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From USA Rugby - USA Rugby Announces Women’s Developmental Squad Set for NAWIRA Sevens Tournament

BOULDER, Colo. – USA Rugby will take a developmental team to the NAWIRA (North America West Indies Rugby Association) Sevens 2007 Tournament to be held November 17-18 in Nassau, Bahamas. Part of the USA Women's Sevens Developmental Program, the squad includes eight players who made the semi-finals at the 2007 USA Rugby National All-Star Championship.

The USA squad will face off against teams from Canada, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana in round robin play each day of competition, with the sternest tests for the USA side coming against Canada and Jamaica.

"The goal of the program is to get four players on the World Cup squad in 2009," said USA Women’s Developmental Sevens Program Head Coach Pete Steinberg. "The NAWIRA Tournament is another opportunity for the returning players to play some high level sevens, and exposes the new players to the approach that we have in the program."

While much of the squad’s time together will be spent working on technical and tactical aspects of sevens, the program also works toward shaping players into elite athletes. The focus is to create a high performance environment in the camp that gives the players tools they can take back to their respective clubs. Elite performance areas covered at this event are goal setting, mental skills and nutrition.

"The reality is that we do not get much time with our players, so we need to help them continue to develop after they leave our assemblies," Steinberg said.

The USA 7s Women's Developmental Squad for 2007 NAWIRA 7's:

Kirsten Ahrendt - Keystone
Tonya Ansel - MSU, Mankato
Ida Bernstein - Syracuse
Katie Dowty - Beantown
Sydney Forestal - U. New Mexico
Kristy Lear - MN Valkyries
Lauren Rosso - Penn State
Melissa Smit - Stanford
Stephanie Taguacta - DC Furies
Sheri Villa - American U.
Jessica Watkins - Stanford
Alison Worman - Penn State

Pete Steinberg (Coach)
Sue Parker (Coach)
Josh Sutcliffe (Coach)
Ines Rodrigues (Player/Coach)
Nicole Titmas (Trainer)
Meredith Fabing (Doctor)
Kelsey Engelbrecht (Manager)

I haven't had much time to do the rugby digging that I usually do...so here are some fun rugby stories I was able to dig up this morning!

• CGA Women's Rugby Tackle the Competition in their First Season
  
  The Coast Guard Academy Women’s Rugby Team have just completed their first season as a formal club sport in an organized league as a member of the New England Rugby Football Union, Division four by making it all the way to the championship finals.
  
  The team finished the regular season with a 4-1 record scoring 220 points and allowing only 14. With only the one loss, the Academy’s team earned the wildcard entry into the 4-team playoffs.
  
  The team took on the College of the Holy Cross, the undefeated number one seed, in Worcester, Mass. on Oct. 27. Despite the rain, mud and non-home field advantage, the Lady Bears pulled off their biggest win in their short history and a major upset shutting out Holy Cross 14-0. With their win, they were next scheduled to play Roger Williams University, who was their only loss during the regular season, for the New England Division four championship.
  
  Despite the team’s efforts, they lost the match to Roger Williams in an exciting game, 22-19. Even though the scoreboard wasn’t in their favor the Academy’s team didn’t lose entirely. The team gained a great amount of experience by competing for the championship during their first season as a club team. They will certainly come back next year with just as much drive but with more knowledge of the game.
  
  Always love to hear about new teams!
  
  
• Should Oregon Add Women's Rugby?
  
  Many folks at Oregon are devastated that the university’s wrestling program will be discontinued following this season. The heartache is understandable – nobody likes to see opportunities diminished for student-athletes.
  
  In today’s Oregon Daily Emerald, Robert Husseman offers an argument that the transition of women’s rugby from club to varsity status would not only help the university become a national leader in that sport, but would aid in Title IX compliance.
  
  I am of the belief that no school should ever use Title IX as a reason for eliminating a sport. If budgetary reasons are to blame, that’s completely different. In Oregon’s case, it’s estimated that the addition of baseball and competitive cheer programs will add about $300,000 to the annual budget.
  
  Husseman suggests that a self-sufficient athletics program could afford to move its club program to varsity status and keep the wrestling program going. I’m not privy to accounting information in Eugene, so I don’t know if this is realistic.
  
  What I do know, is that Husseman has the right thinking in mind. He wants to see the university add more opportunities, not subtract them. He figures that if Oregon wanted to add baseball, it should have done it, but not at the expense of wrestling. Instead, he says, add women’s rugby to the mix. Not only is it an exciting sport, but rugby is similar to football in that it accommodates and requires a large number of participants. More opportunities? No problem.
  
  With four varsity programs out there, Oregon could continue a trend that might bring us closer to an 89th NCAA championship.
  
  This brings to mind the recent discussions on Saturday's A Rugby Day and Goff about more and more teams thinking about Varsity status. In my opinion, we should encourage this, but be careful that the teams play rugby and not some washed down version that the NCAA would approve. See the next bullet below for more opinions on NCAA status.
  
  
• Women's Rugby Blazing Trails in NCAA Play
  
  While rugby is considered a club sport nationally, West Chester's women's rugby team is one of only four schools that are now recognized as NCAA teams.
  
  Women's rugby is one of seven on the NCAA's list of emerging sports. This list was created more than 30 years ago to increase the number of athletic opportunities for young women and help promote gender equality on and off the playing field. However rugby must attract 40 teams within 10 years to earn championship status or it will be dropped from consideration, a problem the other teams on the list are trying to overcome. Since there are currently four women's teams in the nation playing varsity rugby, WCU, Eastern Illinois, Maine's Bowdoin College and Southern Vermont, they have four years left to obtain this goal.
  
  WCU captain Michelle Kirk said attracting more teams in the next four years is an attainable goal.
  
  "Similar to what happened in women's lacrosse several years ago, it started as a club sport and as the publicity increased they were able to become a NCAA sport. I think rugby will have a similar affect, especially with the arising popularity of high school [rugby]. There is definitely a possibility that we can achieve this goal," Kirk said.
  
  West Chester Athletic Director Ed Matejkovic told ESPN that four schools in the Division II Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference are looking to add rugby. He plans to push for women's rugby in the next conference meeting.
  
  "There will be a discussion because people will see the coverage that this game has received," Matejkovic said. "Maybe, they will realize this is a viable thing. Just like anything, people are afraid of change and doing something new. I think you just have to punch in and do it. Next year when we play EIU at our place, I'll invite the [athletic directors] in our conference and say, 'Come see a game. You'll enjoy it every bit as much as field hockey and soccer -- maybe more so, in some cases.'"
  
  The first NCAA-sanctioned women's rugby match against Eastern Illinois was held in Charleston, Ill. on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2007. The Lady Rams were able to defeat Eastern Illinois scoring a try in the final minutes to win 20-19. Although the win was extremely exciting for the Rams, the team hopes the game's exposure will build rugby's chances of becoming a success at the NCAA level. This success could push more schools to create NCAA programs, creating scholarships that would help to meet the requirements of Title IX.
  
  Kirk believes that the game's exposure will definitely help build in rugby's success, but more with people who are already involved and interested in the sport.
  
  "Exposure was big in the sense of rugby world but I doubt much past that. That specific game isn't going to make the difference we need," Kirk said. "Although it helps that newspapers are writing about it, and people are talking about it, I think it's not reaching out to all people, people that don't have knowledge of the sport." One thing about the game Kirk was sure about: "It definitely touched the rugby world."
  
  
• Hitting the Cycle: Don't let dresses fool you: Women's rugby tougher than they look
  
  Beauty, grace, elegance. When you think homecoming dresses, these are the words that come to mind.
  
  Tackles, bruises, blood. These are the things you think about when you add UMBC women's rugby into the equation.
  
  Rather than cut the rug on the dance floor, the women's rugby team traded in their high heels for cleats, and spent the afternoon ruining their dresses, showing that appearances are not everything. The ladies, dressed in their best, physically dominated the first half of Sunday's annual homecoming game in route to a win.
  
  Don't let the apparel fool you. Attired in their normal uniforms after the first half, the ladies continued to fly around the ball, proving that there is nothing girly about the women's rugby team.
  
  Having never been to a women's rugby game before, I didn't know exactly what to expect. Would the speed of the game match up to that of men's rugby contests? Would the hits be as vicious?
  
  My questions were answered within the first couple of plays. The women swarmed around the ball carrier. Hits were bone-crushing, causing some in the crowd to wince, while others couldn't help but ooh-and-aah.
  
  Leaving Walker Field Saturday afternoon, I had a new appreciation for the women's rugby team at UMBC, as they rolled up a 35-0 win. Just like the men's team, they were fast, physical, technically sound, and tough. By the end of the day, I began to think that the women actually had more courage and gamesmanship than the men's team.
  
  After all, I don't see the playoff-bound men's program dominating in bright pink, bare back dresses.
  
  Since I love a good Debutante Rugby Ball, I couldn't pass up this article. Don't forget the Austin Valkyries will be hosting a Debutante Ball after Dallas 7's in June 2008.

Interesting comments going on at Goff about who has won the D1 National Championships in the past...here is what they have come up with:

79 - Florida State Univ
80 - Florida State Univ
81 - Belmont Shore
82 - Beantown
83 - Beantown
84 - Florida State Univ
85 - Florida State Univ
86 - Beantown
87 - Beantown
88 - Minnesota
89 - BASH
90 - Belmont Shore
91 - Beantown
92 - BASH
93 - BASH
94 - Berkeley
95 - BASH
96 - Beantown
97 - Berkeley
98 - Berkeley
99 - Berkeley
00 - Berkeley
01 - Berkeley
02 - Berkeley
03 - Berkeley
04 - Berkeley
05 - Berkeley
06 - New York
07 - Berkeley

I guessed that BASH was San Fransisco, cause thats what Google told me...Cool stats!


And over the weekend I broke 30,000 hits (this is post #435 if you were interested!) Woohoo! Thanks for all the visits and feel free to leave comments about what YOU want me to blog about. Fresh ideas are always welcome...

Had some free time at work today...we watched 300 at NA4's the day before we played Canada, it was hard to sleep that night I was so adrenaline pumped! Check out these 300 spoof trailers (the rugby one is first!):

From Womeneagles.com:

SANFORD, Fla. - The Division I Senior Women's Club Championships came to a thrilling conclusion as the Berkeley All Blues touched in a last minute try to slip past Beantown 25-18 and claim the 2007 title at Sylvan Lake Park on Sunday, November 11, 2007.

Beantown was the first to strike in the aggressive match when captain Kelly Seary connected on a penalty kick in the eighth minute. Despite a back and forth battle for the try line, Berkeley dominated the scoreboard for the remainder of the first half, with wing Laura Cabrera running in two tries and All Blues captain Rose Whitmore contributing another to the squad's scoring run.

In the second half, Beantown refused to go down without a fight, notching two unanswered tries and two successful kicks from Seary to surge ahead of the All Blues 18-15 with less than 15 minutes remaining in the match. Beantown put up a strong defensive effort to hold the lead, but Berkeley's Victoria Folayan snuck in for a late try as the clock was winding down. Nathalie Marchino converted to push the All Blues ahead to a final of 25-18.

"Beantown plays right up until the 80 minutes, so there was no taking any moment for granted - especially when it was very close and they were ahead. We knew that if we didn't keep possession of the ball, Kelly (Seary) might do a dropkick," Berkeley All Blues Coach Kathy Flores said following the match. "We definitely have a lot of respect for the Beantown team."

MVP - Rose Whitmore Berkeley captain Rose Whitmore, who was named the Most Valuable Player of the Senior Women's Club Championships following the match, said the comeback victory was a solid team effort.

"We dug deep today and that's what Berkeley does," Whitmore said. "There was a moment out there when we looked at each other and said, This isn't happening. We're going to come back and win it.'"

In the third place match, it was a brutal battle of the blue and orange as the Twin Cities Amazons took on the 2007 champion New York squad in a match that had multiple players seeing yellow. The Amazons led 12-7 going into the break, but a recharged New York team turned up the heat at the close of the second half to send the match into extra minutes. Tyshawn Henry led the comeback and powered in for back-to-back tries to bring the match to a heated 17-17 tie with little time to spare. Following a physical display from both sides, New York went on to win 22-17 in overtime.

The Oregon Sports Union (ORSU) Jesters put up a strong fight against Keystone in the fifth place match, but fell short with a 20-23 final. Keystone's Ines Rodriquez got her team on the board in minute 12. However, by the break the resilient ORSU squad surged ahead 15-8, following an impressive pair of tries from Valerie Burns and San Juanita Moreno within the last two minutes. Keystone came strong out of the gate in the second, holding the ORSU side scoreless for the majority of the half. The Jester's Beckett Royce pitched in a late try to bring her team within three, but Keystone emerged with the win at the final whistle.

Philadelphia and the Atlanta Harlequins squared off for seventh in an aggressive showing from both sides. Atlanta's Linda Abaray booted in two drop goals for the Harlequins, but in the end the Philadelphia Women found themselves on top, with a final score of 26-6.

For more information on the Division I Senior Women's Club Championships and the USA Rugby Championship series, please visit www.usarugby.org or contact Jenna Anderson in the Championships department at janderson@usarugby.org.

1st place - Berkeley All Blues
2nd place - Beantown
3rd place - New York
4th place - Twin Cities Amazons
5th place - Keystone
6th place - ORSU
7th place - Philadelphia
8th place - Atlanta Harlequins


1st place - Detroit
2nd place - Scioto Valley
3rd place - Orlando
4th place - Naples
5th place - Albany
6th place - Village Lions
7th place - NOVA II
8th place - Harrisburg

Detroit defeated Scioto Valley (an All-Midwest D-II Final) 15-5, after initially taking a 10-0 lead. Physical match with lots of mauling, scrums.

Orlando defeated Naples (an all-Florida consolation) 17-13 for third place.

Albany defeated Village Lions (all New York?) 22-10 for fifth place

NOVA II defeated Harrisburg 13-10 for seventh place.

Amazons vs New York 17 to 22
Berkeley vs Beantown 25 to 18
Philly vs Atlanta 26 to 6
ORSU vs Keystone 20 to 23

--
Wendy Young

Austin Valkyries
Match Secretary
http://austinvalkyries.com
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Keystone vs ORSU 25 to 15 almost full time...

The Austin Valkyries are in the Little Rock Tourney final against the St. Louis Sabres...so scores will be a little late this afternoon.

Does anyone have the D2 scores from yesterday? Leave it in the comments!

Beantown Defeats New York!

17 to 17 at the last minute...Beantown's flyhalf Kelly Shear drop goals to win!

ORSU vs Philly 41 to 24
Keystone vs Atanta 15 to 5
Amazons vs Berkeley 5 to 30
New York vs Beantown 17 to 20

Yes, USA Rugby is having serious problems handling the demand on their servers. I am watching the Keystone game but it is pausing and skipping all over the place. Maybe they will correct the problem before the more games happen this afternoon.

Hopefully it will work! And hopefully USA Rugby will realize that no one is watching the games because their stream sucks.

This is the most current note from USA Rugby:
"Due to some unexpected server problems, USA Rugby's website is experiencing technical difficulties! We are working quickly to fix the problem. But, if you are trying to view the webcast of this weekend's Women's Club Championships, click here, in the meantime! Your patience is greatly appreciated!"

Scores:
ORSU vs Philly 41 to 17 (games almost over)

Keystone vs Atlanta 8 to 0 (halftime)