondays:
12/8/2008: Rugby in the Mud!
12/1/2008: Various Drills and Workouts
11/24/2008: Rugby on the Mind
11/17/2008: I am Colorado's Female Rugby Player
11/10/2008: Oklahoma Roses Rugby
11/3/2008: Football's for Girls

Please keep sending me your favorite videos: yourscrumhalfconnection@gmail.com! Want even more videos? Make sure to check out my Vimeo profile or my Youtube channel...

NOTE: all new videos will be on Vimeo only as they are recorded in High Definition.

Hot off the Google Alert presses and into my inbox:
Credit: PRNewswire via COMTEX

Glendale, Colorado's Infinity Park will play host to rugby matches between the United States and the Canadian Women's National Rugby Teams in June 2009.

The Women's Development Squad will compete on June 23, 2009 and the National Teams will go head to head on June 27, 2009.

WHO: USA vs. Canada - Women's National Rugby Tournament
WHAT: International Competition
WHERE: Infinity Park
4599 Tennessee Avenue
Glendale, Colorado 80246
WHEN: June 23 and 27, 2009 @ 6 pm (MDT)

Coming Soon -- Ticket, hotel and event information will be posted on http://www.glendalerugby.com.

from my inbox:

There are two Texas Rugby Youth Camps this weekend (Dec 13, 2008) in Keller, TX and Houston, TX:

Saturday December 13, 2008 Jesuit College Prep along with Alliance RFC will be hosting a Youth Rugby Clinic. This will be a camp for full Varsity, JV, Freshman, U14, U12, U10 or non-contact team or players. They have a spot for everyone. This camp will be for both MEN and WOMEN. So, if you open on Saturday. Then please bring out your youth for a solid, controlled day of rugby.

Date: Saturday Dec. 13th, 2008
Schedule: Academy skills session 12:00 – 3:00 PM
Team based scrimmages 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Camp will end at 5:00 PM

Location: Keller Sports Park - 265 Golden Triangle Boulevard, Keller, TX 76248

For more information contact:

Doug "Neuby" Neubauer
Alliance Rugby Club (ARC) - Head Coach
(c) 817-360-5368

OR

Anthony “Matta” Mattacchione
Jesuit College Prep RFC – Head Coach
(c) 214-725-6108

Gays, lesbians, and straight allies plan to call in “gay” to volunteer within their local LGBT communities on December 10, 2008 to protest passage of anti-gay constitutional amendments in Arizona, Florida, and California. Wherever possible, gay Americans and allies plan to volunteer for local gay and civil rights organizations across the country through a brand new national database at www.daywithoutagay.wetpaint.org.

Every day since Election Day, thousands have protested up and down streets in cities across California, including in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Sacramento. A national, grassroots coalition of LGBT activists have followed in their footsteps. Now gay citizens and their allies are teaming up to show America and the world the compassion, the love, and the posititve spirit of the gay community through service.

On December 10, 2008 the gay community will take a historic stance against hatred by donating their time to a variety of different causes in order to raise public awareness of the need for LGBT equality in marriage and in other civil rights.

December 10, 2008 is International Human Rights Day. CLICK HERE to join us, and search or add to the list of human rights organizations that need our help RIGHT NOW.

If you are a non-profit in search of volunteers on December 10, 2008, post your info here, or email us at info@daywithoutagay.org, and we'll add information about your group.

QUESTIONS?
Email Sean Hetherington: info@daywithoutagay.org

WHAT SHOULD WE DO?

STRIKE: call in gay, shut down your business, or just take the day off.

BOYCOTT: don't buy anything, spend money or support the economy.

PARTICIPATE: Volunteer and/or organize a protest in your area.

Sadly, I am at work today, but will be at City Hall in Austin tonight for the Rally in support of Day Without a Gay. I struggled with the decision to call in Gay and finally decided that I while I want so badly to support Day Without a Gay, I have to work as well. I commend all of you that did call in Gay...

from my inbox and it was added to the YSC Tournament Listing:

Season Greetings to all rugby players and supporters,

You are invited to the 2009 BUDWEISER 10's & womens 7s Rugby International Tournament. (True GRIT)

We are now firming up teams for this island social tournament and all levels are welcome.

This year the tournament will include men's 10s, womens 7s, “Classic” OVER 35 and club U14 division.

Join us for a weekend of tropical rugby in the pacific, February 29th and March 1st 2009.

Can't get a club together?…we welcome all homeless wanderers, vagabonds, ninjas and Xian warriors…just bring your boots.

For further information please go to www.guamrugby.com or email the Tournament Director for more details.

On behalf of all players, sponsors and supporters we would like to thank you for your involvement in supporting Guam development rugby program and look forward to your true GRIT support in 2009.

Wish you all Merry Xmas, Happy New Year and safe holidays!!!

Santa “Wallsy” Claus
Guam 10’s committee

from IRB.com:

The International Rugby Board has announced the appointment of its first ever Women’s Development Manager. The appointment of Susan Carty, the former President of the IRFU Women’s Rugby Committee, is another significant boost for the growth of the Women’s Game.

“One of the key recommendations from the historic 2007 Conference on the Women’s Game was the appointment of a dedicated Development Manager for Women’s Rugby to provide the impetus for the continued growth of the Women’s Game at all levels,” said IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset.

“Susan will be working closely with our 116 Member Unions and six Regional Associations to ensure that the key goals of the IRB Women’s Strategic Plan are implemented and in particular to provide assistance to developing Unions in enabling them to grow the Women’s Game in their country.”

Women’s Rugby is a major growth sport. Played by over 200,000 registered players worldwide across six global regions, the Women’s Game has taken a significant step forward in the past five years. Tournaments such as Women’s Rugby World Cup, which in Canada in 2006 smashed all previous broadcast and attendance records, and the inaugural Women’s Rugby World Cup Sevens, which will be hosted by Dubai next year, have highlighted the competitiveness of Women’s Rugby at International level.

“The appointment comes at a time when the Women’s Game is experiencing phenomenal global growth and interest, growth that is clearly highlighted by the 83 Unions who participated in the qualifying process for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 in Dubai,” added Lapasset.

“Competitiveness in the Women’s Game at international level is a strong feature in both fifteens and Sevens. Women’s Rugby World Cup 2010 in London promises to be the most competitive yet and is eagerly awaited within the Rugby community.

“The qualifying process for Women’s Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 in Dubai was closely fought and illustrated how widespread the Women's Game is today with Brazil qualifying at the expense of Argentina, Thailand defeated hot favourites Kazakhstan in the Asia qualifiers.”

Thirty-one year old Carty is well qualified for the requirements of this dynamic job in one of the fastest growing sports in the world, having previously been responsible for development with particular emphasis on integration of the Women’s Game within the structures of the Irish Rugby Football Union.

“I started about six years ago, and my main interest has been development and the governance of the game,” explained Carty.

“Once we achieved integration at provincial level, then we moved to national level and with the national team being taken over by the IRFU our resources grew exponentially. If before, our numbers in the provinces at Under 13 and Under 18 levels were stagnant, after the integration, the numbers skyrocketed and the youth structures went from strength to strength.”

During the past five years the Women’s Game has taken a significant step forward, growth highlighted by the 83 Unions who participated in the qualifying process this year for the first ever Women’s Rugby World Cup Sevens competition in Dubai next March.

Conference on Participation Rugby

One of the early assignments for Carty in her new role was to attend the IRB Conference on Participation Rugby held recently in Lensbury, with “the opportunity to meet and network with the main players in development from 35 Member Unions was too good to miss.”

“It was great to take part in these exchange of views and ideas with the leading development practitioners in the world. The debate was of the highest calibre and most issues identified are valid to a large extent for the Women’s Game as well.

“Mind you, the Women’s Game is virtually in its entirety an amateur game, so it is not confronted with some of the issues the between professional and amateur that beset the men’s Game.

“It is clear, however, that many issues we have debated, like the need for the Unions to develop strategies for the participation level in the Game, the health and safety, the facilities, teaching and coaching, the recruitment of volunteers are all the same in the global game, regardless of region, country, language or sex.”

Thanks to John Birch of Letchworth Girls Rugby for this weeks video. Rugby in the mud is usually a blast, but I am not sure about doing it in freezing weather! I have played rugby in the snow once and it was fun but frightening at the same time. When your face is pressed into the snow or standing water and you can't breathe...thats a little scary!

The video is not embeddable this week, to view it go here.

However, here is a short video of a team sliding in a HUGE mud puddle after their game. When I played at the University of Oklahoma the fields drained into the side ditches and we used to always slide in the puddles as well. Or if you were walking up to the field and happened to be wearing flip flops, you may have ended up on your back because it was so slippery!

Other Rugby Video Mondays:
12/1/2008: Various Drills and Workouts
11/24/2008: Rugby on the Mind
11/17/2008: I am Colorado's Female Rugby Player
11/10/2008: Oklahoma Roses Rugby
11/3/2008: Football's for Girls

Please keep sending me your favorite videos: yourscrumhalfconnection@gmail.com! Want even more videos? Make sure to check out my Vimeo profile or my Youtube channel...

NOTE: all new videos will be on Vimeo only as they are recorded in High Definition.

Just got a note that you can watch the South Africa 7s Tournament LIVE happening right now at:

http://www.justin.tv/mordane2

Watch live video from mordane on Justin.tv

Check it out! The USA men just defeated Australia 28-26.

I am changing who hosts my tshirt shop, so I am having a one-day sale of all the tshirts at my Zazzle shop! Here are my favorite designs and the promo codes/discounts:

Promo Codes

2DAYZAZZLE53 - $5 OFF on orders of $30 or more
2DAYZAZZLE10 - $10 OFF on orders of $50 or more
2DAYZAZZLE30 - $30 OFF on orders of $100 or more
HOLIDAYSHIPS - Free Shipping on Order of $45+

Use one of the codes above once you select your item and are at the checkout screen.

Go here to visit the shop...and don't forget you can customize size/style of the shirt etc.



Promo Codes

2DAYZAZZLE53 - $5 OFF on orders of $30 or more
2DAYZAZZLE10 - $10 OFF on orders of $50 or more
2DAYZAZZLE30 - $30 OFF on orders of $100 or more
HOLIDAYSHIPS - Free Shipping on Order of $45+

Use one of the codes above once you select your item and are at the checkout screen.

Go here to visit the shop...and don't forget you can customize size/style of the shirt etc.

Make sure to check out these three Rugby Calendars when making your Christmas lists this year!

Village Lions RFC Calendar
Known for their racy but tasteful pictures, these calendars are sure to be a success again this year!

Rugby-Calendar.com
New to the Ruckosphere this year, David has been working hard to promote his new endeavor.


USA Women's National Team 7's Calendar
Just noticed the image on the blog yesterday, this calendar is not available yet, but we are highly anticipating its arrival!


Thanks to Taylor for submitting the Village Lions Calendar, David for rugby-calendar.com and the US 7's Womens Blog for the last calendar.

This months free raffle will again not be a Your Scrumhalf Connection tshirt, but will be a new product! If you are bummed that I am not raffling off my tshirts, don't worry they are for sale here.

Producers of custom made rugby gear for club teams, schools and universities around the globe, X-treme Rugbywear is designed by rugby players, for rugby players. Our products are built tough yet our designs can be worn with pride both and on off the field.

All our jerseys and shorts are built tough with taped seams and double stitching to ensure long playing seasons. Jerseys and shorts can be embroidered or printed with your club logos and sponsor artwork. Contact us about making a new design for your club or send us your own ideas and we’ll work with you to perfect them.

This free raffle is courtesy of X-treme Rugby Wear, a rugby merchandise shop with amazing and unique rugby items for sale. To see more of their products, please be sure to visit their website.

To enter the raffle, please either email me, facebook me or leave your entry in the comments. The last date to enter the raffle is Dec 14, 2008. A winner will be picked around Dec 15, 2008 and will be notified via email.

This NY Times article has been circulating all over the Internets for the last few weeks. I love the article and love the publicity it has been getting. Check out a few paragraphs below or here and view the whole article.

WASHINGTON — The rugby practice field at Hyde Leadership Public Charter School bears little resemblance to the manicured lawns of the English boarding school where the sport was born. It is more brown than green, and sirens sometimes drown out the shouts of players. Then there are the occasional interruptions, like when play was briefly halted during a recent practice as a man darted about wildly on a nearby street, calling football plays and evading imaginary tacklers.

But this patch of mud and grass is more than the home of what is believed to be the nation’s first all-African-American high school rugby team. It is also where a growing number of students have been exposed to a sport they once knew nothing about and to parts of society that once seemed closed to them.

Once again, view the complete article here and thanks to Katie P., view the video here.

Since the rugby season is over for the year, I have been researching new and fun ways to continue changing any workouts that I do. I get bored quickly in the gym, so I like to incorporate fun activities and drills to keep the pace up and the boredom out. Here a few I found this morning as I sit in the Charlotte Airport:

Medicine Ball Workout:

Rugby Kicking:


Scrumhalf Races:


Other Rugby Video Mondays:
11/24/2008: Rugby on the Mind
11/17/2008: I am Colorado's Female Rugby Player
11/10/2008: Oklahoma Roses Rugby
11/3/2008: Football's for Girls
10/28/2008: Dallas Rugby Returns
10/20/2008: Flag Rugby
10/13/2008: Rugby Video Monday: What it means to be an Eagle
10/6/2008: Touch Rugby European Championship Semi-Final 2008

Please keep sending me your favorite videos: yourscrumhalfconnection@gmail.com! Want even more videos? Make sure to check out my Vimeo profile or my Youtube channel...

NOTE: all new videos will be on Vimeo only as they are recorded in High Definition.

The Women’s U.S. Sevens Team lost their only match on Saturday, falling to Saudex Wooden Spoon 17-7 in the International Women’s tournament in Dubai. The Wooden Spoon Team would fall to England’s Sporting Chance Foundation in the final, 12-10.

Full Results

Day 1 Thursday
Match No	Fixture	Time	Pitch
Match 1	Saudex Wooden Spoon 12 - 0 USA Women	8:10 a.m.	5
Match 2	Sporting Chance Foundation 39 - 0 Aylesford Bulls I	8:30 a.m.	5
Match 3	Kenya Lionesses v RGUTIS - Podmoskovie	8:50 a.m.	5
Match 4	Slavyanka 28 - 0 Pink Ba-bas	9:10 a.m.	5
Match 6	Saudex Wooden Spoon 50 - 0 Aylesford Bulls I	12:10 p.m.	3
Match 5	WOP Netherlands 0 - 19 Irish Vixens	12:10 p.m.	5
Match 7	Sporting Chance Foundation 34 - 7 USA Women	12:30 p.m.	5
Match 8	Kenya Lionesses (N) - (Win) Pink Ba-bas	12:50 p.m.	5
Match 9	Slavyanka 5 - 24 RGUTIS - Podmoskovie	1:10 p.m.	5
Match 10	Rugby Canada 24 - 0 Irish Vixens	3:50 p.m.	2
Match 15	WOP Netherlands 5 - 33 Rugby Canada	7:30 p.m.	3

Day 2 Friday
Match No	Fixture	Time	Pitch
Match 13	RGUTIS - Podmoskovie 40 - 7 Pink Ba-bas	10:10 a.m.	2
Match 14	Kenya Lionesses (N) - (Win) Slavyanka	10:30 a.m.	2
Match 11	Saudex Wooden Spoon 0 - 19 Sporting Chance Foundation	12:50 p.m.	1
Match 12	USA Women 36 - 0 Aylesford Bulls I	1:10 p.m.	1
Match TQF1	Sporting Chance Foundation 38 - 0 Pink Ba-bas	3:10 p.m.	5
Match TQF2	Slavyanka 5 - 38 Rugby Canada	3:30 p.m.	5
Match TQF3	Saudex Wooden Spoon 19 - 7 Irish Vixens	3:50 p.m.	5
Match TQF4	RGUTIS - Podmoskovie 0 - 35 USA Women	4:10 p.m.	5
Match PSF1	Aylesford Bulls I 7 - 25 WOP Netherlands	8:50 p.m.	2
Match PSF2	Kenya Lionesses - BYE v BYE	9:10 p.m.	2

Day 3 Saturday
Match No	Fixture	Time	Pitch
Match TSF1	Sporting Chance Foundation 12 - 5 Rugby Canada	11:40 a.m.	5
Match TSF2	Saudex Wooden Spoon 17 - 7 USA Women	12:00 p.m.	5
Match TF	Sporting Chance Foundation 12 - 10 Saudex Wooden Spoon	3:50 p.m.	1

Check out the U.S. Womens Rugby 7's blog for more details.

Traveling Squad:
Lindsey Stephenson, At Large
Amy Daniels, Beantown RFC
Tyshawn Henry, NY RFC (Injured - replaced by Kelly White (thanks commentor!))
Alison Price, NY RFC
Melissa McKibben, Kansas City RFC
Kirsten Ahrendt, Keystone RFC
Teena Mastrangelo, Chicago Northshore RFC
Pam Kosanke, Chicago Northshore RFC
Christy Ringgenberg, Minnesota Valkyries RFC
Jen Starkey, NOVA RFC
Jen Sinkler, Keystone RFC
Jess Watkins, Stanford University

Coaching Staff
Julie McCoy
Chris Ryan
Sadeana Green
Lisa Bartoli
Tristan Lewis

...and a late Happy Thanksgiving to all...The Girl and I are in North Carolina visiting family, hope you are safe and surrounded by your loved ones this Holiday.

from USA Rugby:

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The West Under-19 team captured a narrow 10-8 victory over its Northeast counterparts to take home the 2008 title as the Women’s Under-19 Invitational National All-Star Championships wrapped up at Mills Pond Park today.

This was the third annual U-19 INASC tournament, with the previous two events being held in Nashville, Tenn. The 2008 competition featured teams representing all seven USA Rugby Territorial Unions, as well as an Under-17 squad comprised of players selected from the current U-20 Women’s National Team pool and players recommended by the TU-19, college and high school coaches.

Round one of the tournament kicked off on Saturday, with primarily close matches throughout tiers one and two, as three of the four matches were decided by five points or less. In Tier 1, the West edged out Pacific Coast 10-7, while the Northeast defeated the Midwest 22-19. Inside Tier 2 competition, Mid-Atlantic (MARFU) won its match-up versus the South 12-5 while the Under-17 team shutout Southern California 93-0.

The outcome of day one set the stage for a set of Sunday match-ups that mirrored those of the 2007 Under-19 INASCs, with the West and Northeast swapping positions with the Midwest and Pacific in the Championship match this year.

Sunday featured a set of highly competitive matches, especially within the top tier. When the day kicked off, the South shutout So Cal 39-0 in the Tier 2 consolation, while the Under-17s shutdown Mid-Atlantic 35-3. Meanwhile, in the Tier 1 contests, it was Midwest holding off Pacific Coast 10-3 and the West coming away as the overall victors by a slim 10-8 margin over the Northeast.

“The quality of play was much improved from last year’s competition, especially in the top tier, where the quality of defense was exceptional. In yesterday’s matches, the games were ultimately decided by three points and today by seven, which really showed that on any given Saturday, the outcome of a competition between those four teams could have been different,” USA Under-20 Women’s Head Coach Bryn Chivers said.

“The matches this weekend highlighted great defensive skills. The athletes were more aggressive at the breakdown, more aggressive throughout the backs, and showcased a much more sophisticated level of play overall,” he added.

This year’s tournament was held in conjunction with the USA Women’s National Team (WNT) intra-squad Red/White Match on Saturday afternoon and allowed the WNT coaches and staff the opportunity to see some of the younger up-and-coming players.

“The Under-17 match was the last game of the day on Saturday and provided the perfect segue into watching the Senior National Team in the afternoon – it helped illustrate the clear pathway from U-17 to U-19 and now U-20 level, to the Women’s National Team,” Chivers added. “It was another great event and it was wonderful to have the WNT coaches at the event observing and scouting players. It showed the real importance of the Women’s Age-Grade system in cultivating athletes for future National Team opportunities.”

For more information on the Under-19 Invitational National All-Star Championship or to recommend prospective players for the Under-20 WNT, please contact U-20 Head Coach Bryn Chivers.

Day 1 Results
Tier 1
West 10, Pacific Coast 7
Northeast 22, Midwest 19

Tier 2
MARFU 12, South 5
Under-17 93, So Cal 0
Day 2 Results
Tier 1
Consolation: Midwest 10, Pacific Coast 3
Championship: West 10, Northeast 8

Tier 2
Consolation: South 39, So Cal 0
Championship: Under-17 35, MARFU 3

I love this video this week...I found it this morning when I was looking through my recent "recommended" videos from Youtube. Sometimes you get it right Youtube...and I love that, but when you get it wrong, you get it very wrong...why would I want to watch a video of a dog and a squirrel in a pink tutu dancing?

Here is a link to the video if you cannot view this via your RSS feed etc.

Other Rugby Video Mondays:
11/17/2008: I am Colorado's Female Rugby Player
11/10/2008: Oklahoma Roses Rugby
11/3/2008: Football's for Girls
10/28/2008: Dallas Rugby Returns
10/20/2008: Flag Rugby
10/13/2008: Rugby Video Monday: What it means to be an Eagle
10/6/2008: Touch Rugby European Championship Semi-Final 2008

Please keep sending me your favorite videos: yourscrumhalfconnection@gmail.com! Want even more videos? Make sure to check out my Vimeo profile or my Youtube channel...

NOTE: all new videos will be on Vimeo only as they are recorded in High Definition.

Team Red Holds Off Team White in Women's National Team Intra-Squad Clash
from USA Rugby.org:

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Following a scoreless second half, Team Red held its half-time lead over Team White to come away with a 19-10 victory in the Women's National Team's intra-squad competition, the Red/White Match at Mills Pond Park on Saturday afternoon.

Both teams opened up strong, but it was the Team Red that would get on the board first, as Vanesha McGee broke away for a pair of tries in the first half, with Mel Kanuk kicking both conversions. Nathalie Marchino also had a try for the Red to put the team up to 19 points before the break.

While their Red counterparts struggled slightly in the pack, Team White's backline had a hard time finishing. However, the team got a boost from a Brenna Costello penalty kick and a try from Elise Myer, with Costello again kicking the extras to pull within nine points before switching sides.

The second half ushered in a whole new wave of players, as the coaching staff made several changes to test out some of the younger talent. Although the teams held strong in an even back and forth battle, neither could quite get the ball to drop in its favor, leaving the score stuck at 19-10 in Team Red's favor at the final blow.

The 44 players selected for the Red/White Match included a healthy mix of experience and youth, including several up-and-coming athletes from the WNT Age-Grade program, who impressed Women's National Team Head Coach Kathy Flores.

"For their first 10 minutes or so of play the younger athletes seemed nervous about how they would perform, especially because they hadn't worked with the Women's National Team much before," Flores said. "After the initial nerves wore off, I felt that many of the new additions from the Age-Grade system, such as Tayo Mafe and Stacey Bridges, became important to the game and made a great impact."

"Ultimately, the game provided a valuable opportunity to get the players together one additional time before the end of the year and although the game showcased its share of mistakes in contact, it has given the athletes an idea of where they stand and what we as a team need to work on going forward," Flores added.

TEAM RED
1 DOUGLAS, Farrah (Chicago North Shore)
2 BUTTS, Lisa (Davis Women)
3 BAKER, Stacey (Philadelphia)
4 HOBSON, Christina (New York)
5 MCCORMICK, Kati (UW–Milwaukee)
6 ZDANCZEWICZ, Kristin (MN Valkyries)
7 ROYCE, Beckett (ORSU)
8 DALEY, Kate (Keystone)
9 HERTEL, Katy (MN Valkyries)
10 KANUK, Mel (DC Furies)
11 MARCHINO, Nathalie (Berkeley All-Blues)
12 BYDWELL, Emilie (Beantown)
13 KUGLER, Lynelle (Glendale)
14 MCGEE, Vanesha (New York)
15 ENGLISH, Ashley (Berkeley All-Blues)

Replacements
16 PRIMO, Rachel (NOVA)
17 BERG, Libby (MN Valkyries)
18 BRAND, Anneke (Texas Tech)
19 HUGHES, Brea (At-large)
20 TSENG, Jossy (Berkeley All-Blues)
21 MCGILLIVRAY, Deanna (UNM)
22 DOWTY, Katie (Beantown)

TEAM WHITE
1 WACHT, Sharyn (Beantown)
2 HEGG, Meredith (Philadelphia)
3 BURKE, Jamie (Beantown)
4 MENKE, Jenny (MN Valykyries)
5 WALSH, Sarah (Chicago North Shore)
6 HEMSTREET, Allyson (Berkeley All-Blues)
7 DENHAM, Mel (Beantown)
8 DILLEY, Liz (Washington Furies)
9 YOUNG, Wendy (Austin Valkyries)
10 COSTELLO, Brenna (DC Furies)
11 DOMBROSKI, Lisa (Philadelphia)
12 MYER, Elise (NOVA)
13 MORENO, San Juanita (ORSU)
14 FLATEMAN, Jenna (New York)
15 KMIECIK, Ashley (Emerald City Mudhens)

Replacements
16 MAFE, Adetayo (Michigan State University)
17 ALIBERTO, Kristin (Philadelphia)
18 BRIDGES, Stacey (Texas A & M)
19 FOLAYAN, Victoria (Berkeley All-Blues)
20 MARSHALL, Ramey (ORSU)
21 STOLBA, Hannah (MN Valkyries)
22 GREGORICH, Claire (Glendale)

Welcome to another new segment on Your Scrumhalf Connection! With the immense success of Rugby Video Monday and the Monthly Free Raffle (happening again around Dec 1)...I thought it might be fun to throw in a good photo once a week or so.

For the first photo I wanted to capture one of my favorite moments...the time right before a match begins. Each player is preparing themselves mentally and physically for the match and has their own pattern or method. The crisp fall leaves in the background mean that it is perfect rugby playing weather and that the rugby Gods are smiling down...


Photo Credit: Lara Johann-Reichart

Feel free to send me your favorite photos to by email, facebook or leave the link to your favorite photo in the comments.

Join us on February 21-22, 2009 for our 29th annual Mardi Gras Tournament!

Entry Fee
$300.00 if received by January 1, 2009
$400.00 after January 1, 2009

Brackets
Collegiate and Club with a three game minimum for each bracket.

Parades
We will host a party near the parade route for the Krewe of Endymion on Saturday night. Parades will continue through Fat Tuesday, February 24, 2009. A block of rooms are reserved at the La Quinta Westbank hotel until January 30, 2009. Mention the Women’s Rugby Mardi Gras Tournament.


Many people in New Orleans are still struggling to rebuild their homes two years after Katrina. In 2009, The Halfmoons and the U.S. Women’s Rugby Foundation will once again be sponsoring The New Orleans Rugby Recovery Effort, an opportunity to spend two days working side by side with other volunteers to help clean up and rebuild homes in the New Orleans area. We will be organizing volunteers for the New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity and will assist on one or more of their ongoing projects.

Don't forget that you can post your own tournament or view the tournament listing here.

David asked that I repost this request as he did not get very many responses from the West this time around. Even if you are not in the West, submit your recipes!

The best part of the Rugby Ruckosphere and the Internets is the abundance of information, ideas and creations out there. Here is another idea worth mentioning, Rugby Recipes:

The image of a rugby player is one of a hearty soul who plays hard, drinks hard and yes, eats hard too. So, I David Martin, captain of the Gentleman of New York, the New York RC Old Boys, and a former Manhattan, Miami Trident and FSU player, together with Meg Votta, a former Gotham Women's RC and New York Women's RC player have teamed up and are writing a cookbook based on the recipes and food stories of rugby players. We are in the early stages of compiling these for a book that will feature recipes from rugby players, friends, fans and families. We are looking for great and entertaining stories that center around food, some specialty you created or enjoy, anything that is connected with the worldwide community of rugby and enjoyment of friends over a meal and a glass.

One thing we hope to include is a range of dishes that reflect the international appeal of the game. A traditional South African dish followed by a recipe for New Zealand lamb and homemade Scottish Haggis could come just after your grandmother's recipe for Irish stew. There are a lot of chefs, restaurateurs and bar owners and we would like to include all your best in this book.

At this stage, we are compiling recipes, stories and names. Later on we will get back in touch with you and talk more about it and in many cases compile a small profile of the chef-rugger and perhaps get a picture of you running in for a try or serving up your favorite dish.

I look forward to reading your submissions. Please make sure you add your contact information, name, number and email address.

Send your recipes and stories to rugbyrecipes@gmail.com.

Cheers,
Dave Martin and Meg Votta

Have a Rugby Recipe for Dave and Meg, leave it in the comments, send me an email or send them an email!

See other Wanted Ads:
WANTED: West Rugby Senior All-Star Team Head Coach (Position Filled)
WANTED: Women's Rugby Coach in Clinton, NY (Position Filled)
Wanted: Navy Rugby Seeks Coach
Wanted: Rugby Recipes
Wanted: Rugby Team in Amarillo, TX
Wanted: Rugby Coach in Central NY

From: Guardian.co.uk by Paul Lauener

LONDON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Britain will not let the financial crisis stop it bidding for the world's biggest sporting events such as the soccer World Cup, former Sports Minister Richard Caborn said.

Caborn, government ambassador for England's 2018 World Cup bid, dismissed London 2012 Olympics minister Tessa Jowell's comments last week suggesting Britain would not have made its bid if it had known about the economic downturn.
"I think you've got to take the long term view on things," Caborn told a conference on the crisis in London.

"We started in 2001 with a bid for 2012. We started two years ago talking about the (soccer) World Cup, which is in 2018. If you actually are judging by circumstances at any given point then you'd never ever make a bid," he said on Tuesday.
Britain is to host some of the world's biggest sporting events over the next 10 years and Caborn said the benefits of this "decade of sport" are "way beyond just a straight balance sheet.

"In 2009 we've got the 20/20 (Cricket) World Cup, 2010 we've got the Women's Rugby World Cup, 2012 we've got the Olympics, 2013 we're bidding for the Rugby League World Cup, 2014 we've got the Commonwealth Games in Scotland, 2015 we're bidding for the Rugby Union World Cup, in 2018 we're bidding for the football World Cup as well.
"The impact on the nation is huge," he said. The author of a report into how the global financial crisis was affecting sport agreed at the conference that investment in sport was "money well spent".

"The fundamental issue for me is should that money have been spent on the Olympics or should it have been spent on something else?" said Simon Chadwick, Professor of Sport Business at Coventry University.

Chadwick's report, Sport in the Downturn, suggests top level sports like Premier League football with a global brand appeal and investment from the Middle East would be more protected from recession than pursuits like darts and badminton.

And the Winner of the Monthly FREE RAFFLE: Lady Flower Rugby Pads is...drum roll please!

Please send me your desired size and postal address to my email at yourscrumhalfconnection@gmail.com and it will get shipped right out to you!

Thanks to everyone who submitted their name in the raffle, this was our best raffle yet with over 30 entries! This free raffle is courtesy of CSS Rugby, a rugby merchandise shop in the UK. To see more of their products, please be sure to visit http://www.css-rugby.co.uk/.

Look for this FREE raffle again next month! Can't wait to see if you win the raffle? Purchase your own Your Scrumhalf Connection tshirt ($15.95) or any of my other rugby shirts by visiting my Zazzle Tshirt Shop.

Thanks to Becky Carlson of USA Rugby for another great video on Youth Rugby and NCAA Rugby Promotion/Development in the US. Check out this link for the video that was shown during ITTs last year to all the Senior and U23 rugby players: http://yourscrumhalfconnection.com/2008/06/rugby-video-monday_23.html

Here is a link to the video if you cannot view this via your RSS feed etc.

Other Rugby Video Mondays:
11/10/2008: Oklahoma Roses Rugby
11/3/2008: Football's for Girls
10/28/2008: Dallas Rugby Returns
10/20/2008: Flag Rugby
10/13/2008: Rugby Video Monday: What it means to be an Eagle
10/6/2008: Touch Rugby European Championship Semi-Final 2008

Please keep sending me your favorite videos: yourscrumhalfconnection@gmail.com! Want even more videos? Make sure to check out my Vimeo profile or my Youtube channel...

NOTE: all new videos will be on Vimeo only as they are recorded in High Definition.