Your Scrumhalf Connection - Women's Rugby Blog

Alrighty, time for another post! Yea for stale airport air and delayed flights! Seems that most of my teammates have had their flights delayed, moved or outright canceled, what a headache this trip has become!

Back to the blog though, lets blog about Day 4 of my trip at the 2008 NASCs! The morning was early again as we were scheduled to play MARFU team at 10am, so warm ups began around 9am. I woke up that morning anxious and eager as I wanted our team to be successful in our match today. I knew that I was not going to play at all, or maybe just a few minutes, so I wasn't really worried about my performance. The team seemed to be in good spirits and we were all eager to get to the field and start our pre-match rituals.

The weather was dreary and dark as we approached the fields, and the clouds looked like they would burst at any minute. Sadly the game was pretty dark and dreary for the West senior side as well, MARFU was well conditioned and we simply could not keep up. After the game we learned that MARFU had had 3 matches together as an All-Star team and this was obviously a huge advantage for them. However, since excuses are not what makes a rugby team, we had to face facts that we did not perform as a team. We looked forward to Sunday's match against the South as a way to show everyone that we are a good team and we can bounce back from a beating.

But guess what? I got to play some rugby!! The coaches gave me ten minutes and it was amazing. At first I was a bit overwhelmed to be out on the pitch again (remember I have only played a few 7s matches since being released) but I quickly fell into the groove and started organizing the defense. I tackled a few times with no hesitation and rucked as well! It was great to be out on the field again in my element, playing scrumhalf...

So that loss was a tough one to take as we have been trapped in the bottom tier for quite some time now and we were hoping this would be the year we would be released. But it was not meant to be, so we have to look forward to our match on Sunday and work hard to beat the South.

Right after our game The Girl and I headed over to the West U23 vs MARFU motley game, we had only missed a few minutes, but the score was already 40-0 or so. But I do have to say that the score did not reflect that game at all, the motley played hard, fast rugby and really gave the West U23s a good match. The final score was quite high, but as a spectator if you didn't look at the score you would have thought it was 0-0 and the next try would win it all. Great rugby to watch!

Links to Day 1 NASC - West U23s, Day 2 NASC - West U23s, Day 3 NASC - West U23s and Seniors, 2008 NASC Day 4 - West U23s & Seniors, 2008 NASC Day 5 - West U23s & Seniors, 2008 NASC Day 6 - West U23s & Seniors and the 2008 NASC Full Results.

Whew, sorry I haven't been posting very often, this week has been pretty exhausting with practices early in the morning and doing triple duty as a trainer/coach & player. Exhausting!

On Thursday the senior team had all arrived (except for The Girl....that story is for another blog!) and we had our first two training sessions. Since the U23s practiced at the same field right before the Seniors, I was out at the fields again at 7am. They had a good hard physical practice with some split time where the forwards worked on defense and the backs polished off their plays. Practice was hard, intense and we all got a good sweat going on. All of the coaches jumped in to play offense so we had enough to give them a good run on defense.

Side note: I have always had a fascination with seeing if my coaches could really play. It started when I was young and playing soccer...I always wanted to challenge my coach and really see if they could hang. This fascination continues on now, so it was cool to see Angie, Will and Mary play and see their skills!

So when the Senior team showed up I was all warm and ready to go so I just jumped in to our dynamic warm up. It was nice to be back playing rugby at all, but it was also nice to be with old friends and teammates. WE got about 20 minutes in before we were asked to leave the practice field and were ushered up to the adjacent softball pitch. Evidently the field was not reserved after all as they wanted to do some maintenance on the fields. So we were forced to do walking rugby because the field was very hilly and not ideal for running at all. We adjusted and were able to get some training in and practice went well for our first gathering as a team again.

After practice we headed out to get some lunch and rest before our second training of the day in a few hours. Our van was full of energy as we had car dancing, loud music and lots of stories fro our past West adventures. It was great to be back with old friends and to reminisce about our playing days together.

The second training of the day was much better as we had an actual field to practice on. We had to do some bartering to get what we needed, but we ended up sharing the field with the MARFU U23 and Seniors...so no big deal. Practice was intense and sweaty as we did plenty of defense and a long team run. Our coaches drills are always interesting and I really enjoy them, so I look forward to trainings.

The night was simple and easy as we had team dinner and most of us hit the sack. Maybe tomorrow will blog about The Girl's long journey to PIT and the debacle that was...

Links to Day 1 NASC - West U23s, Day 2 NASC - West U23s, Day 3 NASC - West U23s and Seniors, 2008 NASC Day 4 - West U23s & Seniors, 2008 NASC Day 5 - West U23s & Seniors, 2008 NASC Day 6 - West U23s & Seniors and the 2008 NASC Full Results.

Once again we found ourselves at Founder's field with mist in the trees and running through the thick humidity that is Pittsburgh, PA. The girls from Texas seem to be adjusting to the heat and humidity well, but other plays are having a harder time adjusting. Blisters seem to be the theme of the weekend unfortunately.

The morning practice was light with plenty of shadow (team run, or unopposed rugby), line outs, back plays and plenty of team continuity. They were preparing for the Midwest scrimmage that afternoon, so contact was kept to a minimum. After practice we had lunch again and had some significant downtime. Several players had unique ways of keeping themselves entertained, Jack-ass was playing with sand art, Angie was tweaking out her bouncy ball, but most players just slept since we have had so many early morning practices.

Around 3pm we headed out to Founders field again to prepare for the match against the Midwest U23 team. We had heard that the ref was going to be late so the coaches had asked that I ref the first half until the real ref showed up. When the ref made it to the fields, he asked that I do the match since I was ready and all suited up (he had left work to come to the fields). I was excited to ref the game and had no problem filling in for him.

Both teams looked fit, excited and eager to get a scrimmage under their belt, so we began right on time. The game flowed well with very few penalties in the first third (they played 3 fifteen minute periods) and there was some early scoring by both teams. Once the players started getting tired they started committing penalties but were still very disciplined. The West U23s had possession most of the first third and about half of the second third. Once the Midwest U23s got their continuity and support on, they were able to put a few tries in and pull ahead. The West was able to pull within a kick and try towards the end because of a well played penalty. However the time ran out on the clock and the Midwest won.

Overall the game looked really good (as much as you can watch when you are reffing) and I think both teams really got to work some combinations and work a few things out. After the game we had dinner and then a short team meeting. All in all a great day of rugby and lots of fun!

However, I had to leave the U23s as the West Senior side was arriving...so now I am across the street (literally) preparing for two trainings tomorrow as we prepare the play MARFU on Friday morning.

Links to Day 1 NASC - West U23s, Day 2 NASC - West U23s, Day 3 NASC - West U23s and Seniors, 2008 NASC Day 4 - West U23s & Seniors, 2008 NASC Day 5 - West U23s & Seniors, 2008 NASC Day 6 - West U23s & Seniors and the 2008 NASC Full Results.

Oh the journey to Pittsburgh...what fun! The east coast was being slammed with bad weather and the Atlanta airport was shut down. Once I arrived in Atlanta and realized that nothing was flying out, I bunked down to watch a movie on my laptop. Then the real fun began, they changed our gate three times and delayed us two hours. Moving gates isn't usually a big deal, but when they are in different terminals in a HUGE airport...it makes a difference. To top all this off I was carrying two bags since Delta charges 25 bucks for a second bag now. Oh the joys of traveling! Once we finally took off, the lightening and storm was amazing to watch though.

The next morning we had practice at 7am, so we gathered the last of the West U23 players at the airport and finally got into bed at 2am. Late night! While it was hard to get out of bed for practice in the morning, it was worth it. I am traveling with the West U23 team as their trainer and was really excited to hang out with the team. The girls are still so young and vibrant, and their energy is definitely contagious.

The first practice started out with the coaches testing the fitness waters. No, the coaches didn't make them run the bleep or anything, but wanted to make sure they had been working out like they should. Most of the practice was spent split with the forwards working in a small drill on rucking and poaching, while the backs did plenty of passing drills. We were interrupted for about twenty minutes when a storm opened up right on top of us. Lightening, thunder and downpour in the blink of an eye! Luckily there is a clubhouse with some shelter, so we were able to find cover pretty quickly. Check out the pic to the right, this is after the storm left and the park was kind of foggy. Very beautiful!

Towards the end of practice Angie asked me to spend some time working with the scrumhalves, and I jumped at the chance to work with them. I love coaching scrumhalfs and answering the questions that they have. Since most scrumhalfs have never really been "trained" per say (someone just told them to work on their pass), it is fun to answer their more technical questions. We worked on their long passes and I gave them some new drills to work on. My new favorite drill is the line out bounce drill (really needs a cooler name!). Basically you find a rugby pole, soccer goal, light pole or whatever and stand in front of it. Simply bounce the ball off the pole and then get to work on your footwork, or your long pass. Bouncing it off the pole makes it kind of crazy just like a line out might be, and then if you have a friend you can really work on your feet and or your long pass.

After practice we had lunch and then had a break before our next practice at 2pm. Most of the girls had a late night (everyone seemed to have airline delays) so most people took naps for this break. Practice at 2pm was much more physical and had more continuity built into it. It was great to see the backs running their plays and really starting to work together. The forwards did some line out work and then the team did 13 on 13 full contact and it looked pretty good. Everyone is excited to be here and is working hard, so hopefully the wins will follow the hard work.

Later that night after dinner we headed out to a MLB baseball game (thanks for organizing Brea!) and had a good time. The game was close and there were 6 or 7 home runs, so we saw plenty of pitching changes and excitement! Upon entering the park we noticed that almost everyone was eating ice cream, so pretty quickly everyone had an ice cream cone, nachos or a large drink...it was a good team bonding event. After the game on the way out there was a huge bronze statue that the girls were having some fun with...here's a shout out to A-train Potter the newest rookie to have the West Horse.

Links to Day 1 NASC - West U23s, Day 2 NASC - West U23s, Day 3 NASC - West U23s and Seniors, 2008 NASC Day 4 - West U23s & Seniors, 2008 NASC Day 5 - West U23s & Seniors, 2008 NASC Day 6 - West U23s & Seniors and the 2008 NASC Full Results.

Getting on a jet plane...and flying to 2008 USA Rugby National All Star Championships (NASCs) today! In honor of that, I am spotlighting a video that was posted last year during NASCs. Our hotel had a pool in Blaine, MN and we had regular pool workouts and they were awesome!

Check out the video this week, pool workout with a twist...

A few teams have announced their teams for the upcoming 2008 NASCs in Pittsburgh, PA. See below for teams and the schedule of games:

Eagle Squad for Nations Cup Selected
from womeneagles.com

The US has selected an elite squad to compete at the newly formed Nations Cup in August. Hoping to stimulate World Cup-like competition in the years preceeding the actual WRWC, England established the first Nations Cup to take place August 15-31, 2008. The national teams, all top finishers in the last Women's World Cup, competing are: USA, England, Canada and Wales.

US Head Coach Kathy Flores is enthusiastic about the tournament, "As we get very few competitions, it's extremely important for the USA to attend this tournament. Each international match we can schedule is vital to the progress of the team as we look to the next World Cup. We hope to be able to fundraise enough to make the tour accessible to the invited players."

Flores said, "we chose most of the invited players from the last Elite Camp as we did a lot of specific training there and were able to evaluate the strongest players in competition."

"The main qualities we are looking for at this level are: decision-making under pressure, attention to their particular positional requirements, a strong mental determination and compliance to our training program. With our limited exposure to international play, we need our fitness to be no less than superb."

"As for goals for this specific tour, we always play to win, and especially because of our last tour record, we would like to post some wins and gain international experience at a high level. It would be fair to say that every game of this tour will be a challenge for us."

Although the squad has been chosen for the Nations Cup, the WNT staff will be at these elite events reviewing player performances for possible additions to the pool.

National Guard Women's and U-23 All-Star Championships - June 13-15, 2008 & Women's Club Playoffs and Championships

Coach Flores said, "we are constantly identifying players that could compete at an international level, particularly at the NASCs. It's important that the top level players identified from each territory not only play together but compete against each other to help them make better decisions under pressure. The combination of the Women and U23 sides, though not ideal, puts both USA "A" staff and WNT staff together to be able to discuss players and their possible inclusion, if they are not already part, into the pool."

Prior to the tour, the Women Eagles will have a camp in Baltimore, Maryland in July 18-20. The Nation's Cup squad and reserves will participate. The camp will be used to prepare the players for competition and strategies under the Experimental Law Variations (ELVs) that are to be rolled out on August 1, 2008.

Nations Cup Squad

1. Kristin Baja - NRU, New York
2. Stacy Baker - MARFU, Philadelphia
3. Jamie Burke - PAC, Berkeley All-Blues
4. Lisa Butts - PAC, Berkeley All-Blues
5. Emilie Bydwell - NRU, Brown University
6. Mel Denham - NRU, Beantown
7. Liz Dilley - MARFU, Washington Furies
8. Farrah Douglas - MW, Chicago North Shore
9. Ashley English - PAC, Berkeley
10. Blair Groefsema - PAC, Berkeley
11. Allyson Hemstreet - PAC, Berkeley
12. Katy Hertel - MW, Minnesota Valkyries
13. Christina Hobson - NRU, Morris Pride
14. Mel Kanuk - MARFU, Maryland Stingers
15. Ashley Kmiecik - PAC, Seattle Mudhens
16. Lynelle Kugler - W, Glendale
17. Kim Magrini - NRU, Keystone
18. Nathalie Marchino - PAC, Berkeley All-Blues
19. Desiree Markovich - MW, Minnesota Valkyries
20. Vanesha McGee - MARFU, Philadelphia
21. San Juanita Moreno - PAC, ORSU
22. Elise Myer - MARFU, Maryland Stingers
23. Jillian Potter - MW, Minnesota Stingers
24. Lara Vivolo - NRU, New York
25. Mari Wallace - PAC, Berkeley All-Blues
26. Sarah Walsh - MW, Chicago Northshore
27. Rose Whitmore - PAC, Berkeley All-Blues

Reserves:

1. Kristen Aliberto - MARFU, Philadelphia
2. Kassie Drey - MW, University of No. Iowa
3. Heather Jennings - PAC, Seattle Mudhens
4. Tess Kohanski - NRU, At-Large
5. Kristy Lear - MW, Minnesota Valkyries
6. Kati McCormick - MW, Univ. Wisconsin-Milwaukee
7. Saburah Posner - MARFU, Philadelphia
8. Beckett Royce - PAC, ORSU
9. Jessica Travers - MW, UIC
10. Sheara Williamson - MARFU, Philadelphia

Nations Cup Staff

Kathy Flores - Head Coach
Candi Orsini - Assistant Coach
Alex Williams - Assistant Coach
Dr. Lisa Bartoli - Physio
Sara Percy - Trainer
Ginger Stringer- Manager

Other upcoming USA WNT & USA A Events:

EAGLE
July 18-20, 2008 Eagle Camp
Venue: Baltimore
Camp in preparation for the Nations Cup

USA A
July 14-19, 2008 Can-Am Developmental Match
Venue: Developmental Can-Am
Venue Site: Toronto, CAN

EAGLE
Aug. 15-31, 2008 Nations Cup
Venue: England

Attending Nations:
USA
ENG
CAN
IRE

Via my Google Reader feed I read today about some interesting news about U19 players and the new ELV law changes. This is from Letchworth Girls' Rugby blog:

Thanks to Spike (from Swaffham) and Simon Shutler for pointing out the good news that sanity has prevailed in the RFU and that - in England at least - the ELVs concerning the maul will NOT be adopted in U19 rugby, a decision which includes girls' rugby.

Note that all other ELVs will - at the moment anyway - still apply from next season.

It is easy to be critical of large organisations like the RFU, who can seem out of touch with the grassroots, but on this occasion that have been listening very carefully and are actually going out on a limb a bit by refusing to do what many other unions are going along with. As they point out, it could have some repercussions when it comes to youth internationals as we in England will be playing to different laws to everyone else, but it is good to see one organisation willing to put the grassroots ahead of the elite.

The RFU press release on the subject appears in full below.

• It has been demonstrated to be safe in the adult game;

• The results of trials currently taking place in South Africa have been properly analysed by the iRB with specific reference to the safety of pulling down the maul at all rugby played at U19 and below;

• Agreement has been reached on the safest method to pull down the maul and appropriate coaching techniques have been developed.

• Sufficient time is allowed for the safest method and the appropriate coaching techniques to be communicated to all those involved in rugby at U19 level and below.

The RFU will now discuss the issues that may arise with age grade cross-border competitions where other Unions are trialling ELV 2 & 3 with the IRB and affected Unions. However, the interests of young players and the safety concerns expressed by the game will take precedence.

RFU Chief Executive Francis Baron OBE said: "We have received a large number of letters from the youth game expressing serious concerns over the introduction of some of the ELVs in the youth game.

"It is established practice that Unions can apply variations to the Laws at youth level and many Unions exercise their rights in this respect. The RFU intends to exercise its rights in respect of the ELVs of concern to us and the game in England following discussion with the IRB and other affected Unions."

I have been holding out on announcing the good news, but I can't hold out any longer! I am officially 7 days into my release to play rugby again! I had my last visit with the surgeon, PT and then did some functional testing yesterday so I could get a baseline of where I am exactly.

*Aren't baby turtles so cute? I imagine them when I think about being released to test the dark, deep world of rugby (ocean) again! So much possibility but a small amount of fear as well!

The surgeon remarked over and over how I have been ahead of the curve the whole time and that he was so impressed with my work ethic and motivation that he couldn't hold me back anymore. So he gave me my initial release last week, but said that if I failed the functional testing that we would have to talk about taking back the release.

So yesterday I went over to Sportscenter here in Austin and did some pretty intensive testing to see how strong the knee and surrounding muscles are. The testing started with the typical measurements where they make sure you have the same flexion as the good knee and I matched perfectly on that. Then she did the drawer test where they basically yank on the ACL to see if it tears out of place, always uncomfortable...but the knee stayed in place!

Then we moved out into the gym where she tested my hip strength, quad, hamstring and general fitness. The hip strength is important because they are what keeps the knee and thigh in line if a blow does occur...if you have weak hips you are not as protected as you could be. For the quad and hamstring tests I did a simple stress test where you do squats with an assisted machine and the weight starts out at 55 and then goes down by 10 pounds. The idea here is to stress the muscles surrounding the knee as you are trying to asses at what point the fatigue of the muscles kick in. 5 reps on each leg (including the good knee) and the weight goes down 10pds each time.

She was surprised at how well I did on this test as I made it down to the 10 pd plate and was almost able to do that last set but my squat form was fading and it was getting dangerous to continue. I feel like I could have mustered that last set of 3, but thought I had better listen to the professional. After this she put me on the treadmill and had me warm up for a few minutes, and then made me do a hard run for four minutes. Again this is a small stress test where I have just done a ton of squats and am required to run...when will the fatigue kick in? She said that my stride was strong and even and I made it the four minutes, so that was excellent.

So I passed 9 of the 10 tests that I was put through (you fail if you do not pass 5 of 10 tests) and so that is remarkable progress!! She gave me some really great tips of strengthening my hips (yea failed that test!) and gave me some great advice on weight training and the ACL joint in general. Overall I have a great baseline to work with and got some great advice from a true professional.

Note: Technically I failed three tests, but the other two were minimal fails. The PT spent hardly any time covering those issues as I was like a point from passing, so the PT and I considered those "passes" as well.

So I will be at West NASCs as a senior side player but have already been told by my coach to expect very little playing time as I am just coming off a major injury. I will also be attending NASCs as an athletic trainer for the West U23 teams, so look for blogs about the West teams next week.

This weekend I will be making my 2008 rugby debut at the Dallas 7s Debutante Ball Tournament in Ft. Worth, TX. Look foward to pictures, maybe video and thoughts on my debut next week as well.

For a quick review of my ACL injury, surgery, recovery, PT and more ACL talk than you can imagine, check out these posts that chronicle the past 5 months:
12/10/2007: Christmas Party, Oklahoma & my Anterior Cruciate Ligament
12/28/2007: My Offseason and the New Year
1/6/2008: Down for a few days...
1/18/2008: Doc Appt, Physical Therapy and Bruising...
2/14/2008: Maxing it Out
2/25/2008: ACL Update (*released to jog!)
4/1/2008: A Wendy Update
4/25/2008: Two STRONG Knees, what you got?

Karl Ohlsen also sent me this article about women athletes and ACL injuries, long article but totally worth the read! Thanks for passing that article on Karl, I read every word!

This rugby video has over 15,000 views and is a great representation of rugby and its beauty. The beauty of its players, the beauty of the game, movement and more...love it.

I'm not sure of all the teams, but it mainly seems to be England focused with them playing Wales, Scotland and a few other teams. It also seems to be a bit older of a video because their jerseys are plain white and very big in the sleeves. Nowadays most teams are moving toward the Canterbury jerseys which are super sweet looking and state of the art! (Did you know that USA Rugby just announced that they partnered with Canterbury as well?)

So check out the Video this week titled Rugby Video 5: