Your Scrumhalf Connection

The West U23 Local Area Union Tournament was this past weekend and it showcased the best of the best in the West Rugby Union. With only three unions participating this year, Texas Rugby Union (TRU), Eastern Rocky Rugby Football Union (ERRFU) and the Heart of America (HOA), the format was a bit different than in years past. Since this is mainly a selection venue, on Saturday all three teams played once and then on Sunday the West coaches split the teams up into motley sides. The West coaches in attendance were Angie Cranmore, Head Coach, Traci Schmitke, Fowards Coach and Wendy Young, Backs Coach.

The first match of the day on Saturday featured the hosts Texas against ERRFU. This match was very intense and incredibly close the whole 80 minutes. The ERRFU pack was incredibly mobile and Texas struggled with tackling and rucking in the beginning of the match. ERRFU was able to take advantage of this early in the match and put five points on the board. Katie Thompson, Rachel Ryan and Becca Knappe from ERRFU were unstoppable off the edge of the fringe, gaining meters on every run. During the second half the Texas backs, Kandis Ruiz, Autumn Murrill, KC Curl and Alex Davenport began to get clean ball and they showed their speed and evasive running to put 5 points on the board. Texas was able to hold ERRFU back from opening the gates and the score ended ERRFU 15 Texas 5. View the video below, or go here.

Texas Rugby Union vs Eastern Rocky Rugby Football Union – West U23 LAU Tournament from Scrumhalf Connection on Vimeo.

The second match of the day pitted the Heart of America vs the Eastern Rocky Rugby Football Union. ERRFU brought the most players of all the teams, so we got to see some fresh faces in this match. ERRFU scored very quickly at the beginning of the match off of a driving maul. But HOA had some great forward support and they were able to steal ERRFU ball and capitalize on it themselves. Towards the end of the first half, HOA’s inside center, Cari Squires, cherry picked a pass and 80 meters later put HOA on the board. HOA was able to put another score on the board in the second half, but ERRFU continued to score as well with three tries in the corner from Emma Parenteau to bring the final score to ERRFU 22 HOA 10. View the video below, or go here.

Heart of America vs Eastern Rocky Rugby Football Union – West U23 LAU Tournament from Scrumhalf Connection on Vimeo.

The last game on Saturday was voted as the match of the day by all. HOA took on Texas for a nail biter of a match. HOA got off to a quick start with two tries from Cari Squires and at half time the score was HOA 26 Texas 0. Texas finally responded at the start of the second half with big hits, runs and scores. The Texas backs were able to get fast ball often and were passing well and this resulted in several tries in a row. Not to be undone, the Texas forwards played smart in the red zone and were able to dot a few tries down as well. The final score of this match was Texas 51 HOA 26. Unfortunately the battery ran out in the camera and this game was not filmed.

Overall the weekend was a success and the level of rugby was the highest seen in the West in quite some time. With 81 girls attending, the West coaches will have a chore choosing players to bring to the Invitational only tryouts in late April or early May. After that the West coaches will need to pick the best 28 players to attend the 2010 National All Star Championships in June.

Hello,

It’s that time of the year to start thinking about spring rugby and the Texas Rugby Union (TRU) Under-23 Women’s Select Side Rugby Team.

Here are some FAQs:
What is the team? It is a group of players selected from women’s club, collegiate, and high school teams across Texas who want to have fun and learn more about rugby. This team also acts as a step toward making the West Under-23 Women’s Select Side Team. If you are interested in the West U-23 team, please fill out the attached form and turn it in at the tryouts.

Who is eligible for the team?
Players must by 22 years of age or younger on January 1, 2010 to be selected.

When are tryouts?
Tryouts will be held at the UT IM Fields (Located on the southeast corner of 51st and Guadalupe Streets) in Austin, Texas on January 30 and 31, 2010. This event is a 2 day tryout with Saturday running from 9 am to 4 pm and Sunday running from 9 am to 1 pm. The cost of the tryout is $10/player. Directions are at the following link – http://www.utrugby.com/resources/directions.htm.

Who should tryout?
EVERYONE!! We want as many people to tryout as possible. (Women’s club, college and high school players)

How many players are selected?
28 players will be selected for the team.

What is the commitment level?
Players must commit to tryouts (see above) and if selected, they need to commit to
- Warm-up Weekend in Austin, TX (Saturday, Feb 27 in the evening and Sunday, Feb 28 morning and afternoon) and
- LAU Under-23 Tournament in Austin, TX (Friday, March 5 – Sunday, March 7).

Why should I tryout for the team?
1) You are guaranteed to have fun
2) You’ll learn more about rugby
3) You’ll meet and play with girls from all over the state
4) The tournament is in TEXAS!!

Who should I contact about coming to tryouts or questions? Please email me (Traci Schmidtke) if you plan to attend tryouts or if your team is attending (the total number of players) and if you have any questions/concerns.

Hope to see you there!!

Traci Schmidtke
Head Coach, TRU U-23 Women’s Team

The 2009 U19 Invitational National All Star Championships will be held at Mills Pond Park in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on November 21-22. This year’s tournament will coincide with the USA vs. Uruguay Rugby World Cup Qualifier and will feature Under-19 All-Star Teams from the South, West, Northeast, Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, Pacific and Southern California, and plus a U-20 Developmental squad to round out the competition.

This year’s U-19 INASC takes on even more importance to the U-20 program as there is limited time to select for the upcoming Women’s Under-20 National Team game against Canada on January 16.

I haven’t been able to find the U19 NASC schedule on USA Rugby or anywhere else, so I put as much information as I could below. I will be in attendance with the West team as their trainer and will be sending in live scores etc via Twitter, Facebook and on the blog. I also posted the rosters I could find…if you have more info, please feel free to shoot me an email at wendy@scrumhalfconnection.com.

West Team
1 Collen Carey Univ of Colorado
2 Rosa Foth Summit Tigers
3 Rachael Ryan Univ of Wyoming
4 Wendy Sherman Colorado State
5 Sierra F-Smith Western State College
6 Kayla Hammond Univ of New Mexico
7 Catherine Scanlan Univ of Colorado
8 Mack Lewis Mesa State College
9 Haley Anderson Summit Tigers
10 Maddie Glainyck Univ of New Mexico
11 Jessica Garriott Univ of Northern Colorado
12 Lauren Danielsen Univ of Colorado
13 Kandis Ruiz Austin Valkaries
14 Kiana Curl Sam Houston
15 Jade McGluaghlinUniv of New Mexico
16 Abi Bundy At Large
17 Madison Williams Colorado State
18 Price Hannah Summit Tigers
19 Theresa Cameron Regis Jesuit
20 Kirby Forssell Air Force
21 Taylor Hobson Colorado State
22 Devyn Lane Colorado State
23 Brittney Inman Texas State

Northeast Team
Baylee Annis — Burlington
Joya Clark — Saratoga Mustangs
Katie Hathaway — Norwich
Danielle McAvoy — Bowdoin
Corrine McElroy — Norwich
Kelcey Moreau — UMaine
Haile Thompson — Colby-Sawyer
Alicia Seda — Norwich
Isabel Furneaux — Burlington
Kyra Horne — Fairport High School
Maira Behrendt — NYRC
Katie Mathews — Bowdoin
Nellie Pitoniak — Middlebury
Uchechi Esonu –Bowdoin
Christine Aye –Norwich
Lauren Yang — Middlebury
Marlene Dwyer — Norwich
Paige Amidon — Syracuse
Caitlin Woulfe Pachecho – Middlebury
Nylea Bivins — Bowdoin
Jenna Watson — Albany WRFC

*Thanks to Brandon Sparks and Becca Fritz for this roster.

Under-20 Developmental Team
BrieAnna Barto            Summit, CO (Captain)
Tara Burke                   Fallbrook, CA
Alex Cooper               Summit, CO
Kelsey  Corbett            Noblesville, IN
Erin Davis                     Catholic Memorial, WI
Gina Deihl                    Hoke, NC
Sharron Gianessi           Army
Ashley  Graves             San Antonio, TX
Katie Humphreys          Kent, WA
Brianna Klein                Brookfield, WI
Annie Lee                     Army
Annie Lucas                 West Carroll, MD
Elizabeth McCracken   NOVA
JaShante Murchison      Hoke, NC
Kelsie Pace                  Augustana (SD)
Scostia Peterson           Army
Amee Svatos                Canby, OR
Brianna Troyer             West Carroll, MD
C.J. Turnerdrown         Utah State
Lane Wagner                Traverse City, MI

South Team
Victoria Albrecht, Bragg WRFC
Annie Bendgen, Jupiter
Kirsten Brynestad, Oak Ridge
Stephanie Burleson, Jupiter (Indian River)
Emily Chosewood, Brookwood
Amber Cook, Sebastian River
Elisa Cuellar, Sebastian River
Jamie Doone, Florida
Catherine Eichhorn, Maryville
Ali Frazier, Jupiter
Charlotte Garbisch, College of Charleston
Kyna Graham, Knoxville WRFC
Devin Hall, Jupiter
Chloe Harper, North Georgia
McKenzie Hawkins, Maryville
Tyler Head, College of Charleston
Christina Kellerman, Sebastian River
Amanda Martin, Sebastian River
Rachel McCroskey, Tennessee
Danielle Melton, Sumter WRFC
Danye O’Mahoney, Auburn
Shannon Phillips, Hoke County
Nicole Rackley, Hoke County
MaryAnn Reynolds, Auburn
Drew White, Oconee
Lona White, Brookwood

CURTAIN RAISER MATCH:
Florida U-20s vs. Georgia U-20s – KICK OFF 10:30 am (gates open at 9 am)

Can’t make it to the game?
USA Rugby will stream the match live from Broward County Regional Park, starting at 2 pm (EST). Please visit http://www.ustream.tv/channel/usa-rugby to watch the USA take on Uruguay to qualify for the Rugby World Cup 2011.

Still need a place to stay?
Thanks to the Fort Lauderdale Rugby Club, USA fans can save on hotel rates for the RWC qualfier weekend. Please contact Peter Dobson with Scots-American Travel Advisors at 772.563.2856 to book your room at these great local establishments:

MORE RUGBY during the RWC QUALIFIER WEEKEND:
2009 Under-19 Women’s Territorial Championship
November 21-22, 2009
Saturday (11/21): 9:30 am – 12:30 pm
Sunday (11/22): 9 am – 12:30 pm

MILLS POND PARK
2201 NW 9th Ave (POWER LINE ROAD)
Ft Lauderdale, FL 33311

from Bowdoin Athletics:

BRUNSWICK, Maine – Four Bowdoin College women’s rugby players have been selected to the Northeast Rugby Union’s U-19 All-Star team. Nylea Bivins, Uchechi Esonu, Katie Mathews and Dani McAvoy have all been chosen for the squad, which will compete in the USA Rugby National All-Star Championship on November 21-22 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The players were selected after advancing through a tryout in Albany, N.Y. on October 11. The Northeast Rugby Union is made up of high school and college teams from the New England and New York. The tournament in Florida includes the six other territories in the U.S. (South, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, West, Southwest and Pacific).

Bivins plays at prop, Esonu at flanker, Mathews at flyhalf and McAvoy at hooker for the Polar Bears, who finished 7-2 last fall and won the New England Rugby Football Union’s Plate Division championship.