Your Scrumhalf Connection - Women's Rugby Blog

Sorry the blogging has been in short order recently...work has been heating up with the next Fight Nite and life just keeps getting in the way!

A few exciting things that have happened this weekend and today:

ROBOSAURUS! The Alamo Drafthouse is premiering Transformers tonight and they brought in this awesome mechanical contraption. He is a 40 ft tall, 50,000 pd, fire-breathing robot/dinosaur that travels all over country. You would most likely see him at monster truck rallies, but TODAY he was in my gym's parking lot. They had blocked off like half the parking lot and were running tests of his sound systems, lights, fire, hydraulics etc all morning. The real show is tonight at 8:45pm and I am thinking of going to see it...the only thing I didn't get to see was the robosaurus crush cars. Check out this video:


In other news, the rain has ceased for a few days! But it looks like it is going to start up again tonight and go for a few days. I did end up taking Jake to the dog park (Auditorium Shores) and the water was VERY high. There were a few dog owners that were letting their dogs go in the water, but I didn't let Jake go in. Some of the dog owners talked about seeing more snakes around the water, but didn't seemed concerned. RIGHT, all I needed was Jake to get bit by a water moccasin.

If you look at the pic to the right, you can see the normal level that the water at Town Lake is usually at, imagine it about 3 feet higher on the pillar and actually having white caps it is moving so quickly.

Alright, time for some rugby:

The Austin Valkyries are hosting a Rookie/Collegiate camp on September 1st, 2007. The camp will be from 10am to 4pm and we will be showing a Tri-Nations match at our favorite rugby sports grill here in Austin. We have 5 veteran players from the Austin Valkyries running the camp, two forwards, two backs and a scrumhalf. Combined these players boast over 30 years of rugby experience. Email Wendy at scooterwe@gmail.com if you or your team is interested.

Summer 7s is in full swing all over the nation, check out my posts from last week for tournaments around TX, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Austin hasn't started our touch league yet, but I can't wait! We play out at Burr Field and it is every Thursday night. Touch as we all know is a sensitive topic. Some players absolutely hate it and even refuse to play it. Some players love every minute of it and wish the WHOLE practice was touch. I fluctuate between the two extremes, touch can go sour for me if there is no mediator (referee) and we are reffing ourselves. It seems to get out of hand quickly if there is no one with a whistle, the tag turns into "momentum" and players start reffing themselves. However, when touch is flowing and everyone is in a good mood, it can really be some rugby magic.

I have also started working on the Fall Schedule for the Valkyries and it is shaping up to be pretty awesome. So far we are traveling to Colorado and St. Louis for our league matches and we are hosting Sweet 16s here in Austin. For the social side of the season we are traveling to Houston for a round-robin and playing Texas A&M as well. Should be a great fall season.

I think that's it for me, I should have some 7s tournament write ups coming in over the week and I will post them as soon as I get them.

Umm, so its still raining. It hasn't stopped raining for like two weeks. And they are predicting rain until like next week, like NEXT SATURDAY! This is crazy! I went on weather.com to get a synopsis, and they provided me with this great graphic. WOW, could have figured that out on my own!

So it seems that the National Guard has been activated, the firefighters and police department are all on heightened alert.

Yesterday I drove by Town Lake the main river in Austin and it was HIGH and MOVING. I have never seen it this high, nor moving that fast. I can just imagine all the little kayaker's flying by...ha, I doubt they are letting anyone kayak now!

So I was thinking of taking Jake to the dog park today, because he is going berserk from being inside the house so much...but decided against it. What if he tries to swim, he loves the water SO much and drowns? I would be devastated and surely chastised for being a bad dog owner. So I will try to play with him in the front yard when the sun occasionally peeks out.

Whew. Maybe I should have bought an umbrella, I still don't own one.

Rookie/Collegiate Clinic - Hosted by Austin Valkyries

Cost is being determined as we speak. We are thinking about showing a Tri-nations rugby game or some sort of game at our favorite rugby sports bar/grill after the camp.

Sept 1, 2007 - Camp will be from 10am to 6pm. Camp will be held at Burnett Middle School.

All rugby basics will be covered including rucking, mauling, tackling, evasive running, scrumming, kicking and more.

Have special request? Have a new prop? Scrumhalf that needs additional training? Ask away!

A veteran? But just want to get started early on the fall season? Come on down!!

We would like to have your club play in the Sneath Cup 7s. As you may know we are hosting one of the three Mens WRFU 7s Super Regional Qualifiers, Mens Social & Womens Club Brackets, Youth Division.

Saturday July 7, 2007.

So far Aspen, Dallas Fort Worth Elite, Kansas City Blues, Olympic Club (San Fran), Queen City, Santa Fe, The South RFU and the Barbos 2 competitive sides have expressed interest in attending.

Last year we had Dallas Elite, Kansas City United, O Club, Sante Fe, Shreveport and ourselves as well as some local clubs in the tourney. The Qualifier bracket is a small (8 to 12 teams) but competitive event, 5 weeks before the National Club 7s.

Two years ago we had a Women's bracket. We were not able to attract a Women's group last year but would like to again.

Pitch size is 2 dedicated rugby fields with full dimensions and Goal posts

Howard Kent (303) 620-9913 nhil@earthlink.net
Manager/Asst. Coach Denver Barbarians RFC 7s

For travel contact Travel Corp, Jim Bob Glabman 303 595-0007 or 800-222-9229

What: July 14th and 15th, Columbia Olde Grey Rugby will be hosting the “Lucky 7’s Rugby Tournament.” The Tournament will consist of 4 divisions.
1. Men’s Divisions 2. Women’s Division 3. U-19 Boys Division 4. U-19 Women’s Division

I promise you this will be the best 7’s tournament of the summer. The number of teams is limited, so contact us early if you want to guarantee a slot.
Contact Info: oldgreyrugby@yahoo.com

Where: Owen’s Fields, Columbia, SC
When: July 14th and July 15th
Cost: Men’s and Women’s Divisions
$150 if paid before
July 1st $250 if paid after July 1st
Boy and Girls Under 19 Divisions
$100 if paid before July 1st.
$150 if paid before July 1st.

July 21 - July 22, 2007
Location: Blue River Soccer Complex-South Kansas City, Missouri
122nd & Blue River Road

Entry Fee checks:
Bank of Odessa
Attention: Ken Coleman
PO Box 200
Odessa, MO 64076

Melissa McKibben MMCKIBBEN@cerner.com

July 21, 2007

Tracy Curtis tcurtis@ou.edu

This year's theme is: Super heroes and villains! Start putting your costumes together and brainstorming your skit ideas!

Congratulations to the Northeast Senior 7's and the Olde Girls for winning the competitive and social divisions in last year's tournament!

In order to help improve our tournament for next year, please click here to take our survey. Thank you in advance for your input.

Any questions or comments about the Cape Cod 7s Tournament, please contact Jenn Jones @ nurugger21@comcast.net

July 28, 2007

Men's and Women's Beach Rugby on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Barefoot, on the sand, free beer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For More Information
www.corpuschristirugby.org
Randall Stuart, Tournament Director/Club Secretary
361-443-9683
restuart@hotmail.com

www.myspace.com/ccrfc
www.myspace.com/randystuart

July 28, 2007

Kim Thompson thommie68@gmail.com

"If Elvis is a King, then Priscilla is a QUEEN!!!"

August 4, 2007
10am-4pm
treasurer@memphiswomensrugby.com

$150 Club and College Teams
$100 High School Teams

Entry Deadline July 20th

Carmen Mills, Tournament Director

August 11, 2007

Karen Monson kmonson2004@yahoo.com

Wendy,

Got to your blog from someone linking to ours. I'm from Texas, so the Valkyries caught my eye.

Quick question: do you have any teammates insane for Fair Trade coffee there in Austin? If so, they might be interested to know we have the first eco-friendly rugby ball in the States that is also certified Fair Trade.

http://fairtradesports.com/gearshop/product_info.php/cPath/24/products_id/36

Would you mind passing this email off to them?

Scott James
Website: www.fairtradesports.com
MySpace: www.myspace.com/fairtradesports

Fair Trade Sports is your source for premium quality sports balls that help at-risk children around the world. 100% after-tax profits go to children's charities.

All our sports balls are certified to be stitched by adult workers paid fair wages and ensured healthy working conditions. We offer guilt-free soccer balls, rugby balls, volleyballs, and more. Together, we can break this cycle of poverty and oppression.

Join the Movement! Subscribe by sending mail to:
subscribe@fairtradesports.com.

If you haven't checked out Dropkick Photos recently....you should!! Check out these great shots of ME! They did a great job of taking successive photos of the action. The NASC photos are particularly good, but they have TONS of other rugby pictures.

Bloodfest 7s - June 23, 2007

1st Place: Baton Rouge
2nd Place: Denton
3rd Place: Texas Tech/Corpus Christi Motley
4th Place: Satiated Beavers
5th Place: Olde Girl Valks*

*Olde Girl Valks only chose to play 2 games and were undefeated on the day.

The tournament was a great success with over 30 men's teams and 5 women's teams. The day rose with cloud cover, a breeze and the occasional rain shower to cool us down. The women were thankful to be on the center pitch and in the midst of all the action. The games were every thirty minutes or so and were a fury! We saw much speed from all teams, with many LONG LONG runs and my best three were: Jen Joyce muscling her way through 50 meters and then breaking free for the diving try..., Heidi Whitman faking the kick on the weak side of the scrum and leaving all her pursuers in the dust and last but not least the fast girl from the Corpus Christi team (sorry, don't know your name!!). She left everyone in her dust all day!

I enjoyed seeing old teammates from Oklahoma, Colorado and hanging out with some of the retired Valkyries. Thanks to the Huns for putting on a very successful tournament with Miller Lite girls, Rugby Olympics and more!

Day 6 ... according to Burns "3rd Degree" Chamberlain
Long Beach, California

So the day began with a stroll to the coffee shop and taqueria for breakfast. We met a very helpful woman at the donut shop, who advised us on the best route to the beach, good restaurants, stain removal, and a general treatise on life. We were rescued by delicious tacos, SoCal style. Suitably fortified we made our way to the beach.

At the beach we decided it was time for a bit of a workout and used my stopwatch to strictly regulate turning every 20 minutes while suntanning. [As an aside, I want to point out that Austin gets a lot of sun. All of the Beavers understand sun safety and know to apply sunscreen often. Somehow, this did not prevent every single Beaver from getting sunburned. Some were worse than others, however, there is no excuse and in 25 years we’ll all be cursing this day at the beach.] We also played in the water, ran, and worked on a few snazzy sevens moves.

After a couple of hours Beaver tummies were rumbling, so we walked to George’s Greek Café for a late lunch. What felt like seven hours later, we left, having enjoyed mimosas (including a tasty pink lemonade version), Greek food and some very garlicky hummus. Such was the strength of this hummus that it spawned a new secret weapon to take to Belmont; winning scrums with garlic breath. By the time we finished, we had to hustle back to Miller’s to get ready for the game and hustle back down to the beach for our seaside match.

Meeting Belmont at the beach, we decided to warm up with some touch, playing with three rotating sides to ensure everyone’s participation. From there we moved on to proper sevens, with one critical addition to our side: Ros’s chosen accessory of stick-on mustaches. Super Beaver powers now firmly attached to our upper lips, we were ready to play Belmont for keeps. While we didn’t win, we played solid sevens, building on our experiences in Vegas and improving markedly. Belmont fielded a strong side that adopted the strategy of playing fifteens, thus tying up our forwards and creating much more work for everyone. Never fear though, this strategy was noted as a heinous crime at that evening’s Beaver Court…

Court was held at the Belmont Brewing Company, where the Belmont ladies graciously hosted us, i.e., provided “gallons of beer the color of tires.” The beer and food were excellent and fortified for a lengthy Court, featuring some 436 different charges, the wise and honorable Judge Krafty presiding (pink hat firmly in place), 749 punishments, and Belmont singing to us for their unpardonable offense.

Leaving the Brewery, we headed for Yankee Doodles, where we hit the trifecta: alcohol, trivia, and most importantly, karaoke! After a strong showing in the trivia, where the Beavers swept the Landsharks, it was time to sing. Ros led the way with the crowd favorite “Zombie” and was joined by T-Hole for a performance of their Nashville hit “I’m Too Sexy.” It was spectacular. Rocky roused everyone with “I Will Survive” before PhB and Beef closed out the night with their stirring rendition of “Sister Christian.”

After this much excitement, a few Beavers couldn’t head home yet, so PhB, T-Hole, Shay, Shaleezy and I headed for Ripples (though I still think it was called Ruffles), only to discover that it, and every other possible venue had closed, except for the Shorehouse Café, a 24-hour diner. It wasn’t until we arrived, were seated and given water that we realized none of us were hungry. We briefly debated the merits of splitting a $1.45 egg five ways, but (thankfully) left instead.

We arrived back at Miller’s and headed for bed, still sweaty, sandy and gross, but now dreaming of the beaches in San Diego…

And that is Day 6 according to 3rd Degree.

Day 7 ... according to Tiffany "T-Hole" Hall
Long Beach to San Diego

I awoke this morning on two ottomans pushed together to form my bed, both of which were covered in sand from my dirty post-rugby-on-the-beach-sans-shower self. Unlike yesterday, the parrot in the corner did not wake me up at 6:00 am rubbing one out on its post, so things were looking up. I brushed the sand out of my eyes and gave myself a quick once over, only to discover two quotes from the previous evening written on my arms. “I drank a gallon of beer the color of tires” from our illustrious PhB, and “They smell good like laundry detergent” from karaoke master Chou. Good times.

Eventually the Beavers showered, packed and bid their most generous hostesses farewell and loaded up on da bus. We had a couple crankmeisters for a minute, exclaiming things like “I haven’t even had breakfast yet I don’t wanna do no trivia!” (Kitty) and “UNGH did anyone move my emory boards?!?” (Krafters), but we soon arrived at Seal Beach and had a wonderful breakfast of delicious Mexican tasties and local coffee drinks and we perked right up. Some of us had to forego beans and rice for a blander meal of yogurt and bananas as, while playing 7s is great, going #7 is not. We had a picnic in the grass and enjoyed Seal Beach, which we discovered is not so named for having dead seals. Sorry, Rock. The Beavers split up, checking out various shoppes and fulfilling kangaroo court punishments and even racking up another heinous crime or two, before getting on the road to head south. San Diego here we come.

The drive was beautiful as it was short and we arrived in the sunny seaside city in no time at all. Upon arrival at the home of missing and greatly missed Beaver Daikon’s mother Kristin we got one of the best gifts so far – orange cones marking out a parking spot for da bus. Thank you Kristin!! Some relaxed around the pool, some sat and chatted in the shade, but the majority of the Beavs set up Apple camp in the serenity room, checking e-mails and bank accounts with as though they hadn’t been satiated for days. When the internet phenomenon had died down it was time to eat, so veggie grill master Ros prepared the burgers and dogs and only one Beaver was given a bunless, floppy weenie. Not bad.

This particular Beav then went to dinner with a fellow rugger from college and has no idea what went on with everyone else. As for me, the beers and times and Karen were all great. We reconnoitered around nine and put on the closest thing we had to dress blacks including fingernail polish and eye make-up courtesy of Rocky and prepared ourselves for the Summer Solstice Gathering with the Circle of the Stag Huntress at the Hot Monkey Love Café. Holy mouthful. While waiting for the ceremony some Beavers got their fortunes told, some drank big beers in the Bermuda Triangle behind the bus, and we all took a field trip to a Mexican-owned Irish pub that played reggae music. We were all sporting our day’s accessory, candy necklaces from Shalinka, and some of our fellow bar patrons were quite intrigued. We made our way back to the H.M.L.C. just in time for a very quick Wiccan solstice ceremony, piled back on da bus and went home. Some Beavers slept in the house, some Beavers slept on the bus, and some Beavers went wee wee wee all the way to the beach to watch the sunrise over the beautiful ocean. In the west. God bless them.

And that is Day 7 according to T-Hole.

Day 8-10 ... according to Tiffany "T-Hole" Hall
Long Beach to San Diego

According to Wendy (until the beavs update the website...)

The beavers started the long trek back to Austin from Tucson today. They arrived on Sunday morning around 9am exhausted, dirty and glad to be home safely. Kitty in all her sunburnt exhaustion joined us at breakfast at Austin Java to give us a few tales. We enjoyed stories of exhaust (ooops...engine) throat, sleeping on the bus, the rugby games and more.

Later as we returned home we met up with another exhausted beaver. Shalay was at home on the couch catching up on all her tivo'ed shows. She was excited to tell us about a few things in Vegas, California and more.

But as we all know, what happens on tour, stays on tour...we didn't get an inside scoop at all! Glad you all are back home safe and sound. I just got an email from the Swedish ref that did the Deb Ball for us and he suggested we take a tour in Sweden his home town. Wouldn't that be a blast?? An overseas beaver tour...we would have to get a bus over there though...

Day 5 ... according to Stephanie "Kitty" Dorsey
Las Vegas to Long Beach, Califas

What up! Here is Monday, Day 5 coming at you! While most Americans were starting their work week the Beavers were either still in bed or pool side sipping Bloody Marys. Around noon we packed up our kits and gifts for the Da Bus and rolled outta Vegas. Our ride to Cali would be a scorcher, good thing it was a short drive. When Shalay announced that we would be passing the world's largest thermometer (fulfilling one of her punishments from Kangaroo court) it read a cool 105 degrees. Once we made it out of the desert and into the coastal plains, it was as if Da Bus's A/C had turned on. The Beavers started to move around a bit more and you could fill the excitement of being in a new cooler state.

With several stops, including one at Peggy Sue's for lunch, we arrived in Long Beach for our poolside BBQ hosted by the Belmont Shore Landsharks. It was my turn to give out the accessories and in true LBC fashion I had gold chains with a big $ sign for my fellow beavers. After friendly convo, burgers, chicken sausage, and beers we headed over to Miller's where most of the beavers would be staying. Linda Miller is one of the Belmont Shore coaches and was also one of the first women to play rugby overseas representing the U.S. of A! Miller and Grace were awesome hosts. They put most of the Beavs in their back house next to their 1920's crib that was about a mile from the beach. A couple of the other beavers stayed with Beef, Amy, and Brie who were equally amazing hosts. Beef and Chou Beaver were teammates in Florida so they got to catch up on the good ol' days.

After we dropped our kits we walked down to 2nd street, the main drag in the LBC. Accompanied by a few Landsharks, our first stop was Panama Joe's. In true Beaver fashion we quickly took over the local bar which included a cover band. The drinks flowed and the Beavers started shaking their tails! Many of the locals, especially the ladies, seemed intrigued by the beaver take over. We did look pretty pimp in our matching beaver shirts, visors, and gold chains. Before leaving Joe's we walked it out, got a free round of shots from The Moose, and danced with some of the local ladies. Our next stop in the LBC was Belmont Station. We headed straight to the dance floor and tore that shit up! T-Hole even danced it up with an older gal when her husband refused to step on the dance floor. Last call was quickly announced and the Beavers headed to the front door. All of the sudden...dun dun duuun a fight broke out! From what I could see there were three ladies involved which included plenty of grabbing and hair pulling. As the Beavers witnessed the throw down they all had different reactions. T-Hole and Touche clung to each other, Bags threw her donuts, and Rocky headed straight for the action. Rocky, with her Gucci bag intact, broke up the fight by grabbing one of the girls from behind and threw her to the ground. A few moments later a second fight had started and this time it was 3rd Degree who stepped in to break it up. Thank goodness the amazing Beavers of the 512 were there to save the day! Still a little thirsty and with some dance left in us we looked for a third place to party but we were out of luck. On our way back to Miller's the free shots and other spirits of the night had gone straight to our beaver bladders. We scattered into a neighborhood where some of us leaned against cars and the side of houses and peed in unison. Feeling much lighter we finished our stroll to Miller's and headed to bed.

And that is Day 5 according to Kitty.

From USA RUGBY (info given to All Star Players at NASC):

Dear Coaches and Players,

In the interest of advancement of player performances, a Territorial Season must take place in the following year, 2008. As the 2007 TU Season was a trial period, a competitive schedule was created to allow Territorial players/coaches a better opportunity to work together to furthur skills, knowledge and performance at the next level.

We are presenting this in advance so as to prepare clubs for the initiation for this TU season. You will notice the season actually beings in April so strict club play is still available during the first 3 months in the year (Jan, Feb, Mar).

The following is the schedule for the 2008 Territorial Season. The TU coaches will be working hard to identify and train elite level athletes in their territories as this is increased level of competition is crucial to the development of the National Team player pool.

Included in this schedule is the introduction of the North American 4 (NA4) competition for women, a cross border competition with Canada. This venue will provide the next step in the elite player performance development. Though not ideal due to the August time frame, the competition dates have already scheduled for 2007. However it is WNT program goal to hold this event in a June/July time frame in successive years.

*Any date changes subject to both TU coaches approval.

April 5, 6 or April 12, 13, 2007 OPTIONAL
Selection/Training Venue

Sun April 27, 2008
West vs. Midwest HOME

Sun May 11, 2008
West vs. MARFU AWAY

Sun May 25, 2008 HOME
West vs. South

Aug 19-29, 2007
NA4 FOR WOMEN (2 USA sides vs. 2 CAN sides)

I have been searching around for the other teams schedules, but can't find anything on the internet. Hopefully everyone's schedules will be released soon. I am assuming that they fall on the same weekends, but different teams will be playing. Pretty different, we shall see how it works...

Anyone know where HOME is for the West? Glendale? Kansas City? St Louis? Austin? Boulder? Who knows!!

And thanks to all my readers, we broke 7,000 LAST WEEK and today we have broke 8,000. I would love some feedback on my blog...not many of you are commentors!!