Your Scrumhalf Connection - Women's Rugby Blog

From my inbox:

It's news we've all been waiting for for years - decades in some cases:

All teams will play on brand new fields at the NY 7s this year!

That's right...every field at this year's NY 7s will be either newly laid sod or artificial turf....so don't miss out! REGISTER TODAY!

You can see some of the field development progress here.

And you can see all of the details about the 50TH ANNUAL NY 7s here, the tournment is on Nov 29, 2008 this year.

Come to the 50th Annual NY 7s - great rugby and fun...and this year on great fields!

Jessa Giordano
Director, NY 7s

For a listing of 2008-2009 Tournaments, go here.

Since USA Rugby is releasing more and more information, I thought I would do updates of their press releases all lumped together. It won't be every week that I post, but if I get four or five interesting stories, they will get thrown up here for your viewing pleasure!

• Apply for the 2009 National Guard Kit Program Online NOW!
  
  USA Rugby is now accepting applications from interested college and high school clubs online at National Guard Kit Application. Interested teams will need to have their local recruiter’s contact information, RSID # (unique recruiter number) and their shipping address. You can find this information by calling 1-800-GO-GUARD and asking to speak to your local recruiter about being involved in the National Guard Rugby Kit Program.
  
  For more information USA Rugby’s partnership with the National Guard and to find out more about the National Guard High School and College Kit Program, contact Kyle Judah.
  
  
• USA Rugby Extends National Guard Partnership
  BOULDER, Colo. (November 12, 2008) – USA Rugby officially announced the extension of its partnership agreement with the Army National Guard for 2009. This expanded alliance includes remaining the title partner of five key USA Rugby National Championship events and prominent exposure at 20 large scale events, as well as a wealth of additional opportunities to enhance the partnership.
  
  “The National Guard partnership continues to build upon the foundation of rugby here in the United States, allowing players and coaches to become better in their sport and in their communities. This program will have a great impact at the high school, and especially the collegiate levels of USA Rugby, putting jerseys on 12,500 players and helping grow the sport at the grassroots level. We are a proud partner of USA Rugby in their mission to create better leaders with the strength of character and mental toughness that embodies the tenets of the National Guard,” said Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Day of the National Guard.
  
  
• 2008 USA Rugby Award Winners Honored in Salt Lake City
  SALT LAKE CITY - The winners of World Rugby Shop’s 2008 USA Rugby Coach of the Year, Men’s Player of the Year and Women’s Player of the Year were honored last weekend during halftime of the USA Eagles/Uruguay match at Rio Tinto Stadium.
  
  Presented by World Rugby Shop, the USA Rugby Awards were meant to recognize volunteers, coaches and players that help ‘Inspire America to Fall in Love with Rugby’ everyday. While performance on the pitch was a factor in the decision making process, other qualities like dedication, sacrifice, and giving back to the game of rugby in the U.S. were paramount in deciding the winners of these awards.
  
  “Nigel Melville and Dave Voth had the foresight to bring this project to us and we’re delighted that they did,” World Rugby Shop CEO Bernard Frei said. “It is an honor to be involved. When you consider that over 300 different players and coaches were nominated for the USA Rugby awards it makes you appreciate just how special Christy, John and Todd are. These are the best of the best and it is a privilege to be involved in recognizing them.”
  
  USA Rugby’s CEO and President of Operations, Nigel Melville agreed, adding, “I don't usually get excited about awards, as there are so many people that do such wonderful things across the game, singling out one or two people is always a challenge. On this occasion though, the awards went to three people who make a tremendous commitment to the game of rugby in their particular field. John, Christy and Todd accept their awards on behalf of all those who make such a valuable contribution to the game and it is well deserved.”
  
  2008 USA Rugby Coach of the Year
  John “Chin” Klein was the recipient of this year’s award for his outstanding performance on and off the field. As coach of the Divine Savior Holy Angels High School Girls team in Milwaukee, Wisc., John has been with the team for over 11 years and has brought home five national titles in that time. In addition to his on field exploits, he has managed to serve as an outstanding role model and mentor for all of the players on his team.
  
  2008 USA Rugby Men’s Player of the Year
  Todd Clever received this year’s award for his remarkable efforts in captaining and representing his country. The 2008 award winner started playing rugby when he was 14 years old and most recently has been playing for both the USA National 15s and Sevens Team. Todd has consistently proven himself to be one of the most outstanding Eagles players. In addition to captaining the Eagles, Todd has recently signed a professional contract for the Xerox Lions in South Africa. His remarkable on-field achievements coupled with his dedication to and leadership of the USA national team has earned him this well deserved honor.
  
  2008 USA Rugby Women’s Player of the Year
  Christy McFarland, formerly Stelzer until her recent marriage, is this year’s winner and a perfect example of the dedication and honor of the game that these awards sought to identify and reward. A graduate of Illinois State University, Christy recently captained the team on the field as an all-star player and was president of the team off the field. Her commitment to her team and the game as a whole won her accolades from coaches, players and administrators from across the country.
  
  For the full listing of finalists, go here.

Thanks to everyone for all of the submissions! I am working to improve the organization and format of the forms, so stay tuned for more improvements! Please let me know if you think of any changes, ideas etc, I am open to learn and adapt to make this better for everyone.

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There have been about 25 scores submitted and 4 tournaments...lets keep building the list, spread the word to your teammates, opponents, coaches etc.

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More Men's rugby on the Internets this week...make sure to check out these recent videos:

Bahama 7s Qualifier (some women's rugby available)

USA vs Munster

USA vs Uruguay

USA vs Japan to be broadcast on November 16 and 22, 2008
(Click on the download Octoshape link. This will download and run the Octoshape viewing software. Once you have run Octoshape, refresh the display to view the webcast. There is no charge.)

Hopefully this will only mean that more Women's matches will be broadcast or played on American soil as well. The initiative for the advancement of rugby in the US is excellent, but the disregard for equality when it comes to Women's rugby is quite disappointing.

Just received this in my inbox and thought it was interesting. I have posted about the ELVs (Experimental Law Variations) quite a few times, click here if you would like to view the IRB video explanations here and I also posted some funny excerpts by other bloggers and a correction from USA Rugby regarding the laws here.

NOTE: You may be contacted unless you OPT-OUT below using their form! So don't fill anything out and you may be contacted to take part in the survey.

Dear USA Rugby Members,

As a valued member of our Union, I would like to offer you the opportunity to take part in an important research study being conducted by the IRB into attitudes toward the Experimental Law Variations (ELVs), which are currently being trialed.

The study is being conducted across 14 individual unions worldwide. The objective of the study is to gather the opinions of players, coaches and officials on the ELVs. The findings from this study will feed directly into the IRB’s review of the ELVs in early 2009.

For the purposes of this study the research is being conducted by TNS mrbi, an independent market research based in Dublin, Ireland. The TNS group has a strong track record in providing valuable research for many of the world’s leading sports organizations, including The Premiership (in the UK), UEFA and FIFA.

You may be selected to take part, and if contacted, USA Rugby would very much appreciate if you participated. The research will involve an online survey that will take approximately 10 minutes to fill out at a time and place convenient to you. The views of each individual taking part in the study will be merged with the views of all other respondents in a final report – individual views will be maintained as absolutely confidential. The survey therefore represents an ideal opportunity for you to express your views, in the knowledge that your identity will never be disclosed.

Should you wish to opt-out from being contacted for this survey, please click here to have your information removed from the pool of participants by Monday, November 17. Your name will then be removed from any list that will be forwarded onto the research agency to take part in this study.

As with all TNS mrbi research, this study will be conducted in accordance with the Code of Conduct of ESOMAR, the World Association of Opinion and Market Research Professionals. You will only be contacted to take part in this specific study and will not be contacted again by TNS mrbi in relation to any other studies without the prior agreement from our organization. Please feel free to view USA Rugby’s complete Privacy Policy.

Many thanks in anticipation and kindest regards,
Kristin Richeimer
Director, Membership Relations

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