Your Scrumhalf Connection » Women’s Premier League

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.

Website - More Posts

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WPL Challenge Match Results and Match [VIDEO]

Wendy Young — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 17:05:15 +0000

Wendy and The Girl braving the wind, rain and freezing temperatures to video tape the match.

Minnesota and Glendale descended down on Austin yesterday in perhaps the worst rain storm in nine months. Ok, its the only significant rainstorm we have had since the drought started in early spring…and it was a doozy. Luckily there was no lightening so the match was not delayed, and kicked off on time. Minnesota started off quick and put five points on the board right off the kick off. Glendale was slow to respond but once they did, it was all Glendale, all the time. Half time score was 17-5, Glendale and the full time score was 53-5 Glendale.

The WPL welcomes its newest WPL team, the Glendale Raptors. D1 Club rugby welcomes the Minnesota Valkyries who will participate in the CR2 League.

Match Video

As always, if you appreciate the work we do here at YSC, consider supporting us with a donation!

Wendy Young

Editor of Your Scrumhalf Connection. Passionate Rugger since 2001.

Website - More Posts

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Watch the WPL Challenge Match! Minnesota Valkyries vs Glendale Raptors – 12/4/11 at 10am CST

Wendy Young — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:59:55 +0000

UPDATE 12/5/11: Get the results and watch the archived video here.

For more details on the challenge match, go here.

Broadcast Sponsor
Rugby Athletic is a growing rugby company who prides itself on service, relationships, original design, custom rugby uniforms & team equipment, event promotion and marketing for teams. We consider ourselves original and un-matched with team opportunities, options and prices. RA, thanks for your continue support of YSC!

Good news! We will be able to *LIVE broadcast this event! You can view the match here or on the YSC Rugby Ustream channel. As always we are doing this for free and so we would highly support any donation you could give!

NOTE: There are a few potential “complications” that we wanted to let you know ahead of time….

70% chance of rain. If that happens we might not be able to broadcast, much less even get tape. Might cause it to be a delayed broadcast.
Internet; or lack thereof. We will be using a Mifi Hotspot and if the pipes are good, we will broadcast, if not it will be delayed broadcast.
Our Ustream channel has commercials. Don’t like the ads? We would urge you to consider making a donation so we can upgrade to the Pro version. Thanks!

For more details on the challenge match, go here.

Wendy Young

Editor of Your Scrumhalf Connection. Passionate Rugger since 2001.

Website - More Posts

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New York 7s – Full Results

Wendy Young — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:27:07 +0000

At the 53rd Annual New York 7s Tournament this weekend the games were fast, furious and hotly contested! NY 7s is the largest and longest running sevens tournament in the United States. The New York Rugby Club has hosted The Tournament on the Saturday following Thanksgiving since 1959, and it traditionally marks the end of the Fall rugby season in the New York Metropolitan area. We had 130 teams in 2010 – the most in Tournament history! Thanks to Jessa Giordano for sending me the scores and results!

2011 NY 7s Results
Men’s Premier: Schuylkill River Exiles
Women’s Premier: New York Rugby Club
Men’s Club: CRQ Sevens
Men’s Social: Brome Lake Ducks
Women’s Social: Olde Love
Men’s Collegiate: Stony Brook
Women’s Collegiate: Falcons
Boys U19: NJ Blaze
Girls U19: Beaconsfield Red

Full Results

Wendy Young

Editor of Your Scrumhalf Connection. Passionate Rugger since 2001.

Website - More Posts

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WPL Season Wrap-Up – DC Furies

LPruett — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:48:08 +0000

by Lance Pruett:

Women’s Premier League play wrapped up with the DC Furies unable to win a regular season match for the third season in a row. For the third year in a row, however, the Furies won a playoff match, beating the Minnesota Valkyries 22-17 on a late try for the come from behind win. Head Coach, Nancy Fitz, believes that being able to come from behind and hold on for the win was a positive moment for the team and is looking forward to building an attitude of winning this spring, as they prepare for next year’s WPL season.

Coach Fitz felt that the 2011 season was a “mixed bag” and that the team’s inconsistent play was largely responsible for their winless record. “We feel we can compete with every team in our league”, stated Fitz, but believes the team was unable to sustain their mental focus throughout 80 minutes in every match, which resulted in the inconsistent play.

Fitz was reluctant to single out any particular players as standouts on the season, but felt that the team showed good balance with “different players stepping up in different games”. The Furies are hoping that distribution of leadership will help as the inevitable off-season turnover causes changes in the line-up for 2012.

This spring, the Furies will work toward building a winning attitude and the mental focus necessary to win some regular season matches next year. Although their spring schedule has not yet been set, they are looking forward to challenging matches and earning some “W’s”.

LPruett

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WPL: Challenge Match 12/4/11 – Minnesota Valkyries vs Glendale Raptors / Match Details, Broadcast & Sybil’s Predictions

Wendy Young — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 22:36:08 +0000

UPDATE 12/5/11: Get the results and watch the archived video here.

Welcome to the first ever WPL Challenge Match! According to the WPL Promotion and Relegation Policies the #1 (Chicago NS) and #2 (Glendale Raptors) D1 teams can challenge the #7 (DC Furies) and #8 (Minnesota Valkyries) WPL teams if they desire. I confirmed with Chicago NS that they will not be challenging the #7 team and so the only challenge match this year is between the Glendale Raptors and the Minnesota Valkyries.

The Raptors just finished second at the USA Rugby Division 1 Club Championships, losing to Chicago NS 5-13. The Minnesota Valkyries placed eigth at the USA Rugby Women’s Premier League Championships, losing to the DC Furies in a heart breaker of a match 17-22.

The challenge match is to be held in a “warm area” and a few teams put in bids. The “warm area” that was chosen was Austin, TX. Come watch this epic battle unfold in Austin, TX at the Huns Pitch on Dec 4, 2011 at 10:00am. The Hosts are Huns Rugby and Austin Valkyries.

Facebook Invite

Broadcast
Good news! We will be able to *LIVE broadcast this event! You can view the match here or on the YSC Rugby Ustream channel. As always we are doing this for free and so we would highly support any donation you could give!

There are a few potential “complications” that we wanted to let you know ahead of time….

70% chance of rain. If that happens we might not be able to broadcast, much less even get tape. Might cause it to be a delayed broadcast.
Internet; or lack thereof. We will be using a Mifi Hotspot and if the pipes are good, we will broadcast, if not it will be delayed broadcast.
Our Ustream channel has commercials. Don’t like the ads? We would urge you to consider making a donation so we can upgrade to the Pro version. Thanks!

Predictions by Sybil
My track record for predictions is getting a bit better…still not quite where I would like it to be but I can only go up right? This weekend the Glendale Raptors will face off with the Minnesota Valkyries for a spot in the Women’s Premier League. Lets start with a dissection of the Minnesota Valkyries.

The Valkyries were knocked out of Tier B last year at the WPL Championships by Berkeley (57-27) and this year they competed in the Red Conference with Twin Cities Amazons, San Diego Surfers and New York. In League Play they were unable to win a match and were outscored by their opponents by 296 points. To continue that trend, the Valkyries were beat twice at this year’s Championships in a nail biter, back-and-forth match against Keystone (43-38) and on day 2 in another close match, they lost to the DC Furies (22-17). This hasn’t always been the Valkyries style, but it looks like due to some retired players and new blood the team has struggled this year.

The Glendale Raptors (birds of prey, not dinosaurs!) have been on the opposite end of the spectrum, winning all year long starting with an undefeated run in CR2 League Play. The CR2 includes Chicago NS (29-8), Chicago, Austin Valkyries (32-12), St. Louis Sabres (Sabres forfeit), Black Ice (99-0) and Detroit (71-12). Perhaps the magic of the Mile High Training Facility at the base of the Mount Olympus, ahem, I mean Glendale, CO is working in their favor? Of course you can’t count out the star power they have acquired this year, including Jillion Potter, named the Most Valuable Player even though Glendale lost at the D1 Championships.

Now to the actual predictions, this one is really tough as I know the Valkyries aren’t going to make it easy. Last year, ORSU voluntarily stepped down from the WPL and the Valkyries could have done the same, but they must want to continue to compete in the WPL. Some might say that after Glendale lost the D1 Championship to Chicago NS… why are they challenging? Are they really ready for the WPL or are they just striking while the iron is hot?

I believe that the Valkyries are better prepared for this challenge match mentally and with their two VERY close losses at Championships, they will be hungry for a win. Glendale will be prepared as well and blessed by the Gods, but they will falter. Not to mention, both teams have been training/playing since August…that is a long season only to be extended for another month to prepare for this challenge match.

Prediction: Minnesota Valkyries by one try for the win!

EDITOR NOTE: Sybil is not affiliated with the YSC Team, she is only a Guest Blogger who is bringing some new perspectives to the site. If you have any thoughts or concerns, we would urge you to comment below or please contact her at sybil@scrumhalfconnection.com. Thanks!

Wendy Young

Editor of Your Scrumhalf Connection. Passionate Rugger since 2001.

Website - More Posts

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WPL, D1 & D2 Championship Videos [VIDEO]

Wendy Young — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 14:53:13 +0000

To view all the scores from the weekend, go here.

Day 2

WPL Championship – Berkeley All Blues vs Twin Cities Amazons

D1 Championship – Chicago NS vs Glendale Raptors

D2 Championship – Pittsburgh Angels vs Raleigh Venom

3rd/4th – Beantown vs San Diego Surfers

Day 1

Berkeley v San Diego Surfers

Minnesota Valkyries vs Keystone

Beantown vs. Twin City Amazons

New York v DC Furies

To view all the scores from the weekend, go here.

Wendy Young

Editor of Your Scrumhalf Connection. Passionate Rugger since 2001.

Website - More Posts

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USA Rugby Women’s Club National Champions Crowned [VIDEOs]

Wendy Young — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 21:53:11 +0000

To view all the scores from the weekend, go here.

from USA Rugby:

Boulder, Colo.– This past weekend three national champions were crowned as the Emirates Airline USA Rugby 2011 Women’s Club Championships took place in Virginia Beach, Va.. Teams from the Women’s Premier League and the Women’s Divisions I and II converged on Virginia Beach looking to come away with hardware. The Emirates Airline USA Rugby 2011 Women’s Club Championships crowned the Berkeley All-Blues, Chicago North Shore, and the Raleigh Venom as National Champions of their respective divisions.

Raleigh Venom Shut Out Pittsburgh in Division II Final
Chicago North Shore Over Come Glendale Raptors to Take Division I
Berkeley All-Blues Claim WPL Championship with Win over Amazons
Select matches can be viewed on USA Rugby’s UStream channel.

Women’s DII Club
The Raleigh Venom won the Emirates Airline USA Rugby Women’s Club Division II National Championship this past weekend. They shut out the Pittsburgh Angels in the Division II final which took place on Sunday morning. After a healthy win over Memphis in the quarterfinals and a very close but exciting match against Sacramento in the semis, Raleigh collided with Pittsburgh in the National Championship game. The match saw both teams committ numerous penalties and Raleigh seemed to be more than willing to utilize those opportunities as Pittsburgh failed to get points on the board through out the game. Raleigh’s defense prevented Pittsburgh from scoring while their attack was relentless in the second half. The final whistle gave Raleigh the title of Division II Women’s Club Champions with a strong shut out over Pittsburgh.

For a full game report on the Division II Final please visit the USA Rugby website here.

For a full replay of the Division II Final between Raleigh and Pittsburgh please visit USA Rugby’s UStream channel.

Women’s DI Club
The Emirates Airline USA Rugby Women’s Club Championships saw Chicago North Shore take the Division I Championship on Sunday morning. Chicago North Shore met the Glendale Raptors on Sunday afternoon to decide this year’s national champion. Both teams had entered into the weekend off of great performances in the regular season and in the previous rounds of playoffs. Pam Kosanke scored all of North Shore’s points as the Chicago club beat Glendale 13-5. She had a magnificent game as she collected a wonderful try from a chip kick, converted her own try, and slotted two penalty kicks. Glendale put up a full eighty minute fight however and managed to get one try in the match, coming from hard forward play that eventually released Tyra McGrady on the outisde.

For a full game report on the Division I National Championship please click here.

For a full replay of the Division I final between Chicago North Shore and Glendale please visit USA Rugby’s UStream Channel.

Women’s Premier League
On Sunday, the Berkeley All-Blues defeated the Twin Cities Amazons 17-8 in the Women’s Premier League National Championship game. After besting the San Diego Surfers in the semifinals on Friday November 11, the All-Blues were able to recover on Saturday and come out strong against a very good Twin Cities Amazons team. The encounter was as physical as they come, with both teams absolutely throwing everything they had at the opposition. Berkeley’s best defense was a great offense, consistently pressuring the women from the Twin Cities. Berkeley’s outside backs proved dangerous as they dotted down twice. While only one try was converted, the All-Blues managed to slot over a drop goal sealing their victory in the WPL Final.

For a full game report on the WPL National Championship please visit the USA Rugby webiste here.

For a full replay of the WPL Final between the All-Blues and Amazons please visit USA Rugby’s UStream Channel.

To view all the scores from the weekend, go here.

Wendy Young

Editor of Your Scrumhalf Connection. Passionate Rugger since 2001.

Website - More Posts

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