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Using rugby to help young Africans win

Wendy Young — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:04:40 +0000

Gainline Africa is a Canadian sports for development organization that uses the power of rugby as a vehicle for development in Africa’s post-conflict communities. Gainline was founded by a small group of rugby players who experienced positive benefits playing the game they love. From these beginnings, Gainline believes rugby is a non-intrusive, efficient and cost-effective tool to assess and address many social and developmental issues that arise in post-conflict communities.

Today, Gainline is a completely volunteer-driven organization made up of rugby and non-rugby players who believe that their work can make a powerful difference. Cross the gainline and make difference with Gainline Africa.

OUR MISSION

RAISE AWARENESS of international issues affecting rugby communities.
INSPIRE Canadians to contribute to partner developing African rugby communities.
IMPROVE LIVES & EMPOWER YOUTH through rugby.

Want to learn more about the people behind Gainline Africa and how it started? Go here.

Wendy Young

Editor of Your Scrumhalf Connection. Passionate Rugger since 2001.

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Aggie Women looking for a comeback!

Grant Cole — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:20:04 +0000

It was a rough fall semester for the Texas A&M University Women’s Rugby Club. Losses of 22-10 to Texas and 29-15 to Texas Tech were close, hard-hitting matches in which the Lady Ags just could not find a rhythm that could overcome the motivation and numbers of their opposition.

(left to right) Barbie Blair, Jo Lisa Hargrove, Amanda Eddie Mikeska, Linsey Ed Wojtasczyk and Carla Jo Ehlinger.

Linsey Wotjasczyk, club president and flyhalf, thinks this semester will be different. As a team, these ladies have set team and individual goals and assigned accountability for accomplishment – fitness and on-field basics taking priority. These goals and their corresponding accountability have put purpose behind the team’s practices that was not present in the fall.

An extra recruiting push has helped the team, as well. Wotjasczyk reported an e-mail inbox with questions from parents of the students they’ve recruited about the seriousness of the A&M Women’s rugby program. Linsey was recruited by former coach Jim Schreiner while she was a high school senior playing rugby at St. Pius X in Houston. So she’s well placed to answer questions about the seriousness of the program.

The Aggie Women have also been blessed this semester with the coaching efforts of former players Nick James and Stephanie Dvorak. These two have been rolling into Aggieland from their Houston-area jobs during the week to drill the team on their goals: fitness, basics and tackling hard (Did I leave that out earlier?)! The team’s gratitude for the efforts these two have put forth is immense!

But is all this enough to motivate the Lady Ags to overcome the University of Texas Women this Saturday? It’s a lot, to be sure. But, they’ve also got some awesome players on their side:

Marki “The Hulk” Hoyne at prop who likes to run over other ruggers in practice and in games alike!
Kelley Storey at Flanker and Jessica Bivens at #8 are putting in the work-rate from the back-row.
Former U19 standout Rachel Watson is providing the speed on the wing.
And the fast and elusive Jo Lisa Hargrove is running havoc at Outside Center or Fullback.

These and a veteran backline with a feel for each other’s playing styles should bring the team together for a stronger performance this weekend than they experienced this fall. Don’t call it a comeback, but that IS what these Aggies are aiming to achieve!

A&M MUST win out this semester to advance in the playoffs as the number one women’s collegiate team in Texas will advance to the Division 1 playoffs and the number two team will advance to the Division 2 playoffs (according to Wendy Young on Episode 2 of the Texas Rugby Show).

Grant Cole

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Play Rugby USA Awarded 2011 Rugby Expo Community Program of the Year

Wendy Young — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:45:06 +0000

Mark Griffin, Founder of Play Rugby, receives the award.

Play Rugby USA was honored at the 2011 Rugby Expo Awards Dinner by receiving the Community Program of the Year award! Mark Griffin was on hand in Twickenham to accept the award. The award was presented to the entry which has devised and delivered outstanding community program activities within the communities they reach. Criteria included clearly defined objectives, evidence of how these objectives were met, fit with mission and goal, sustainability, and demonstration of new ideas and creative thinking.

Congratulations are in order for the other short-listed organizations for the award:

Bristol RFC
Royal Bank of Scotland
Ruggerbeez
Spalding RFC

Wendy Young

Editor of Your Scrumhalf Connection. Passionate Rugger since 2001.

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Guam Adds Tackle Rugby for Girls

Wendy Young — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 21:38:44 +0000

I have a soft spot for Guam in my heart as I lived there when I was younger. An absolutely beautifiul island that I hope to visit again someday. I wish I had found rugby there as a teenager!

from Kuam.com:

This year’s girl’s high school rugby season will now offer tackle rugby to those that want to participate. The Guam Rugby Football Union together with the IIAAG will implement the new program in 2012 season but will not replace the flag version but offer it as an alternative. Since the sport made its way to the island in 1999 it has flourished to 11 of the island’s schools with about 275 student-athletes taking part in the sport.

The tackle version of the sport will help build the women’s national team program and get our girls up to par with schools that already play tackle rugby in the states. The girl’s game has grown from 10 a side to now 12 a side with scrums and line outs since 2009. The offer of a tackle version of the game allows those girls’s who are eager for the physical confrontation of the sport to leave the flag version of the game and take their abilities to the tackle pitch.

According to the IRB, there are 150,000 women and girls playing Rugby around the world with the numbers increasing. Our local players have took their game to the next level playing for universities such as Penn State, Arizona, Army and Navy and have also represented the island very well in international competition in Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, China and Portugal.

On the women’s side our national team has posted wins against Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Norway where nations count their populations in the millions rather than the thousands.

Wendy Young

Editor of Your Scrumhalf Connection. Passionate Rugger since 2001.

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WANTED: DC Furies Assistant Coaches

Wendy Young — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:08:29 +0000

The Washington D.C. Furies Women’s Rugby Football Club is actively seeking experienced coaches committed to building a championship-caliber program to join their team beginning in Spring 2012. Candidates are sought to fill two open assistant coaching positions, one specializing in working with backline players and another specializing with forwards. The coaching staff is currently led by head coach and former 15s and 7s US Women’s National Team Captain Nancy Fitz.

Responsibilities include assisting and/or leading in the following areas:

Developing practice plans
Running team practices and attending matches
Game tape analysis and individual feedback
Developing overall and subunit strategies
Team selections

Compensation:

Coaching stipend
Reimbursement of all travel (flight and lodging) to away matches
Reimbursement for coaching courses or clinics attended while with the club

The Furies participate in the Women’s Premier League, the highest level of women’s rugby competition in the country, placing 7th in 2009 and 2011 and 6th in 2010. The team is comprised of a mix of elite, developmental, and beginner athletes. A number of Furies players are currently members of the 15s and 7s Women’s National Team selection pools, the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union (MARFU) senior select-side 15s and 7s teams, and the MARFU Under-23 select-side team.

Practices take place in the Washington, D.C. metro area, and matches are scheduled throughout the United States in both the spring and the fall. Prior coaching and/or playing experience is required. Prior coaching of women is not necessary.

Interested applicants are encouraged to provide a coaching resume including a brief statement of their coaching philosophy to Julie Hogan and Nancy Fitz by January 31, 2012. For more information about the Furies, see http://dcfuries.wordpress.com/ or contact Julie or Nancy.

CoachingAd.docx

Wendy Young

Editor of Your Scrumhalf Connection. Passionate Rugger since 2001.

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High School National Championship Information Announced – Teams Urged to Apply

Wendy Young — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:34:42 +0000

from USA Rugby:

BOULDER, Colo. — The 2012 USA Rugby High School National Championships will be an invitational format for 2012. Teams will apply for a spot in the tournament, with a national committee considering the applications.

The Girl’s High School National Championship Tournament will be hosted in Stanford, Calif. on the weekend of May 11-13 in conjunction with the Women’s Collegiate Div I and Div II championships. The Boy’s High School National Championship will still consist of both a High School (single school) and High School Club (multi-school or community club) and be played in Salt Lake City, UT on May 18-20 in conjunction with the Men’s Collegiate Division IAA, Division IA and Division II national championships.

Interested teams need to fill out the online application (link below) between December 15 and January 15. The committee will consider the applications and offer invitations no later than February 15th.

Link to the application: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFVrcEhpNHdsMVFrVG9lZ1dCcko2Vnc6MQ

Further Information:

Kurt Weaver | Youth and High School Director | USA Rugby | kweaver@usarugby.org

Wendy Young

Editor of Your Scrumhalf Connection. Passionate Rugger since 2001.

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Norwich University takes Inaugural USA Rugby Women’s College Sevens Championship

Wendy Young — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:41:29 +0000

See rosters and scores from the weekend, go here.

from USA Rugby:

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – As the sun set on the 2011 USA Rugby Women’s College Sevens Championships on Saturday evening one team found themselves recapping a children’s movie at halftime in the final.

“We talked about How to Train a Dragon,” said Austin Hall, Head Coach of Norwich University, and the first ever Women’s College Sevens Champions. “We used that movie as a backdrop to our team and style this weekend,” continued Hall noting that his team needed to continue to work hard and hope for the best.

It must have worked. Norwich University dominated Boston College in the cup final of the Women’s College Sevens 34 – 5. Norwich came out of the gates with intensity that was unmatched all weekend.

“We knew we would win if we just had fun, worked hard, and kept our game simple,” said Captain Kate Hathaway. And that they did. Norwich University exploited BC in the simple side of the game, completing more passes, making more of their tackles, and using possession to get points on the board.

They were crisp in their execution and showed that they were the better conditioned team outrunning and outworking Boston College in the open field but especially at the breakdown. Norwich continuously turned over the ball by thoroughly counter-rucking Boston’s vulnerable support.

Rebekah Bernheim was named MVP of the final, and undoubtedly deserved it. Scoring tries all weekend, Bernheim touched down twice in the final, showing her pace and hard support lines through the 20 minute game, putting up six tries to Boston’s one.

Norwich quickly fell into a pattern and found themselves thinking about the post-match interviews. “I actually thought about this interview during the game,” said Hall. “We were playing our game, and I knew we would win if we just kept playing the way we have all weekend,” continued the head coach.

Norwich University Rugby is a varsity program with the support of their Athletic Department and unyielding commitment of the individual players.

“We owe a lot of support to our alumni and Athletic Department, and the girls are just excited about playing rugby, whether for a championship or just a friendly,” said Coach Hall.

As they are usually focused on fifteens rugby, Norwich used the traditional code to prepare for this inaugural tournament. “We never play sevens, we are focused more on fifteens, but we came to College Station to win. Whatever style we play, we are always focused on having fun and winning,” said Hathaway.

Although the weekend was filled with intense and exhausting sevens action, Norwich came out on top in the end though by managing their downtime properly according to Hall, explaining that in sevens it’s more about getting the body and mind conditioned for a whole day of periods of action and recovery.

“The girls were exhausted but knew that we had to turn it on for this match,” said the captain. “We just wanted it really bad, we wanted to win a National Championship,” added Hathaway.

Norwich is already looking to next year’s title. “We have fifteens this spring but we can’t wait to come back and defend our title in sevens rugby,” said the captain. Young programs will undoubtedly look to Norwich University as an example of stellar rugby. Be it their varsity sport status, intense simplicity on the field, or reliance on children’s cinema for inspiration, these girls know how to play rugby and are now the 2011 USA Rugby Women’s College Sevens National Champions.

There were a number of other hard workers through out the weekend and a few more champions in the Women’s Sevens Championships. The University of California won the Plate Final defeating Oregon State 19-5 while the University of Texas beat Arizona State 26-5 in the Bowl Final.

For more information and a full schedule of matches and results from the weekend please click here.

For replays of the games, click here.

For photos of the games, click here.

See rosters and scores from the weekend, go here.

Wendy Young

Editor of Your Scrumhalf Connection. Passionate Rugger since 2001.

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Women’s Collegiate Strategic Committee Letter to USA Rugby Regarding a Gender Equity Audit – NCAA Initiative & Residency Program for 7s

Wendy Young — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:36:10 +0000

YSC received permission to publish this letter from Sue Parker, on behalf of the USA Rugby Women’s Collegiate Strategic Committee.

Join the movement! We’ve created a Facebook page for this issue, join today!

USA Rugby WCSC letter to BOD 120911 [PDF]

I’m sure I don’t have to express to you how important these issues are, not only is this a general disregard for women’s rugby across the board, but it is also an injustice for future rugby players. I urge you to pass on your support for gender equity to USA Rugby; the contacts that you can reach out to are below.

Also, please pass this on by using Facebook, Twitter (if you Tweet, please use hash tags #genderequity, #usarugby & #wrugby, so we can track) etc.

Join the movement! We’ve created a Facebook page for this issue, join today!

Contacts

USA Rugby Board
Kevin Roberts, Chairman of the Board - kroberts@usarugby.org
Bob Latham, Vice Chairman of the Board - blatham@usarugby.org
Bill Middleton, Director - bmiddleton@usarugby.org
Tom Wacker, Director - twacker@usarugby.org
Francois Viljoen, International Athlete - fviljoen@usarugby.org
Rob King, Director - rking@usarugby.org
Peter Seccia, Director - pseccia@usarugby.org
Julia McCoy, Congress Representative - jmccoy@usarugby.org
Christy Ringgenberg, International Athlete - cringgenberg@usarugby.org

USA Rugby CEO
Nigel Melville, Chief Executive Officer & President of Rugby Operations - nmelville@usarugby.org

NCAA Committee
*Some are duplicate members from the USA Rugby Board
Nigel Melville, Julie McCoy (Chair), Peter Seccia (Board member), Christy Ringgenberg (Board Member), Sue Parker (WCSC chair)

Ellen Owens, Congress member, WCSC member - eowens@usarugby.org
MaryBeth Mathews, WCSC co-chair - mmathews@bowdoin.edu
Tam Brackenridge - tamb@sunwave.net

Wendy Young

Editor of Your Scrumhalf Connection. Passionate Rugger since 2001.

Website - More Posts

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