Playing the Valks this weekend

Skipped practice cause my ankle has been bugging me. Well I went to practice but missed out on a ton of great tackling drills. Missed the ORSU game 'cause I'm not traveling this year. Been slammed at work but at least it's work. Enjoying my new place a lot and I guess that's it for now.

"Hit Like a Bear" Women's Collegiate Rugby Clinic



Come be a part of an all-day clinic put on by the local women's club team, 12-time National Champion Berkeley All-Blues! Members of the All-Blues will coach you through general skills (passing, kicking, tackling), positional skills and sub-unit skills (scrums, lineouts, backs play, etc.) in the morning and in the afternoon you will play in live scrimmages. Clinic participants will be divided up according to experience and skill level, in order to make sure that those new to the game are instructed in the basics and those with some experience learn some more advanced skills. The day will wrap up with a discussion session during which players can ask their All-Blue coaches for specific feedback. We look forward to seeing you there!



Date: Saturday, October 10, 2009



Time: 9:00am – 4pm; Check-in @ 8:30am



Location:

Pinole Valley High School
2900 Pinole Valley Road
Pinole, CA 94564

The Field: From the parking lot in front of the school - the baseball/softball fields are to the right of the turf football field. People will park in the lot in front of the school and walk across the football field to the clinic fields.


Cost: $25 early registration gets you: a full day of instruction, and a t-shirt! Same day registration available for $30. PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN LUNCH! Water and snacks will be provided.



Open to: All women collegiate rugby players, regardless of experience



Early registration deadline: October 8, 2009



For more information and to sign up, email Julie Kieu jdkieu - at - gmail d-o-t com or please visit http://www.berkeleyallblues.com/

Berkeley All Blues vs Twin City Amazons

100-7. Yep. I didn't play but man am I beat between setting up stuff,running water, and cleaning up. It's tough to be a rookie! Although a lot easier and less stressful then being a vet...it's just a little harder the second time around. I bought another pair of shorts/jerseys 'to help support the wnt(actually just because I live in shorts and we scrum enough in practice that jerseys are useful)'. Uhh what else, I saw the gnarliest clash of heads that I've ever ever ever seen. Like...ever. Damn and I saw the photo after it was cleaned up and it's like 3/4 of her forehead! Holy crap! Uh, first half was pretty square, lot's of turnovers lots of territory gained and lost. The All Blues started ticking over some tries, the Zons threatened through the centers scoring their 7 points and almost struck again with a dangerous intercept that was chased down by Stephanie Bruce. Eventually the All Blues started clicking and the floodgates just opened with try after well supported try. That's about it, it's really hard to watch a match when it's broken up so much with scoring. I'm really looking forward to watching the game tape on this one. Some of our Santa Cruz kids came up (albeit late) which is awesome and exactly what we need, there were (gee whiz I'm horrible at estimating) maybe a hundred or so supporters who came out for the match. Fun times now I'm going to pass out =]

----
btw it's raining and man do my bones ache. I swear I'm only 23.

Getting pumped

First off they killed my favorite radio station (Energy 92.7) and replaced it with a hip hop station...wtf!?!?! You take the best dance music station in the nation and replace it with a generic hip hop station?? You have to be shitting me. So shed a tear with me. So I've been re-watching last year's collegiate national championship (there is seriously something about watching a college final helps ones rugby soul) and it's an awesome match so far, I can't believe I missed it but knowing me I was probably writing a thirty page paper on nuclear weapons (*barf*). It's pretty funny 'cause you can see a bunch of whose who in the crowd whenever the cameras pan the stands. Also I just wanted to share this pic of total band geekhood. I know there aren't a lot of rugby nerds but I hope someone appreciates this pic of the Stanford band and remember 'all glory to the hypnotoad!'



Oh and I really am pissed about energy, they just supported the Women's National 7s Invitational on treasure island and provided some badass beats both days. *sigh* I am so in mourning.

Making the Bench

Holy crap! I'm stoked! Ok scared but stoked none the less. I am pretty nervous but I know it's a chance and I should have fun with it. Coach just doesn't want me to freeze up and she said I'll probably be propping but maybe hook or flank(really doubtful). Anyhoo I can't believe I get to wear the blue jersey =] now I just need to do my research. Gah so if you have a chance this Sunday, Treasure Island, Gaelic Athletic Fields, 10 am kick off. Be there!

Women's Premiership League Videos are up!

Woot! Women's Premiership League Match VideosHow sick is this, one can actually watch high level women's rugby matches without boarding a plane every weekend. Please enjoy and watch all the matches! This weekend we have our first home match against the Twin City Amazons so show up and watch some kick ass rugby. 10am Sunday on the Gaelic fields (check out the berkeley all blues website for directions (I embedded a map weee)

Week 1: New York at Beantown (1st Half) from Women's Premier League - USA Rug on Vimeo.

Just to start you off here is the first half of the Beantown vs New York match.

Also I know this video has been around for ages I just forgot about it until now.



That's the sickest maul I've ever seen in my five years of watching pro, club, collegiate and hs rugby.

Oh on another note I'm starting to feel a bit more comfortable at practice. I'm still having a minor positional crisis (ie I'm just not tough enough to play at this level, much less in the front row). But having a lot more fun. I'm feeling alright in the loose but I'm really rusty linking up with others. I'm doing alright in rucks/counter rucks and carrying the ball. My lineout throws were fairly good and I'm happy to say I was hitting 'em both near and far. I did some ball handling practice today on my break at work...which means I'm probably hooked on rugby again. Practice tomorrow, coolbeans.

Patience...that thing that I have a lot of apparently.

So I haven't exactly been blogging lately, mostly 'cause I was seriously dangling onto the last frickin microscopic thread of love for this sport. Looking back at past posts I think it's pretty obvious that I've been doing some major level flip flopping this is mostly due to yea, some major level self examinations at what the hell I'm doing with my life and why I'm stalling it to play a sport that for a whopping nine months I couldn't even play. Not nine months in Vanawatu or wherever sipping on coconuts and enjoying sunsets but rather 9 months of showing up to practice, kitting up and sitting out for all the fun bits. 9 months of scrapping around for a job in a some new city, 9 long ass months of worry (and 9 months of bitching about it!)

Haha! But as of today I have health insurance and I had some fucking fun at practice. Played like crap but hey moving to the ABs represents a huge step up in playing levels so it's kinda to be expected. Some scrum practice (where I actually managed to not get blasted completely out of the scrum), agility and handling, defensive and mostly just prepping the traveling squad for their first premiership game in Minnesota. I'm missing due to budgetary constraints but I had a damn fun time disrupting possession on defense. Got a few thumping tackles in but mostly got dusted, I really need to work on the concept of connecting and defensive structure. The stuff is going directly over my head as UCSC generally lacks any defensive organization beyond lead and scrape. *sigh* maybe I'll attend some Cal practices. Ooo and I got a tech tee. Fancy.

Um lot's more to come. Grizzlies got third at NASC 7s in New York. Not bad at all hopefully with the new national invitational NorCal will finally develop a 7s scene beyond just Palo Alto 7s.

National Women's 7s Invitational

kicks ass! Fog has put on an amazing show and it's been a seriously fun day. I was thoroughly entertained despite not um ykno...playing. So far Nova 1 and Berkeley have won their brackets.More great stuff tomorrow. I <3 the SF Fog for making this great event happen =]

Lets bring it all back.

I'm homesick for a homeland that is half make believe, part memory, part history, part dream. We had our second All Blues XVs practice yesterday with guest coach Jen Crawford. It was nifty but further illustrated the gap between old and new. Styles, philosophies, whatever you want to call it I don't want to adopt the nervousness that pervades. I wanna just be loose and play, enjoy the touch of the ball and linking up, running lines and run into someone. I don't give a crap about selections I want to listen and learn the fundamentals that I missed but I need to step out of the blinders of mindlessly trying to replicate each minutia of instructions and keep rugby in the larger picture. As cool as this new situation is I need to keep the reasons why "I" love rugby warm to my heart and ignore what frankly just doesn't apply.

I like this video (although the score at the very end is weird and slightly horror-esque)


National Club 7s is this weekend at Treasure Island.

Start Time:
Saturday, August 15, 2009 at 8:00am
End Time:
Sunday, August 16, 2009 at 6:00pm

I'll probably only go to Saturday. It's not too long till the first premiership match in Minnesota. I've pretty much decided that I'm going to save moolah and skip the away trips.

as the days go by and I still think of you

Oh rugby. First practice went well, I was quickly reminded of the physicality of XVs over 7s practice. 7s practice was fun and we combined with fog for a day when our fields had further issues (I swear I've practiced on more fields with the All Blues during their off season then I've played on in the five years of rugby I've played prior (and we played on a LOT of different pitches). One thing I must say is that as nice as the Bay Area is I @(*#(@*&# hate geese! Seriously that's some nasty green shit that very quickly ends up on your face. And to make matters worse d'ya know where they're from? CANADA. Pff anyhoo our Eagles are up playing in the Nations Cup woo hoo. As long as we beat Canada (and South Africa). Anyhoo here's a cool vid from the southern hemisphere.

Don't take this the wrong way...

But screw the haka it's all about the Welsh National Anthem.




This is rugby pageantry to me.

I need to go to Wales and experience this shit. I mean really how cool is that? The first test match I ever watched was back in '04 when Wales played NZ in the a fall international. I watched it and a)fell in love with the sport b) fell in love with my buddies Jones, Williams, and Thomas. It's funny I really could have gone either way. Sure I could have sided with the all blacks or one of the other rugby giants (not that Wales is too shabby in its own right) but really I'm glad to back my team, through some particularly gnarly 6 nations campaigns to grand slam victories and lions honors. Is there a point to this post? I'm looking for some warm fuzzy rugby memories to keep me going.

I SHOULD be hired on permanent this week. It SHOULD be about another month before I get a healthcare package. I SHOULD be a lot happier in 30-40 days. Time to reset the clock. I apologize for being not showing up to palo alto this summer. It's been 7 almost 8 months now and I really can't stand just watching rugby. It makes me grumpy and depressed (I've missed starting for the ABs in a dev game against the Amazons, missed playing in my first Champagne Classic, missed traveling/participating in the Glendale game, missed playing prom dress rugby for the first time, missed trying out for the u23 grizzlies (my last chance), missed playing in a fun round robin with the slug kids (stiff arms galore), missed a scrimmage that ended up being contact drills/warmup against Stanford, missed playing against the kids and playing with my best friends in my first alumni game, missed midnight 7s, missed palo alto 7s, and most importantly missed the point in a number of practices/drills due to worrying about injuries/not wanting to go 100%).

Fuck.

Playing Scared

I'm kind of at a crossroad right now so I haven't really been in the mood for posting. To be honest I'm still kind of in a funk and I haven't decided how I'm going to deal with it. This is all on the rugby side of things. Works been going and a bunch of buddies have been trickling up to the bay so things have been pretty good at that end. I'm just reallyreallyreallyreally waiting on insurance. My hips been bugging me more and more as well. It's kind of getting into my head at practice and doubt and fear has kind of overshadowed the fun of the game. I'm seriously tired of playing scared. I just want to have some damn fun. One more week and I should have a better attitude.

Off to my first test match experience

in t-minus uh 9 hours (I'm not counting men's matches =p). I don't know what to wear! I don't know what to bring. I don't know anything! Lol I really wish I at least knew the roster or something. feh. I just read goff's article on city based women's 7s and visited the site City Based 7s and I was tempted to design a header for them...and then I realized why should I help out the east coast. I'm kidding, I'm sure they have someone working on it already and lord knows I should fix my own header first. Ugh and so much to do on Berkeley's site..oh well. Surprisingly enough I'm not main lined to the internet so I'll be unable to update 'till I get home (one of the down sides to making a couple bucks over min wage). I'm sure my report will be far less technically sound then others involved but hey what's another perspective. Oh btw where the hell are the pictures from the 7s world cup? Seriously I feel like we've been waiting forever on those, at least Jen D. made her stuff available during the last XVs world cup.

Alright, off to buy snacks and burn cds. Oh and drive to Glendale.

One day till the road trip!

Man am I stoked! The weather calls for isolated thunderstorms so hopefully the match actually...yknow...occurs. Here's some vids for thought, I'm really excited to see the sort of game that USA brings.


Here's the highlights from the USA A game vs Can A 7-10


Here's some talk with the coaches.


My ticket is already in my wallet, I need to do my laundry and pack some snacks and I'm ready to go =] uh minus the fact that I don't own any waterproof clothing. I may go the wear shorts and flip flops route.

Making Weight

Well I finally broke my fitness goal of the last...uh...two years at least. I'm officially 199lbs (! Holy crap! I'm really shocked because I'm currently exercising once a week. Yea I know, that's not exactly clear and away from 200lbs but still, the scale hasn't said that in a good long while (and yea I triple checked 'cause I didn't believe it myself!). I guess I'd better set a new one of 185 by the end of summer but yea not to shabby considering I'm not exactly working out or eating terrifically healthy (but better proportions).

I'm leaving on Friday for my four day road trip to watch the WNT play Canada which is pretty fucking exciting. I'm not prepared at all...I need to do my homework to fully enjoy the experience. The USA A side is going to play on Tuesday.

I can't wait till Tuesday and 7s practice. We did the WNT speed workout and played touch for and hour last practice 'cause coach was out of town. I was really disappointed in how quickly I was gassed and effectively out of the game due to my shitty cardio. I was able to make some good breaks but yea at this level I'm toast unless I improve...everything! My legs were trashed for the next two days from hitting things at full pace and I definitely ripped myself some new quad muscle. My buddy Georgi wasn't even sore from practice *sigh*. I have started working out this week with one of my rookies from UCSC which should be fun, we did some interval running (woo 13 min mile...yea people can walk faster then I run), core work, and some speed stuff. Hopefully I'll be able to join her gym and hit the weights before my upper body absolutely disappears. But I really should get back on topic...

Rugby...uh U-23 Pac Coast didn't do so hot, losing both matches and dropping to Tier 2. Internationally can I say THE MAUL IS BACK!!! HALLELUJAH! Did anyone see that maul in the first Lions Test, the boks bloody drove them back 20-30 meters. Sexy, gorgeous, and oh so beautiful. I love a good maul. Vickery was horrible, Both Williams should have been on the pitch, O'Connell was pretty damn useless as well. I swear I have no Welsh bias AT ALL. I was disappointed in Jones' kicking but meh Monye fucked up two tries that's a min of 4-8 points that could have meant a 'w' for the lions. SA needs to fix their midfield defense 'cause it's currently sucking. I love the welsh but Roberts isn't THAT good and just take him out and BOD will be out of the equation.

What else...oh I've wanted to put this up for a while now. Mostly 'cause this picture cracks me up. I shoulda gotten the girl to rig up the text though 'cause I suck at image editing. But enjoy. Ashley you rock!

"This isn't the ball that you are looking for, move along"


She's so good even Ruth is confused.

Watch out for Sweden

The editing was above average so I decided to post it. That and I was mildly terrified at the idea of not only one but two teams of giant Nordic blondes playing rugby.

This is a shout out for Laura Cabrera

Bomb ass 7s coach that she is. I felt compelled to write this post because I had a blast last night (and pretty much every night that I've had practice..sans the one where I had a taco truck burrito half an hour prior and felt like dying). I don't think I've ever had that much fun at practice a) she's hilarious so even when she's yelling at us I'm cracking up b) she's teaching me (a DII collegiate front row forward) how to run lines and break up the defense (and not in the typical forward fashion) c) I'm having this fun doing a non-contact passing/decision making practice. I dunno what I'm rambling about but credit has to be given 'cause I finally understand why rugby is fun for backs (a mystery I could never solve prior to this). Even the conditioning portions are light and fun. I know I'll never be some amazing 7s player but I've gotten better at this whole engaging the defense thing and I'm getting way better at doing the right thing like making the run myself or passing once I'm getting pulled. It's crazy how fast you have to be thinking I can't believe how fast backs must make decisions at this point I have a split second between recognizing the situation in front of me and reacting to it. I just need to practice my passing during the week more 'cause they aren't as crisp as they were in college (where I was in practice/training rookies 24/7). At least for the most part I get it, or my body is getting it and my brain is kinda being towed along for the ride (which credit should be given for really well designed drills that are etching this stuff into muscle memory. All right I guess that's enough, I think she's an awesome coach and this has been a shout out for Laura Cabrera 'cause I felt like it and this is my blog.

OH and I can't believe it I'm so excited for Can Am! *Does cartwheels* and I have a part in my first rugby skit (damn D1 traditions). The U23 Grizzlies are off to Pittsburgh, Penn so hopefully one of my kids will keep me up to date. 7's is just around the corner but I think I'll be missing the first one 'cause I'll be in Glendale and the 2nd one we won't have any of our top players cause that's Grizzly 7s tryouts lol I should try out for All Star 7s so I get through my bitter non-selection experience (jeez there are so many players who have horrible experiences with select sides). I just want to play rugby. I just want to play rugby. I just want to play rugby. Alright off to work.

The Berkeley Hills Death Ride

So I haven't been riding my bike to work (mostly because let's just say I saw less shootings in Compton then I have so far in Richmond) and with practices reduced to once a week I'm starting to feel on the verge of losing whatever gains I had made post-hip breakage. So I decided to go on a bike ride today...after a MONTH of not biking I made the highly intelligent decision to attempt The Berkeley Hills Death Ride. Mostly because it sounded fun and I figured I could take it slow and it wouldn't be that big of a deal. Sufficed to say I now have indisputable proof of post-college brain atrophying. Death Ride = fun and feasible? Ok in my defense I knew going into it that I was only going to attempt the first (and worst) climb of the Death Ride. So I bike over to Berkeley in no time flat and I'm feeling great, I hike up a little curving climb to the base of Marin and holy shit it's just....up.

Look Ma...a deer


It was so steep my camera phone got vertigo


Yea pictures can't really convey what a 30% grade feels like


Finally at the crest!


And the view isn't even that great.


So yea I rested every block (and on the 30% grade hill I rested every 15 feet or so) and it still was ridiculous. I love my Schwinn hybrid but c'mon it's a hybrid with mountain tires on a 1.5k climb with an average grade of 22% (and that's including the flat intersections!). I was on my lowest gear and I was popping wheelies when I tried to crank it, when I would brake I would start skidding downhill. It was a terrifying and ridiculously fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Alright...now back to rugby. I've been tinkering around on the All Blues site, making some touch ups here and there but I really need to relearn css 'cause it's been a while and I suck at it. Also as you might have noted I cleaned up this dumpy blog just a bit and 'fixed' the header as well. I'm going to partake in my first rugby skit this coming Saturday and I'm pretty nervous about that.

We got our schedule and the Blues are having their annual collegiate clinic on Oct 10-11. I'll post the deets as they come out but yea.

In international rugby I've been catching up on the Lions matches and I have to say that for once I'm happy BOD's side is doing better the big ugly munster man. He's a better Captain although Paul did get stuck with a squad with significantly less shape then the weekday team.

I'll end with this rugby league video because it's fucking funny and that's all you need to know.

Hell yes! Can Am Here I Come!

Yup, I decided to do it. AND I got the time off work. I'll just be poor for a bit. I mean when am I not? Anyhoo I'm stoked!

Oh and here are some pics from the game...never thought I would see Peter Stringer live...wish I could have gone to the Wales game...fucking Dwayne Peel + Ryan Jones *drool*

Oh sorry...back to Ulste*cough* I mean Ireland A.

Buckshaw Stadium


"Huh wot?" Sorry Mike, you're a good guy but this pic isn't the most flattering


Poor Stringer...probably the only man from Munster NOT on the Irela*cough* Lions Squad (yes I used that joke twice in one post...)


Nice.

To Try or Not Try...that is the question...

I don't really have rugby news this week because everyone knows Pac Coast won NASC and the Collegiate All Americans made it to tier a (the two most relevant pieces of news for my blog). What else...so I'm debating missing work (despite the fact I'm only a seasonal worker and won't be hired on permanently until late July) in order to make the Can-Am match. I'm struggling with it 'cause if I go it'll be a road trip (which would be hecka fun)but I dunno if it's worth it. I caught last weeks eagle match against Ireland A and I gotta say it was kinda dull. It was a sold out stadium but no excitement or animation in the crowd. The action was alright, I might be more impressed when I watch the replay, but in person *shrugs* it was kinda boring. I've seen a couple of men's test matches and I gotta say (excluding the Uruguay match where I spent the whole game heckling Clever) they weren't very entertaining. Long story short I'm kinda worried about the Can Am match not being worth the money and effort...I mean I know the game will probably be fairly exciting to watch (it's always more interesting when you actually know the players doing cool stuff) but I'm kinda worried about a 46 hour drive to watch 80 mins of rugby. I know I should go to support USA and it'll be a cool experience watching my first live women's international match...bleh and the debate continues. I mean on one hand a shitload of Eagles are there and that'd be cool to get a taste of the history (ok I'm lying, it'll be awesome from a whose-who perspective, plus I might meet YSC which would be cool). Downside...possibly losing my job in the worst economy ever. Ummmmmmmmmmmm.

Yea.

I hate it when the lines delineating practical vs fun have to be so bloody obvious. Knowing me I'll flip a coin.

U23 NASCs are just around the bend. Can the U23 Grizzlies stand up to the might of NRU or MARFU? Who knows because no one ever publishes their damn rosters. Well actually I have the U23 Grizzly roster as of a couple weeks ago...feel free to comment if I screwed up somewhere (the list was horribly formatted to begin with so I might have screwed up a few names and who knows if availability changed or whatever).


Zully, Camacho (Cal, All American), Tori Campbell, Delaney Chapman, Elaine Daggett, Siche Green-Mitchell, Jenn Greenspan (Oregon), Milika Hopoi, Liz Kilgore, Molly Kneen, Jackie Lewis, Kal McMahon (UC Santa Cruz), Angelina Pascual, Megan Sanders, Nikki Steele, Cameron Stewart (Davis alum), Claire Susz, Felix Tsang, Kara Winek, Shannon Woolley, Christina Zier

Alts: Alicia Gonzales, Chelsea Adams, Vanessa Avila-Esparza, Kelly Morris

I don't often get to combine politics (in the governmental sense) and rugby but....

.....Wow.

Exhaustion

So I went to LA and back by car in 24 hours. Got some free sushi from the fam, chilled in SC for a little bit and then made it back in time for work on Tuesday....where I proceeded to get slammed by my new work schedule. Ugh and I forgot the balls for practice. After stressing about it all day I finally got my housemate to drop 'em off for me and ate like shit because I ran out the door with a measly cup of rice with shredded spinach and a scrambled egg (which doesn't satiate a forward for 8 hours of manual labor hauling boxes plus 7s practice).

7s practice where my brain dead self acted the fool and managed to repeat everything that Laura told us NOT to do. For fuck sakes I never realized how bad I was at identified the flow of the attack (or perhaps I haven't played in nigh 6 months) because every single time I killed the overlap by getting sucked merrily away into the ruck. I couldn't pass for shit and I panicked every time there was a decision to be made. So I'm going to get some sleep and post some pictures of the Pac Coast Grizzlies vs Midwest later this week. I'm sure there is rugby news somewhere but I just don't feel like finding it.

Oh and thee Jane Mitchell also works at my work. Wow.

Too Hot to Live

Grizzlies 17 vs MidWest 0. But it was too fucking hot. Screw ever playing for a select side (not that I could after seeing the caliber of players in person) but jesus shit christ why play XVs in spring/summer?!?!?! It was like 95-97 degrees out there with not a sniff of wind. This was the last warm up match for Pac Coast before NASCs in Little Rock, Arkansas where the Pac Coast will again play Midwest in the first round. It was really neat meeting/seeing so many all stars/eagle pool players in person. The weather was too stifling and brain frying to see a decent match. It was open subs and there were frequent water breaks but knock-ons and gate penalties seemed to rule the day. There weren't a whole lot of long breaks and scrums seemed highly contested but pretty fifty fifty. According to the Grizzly coach things they were playing a little antsy at first (I missed the first twenty) until they calmed it down and started taking more control over the pace of the match. Nathalie Marchino tried a number of daring and skillful attacks but was always contained by Christy Ringgenberg and shepherded into touch. Marchino never was really given the space to make a clean break (but she did a badass grubber then slide recovery to pop it to Blair hitting it at pace). Biscuit made a real impact off the bench, roughing up the scrums (making an appearance at hook) and being a pest in rucks. Beckett Royce made a sick catch under pressure and Captained the Grizzlies along with Ashley English. One Grizzly was yellow carded in the second half (probably for a late tackle) but they still kept the Thunderbirds scoreless. There was a fairly sizable audience of maybe 100 which was pretty good considering the damn heat. I know Tina Nesburg scored a try but I don't remember who else did. Steph Bruce's kicks looked nice and she only missed one kick that I saw. Oh and funny happenstance...one of the Pac Coast props looked familiar...like really familiar...like the captain of Plymouth State and loosehead prop the year we played them for the D2 Collegiate Championships back in 2006. Well funny thing, that just happens to really be Adrianne Acosta who now plays for ORSU and keeps it rock steady for the Pac Coast Pack. Always awesome to see DII ruggers man =]

Alright. And guess what...next weekend I DON'T HAVE ANY RUGBY EVENTS TO GO TO. HOLY SHIT! Free time! WTF will I do with it?! Lol in actuality I'll probably ask Coach Owens to teach me coding. =]

Oh and downside I don't think it's terribly realistic for me to go to away games in fall. Unless like I win the lotto or something. Alright, it's hot as hell, over and out.

***EDIT***

Why the hell didn't they hand out trophies like these back when we won nationals???

Rugby as far as the eye can see.....

no...no really. I know I've said this before but my life before was life + occasional sides of fairly exciting rugby. Since moving to the bay (and graduating) it's become little stepping stones of work surrounded by an ocean of incredible rugby events and opportunities. Er I guess that doesn't make any sense. I mean...it's kinda at the point where I'm looking at Pac Coast Grizzlies vs Midwest Thunderbirds and thinking...meh maybe I'll miss it because I've spent every single weekend in the last five months at a rugby event. I haven't been blogging a lot 'cause every other minute something seems to be going on...er that and working my tail off.

So where to even start? I think I'll just fill in a bit and then screw whatever I missed so I can kill this nagging feeling that I'm always behind with my blog. Guess I'll have to take Blondie's advice from way back and just keep it simple stupid. I'll try and blog once a week consistently and build up again from there.

Last weekend was the invite only grizzly tryout up north (uh in Oregon I assume) only one of our kids made the trip (despite four invites) and she made the squad! So 'grats to Kal McMahon


Kal McMahon and our inside center Mashawna Miller scissoring against UC Berkeley

So u-23 Grizzlies will be off to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania June 10-14 to play in the u-23 equivalent to ITTs(uh Jen's explanation, not mine). Pac Coast will be playing Midwest first then MARFU. Good luck to them *obviously* and I'll hopefully be able to post a roster for them soon.

What else....I've been enjoying our super small Thursday practices with Coach Williams...they've now shifted from skill only to a core/skill work split. I'm really focusing on my communication (and everything else) but I'm actually making some improvements by reducing my chat to where/when (ie the only relevant info). Um I've been working on the blues website adding more profiles so you should check'em out =]. I kind of have an open call out helping if any women's teams want some tech help I'm no specialist but I can definitely help get your basic info out there/essential web updates and scheduling stuff to the more superficial but equally important profiles and embedded media. I really want to get my coding up to snuff so I can start tackling the LAU and TAU websites. For chrisssake some of them don't even acknowledge women's rugby...like...seriously....wtf? And as previously stated don't even get me started on usarugby. It would definitely be cool to update the profiles for the women eagles pool.

I'm still waiting and hoping on the video coding training for the women's national team and doing research to find a setup that would work (stupid me not owning a stupid mac).

Yesterday was the first 7s practice with the All Blues and it was SUPER DUPER cool. Ok yea I know I describe a lot of All Blues stuff that way but this was really chill. Did I mention Laura Cabrera is coaching? I have a hyper-extended arm because....(oh shit I haven't even talked about alumni weekend!) well one of my drunken alumni jumped on me at the bars before the alumni match and apparently I dropped her. Long story short I woke up the next day with some nagging-sharp arm pain which luckily hasn't given me too much trouble at work...where I only lift heavy boxes for 8 1/2 hours a day =p Oh so 7s. I'm learning about running LINES. WTF it's mind blowing...you run lines to confuse and draw and manipulate the defense. Imagine that! My head was scrambled after the third pattern we learned but hey that might be because Chou and I collided at full speed (I forgot that she was scissoring when I was looping and decided to support two). There was speed practice before hand and unfortunately I felt like shit due to my lack of sleep and the crappy burrito I ate for lunch. I only finished half of the speed workout which sucked because I know I'm better then that. New rule: Eating shitty (fast food) makes you feel like crap. Food that's good for you tastes better and makes you feel better when you're doing something that you like (like rugby). So why the hell should I eat crap food? So the new rule is I'm enjoying rugby and I want to feel good while doing it so I might as well eat healthy. =p Back to 7s...it was really interesting how defense has more options...like if someone is coming into you turning their back you can give 'em a shove and slide on or look for the intercept. If it was XVs that'd be the time to stick a shoulder into their lower back but 7s makes it so much more complex. Now obviously I have no ambitions to be a great 7s player but if I can keep a hold of half of what I'm learning these lines are fabulous. It's like adding a layer to the cake and it just keeps getting better and better. Oh and despite feeling crappy I made it through practice which felt pretty good (although I started getting a calf cramp when we were doing conditioning sprints at the ends...which made me feel like a douche).

Speaking of douchebaggery....alumni! UCSC alumni weekend is always a blast and we actually got to play on the lower field (by we I mean the old farts (gee whiz maybe I shouldn't call them that now that I'm one of 'em) and the kids). It was a full length field and probably a full length match as well. The kids won by a single try but both teams got 3-4 in the match. I lost track of the score when I had to get my old flanker off the field when her knee went sideways...did I mention she has no insurance...did I mention that it's shit like this that has kept me off the pitch for almost SIX MONTHS now? Anyhoo luckily there's some amazing health care in Alameda county she got to see a doc and get some x-rays for a measly 35 bucks. No conclusions yet but she has a brace and a referral to see an ortho for 10 dollars! Why the hell didn't I go to Alameda when I was hurt...the exact same thing cost me 400 bucks =p (2 hip x-rays and a visit to an ortho without insurance). What else...Tank from Davis was there (the recently retitled Double Deckers and the Davis HS coach), Tina W. the Fortuna coach (and fellow DD member), Lucy from Fog, and a bunch of kids playing for the sequoias (who will hopefully get their act together in time for palo alto 7s), oh and apparently one of our alum is playing for aptos? We had a bunch of no-shows but we still were able to field a full XV vs XV with subs even. Pretty damn impressive for an alumni match eh?




Did I mention Tina was in shape and raging in the match?



Oh and our alumni jerseys are hilarious...of course Michelle Sit would get the 69 jersey and our crazy ass fullback and rostered U19 USA 7s player Natalie Jacuzzi was wearing the mad hatter 2/3

The game itself was way more physical and serious then expected. Some tempers flared which wasn't helped by the casual refereeing via the men's coach Scott Carson. The young kids were a little hot under the collar and the old crew had some mean skills on the pitch. I was definitely impressed by the crispness of the old slug backline despite the fact that I know for a fact that their fly half hasn't run in at least a year! Christie Ravera is an absolute beast and it would be the largest shame in the world if the sequoias don't use her talent (as would most of the team). It's good to see that Val (my old vet hooker) is playing for Santa Monica who apparently did quite well last season. The kid pack did slightly better in the ruck situation but were beat out at scrum time.

Events in the near future:
This Sunday at 11am @ Stanford the Senior Women's Grizzly side is going to play the Midwest.

uh Sunday May 31st there's USA vs Ireland I'm looking forward to seeing Rory Best, Denis Leamy, Mick O'Driscoll Eoin Reddan and Peter Stringer in person.

I may be road tripping to watch the usa vs canada match June 27th. USA A plays Canada A on the June 23rd as well. Oh did you know that canada's players get paid..not all of em duh but they do get a stipend.

Rugby Canada is pleased to announce the senior women's team players that have been named to the 2009-2010 carding cycle.

Canada’s top twenty-two women will receive funding on behalf of Sport Canada’s Athlete Assistance Program ranging from $900 to $1500 per month.

The group represents a good cross-section of athletes from across the country who excel in various positions on the field:


*Marie Eve Brindamour Carrigan (Que-NWL/Montreal, PQ) (Lock)
Paige Burdett (Calgary Irish/Calgary, AB) (Lock)
Leslie Cripps (London Saracens/England) - (Prop)
Kim Donaldson (BC-NWL/Vancouver, BC) (Hooker)
*Marlene Donaldson (BC/NWL/Vancouver, BC) (Prop)
Gillian Florence (Ste. Anne de Bellvue - Que-NWL/Hudson, PQ) (Flanker)
Maria Gallo (Burnaby Lake-BC-NWL/Vancouver, BC) (Wing)
Megan Gibbs (ON-NWL/Barrie, ON) (Lock)
Brooke Hilditch (Yeomen/ON-NWL/Mississauga, ON) (Centre)
Heather Jacques (Capilanos/Vancouver, BC) (Flanker)
Jennifer Kish (Edmonton Rockers-AB-NWL/Edmonton, AB) (Flanker)
Mandy Marchak (Capilano-BC-NWL/North Vancouver, BC) (Centre)
Lesley McKenzie (BC-NWL/Vancouver,BC) (Hooker)
Barbara Mervin (Velox - BC-NWL/Victoria, BC) (Flanker)
Katie Murray (Lephrechaun Tigers-AB- NWL/Edmonton, AB) (#8)
Ashley Patzer AB/NWL(AB-NWL/Lethbridge, AB) (Fly-half)
Kelly Russell (Toronto Nomads- ON-NWL/Bolton, ON) (#8)
*Anna Schnell (BC-NWL/Vancouver, BC) (Fly-half)
Laura Stoughton (Calgary Irish/Calgary, AB) (Scrum-half)
Julia Sugawara (Burnaby Lake - BC-NWL/Langley, BC) (Scrum-half)
Sarah Ulmer (London Saracens/London, UK) (Centre)
*Julianne Zussman (Town of Mount Royal-Que - NWL/Montreal, PQ) (Fullback)

*Denotes first year carded athlete

The NSWT has an aggressive competition calendar from now until September 2010 to prepare for the next Women’s World Cup which takes place in London, England. The women are currently ranked 4th and are looking to finish in the top 2 of the World Cup next August. Some of the most notable events for the NSWT include:

- 2009 CanAm, June 20-28 ( Denver Colorado) featuring two tests vs. USA

- Senior Nations Cup, August 6-23 (Appleby College, Oakville Ontario) featuring England, France, USA, South Africa, and Canada

- Fall tour to France, mid-late November 2009 (TBA)

- Spring tour to New Zealand, May 2010

-http://www.rugbycanada.ca/leagues/homeRugbyCanada.cfm?leagueID=0&clientID=3817&link=RugbyCanada
taken from Canada RFU's site because for some reason direct links get re-directed.

Alright. That's enough. Seriously...I've been writing this for HOURS.

Congrats to the All Americans!

And specific props to Zully Camacho from UCB and Raina Timmel from Sac State!

The list is obviously from erugbynews so the cite goes to them

Division I - First Team All-American
Position Player School
Prop Andria Payne Brown University
Prop Lauren Rusert Penn State University
Hooker Kristen Snyder Penn State University
Lock Lauren Daly University of Colorado
Lock Kayla Ellingson Brigham Young University
Flanker Kassie Drey University of Northern Iowa
Flanker Alison Worman Penn State University
Eight Kate Daley Penn State University
Scrum half Annie Zeigler Penn State University
Fly half Sadie Anderson Penn State University
Center Lauren Rosso Penn State University
Center Melissa Smit Stanford University
Wing Erica Cavanaugh University of Virginia
Wing Ono Nseyo Stanford University
Full back Jessica Sexauer United States Military Academy

Division I – Second Team All-American
Position Player School
Prop Susan Dekker Stanford University
Prop Tabitha Schaap Brigham Young University
Hooker Tess Kohanski University of Syracuse
Lock Marianne Sparklin United States Naval Academy
Lock Annalisa Wilde Brown University
Flanker Martha Camacho University of California, Berkeley
Flanker Adria Orr Brown University
Eight Jillion Potter University of New Mexico
Scrum half Elizabeth Trujillo United States Naval Academy
Fly half Deanna McGillivray University of New Mexico
Center Alexandria Hartley Brown University
Center Morgan Rovetti Brigham Young University
Wing Ploipailin Flynn Brown University
Wing Ashley Miller United States Military Academy
Full back Jessica Watkins Stanford University

Division I - Honorable mention
Position Player School
Scrum half Amber Glasrud University of New Mexico
Fly half Kirsten Siebach Brigham Young University
Center Danielle Cicuto United States Naval Academy

Division II – First Team All-American
Position Player School
Prop Lisa Hrunka Shippensburg University
Prop Nicole Muraglia La Salle University
Hooker Jennifer Ward Stonehill College
Lock Meghan McCloud Shippensburg University
Lock Kathryn McCormick University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Flanker Tiffany Gjestvang University of Minnesota, Duluth
Flanker Brittany Myers Shippensburg University
Eight Jen Larrimore East Carolina University
Scrum half Brittany Houston University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Fly half Laura Fischer Stonehill College
Center Jenna Boggi Shippensburg University
Center Jillianne Whitfield University of Michigan
Wing Kimberly Lane University of Delaware
Wing Raina Timmel California State University, Sacramento
Full back Natalie Monroig Shippensburg University

AGONY! Watch Cardiff vs Leicester!

Good god was that cruel and wrenching and here I am staying up till one just to gnash my teeth at the very end. Watch it...there's more drama then a theater troupe in close quarters. All I have to say is for fuck's sake let Gethin Jenkins kick. Not technically a very great match but that's just how English teams play semi-finals. There was a round robin this weekend in Santa Cruz with Santa Clara and USF. Our rookies got to play their butts off with two back to back abbreviated games. Everyone whored for everyone and it was overall a good learning experience. More on this later...I'm just distracted by the semi-final.

Oh and wtf Stanford AND Cal lost?? Damnnnnnnn congrats to Ship and Penn.

Here's the posted schedule for Palo Alto 7s (which I grill into pretty much any rugger I meet...cause 7s is fun and I wish the NorCal women's 7s scene was a little bigger/better established)

June 27
July 11
July 25

No clue when but it's at Cubberly Field, Palo Alto. Uh...when I'm not lazy I'll look up a map and embed it. Ooo I think someone might be tinkering with the USA rugby site cause it's looking slightly different. Maybe someone will finally listen to me and @(*#&&(*@# get rid of those stupid frames on the site. Oh and you know...re-organize the link tree so it can make sense (it get's annoying having to write 10+ lines of instruction just to tell a rookie how to CIPP there self).

Yup. Sleep. 5 hours till I have to get up for work...weeee.

The Old "Hiding the Rugby Ball in My Jersey and Running Away With It" Trick

Holland from Sac State doing something rather stealthy for an 8-man.

Sorry I've been busy working 11 hours a day this week...luckily I was able to quit my part time job (dear lord don't ask) and I'm now happily working full time at Title IX. I absolutely love the company! It's well managed, structured, and everyone is so freaking nice and friendly =]

It's been a long long time

but here's what's up. I got a part time job doing office work/web design/gofer duty for a personal training gym. I just got a full time job doing accounts receivable/stock room stuff at Title IX. I fixed my car. Got a tailored suit for interviews. Had my mom visit. Turned 23. Been practicing with the Blues. Finally updated the Blues roster page. Learned how to publish my web design stuff (ftp servers etc). Skipped the U23 tryout camp because I'm a mere 2 months away from being fully cleared from my injury (which increases my chances of getting accepted for health insurance). Ummm and more...probably.

All 4 or 5 of our girls (unfortunately more couldn't make it) were invited to go to the real tryouts in Oregon. Which is cool news, the camp was pretty cool with lots of fun games.

Um our girls lost their first game weeks back against Washington State, I'll admit I wasn't very focused on the matches so I can't report back too much. Their backline was pretty fierce, fairly fast and very tough they were hardly stopped by our horrible tackling. We (UCSC) won the consolation match against Utah State which probably will help out next year with the seeds and such but it should be mentioned that Utah was playing multiple players down fairly early in the match. Both teams lacked depth, while Santa Cruz has a large squad an unprecedented level of serious injuries scythed down the squad. Sac State won their first match against Utah State in a tight game but weren't playing with the sharpness that they normally have. Against Washington State, Sac's players began to crumble and lacking subs their quality of play degraded further, costing them the match. Um I could report more about what happened in Elite 8s blah blah blah but I don't feel like it right now.

Here's a cool clip:


Um more rugby to come.

I want to stay in the bay!!!

Spring season is over for both the ABs and the Berkeley U19 team so you can imagine things are a bit more boring for me. While we only have one AB practice a week it's been super enjoyable thus far. Lots of fun mini-drills...I've been working on my fitness since it's spring and all and managed to survive two Eagle workouts (hehe I made it through conditioning day 2! Um I mean it's not like I'm making the time requirements but I'm still happy that I'm getting out there and staying active. Hopefully I can continue to work out time to time with my more fit teammates. Ooo and I'm down to 210lbs which might or might not be good. I'm definitely slimmer but I have a bad feeling that I've in fact just lost a lot of muscle mass. I'm biking a lot as well and that's fun.

What else, pac coast playoffs this weekend...details can be found in a previous post I'm really too lazy to bother re-posting. I'll definitely attend the games unless I miraculously get a job.

Here's a video posted by someone from St. Mary's

St. Mary's in the red and blue, the white and green is USF, The Black and Gold and Green is Humboldt

About last weekend...

Berkeley U19 (aka the Vigorous Gold Stars) held up fairly well against a well coached and physical Motherlode side. While we were borrowing three players it was nice for our girls to experience playing a full XVs game. Our tackling wasn't quite as good as against Alameda but our offense and phase play showed a marked improvement. When we had the ball in hand the girls were breaking tackles and linking up with each other which was totally awesome. We were beaten by a lot but there was definitely an exciting moment in the 2nd half when the Berkeley managed to score a try. It was pretty freaking adorable as the kids celebrated like they won nationals. Motherlode had a damn good and, more importantly, very organized team. With around thirty players and numerous u19 select side talent there really was only one team that was going to win this match.


Other HS Girls Rugby News..:

CAL WOMEN'S RUGBY - GIRLS RUGBY CAMP 2009
Location: Berkeley, CA
Dates: June 22 - 25, 2009
Ages: 14-19
More Details

NorCal High School Girl's Rugby Playoffs are being held this Saturday at Luther Burbank High School, 3500 Florin Road in Sacramento.

The first game starts at 8:00 am between Mother Lode and Davis. There was a three way tie this year between Alameda, Davis, and Fortuna so the two closest teams are going to play in the first match.

Pelican (NorCal LAU Select Side) selectors will be present at the Championship. As a result, there will be an extra match for any players who would like extra time being seen by the selectors. All players will be eligible to play in this match as long as they have not exceeded the 90 minute maximum for the day.

(yea a lot of this info is straight from Tank)

Anyhoo that should be it for this week. I'll post as much as I can about Pac Coast Collegiate playoffs. If anyone spots me at the tournament they should give me a rugby shirt...or food (heh playing off of Wendy from YSC). Oh and I haven't paid a lot of attention to the D1 stuff but I do know that Chico is playing UC Berkeley...hmm...if Berkeley is firing on all cylinders they should take it.

Rugby is screwing up my sleep schedule...hardcore!

Last weekend I woke up dark and early at 5 am to get my stuff together and bike down to a teammate's house and catch a ride to Treasure Island to set up the field at 7am for a 9am kickoff. The next day I had to get up at 7 to catch a bus to get to Alameda for the Berkeley u19 game against Alameda. Then I had to way up at 4 am on Friday to drive a teammate to the airport. Tonight I'm probably staying out late to pick up said teammates....

but who the shit cares!? Cause the kids won!!! Um let me clarify now that I'm affiliated/covering three teams. UC Santa Cruz won a seed in Pac Coast Playoffs, knocking out PNRFU 2 Western Washington in the challenge match that just ended. The game was close and ugly with UCSC playing a match right after their finals week which didn't afford for great attendance during practice nor the greatest level of focus. Their play was riddled with penalties but Santa Cruz still pulled it through with two tries scored by inside center Jen Neely and a conversion. This squeaked them just ahead of Western Washington who...uh..scored an unconverted try and two penalty kicks and scuffed a third in the dying minute which would have given them the match (also it could have been a converted try and a penalty kick and one missed pk...I got my info from a very exhausted forward just minutes after the final whistle..I'll call coach and get more of an official score). So it looks like the final was 12-11 or 12-10...either way UCSC has clawed it's way back into the national running.

The downside of course is that Washington State beat Western Washington 29-0 in the previous week and that's who UCSC will be facing at Pac Coast Playoffs Friday, April 3rd, at Stanford. The good news is it'll be practically a home match and a couple of our starters who were unable to make the last minute match up to Washington will be there and two weeks should be long enough for the team to heal up, rest up, and bring the A-game that they're capable of playing. Not only will it most likely be warmer weather, but there will be firmer turf, and a sizable crowd of fans to help bolster the side.

The Pac Coast Playoffs are scheduled for Friday and Saturday to accommodate for BYU who, along with Chico, won their respective challenge matches to make it into the D1 PCRFU playoffs. Chico State beating Oregon 19-7 and BYU beating Davis 20-0. Dunno what that matchup means because I just don't have time to really cover D1 women's collegiate rugby =p

All Blues beat the Glendale Raptors 37-10 with a good number of Berkeley's tries coming near the end of the match...more details when I actually get to talk to my teammates instead of regurgitating a goff article. The match was apparently broadcast live on www.rugbyzone.com but I missed the live streaming...stupid standard time crap. But it's still available to download if you're a member/pay whatever fee that I can't afford. There should be another b-side match tomorrow but I doubt it's being broadcast. This pretty much ends ABs spring season...*sigh* practices are going to be cut to one a week which is a bummer but it's not like I can practice anyhoo...I'm just a wee bit sad that it was so short.

Hopefully I can get insurance before the U-23 Grizzly Camp in April...

What else...um the Berkeley u19 lost to Alameda last Saturday 6-7 tries to 0. They played 13 a side with Alameda lending a player. The girls had a lot of fun and there were no major injuries, which is great news. Scrums were uncontested and play consisted mostly of Alameda keeping it tight and offloading out of contact. Our lineouts were looking alright, they kind of cheated by throwing the ball in crooked to their first lifter but the ref let it go. Berkeley was dominated in almost every aspect of the game but never gave up and kept tackling their hearts out. We tried to work on problem areas at practice but on the second day the rucks were looking worse then before...so hopefully they'll sharpen up their focus before Saturday. We worked with our scrumhalf on passing from the ground (she was taking a couple of slow steps with the ball and was getting stuffed by their flankers). We also worked on our forward support lines which really improved as well. Eh their next game is tomorrow at Treasure Island against Mother Lode (who beat Alameda) kickoff is at 2 and I'll be there for sure.

Now my pinkie hurts from typing so much about rugby...man I wish it was from playing!

An Unfortunate End to My Spring Season

Nope I'm not even injured. It's worse, I'm 100% healthy (and probably fitter then I've been in years) but I can't get insurance. Yup, I'm a douchebag supreme and if I'd been on my shit from the start I'd have a job, some savings, and insurance by now. *sigh* instead I missed my dream debut, I was selected to start at hook against Sacramento today but I had to back out because I found out that I need to be injury free for 6 months before another carrier will pick me up. I thought my stuff was going to go through but it ends up it was rejected weeks ago and my fam forgot to tell me (err 'cause I'm *cough* NOT playing rugby right now). While I could have done the gutsy thing and gone for it I decided to make the extremely painful but correct decision. *sigh* so now I can't even PRACTICE with the Blues because of liability reasons. Fucking shit dude...if only I'd left college with a better plan of action...fuck! I'll still go to practice but I guess I'll just bring along a workout and kick my own ass. Live and learn, I've been a lot more productive on the job hunt lately and now it's official. I'm declaring war on unemployment and my own irresponsible immaturity! I will be victorious!!! Wow that was geeky. Now that that's over let's get to the real rugby news shall we?

There is seriously a ton of material to cover...when it comes to DII collegiate stuff I'm totally backlogged.

March 7 League Match Results
Cal 27 v Reno 5
UCD 97 v Humboldt 0 (waiting final score)
Sac St 19 v UCSC 7


STANDINGS:
D1
Stanford 20
Cal 20
Chico 15
UC Davis 10
Reno 5
Humboldt 0

D2
Sac St 14
Santa Cruz 10
Santa Clara 4
St. Mary's 1
USF 0

Yup UCSC finally lost to Sac State, it was a fairly close match (we had them matched for speed and power...but experience won the day) 7 - 19 but yea, sucks but there are interesting implications. UCSC has been dodging the bullet of moving up to D1 for a while and this year it's mandatory DII winner of league HAS to move up if the bottom D1 team doesn't challenge. Humboldt has been trying for ages to get down to DII...ipso fact next year Sac State a team of a wee bit over 19 with 5+ fifth years, and a sixth year player (all starters mind you) will find themselves in the D1 racket next year. If this had happened last year I feel the current team could fend pretty well in D1, I know they could definitely take out Reno, and definitely pose a stern challenge to Chico and UC Davis. But next year? We'll see how their recruiting goes.

So what's next for UCSC? They're fundraising their butts off the good ol' fashioned Santa Cruz way (ie panhandling). They're flying up to Bellingham, WA to challenge Western Washington for a seed at Pac Coast playoffs. Should be an interesting match, if memory serves Western Wash had some pretty sharp backs that we managed to keep contained only by completely choking them of possession (although I suppose I could do some research on the subject and check my own archives but meh...another day).

PN1= Washington State University
PN2= Western Washington University
NC1= Sac State
NC2= UCSC
Utah= they haven't shown up to Pac Coast playoffs since I was a freshman in like 04-05...uh if they brought anyone I suppose it'd be Utah State
----------------------------------
PCRFU Playoffs
Host: NCRFU (natural rotation - NC '09, U '10, PN '11)
Dates: April 3/4, 2009 (Fri/Sat)
Venue: Stanford
MC: Theresa Champagne

Friday Matches if PN2 wins play-in:
2pm: Match A: NC1 v PN2
4pm: Match B: U1 v PN1

Friday Matches if NC2 wins play-in:
2pm: Match A: NC1 v U1
4pm: Match B: NC2 v PN1

Saturday Matches:
2pm: Match C: Loser A v Loser B
4pm: Match D: Winner A v Winner B

Winner D = PC 1
Loser D = PC 2
Winner C = PC 3
Loser C = PC 4

------------------------------------

In Women's Club side news, a week after successfully winning the Champagne Classic the ABs stretched themselves again playing a double header um...today. The ABs faced off first against the SF Fog and then a later match against the Sacramento Amazons + a few whores. The low numbers led to a bit of early fatigue and drop in play but the Blues eventually cycled through the gears and hit top speed nailing in try after try out wide using Nathalie Marchino's seemingly endless speed and energy. The Blues won it quite a freaking lot to 5, with the Fog scoring a try near the end of the first half.

The second game was a bit like the first, with the Blues struggling a bit to cope with the physicality of the teams tight play (and spending a relatively large amount of time camped on their own tryline) before adapting to the conditions and creating cleanly sealed platforms for their backs to score off of. Petrie Quigley showed some nice tough defense on her own tryline squashing a number of dangerous Amazon forwards in their tracks and eventually poaching the ball to allow Berkeley to get ship the ball downfield and get some breathing space. Due credit should be given to the pack who gutted through both matches and had some good steals at lineout time. Oh and the ABs beat the Sacramento Amazons quite a lot to 0.

Alright so I should have been keeping score (and I know my match analysis was pretty poor) but I was busy running the kicking tee every couple minutes and I kind of just lost track. Even though the whole insurance thing was a bummer I had a really fun time being a rookie again. It's fun to be helpful and I ended up getting to line the fields which was pretty cool if not a little messy (and I may be in trouble because some of the jerseys got paint on them because apparently the paint have enough time to set...gah) and bringing the kicking tee was a new experience. Heh now I know that Steph Bruce likes to kick from a cone whereas Ruth Bryson prefers a real tee. Oh and I talked to Ellen Owens (or more accurately stuttered and stumbled all over my words) about learning coding game tape which is something I know very little about but am VERY INTERESTED in learning!! Weee! I'm stoked! I know I never managed to go to the UC Berkeley practices but it's mostly because I think they're at the same time as the ABs practices. Kal McMahon might move back to Berkeley and play with the ABs which would totally be fun. Oh and I can't believe that the ABs don't have cut tampons in their med kit...I'm going to have to cut some up for them. We had like three nosebleeds today and seriously, rolled gauze just doesn't cut it!

Alright so what's next?? Berkeley U-19 vs Alameda High School kick's off tomorrow at 11 at Thompson Field in Alameda. The lineouts were looking sharp last practice, and the girls were hitting the ball with more pace. Hopefully they'll do fine against Alameda.

Full contact!

I'm going to make this quick 'cause I have to get back to job apps (I finally, finally am getting on track...really). Uh so we had a full contact practice last Thursday and it was seriously awesome. Granted I ran my butt off for two hours before hand but I still had some gas in the tank for the ABs practice and it left me for dead by the end of it. The closest thing that I could compare surviving that practice to was a final game, like a national championship game...that was the intensity level required for me to keep up. The scary thing is it didn't even seem like the Blues were trying...it's like they were still wearing kit gloves or something and I still got suplexed by vix (I really need a scrum cap). To put it simply my 110% equaled their 50% and every once in a while they'd take it up a notch and I'd go flying (literally). Still it was the coolest thing ever, 20 mins of full contact scrums, 20 of full lineouts and light phase play afterwords, then like an hour of full contact scrimmage (those going to champagne classic vs people who weren't) practicing their offense and defense. I'm still getting a hang of their...everything! Scrums, lineouts, defensive org, and attacking patterns it was pretty freaking magical! In scrums I'm still unsure of the basics like locking out, not sure of their cadence and calls...and what it means for the hooker. Lineouts are mine boggling, oh and they lift shorts at practice to save money on tape for lifting shelves. Oh on offense if I'm not rucking or supporting a back I should be about a yard and a half behind the scrumhalf. I've always stacked weakside because that's how we do shooters but it makes a feckload more sense to be there. It's fun being a pain in the ass at the breakdown and I created a few turnovers. Overall I'm totally in love with the blues. It was a bummer that I couldn't go to Champagne but I really needed to save the money...I'm down to my last rent check + all. Feh and then I lost my running shoes that'll cost 90-100 bucks to replace anyways. *Sigh* Shit happens.

Blues did good at CC, beating Belmont Shore in the Semi and then taking out a Boston/Beantown mixed team in the final. Lot's of people were playing out of position and the ABs had nary more then 21-22 players on any given day during this 6 game tournament.

Tuesday practice was canceled due to the extra wear and tear on players bodies so I hopped on Bart and caught a ride down to the Sequoias practice. My ankle was giving me a bit of trouble and I'm still fielding a nagging feeling that it may have a hairline fracture (it's been weeks since it got stomped on..) but it could just be the extra pressure on my arches because of my lack of proper shoes (*&@#^@*). It was fun 'cause I was definitely schooling my old teammates fitness-wise (which constituted the majority of practice) but it was mainly because...well...it's really easy to have energy and run around when you aren't working full time. Heh, it was still fun absolutely dusting my old flanker =] They still need people so if anyone in the San Jose/South Bay/Palo Alto/Los Gatos/Oakland/San Mateo area are looking for a fun team to play for make sure to look 'em up. They just put up a website and I'll link it in a bit. Alright, peace and I'll update more on the league later.

ps it's super cool helping out at the berkeley u-19 practice and they have their first game this Sunday against Alameda...it should be interesting!

Quite a handful of rugby

So another week of quadruple practices for me and I'm pretty beat, beat up, and brow beaten by my parents for not job hunting 24/7. While my 'rents have a good point, at this point it's my money, my mistake. Annnd I might have gotten a small week long gig for a hundred bucks and every little bit helps.

Um on Tuesday my feet were absolutely killing me because I have no arches and I was barefoot for so long on Sunday (@ prom dress rugby). I didn't feel it on Sun or Mon, but when I put my cleats on (no arch support) SHIT I just about died. It was like sophomore year all over again, I could hardly walk much less run through practice (man I'm glad I finally bought good shoes and stopped having this pain on a regular basis). Later in a non-contact drill I was part of the defensive line, got bumped onto the ground and then someone planted on my instep ankle. The joint locked up and it seared like fire on impact but I think it's ok. It was a lot of weight on it and so I'm a bit worried that it could be fractured...namely because its such a difficult area to diagnose. Well I don't have two hundred dollars for x-rays so I'll just deal.

I'm having a blast helping out at the Berkeley U19 practices (despite the inordinate amount of muddy clothes I've had to wash as a result!). Actually my room smells like a swamp due to the hole in the ceiling, my muddy gear, and the lack of window screens and sunlight. All of it is my fault but still...I'm a tad worried about my lungs.

Alright in reality I'm just finishing up a post that I worked on weeks ago. So much shit has gone on I really don't have time for it all. More later. As always...your dutiful hooker signing out.

Synchronized Underwater Prom Dress Rugby Scuba Diving

The Goalpost almost floated away on us:


So the Job Corps field was flooded and a number of participants from both teams showed up. While everyone was appropriately garbed for a barnstorming match, the weather didn't permit for a full contest. After much milling about, the women were split into motley(mixed) teams and decided to play about twenty to thirty minutes of touch rugby. There were a number of highly amusing moments where certain agile Eagle wings attempted to make some deft cuts and ended up plowing face first through the lake. Considering the circumstances a fair number of wet weather spectators showed up and stayed through till the end(although a few stayed in their cars the whole time). Apparently some money was made and much fun was had by the participants.


A motley crew of women's ruggers


-----------------------------------------
NorCal Collegiate Women's Rugby Updates


FEBRUARY 21 League Match Results
D1 Matches:
Cal 22 v Davis 10 (most of the D1 teams consider themselves to be rebuilding this year so it's not too surprising of a result. Davis may occasionally have better talent but Cal has a much better infrastructure, it's just a general observation but it may be the reason...I'll try to get the deets.)
Chico 24 v Reno 5 (Reno is a traditional contender for the wooden spoon)
D2 Matches:
SCU 24 v St. Mary's 17 (Now this is an interesting one, going off of history I would have expected St. Mary's to take this match easy. I talked to one of the Sac girls this weekend and apparently St. Mary's lost some of their size in their pack. Also credits got to be given to SCU, it's nice to see them with a win under their belts.)
UCSC played a mixed friendly with USF so no league points

Norcal Women's Collegiate League Standings for uh 08-09
D1:
Chico 15
Stanford 15
California 10
UC Davis 5
Humboldt 0
UN Reno 0

D2:
UC Santa Cruz 5
Sacramento St 5
Santa Clara 4
St Mary's 1
USF 0

Alright I guess that's it. Practice tomorrow =]

UC Berkeley Mens vs Univ. British Columbia

So I missed what ended up being a really fun motley friendly between UCSC and USF because I didn't find out my ride was bailing until 10:30 the night before the match =p I tried to pull a lot of fast favors and scrambled around on craigslist to no avail. In the end I figured it wasn't worth 8+ hours of transit and 30 bucks to go to Santa Cruz for like three hours. Even though I missed all my damn friends and what looks to have been one heckuva fun game. The teams were mixed evenly and the match ended 5-5 in this wonky friendly. It's weird seeing your teammates in different colored jerseys...really...really weird.


Getting Pretty High on a Mixed Lineout


Wait why is our wing playing flanker and our 8 is a scrum-half??


Kathy Flores in a much better mood + our 8-man in USF colors (again..confusing)


Motley Team Picture...damnit I shoulda just taken public transit!


Alas..so what did I do with my Saturday plans down the drain? Go to another rugby game of course! I was kinda on the fence because the UCB vs UBC match cost money which isn't something I have a whole lot of so I ended up biking over to Witter Field rather late (but beating most of traffic...wee for cycling). I figured I'd try and sneak in with the whole 'I look like a teenage/middle school boy' thing. I get to the front door and they're checking school ID's so no dice and I don't have cash and they don't take card. I'm missing kickoff and everything (2 national guard choppers are flying overhead the anthem is sung and I'm sure the Cal band did something fancy). So I'm bummed and trod off to find an ATM, 15 minutes later I drag my butt back up the hill and they've closed off the gates. No more ticket sales, no more admission with a crowd of about thirty still trying to wheedle their way in. At this point I'm pretty much like 'are you shitting me?!'. Then some nice older gentleman walked up to the gates and said that he had a spare free ticket if anyone wanted it. I raised my hand and walked right in for free (no atm money needed)! I spent the first half mostly peeking through the clump of people bunched at the top of the bleachers. At half time I snag a perfect seat next to a nice older gentleman and all is well. The program was nifty, you couldn't hear what the announcer was saying at all and both teams played pretty exciting rugby.

Cal put the pressure on UBC early on through a number of successful penalty kicks although UBC seemed to have an easier time putting tries on the board. At first Cal's beefy forwards looked to counter-ruck and generally manhandle their UBC opposite numbers but this enthusiasm quickly vanished as the game wore on. Throughout the game there was a high number of penalties and infringements. Cal fell asleep at the beginning of the second half and got in a rather uncomfortable position being down 14-15 for most of the half. During this phase in the game it felt like Cal was kicking away possession when they needed to keep it in hand and work through the phases. It appeared to me that Cal's forwards were struggling to break the gainline when running the ball which left the backs to play a bit of footy for territory. Unfortunately UBC's back three were quite suave under the high ball and had big boots of their own, for a good long chunk the Cal Bears were deprived of the ball almost completely. UBC made great punching runs and broke the gainline consistently and had a very slippery wing whom Cal struggled to get into touch. It was only through some great effort by Cal's wing that the bear woke up and turned up the gears against the Canadian Thunderbirds. Cal eventually won it 31-15 but in reality the game was much closer then that. Both teams subbed a fair number of players late in the second half when most of the tries were scored which may be indicative of the turnaround.

My view from the stands:


The National Guard Rugby...uh truck.


The crowd, while it was at full capacity was rather quiet. A few people tried to crank up the atmosphere but it wasn't Millennium Stadium by any means. UBC's section managed to get pretty vocal. After the match I figured I'd get a few autographs because heck why not...they put a section in the program and all. I got Chris Biller's signature because hey he's a hooker and goff seems to like him a lot. There was a ton of different media sources swarming the players after the event, tv interviews, radio journalists, and paper hounds which was pretty nifty. Oh while I was there I saw Rikus Pretorius and got his autograph as well. Bleh...nerdy but whatever. It's kinda weird 'cause I think I'm older then both of em. Oh well it was still fun and I'd have regretted the opportunity if I hadn't gone for it. It's kind of weird really because now I play for a team where a good majority of the players are of international caliber and...they're my teammates. It'd be kinda like being plopped in the middle of the Justice League Headquarters or something. It's just odd.

Oh well prom dress rugby tomorrow. I think I'm relying on good old fashioned public transportation to get to Treasure Island tomorrow. Lovely really, I get to bart to SF to bus back across the bridge to TI. It ought to be fun, come out if you can.

One practice down....a heck of a lot more to go!

This week has been crazy and it's not like I've gotten a WHOLE LOT accomplished but it's probably more then I've done in the last month so it's an improvement, all right? Just trust me...I mean heck I just installed a little hanging light doodad so I can finally SEE in my room at night! Holy crap it's amazing! Now onto rugby.

Tuesday: Was my first ABs practice and I'm not sure how my blog falls under their player policy. I think I read somewhere that you're not supposed to use their name without permission and such so I think I'm going to have to get things clarified before I proceed going into depth on the awesomeness that is their practices. I mean...super mondo gosh gee willikers awesome. I think it's ok going into the general stuff but if it gets cleared I think it'd be pretty nifty to post details on the sort of drills they do...cause they're obviously effective and surprisingly fun! Um but let's see...I've been biking a lot to try and build up my legs but I kinda pushed it the first day by trying to bike to the new Gilman turf fields. 6+ mile bike in the freezing rain before my first practice back from my hip injury = bad decision making on my part. I made it through warm-ups and about 3 drills before my legs were completely kaput. On the plus side I got to check out my hip mobility and strength with Laura Cabrera who gave me some cool tips + exercises and told me to check back in two weeks. It's neat because beyond the obvious (increased athleticism, focus, and skill level) each practice is planned with themes. Like instead of doing a drill just to practice a basic skill (passing) you're doing a drill that involves passing but is focused on developing field awareness. It's a given that you can pass now you're working on spacing, peripheral vision, and communication. Top two inches stuff. Oh I also had the obligatory rookie jackass moment where I managed to singlehandedly screw up a basic four corners drill. They run four corners with four balls and when they run to the center and pass to a direction they then run straight whereas I'm deeply ingrained to follow behind my pass. So besides not being used to focusing on four ballcarriers I also let nerves get the best of me and pretty much screwed up the drill about 6 times =p Oh well at least I learned my lesson and it reminded me that I have to really focus on instructions and the drill at hand. Everything is new and interesting and I think I have at least 3-5 lightbulb moments a practice.

Wednesday and Thursday I had practice with the Berkeley U-19 team (I didn't realize that they were an area team and not a HS team). Practices got a lot better, or at least I think I'm annoying the girls less. More recruits showed up so I think they have about 10 or 11 players which is pretty exciting. They have a game in about ten days that I think I'm missing because UCSC has a league game against St. Mary's. Ashley English led practice for the last two days and I worked with JQ to work on lineout throws with one of the girls. For the most part I just help move around the cones, snag balls, and do 1 on 1 stuff with rookies (basic passing, falling, knee tackling, and basic rucking/driving position).

Snagged a ride with Ashley to the ABs practice after that and because I didn't kill my legs on the bike ride (and perhaps due to the 3 x 10, 3 times a day lunges, heel touches and weird praying motions that I've been doing at LC's behest) I actually made it through the whole practice! Wooohoo! This practice seemed geared more towards communication, and I even did the contact drills. They were "soft" contact drills but with this group it's like being smashed by a very precise bullet train. I was definitely cautious going into contact but I was definitely getting rocked. It was pretty funny 'cause there was one part of a drill where you drove a partner about twenty meters while maintaining good form. I'm 220, I'm not the easiest thing to drive but Kelly Griffin (UCLA alum and socal griffins acclaim) was my partner and I literally flew! Let's just say I've never sprinted that fast in my life and there I was doing it in reverse. It was kinda like being hit by superwoman. Anyhoo I survived the practice with one knee to the forehead (I need to keep my head down when I'm placing the ball in a ruck) and a knock to the nose but bones intact! I'm still kinda working on learning all the different terminology that they use...I mean it may just be a D1 thing but grapes = inside passing or a vertical attack? Inside passing isn't the same as ours though...it just means popping to a runner off your hip not literally passing left right left right...uh or maybe and I'm just getting confused again. Anyhoo Amara was right. I am slow to react to changes in play, it's something to work on. Pass the ball to the hole, don't run to the hole with the ball. Stuff that is probably so obvious to other teams is all brilliant news to me. I'm also trying to get the hang of being able to imagine the boundaries when Coach is explaining a drill...bleh. I'll just have to keep trying =]

AND FIND A JOB!

It doesn't sound like anyone is driving down to the Champagne Classic but it may be a good thing. I'm pretty overcautious when it comes to injuries and it's served me well in the past (I've only re-injured myself once and it was for TAU playoffs) so for physical and financial reasons I may not end up attending the away matches (actually just make that a no). Which is a huge bummer because I've ALWAYS wanted to attend the Champagne Classic (and USA 7s) etc etc but oh well. There's always next year.

Oh in college news here is the pelicanrefs report on the Sac State vs St. Mary's game:

SAC STATE women 56 – St. Mary's 0 Referee: Bjorn Stumer
The final score of this match - Sac State Women 56 (29) - St. Mary's 0 pretty much sums up the one sided affair. The Sacramento ladies were just too fit, big, and skilled for a youthful St. Mary side which, to its credit, continued to soldier on throughout the match. The tries came in fast and furious in the first half, a number scored by Sacramento's sturdy but deceivingly fast No. 12, who appeared to cut through defenders at will. Five more tries were scored in the second half for a total of ten, three of which converted.

The only item of note is that, due to a number of collapsed scrums of unclear source, I called the scrums uncontested from the 16th minute of the second half.

As usual the ladies ruggers were polite, played in the spirit of the game, and refrained from the back talk that is frequent in the men's game. A wonderful dedicated pitch and a smallish but friendly crowd in attendance contributed to the good day.

There's another article floating around somewhere...and I added the link to Las Banditas because A)Jax is awesome B) Uhh Anna Richards is my biggest hero ever (so much so that if she asked me I'd switch to flyhalf...ahhaaaa) C)it's a funny cool site so check it out.

ABs vs SF Fog Prom Dress Rugby this weekend on Treasure Island. Go if you can. I won't be in a dress though. Ha.

UCSC will be playing USF this weekend at the most beautiful pitch on earth (or at least in NorCal). Of course I'll be there.

The pitch in heaven:

NorCal Select Side Developmental Camps Spring 09 + U23 Grizzly Info

Ripped straight from the email list but it's important info:

Hi everyone

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Mari Therrien and I'm coaching the U23 Grizzly select side this year. I've been playing rugby for over 12 years and have been gradually transitioning from player to coach. I've played select side rugby for over 10 years and been coached by lots of great coaches including the current WNT coaches. I was an assistant coach for the Grizzlies last year and am taking over as head coach this year as Jarred moves on to coach the senior side. The Grizzly coaching team this year will also include Michelle Stephen (Grizzly asst coach last year, ORSU hooker) as our Tight 5 specialist and Krista Gust (ORSU, Senior Grizzlies) as our backrow specialist. We like open, fast moving rugby and that's the style we'll be playing this year as we look to capitalize on the new ELVs. And we all play and coach rugby because it's fun so we will have lots of fun as we work to create a great team!

On April 25th we will be holding a regional U23 Development camp in the Bay area. This camp is open to all U23 players and will NOT be a tryout for the Grizzlies. The focus of this camp will be general skill development for all players from rookies to more experienced players with the goal of exposing more girls to select-side rugby without the pressure or expectation of tryouts. From all of the regional camps 40-50 players total will be invited to a tryout/training camp which will be held in May 9-10th. This training camp will most likely be held in Portland as it is the most central location in our territory. If players are unable to participate in one of the regional development camps and are still interested in trying out for the Grizzlies U23 team they will need to contact me directly. We held a skills camp in Oregon last weekend and will be holding camps in Seattle March 8th and Utah April 11th.

Please encourage all of your U23 players to come to this camp; the more the merrier! We'll incorporate a lot of rugby principles into fun games and I think everyone will have a good time! Throughout the day we'll cover a lot fundamental skills and hopefully introduce some fun new ways to work on them that you can bring back to your club if you wish. Coaches are welcome to come to the camp to see what we're working on and provide input on your players. We're still working on the final details for the camp including field space so I will email you as soon as we have a location nailed down. Assuming it works for the location we'll probably run the camp from approximately 9-3. (If you have any info on fields or could host this camp please email me!)

If you can distribute this information to all the U23 players on your team I would appreciate it. And if you can get a gauge of how many players from your team will be coming and shoot me an email that would be great! As you know it helps to know if you're planning for 45 players or only 15 players!



Thanks!

Mari Therrien
maritherrien@gmail DOT com
U23 Grizzlies Head Coach

I think this is a super cool idea because I know personally I've always been too intimidated to try out for select sides (uhh we'll just ignore the fitness and financial issues =p) but a...this is a really neat opportunity for LAU to get together and have some fun while yknow...developing. Oh yea and I made a slight mod to her letter because she originally sent out the wrong dates for the norcal camp. Alrighty and I'm still stoked for practice tonight...despite the downpour and thunderstorms.

International Rugby Fan

For the record in my last post I mentioned my lack of interest in men's rugby. I should correct that...I don't care about the domestic men's game. International rugby however....is a whole different can of worms! My favorite national teams are (in order of importance) Wales, Argentina, Australia (and at the very least ANYBODY who is playing England!). I'm a big 6 Nations fan and Wales, Scotland, Italy, France, Ireland, and England (not by skill but by emotional attachment). H-cup I've been all about Bath (although it sucks about stevens) which is pretty ironic given my rancor towards the English National team but it's probably because all the pricks play for the wasps or falcons. In past years I like the Ospreys and Stade Franceis...it's weird to see Cardiff on top of the charts. Tri-nations I'm all about Australia 'cause Matt Gitteau is brilliant and cute and Deans has been doing an alright job. Super 14 I'm a fan of Western Force for the same reasons. Men's 7s I like everybody except NZ. Anything regarding the women's international game and I'll actually support the Eagles (despite the fact that I'll give mad props to the black ferns Richards is my all time hero). Women's 6 Nations I'll stick with Wales...nifty that they managed to get 2nd last year off of kicks. My world XV is probably an odd mess of players who would never slot in together but I will give a list of faves and asshats.

****Let it be noted that these are the opinions of a fan and not meant to be analytical or represent any sort of critical thought in the slightest...that is an entirely different matter altogether. This is merely a silly little list of school girl-like crushes and bitter anti-English grudges****


The Cool Kids
---------------
Gethin Jenkins (fit, fast, great hands)
Lee Meers (ok maybe I just like that his nickname is "the little pig"
Matt Stevens (stupid drugs!)
Victor Matfield (no explanation necessary)
The whole Argentinian Pack (nuff said)
Martin Williams (OG and awesome)
Ryan Jones (despite lack of form currently)
George Smith (OG and awesome)
Sergio Parrisse (good hands good leadership)
Dwayne Peel (I just love him ok)
Mike Blair (I might just love him more, footwork, leadership, great field vision and darts)
Juan Martin Hernandez (world cup...I was def. in the camp that thought he should stick to fullback when he first started insisting that he could play fly...man was I wrong and man am I glad I was wrong)
Luke Macallister
Augustin Pichot
Shane Williams
Lee Byrne
+ more

Asshats
---------
Dylan Hartley (cocky asshat)
Mike Phillips (for trying to grubber the ball through the English defense like 7+ times and being a cocky asshat)
Andrew Sheridan
Jonny Wilkinson (for being the most fragile sonnava bitch ever)
Toby Flood
actually can I just say the entire English backline?
Danny Grewcock
Piri Weepu
Ali Williams
Jean-Baptiste Élissalde (because he's a scrum-half...stop trying)
Ronan O'Gara (see Jonny Wilkinson)
BOD (over-rated)
Gordon D'arcy (asshat)
The Lamont brothers (see Jonny Wilkinson...let the Evans brothers play...they can actually tackle and score!)
I'm sure I hate more people but anyhoo

Tomorrow is my first practice with the ABs and hopefully I can get some help on my hip problem. Ugh it's probably going to be rainy...which wouldn't be a problem if I didn't ride my bike everywhere. =p More updates and women's rugby later! (this post is probably the result of me missing USA 7s due to money issues and a lack of a car).

Berkeley High School Rugby Practice

I'm going to keep this post short because I need to stop blogging at around midnight and staying up until 2am. It's really not helping the olde job search. So I've been biking around 5-8 miles a day since Monday and its felt amazing. Biking has always been a release for me, I'm still riding the tiny green schwinn hybrid that I've had since Middle School (yea I'm short ok). I've clocked more miles on this baby then on my car and for me it's home. Gliding through traffic, laughing at the chumps stuck for hours in traffic, sprinting when I want to sprint or to avoid being hit...or just letting go, stretching my arms and flying. There's nothing like it! If you're hot just bike faster, sweat more, and let the wind cool you. Too cold? Just bike faster, warm up! Damn I love my bike.

Ehhhh oh right rugby.

So Berkeley High School has around 6-8 players. There are a number of competitive HS teams in the area to play...they just need numbers. If anyone has kids in the Berkeley school system...send 'em out for rugby. Duh. What else, we're practicing on this slip of a field and it's been wet as hell in the last couple of days. For me I'm just there to help out, add a body to practice, and be an extra set of eyes. So far I've been helping a new recruit get up to speed with passing and basic contact skills. I'm still getting used to the differences between working with college women and high school girls. I'm trying to watch my language and keep things upbeat. So far I've worked with JQ from the ABs (ex-cal hooker) and Amanda (dunno an ex-all blue flanker). Overall their skills aren't too shabby, I was pretty pleasantly surprised...their passing form and hands are about the same as a college recruit. Hitting things hard and at pace is the main thing they're struggling with. It's difficult when they don't really have more experienced teammates to look at for examples. I'm finding it kinda hard to help out because I don't really have my fundamentals nailed down myself (to the standards of say the ABs) so I'm not that confident running/spotting drills that I haven't really worked on myself. At least I've gotten to see some neat drills and practiced talking to high school kids again. It's tough because at that age everyone sounds like they're being condescending to them versus college kids are out of their element and willing to ask for help. *shrugs* I'll keep working on it till I get a job...they have a game coming up soon and only have a scrum half. Yup. So next week I'm supposed to help pick out and train a hooker with JQ and teach how to scrum with a tight five. How do you recruit at the high school level? Any suggestions please leave a comment at the beeeeeep.

So upcoming events....uh the b-side game UCSC vs Santa Clara got canceled because their fields were closed due to the rain (that I've been slogging through on my bike after rolling around in mud puddles). Feb 21st Cal men's team is play Univ. British Columbia at Witter Field in Berkeley. Normally I don't mention men's stuff (actually this might be the first time I've ever touched upon the fact that men play this game too) but it's going to be the first in a series of broadcast games on like...tv...on stations you don't have to pay up the ass for (ESPNU) so if you're in the area watch the match in person and then watch the time-delayed broadcast so (American) advertisers can give a shit about our sport. What else...Wed Feb 18 there's a rugby development meeting on treasure island 6-9 which I may try to go to...although it might mean missing the HS practice....hmm.

Alright that's it...the Stanford vs Cal game review gets pushed back even further. Balls oh well. Gnite.

Sacramento State WRFC vs USF

So I've had another busy rugby weekend and I'm getting further and further behind on this blog so I'll just have to keep plugging away. I think K-Train put it best a few posts back that sometimes its the hardest to blog when you have too much to say. I really am living in rugby heaven right now...there's so much rugby going on in the Bay Area that I'm actually going to have to skip some rugby events. Crazy right? Yea well whatever I'm missing UCSC's b-side match against Santa Clara University tomorrow night...mostly because I volunteered to go to the Berkeley High practice (and it saves me 20 bucks and is only a short bike ride away). Ummm so stupid me I went to the field today...having managed to switch around the practice days (between the HS and the All Blues). I sat around awkwardly playing around with a ball before scoping out the other fields at the park and then finally summing up enough courage to call a teammate and ask why no one was at the field. Bleh. Apparently they practice Wed + Thursday nights...which is a tad odd but whatever. This weekend is another by for UCSC and Sac State is playing St Mary's in Sacramento. Feb 21st UCSC plays USF...uh I don't know where...probably in Santa Cruz. On Sunday Feb 22 there is Prom Dress rugby between the ABs and the SF Fog 2-5pm at the Job Corps Field on Treasure Island aka the Goose poop field 15 bucks for entry and a hamburger. And more...I dunno I'm pooped just thinking about it all. Practice for the ABs start soon Feb 17. UGH AND I'M STILL UNEMPLOYED. Heaven's knows why...it's not like I don't foolishly post everything and anything on this goshforsaken blog in a highly unprofessional manner.

Alright, back to business. I ended up attending both matches and it ends up I can't really concentrate on more then a single match in one day. Or maybe because the second game just paled in comparison to the competitive excitement of the first match. So anyhoo, I have a lot more to talk about when it comes to the Stanford vs UC Berkeley game and because of that fact I'm going to postpone my review of it until later (aka maybe tomorrow). Instead I'll focus on the second game which was hardly a match at all.

Ok that wasn't really meant to be a shot it's just poor planning. Sac State should never have been USF's first match of DII collegiate rugby. I can't say I know much about the team (USF) and the league didn't really know what to expect out of a brand new side coached by the WNT head coach Kathy Flores. Despite its instability this league has been fairly competitive in the last couple of years so it isn't a real shocker given the circumstances that Sac State trounced them. Sac State's (cal state Sacramento) been on a rampage all of pre-season and quite on form so they smashed their way through the USF defense left and right. Their pack was dominant, wheeling or driving every scrum, lineouts were nailed, and rucks were pretty rough as well. Sac had the pace and power to grind USF into the dust and if this match review sounds a little one sided it's because the game just WAS that way. Sacramento scored I don't know 6-8 trys in the first half...maybe more, USF lost about 6-8 players in the first half to some rather serious looking injuries. One or two players had to be stretchered off and at least one girl got a gnarly concussion. There was also some handbags, which is pretty rare to see in our league. I think it was from a ruck but it might have been a scrum but a USF girl punched Sac's lock (and captain) in the mouth and she retaliated with a punch to the face. No cards were given, the ref just gave em a chat. I talked to Sac's captain about the incident and she was highly apologetic and was pretty sorry about the whole mess. Ehh overall the match involved a lot of knock-ons, scrums, turnovers to Sacramento and then some massive stiff-arms (both through the forwards punching through or their FLYING backs)and ending in tries. USF never really threatened Sac's tryline. The pitch was turf with duct tape marking the lines. USF seemed to have a fair amount of fans and the facilities were nice. They also appeared to have a couple of assistant coaches. Because of the frequent injuries USF soon ran short of players and the teams were reduced to playing 12s. Then for some reason it switched to USF just playing down again. An injury shortly after half-time resulted in the game being canceled altogether. Sac's coaches were definitely ruthless in pursuing the win despite the matches friendly status. I dunno I think the whole thing might or might not be a misunderstanding...after the first bout of injuries USF proposed forfeiting and borrowing players from sacramento but Sac refused. Thus instead of having a mutually beneficial friendly this farce of a league match was allowed to play on. I dunno, it seems hypocritical for me to complain about the match given UCSC's recent 55-0 victory over Santa Clara (in a fairly similar fashion) but I think the difference is the injury rate. Yea a couple of the Santa Clara girls got hurt and one of ours messed up her ankle but it wasn't the same thrashing. The Santa Clara women were physically prepared for the match and the intensity of playing an A-side game. While on the losing side of many of the breakdowns (and occasionally unaware of certain laws) they were still very competitive and had fairly safe form going into contact. I mean it really is hard to judge..I don't have any doubts about Kathy Flores' coaching ability but I really don't know anything about the program. Apparently they had coaches before but I don't know who they used to play etc...so all of this is really up to speculation. I dunno I feel like the match would have gone better if it had been billed as a friendly b-side match because perhaps the coaching decisions would have differed. I guess the one positive that can be drawn from this whole thing is that Women's Collegiate DII has gotten a lot fitter and tougher and gone are the days when you could slap together a side and expect to win (or survive). It should also be noted that Sac doesn't really have a whole lot of players so they couldn't really field a b-side to play USF either.

This kinda brings me to my next point...rugby...and the numbers game. Granted this is the number of CIPPed players (and everyone knows that lots of kids quit before league even starts so take these numbers with a grain of salt).


Number of CIPPed Players ordered by last years standings:
Div II
------------
UCSC 47
Sac State 21
St. Mary's 38
Santa Clara 24
USF 18

Div I (please forgive me but I don't really remember how the chips fell last year and I'm kinda beat so I don't feel like researching em...but I'll list the teams in roughly the right order...)
------------
Stanford 43
Davis 50
Cal 54
Chico 32
Humboldt 27
UNR 32

Just some food for thought. Yea I know Santa Cruz should move to D1. We just got A LOT of rookies this year. That's why it's pretty exciting to have a b-side match against Santa Clara 'cause it's the first time that we can really field one (uh although a lot of the n00bs can't make it to the game so we might have a few starters). The admin and support structure has to grow a lot though...the ABs have like 12 executive officers and I think we have a match secretary, a treasurer, and a social chair...which just doesn't cut it anymore. Plus the team is trying to raise money by recycling cans...*sighs and shakes her head* anyways...more updates tomorrow. I don't want to seem overly negative/pre-occupied by the Sac vs USF match...I'm glad USF is joining our league (they had a ton of heart sticking with it and not giving up till they absolutely had to) and Sac showed some major attacking prowess. It's just painful to watch so many injuries!

Oh and last but not least it was damn hard to watch the match 'cause the two teams were practically wearing the same jerseys!



Sac State is on the right wearing Green and White and Gold, USF is on the left wearing Sac State's old jerseys...I mean Green and White and Gold.

Rugby Fundraising in the South

Wow...I just had to post this. LA Tech (Louisiana probably) WRFC raising money beating the shit out of a car. Seems to be working too! Although this probably wouldn't go over so well in recycle crazy California. At least its innovative...makes you wonder how they a) got the car b) got the car on campus and c) got the university to agree to let 'em do it.



Oh and the Chico vs Texas A & M match got posted on youtube as well:

Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:


Red/white stripes is chico and the solid maroon(?) is Texas A & M. The angry guy is Chico's coach.

I'm probably going to watch the USF vs Sac State game at the USF Koret Center at 3 o'clock on Saturday. I may go watch the Berkeley vs Stanford match at 12 the same day at Memorial Stadium. We'll see...

South Bay Sequoias WRFC

So I went to the meeting tonight and took a couple friends. I pretty much destroyed my car doing so but it was worth it. Here are the deets from the meeting. Man I'm tired from writing this up. I know I state it at the bottom of the post but I'll write it here as well. I'm still playing for the All Blues, I'm just stoked that there's a women's team starting in the south bay. I'll do anything to get my old mates to start playing rugby again and this sounds like a cool convenient team for them.

So here's the deal, a new women's rugby team is starting up in the south bay (Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara area). The team bills itself as a third option, not too competitive and elite oriented, not too social, but just right. The team aims to become a fun competitive side with a more lax practice schedule and inclusive nature where all players can work together to achieve their goals. The core principal of the club appears to be community building, wherein the club will strive to give back to the community and raise awareness of the sport whilst remembering to have fun playing the game as well. The two co-founders are Katrina Logan and Tina Nesburg (who are both super legit ruggers) with Griff volunteering to coach.

At the meeting they reviewed long term and short term goals, as well as fund raising, team name, jersey colors, a rough spring schedule, task dispersal, CIPPing, and the next meeting time.

Long term goals are pretty much the principals listed above plus Katrina is looking into getting the club inc. and non-profit status to aid in fund raising efforts. So to recap succinctly: practice 1x a week, get youth involved in rugby, volunteer, and recruit.

Short term goals to get the club up and running some funds have to acquired. It would cost the team 100 bucks an hour to rent the STANFORD FIELD for practice + 50 dollars to run the lights. While this seems like a lot of money it's actually pretty cheap (15 players, 10 bucks a practice) and it's a beauty of a pitch. Additionally since league is in fall most of the practices wouldn't require lights. Practices would most likely be around 7 as that's when the collegiate side finishes up.

Fundraising ideas included clam bakes (Feb 28th...there's one in stanford that they might try and link up) and silent auctions of manual labor like baby sitting etc. Shoreline concerts were also mentioned where team members man booths and get paid + tip for volunteering. Also hooking up with SF Fog and their beer booth at pride and possibly other fund raisers with the club. Additionally getting sponsorship from employers would be a big plus.

As for the team name the Sequoias is kinda at the top of the heap. They want to make the name significant to the area to play into their whole community theme. If you've got something better, submit it but for now it stands.

They're welcome to any suggestions for jersey designs, colors look to be red/white or red/black. Personally I kinda think a red/brown would be cool but hey I'm color blind.

In the near future the Champagne Classic (March 7-8) would cost 375 bucks to enter, they're also thinking about friendly matches against local college sides like Davis and Berkeley. Once summer starts up there's Palo Alto 7s which costs 250 for a team (last years price).

In the immediate list of things to do:
Make a team email address (for info and inquiries)
Make a team google group
Make a blogspot/wordpress/legit website to put our info out on the net
Make a facebook group for all the kiddies
Make a team logo
Print shirts so we have something to play in until we can afford jerseys
Get started fundraising
Design jerseys in case some crazy rich person gives us money
Contact Santa Clara University about helping out their team/practicing with them until we can afford our own field (my suggestion)

The plan is to meet every two weeks to keep the ball rolling and everyone focused. The immediate goal for everyone is to find at least one new person to bring to the next meeting. Which is going to be at Steuber Stadium again (@ Stanford University) at 7 pm February 18 which is a Thursday.

Coolbeans =] I think I took enough notes and I don't think I left anything out. This is going to be a super neat team folks, so get back on the damn horse and start playing rugby again! Any questions? Email katrina.logan@gmail.com

PS I'm still playing for the All Blues. I just love rugby and help out where I can

UCSC WRFC vs Santa Clara Univ.

I caught a ride with one of our kid's dad's down to Santa Clara to watch our first league match of the season. While we can't take too much confidence from the final score of 55-0 it was nice to see our forwards rucking correctly. Over-committing of course but winning them, counter-rucking rather effectively as well. We occasionally won their lineouts and practically every scrum until it went uncontested in the last quarter of the match. Santa Clara has been a developing team for a while and it's looking like they're finally starting to get the numbers they need to consistently practice. A large number of their players were either completely new or playing out of position. Their scrumhalf was brand new and putting the ball into the scrum by bouncing it in on it's nose. They were often offsides on defense (multiple penalties for just running around rucks and picking up the ball) and played the ball on the ground but hey they're just teaching fundamentals. It doesn't sound like they had much of a preseason so I sent their vp some links and info about Berkeley's camps and some post-season events where they could get some additional game time to supplement our 4 team league. Our kids learned a lot from the game, with less pressure they got to build some confidence and for once had the gas to support each other. Our fullback Kathy scored a hat trick and our fly dotted down two. Tackling is coming along...we have two weeks before our next game...hopefully we can keep our skills sharp before locking horns with USF and Kathy Flores. It's weird, I'm going to watch USF vs Sac State this weekend and we'll see how they do. She's an amazing coach and I have no doubt that her players will be as technically sound as possible but it really is a litmus test for how much you can teach collegiate women in a quarter. I mean they're a brand new team and I think they might have only had one match or two during pre-season. Sac state will be chomping at the bit to take lead this year so I doubt we'll see any mercy and they are pretty damn battle hardened. They've been playing TOUGH matches all of pre-season with women's senior teams like the Davis Doubledeckers.

Oh and sac scouted our game and laughed as they left. We'll see...will the kids live up to our legacy of 6+ years of sweeping league? They have the potential...Heh. As dedicated as I am to UCSC I'm still working on the getting over it part. It's hard to de-attach, I've already had my four years. I put in my effort, won league for four years, won pac coast three years, made it to the semis 3 years, lost the big game, won the big game. Not too shabby, what's done is done, it's their team now. I know I've been repeating it like a mantra...but it's tough when a team has become so interwoven with your everyday life. Rugby isn't just something I do or like, it really has been a guiding force for me. Hence my move to the bay =p

Next up =========> I might actually start talking about the blues...except I can't because it's part of their player clause...so I don't know what I'll do about that. I probably will be going to the South Bay Women's club startup meeting to keep some friends company. And duh, info on the USF and sac state game.


Pics from Santa Clara:

Taking Public Trans to Another Rugby Game

It's been an exciting week. Tomorrow morning bright and early I'm leaving to catch a rugby match, the first league game of the season. UCSC vs Santa Clara! It should be fun. Wish me luck getting there and I'll give the full update once I get back.

UCSC vs Chico + Rugby Videos Galore

To start out...I'm no longer on emo island (pronounced emu and accompanied by a hand gesture representing emo curtains aka bangs). I got to hang out with my old D2 front row rival and buddy come new teammate Georgi. We went to a godawful drag show last night but had a good time until that point. Went to the follow up interview today for that random gambling associate job (that's kinda sketch) and subsequently passed an became an actual candidate (woo!). I also drove there and to my friend Mishi's house (ex-teammate) and told her what's up in rugby news ('cause she obviously doesn't read my blog). I got to recharge my cat batteries by playing with her new kitty "Cougar" for an hour and now I'm all warm and fuzzy. I told her about the new team forming up in the South Bay and about the Philippine women's national rugby team (they're taking all comers who have XV's experience and a Filipino parent). So I'm slowly but surely getting over my phobia of driving (I drove to TWO places today). I had dinner with my host family and bonded with the dad by trading injury stories and listening about his motorcycle wrecks. I also filled out an application for an awesome admin assistant job at Mills (which I really hope I get) and now am semi-proficient at writing cover letters. Basically I feel pretty accomplished today...I think I'm finally getting back into the swing of things.

So now it's time for the Ruuuuuuugby Reeeewind where I review all the shit I haven't talked about in the last month. So we (UCSC...even though I'm an alum) played chico, and it was kick ass to see things really start to come together. Holy fuck do we have a lot of girls! We have 45 rostered players!! Granted subtract like 5 for quitters and 10 injured folk (I'm serious it's ridiculous) we have about 30 healthy kids. THIRTY, it's league time and we have THIRTY healthy ruggers. Shit son we won nationals with 16-17. It's madness (and an indicator that it's about time for Santa Cruz to move up to D1). Kids are busting gut at work out groups, attending practice, and learning (they're finally getting over the hump of trying to get by without vets). It's awesome! The Chico game wasn't perfect by any stretch but it was a good indicator of what this team can do once it starts firing on all cylinders. Chico isn't a bad side, they're in a rebuilding year as well, and rumor has it they benched a few of their starters in the first half. But their grizzly was on the pitch and I recognized quite a few decent players so we weren't playing no b-side either. UCSC struck first with a bloody gorgeous try in the opening minute, and it was a long beauty starting near their own twenty-two. The ball was brought to the outside then swiftly back in with great support play between backs and the forwards (our lovely 8 Kari Lentz touched it down after staving off two fierce looking chico wildcats).



Our scrums were significantly better (we were MOVING THEM), our lineouts were often not straight (although occasionally unfairly called), our rucks worked fairly well. Service from the back of the scrum wasn't great though, which would be more of a cause for concern if their scrumhalf wasn't continually offside (and FEEDING SIR!) but I know the woman and she's a great chica off the pitch (lets just call her effective since the ref never called it).



Lots of infringements and knockons from both sides (a surprisingly high amount from chico). Ermm chico did a lot of pick and goes and did a lot of inside passing and pack play. It wasn't until the 2nd half that they began opening the game up and spreading out their attack (which finally exploited the dreaded d2 vs d1 fitness gap. Oh and one of our props wore ridiculously ugly gold metallic spandex tights and I was embarrassed cause the doofus was on our team (it was like the bandanna girl from Plymouth State or those obnoxious pink poodle skirts that Coast wore a couple years back in SoCal 7s tournaments) I just wanted to run onto the pitch and tackle the crap out of her. *ahem* alright so overall nice passage of play, two 40 minute halves and then an extra 20 min b-side match. The ref was hella chill, friendly, congenial, and kept the game flowing as much as possible. I gave him a bit of stick from the sidelines but I think I'm just getting itchy to be healthy and play again. We were offsides on defense, they were offsides defensively on set plays, and they were LAYING ALL OVER THE BALL. There was a weird call for "funneling"? Worst play of the game was when our fullback/wing popped an egg to the other team and proceeded to protect it from her teammates.

Oh I ran into Carrie an old chico alum who played U-23 grizzlies and now plays for NYC..and I don't remember her name! I played on a tens team with her "TEAM KARI/CARRIE" at a Berkeley tournament a couple years back. If anyone could help me out with that it'd be nice. She's a little blonde scrumhalf so it isn't Carrie Dubray. Although apparently she played in the National Championship final against Berkeley.






Right...well here's the ref report on pelicanrefs.com

UC SANTA CRUZ women 26 – Chico State 5 Referee: Schnack
UCSC Women beat Chico State Women at UCSC, 26-5, on Saturday January 24th.

This was a fun match backed by seasonably appropriate cold with light rain, a few whistles, four first-half Slug tries, a few close (but not close enough) deep excursions by Chico, and finally an excellent second-half five-phase (with advantage) try by Chico.

Great follow-up and support, along with tenacious running gave the Slugs a 26-0 lead at half. Chico's game was sidetracked with infringements at the tackle and rucks, not to mention committing too many folks (intentionally or not) into the rucks.

The second half was a cleaner version of the first, with both sides taking to each other. Chico put together some good possessions, and got some reward that Saturday with a fun five+ phase combo of runtackleruckruntackleruckadvantagespinoutruntacklepoppasstackleruckrun...etc. Experiencing a series like that makes me happy to be breathing.A quick 2nd sides match followed (thanks to both Santa Rose JC and UCSC Mens for giving them twenty). The Slugs won this, for what it's worth, unofficially 7-0 (score torn off for a grocery list now long gone, so I don't have the final).

Fun day, welcome rain, more welcome rugby for folks. Here's to more of it.

There's plenty of more stuff on rugby rewind! But that's for later on in the week. Aren't you glad I'm finally getting caught up?

Here's two great videos (WATCH THEM IN HD otherwise they're pretty unviewable), one from rugbydump and the other from Drew Women's RFC. Doesn't it just make you feel special?



ps the rugby in this next video is pretty poor but g'damnit the comedy is great

Damn I've been dragging ass

Soooo I haven't done a whole lot of posting this month...total understatement! And unlike Wendy I don't have an excuse =p. Alright let's get started...in life I've moved up to Oakland and I'm having a grand old time sitting on my butt pretending to look for a job. So I need to get on that, and my rehab, and find some friends up here. It's official, graduating, moving to a new city, and being unemployed pretty much is the perfect way to HAVE NO FRIENDS and be bored shitless. Yes I could wander around town and enjoy myself if I wasn't unemployed with a savings fund that is shrinking by the day and on top of that I'm supposed to minimize the amount of walking I'm supposed to do and finally the guilt of not working on getting a job has been causing me to hole up and pretend I'm trying to get a job (which I'm kinda not). *sigh*. So I took a week off (after taking a week off to move, and then taking a week off to recover from dealing with my fam for a week...) and it's been a whole month since I've graduated and I haven't done a whole lot. About two weeks ago I got cleared to walk (cause my bones healed) but yea I'm not supposed to do it mondo and I need to rehab my hip because I can't even sit in the butterfly stretch position (yea, sit, not even do it). It's pretty worrisome and bumming me out 'cause I can't afford rehab but this is something that will definitely prevent me from playing rugby again if I don't fix it right.I've been cycling 20 min a day (sometimes twice) but I still can't walk quickly. So that's my rant, which is perfect because now that I've expressed it I can look back at it tomorrow and realize what a silly git I am and get on with finding a job. Man I love this blog (which shouldn't be a diary but really is).

In RUGBY NEWS (which is the only reason people read this if they read it at all)...
UC Berkeley (aka CAL) had their annual clinic at UCSC and I was still in town to observe. Head Coach Ellen Owens and asst coach Katie Chou ran the clinic with our coaches and led the kids through some fun box play drills. In groups of 15-20 per box the facilitator would call out two numbers, the first being how many people should group together and the second how many pairs of feet were allowed to be touching the ground. An example would be 4,2 where four people had to make a group where only two people had feet on the ground, so they'd either have two people piggy back or toss themselves on the ground. There were some basic hands drills and then bringing it wide with inside passing at the end. There was also a box tackle drill where each box was split into two numbered teams. Each team stood on a sideline with the ball in the middle of the box. The facilitator would call out a two numbers, and those players would turn the corner and race for the ball. The first person there would tap the ball and be a defender, the second would pick the ball and try and score. It was interesting because while I was watching this drill one of my injured teammates asked me why we didn't do fun drills like this. At first I was going to answer something flip like we don't have time, or a coach chooses not to but it really comes down to intensity and focus. The Berkeley girls were so determined and dedicated in their runs and tackles, they were getting something out of it. The Santa Cruz girls weren't learning from their mistakes, they weren't adjusting to the drills. Yea it's not an answer, we definitely need to mix it up more, it's just frustrating that their fundamentals were so much better then ours =p (granted they practice 3x as much as us). There was a scrimmage which went fairly well considering we were still working out a number of kinks, like being a line in defense, scrums were miserable (but an improvement from practice, and our rucks were ornamental to non-existent. The positives of the game were: our backs are lethal when they have the ball, we started winning rucks in the second half (by over committing but whatever), our first pod could win it's own ball (another improvement compared to pre-season). Overall it was a massive step up for the slugs and were in the lead for almost all of the 2nd half until their fitness beat out our tired rookie forwards and scored 2 tries at the end.

Forwards had a few goes..


Some unsupported but great back breaks


And a sick line cut by our fly led to a try



here's the match report from pelicanrefs.com:

UC Santa Cruz women 24 – CALIFORNIA 34 Referee: Mike King
A brilliant day for a social match overlooking the Monterey Bay on the hill at UC Santa Cruz. The contest was preceded by an innovative skill session mentored by the combined coaching staffs. A mixture of experience and rookie enthusiasm took the pitch, with a battle between 2 balanced teams. The contest was not decided until 2 long tries by Cal near the end of regulation.

There's more exciting news that I'll post later in the day, like our game against Chico and my first meeting with the All Blues but holla I got to go get a job! (and buy food at costco)

Grown Up Rugby

I've kinda been dragging my heals lately...I'm still getting over the fact that I'm really...no really...done with school and adulthood is slapping me across the face. Ok not yet but I can see it coming like being pinned at the bottom of a ruck and seeing a cleat come down on your face in slow-mo. Or when you see a girl stiff arming you from a mile away but you're...ok I'm stalling. I still need to pack up. Move. Get a job. Heal my hip. Get insurance. Play rugby again! Ok somewhere in between all that I have to balance my body again and yknow, relearn how to walk =p. Figure out how to have a long distance relationship, get certified in computer crap, practice design work, build a website for my parents restaurant, fix the car, find friends in the bay, inspire the kids to get through school not just drink...oh and somehow teach them to be upbeat and dream and hope. Get over having to give up my cat. Live with a dog. Live under some families roof that is not my own. Live life as an adult. Deal. Do better. Improve. Ignore the fact that everything is crazy expensive, there are no jobs, and the niggling sensation that this may be the beginning of the end....(see this is the crap you have to deal with being a politics major...)

Right. This blog is about rugby...I'm sorry I forgot.

I'll try and focus in on that more in my next post. It's interesting because the east coast has finally made an official petition to have D1 final 4s and the national championship match on their side of the country. Traveling costs are ludicrous, we've certainly benefited from having the finals in our backyard but I kinda feel like weather, facilities, and community trump the day. I don't really give a shit where you have Elite 8s (as long as its not New Mexico again) but really for the time of year, why not Stanford. I agree with one of the comments on erugby...it's just worth it to have it there as an experience for the players and the fans. Yea penn state (and trust me penn state and navy are the only teams with a valid weight cause they're there year after year) can complain about not having enough fans but I've been on that field and won, I've been on that field and lost. When you're on the pitch, you don't notice if the crowd is for you or against you, you're just proud that there's so many people there to watch you play! Yea it sucks to travel and to lose..but trust me you won't give a shit about the money if you win. Stanford is a great place to host the championship, it builds that experience, bay area press have routinely given it multiple page complementary articles (unlike (@&# New Mexico). I know I'm rambling but here's the gist...at Stanford you're drawing in two powerhouse teams and fan bases in addition to traveling fans, I'd rather win or lose in front of people then feel that no one is watching and no one cares.

Women's Rugby Footage?! On the web!? No Way!

Thank you Agent of Change for Good! Whoever you are you're a frickin angel! Anyone who is a fan (or coach, admin, ref, or involved player) of the women's game knows it's nigh impossible to watch women's matches online. Often we have to sustain ourselves on poorly shot clips and snips on youtube...which is nice for recruitment but not as effective as a teaching tool. With how few Eagle matches there are you'd think interested women's clubs could request DVDs of the match. Utilize bitorrent to quickly share matches and make the material available because frankly streaming is not the most sustainable option. I know I'm just griping...*sigh* especially since all I can do is sit on my ass. Ugh. Well here's some videos of the Women's Eagle 7s squad in Dubai





there are more on the AgentofChangeforGood's channel

What else...I only got to go to one practice and it was more of a conditioning practice for Belmont Shore's men's team. Only two of our girls went but luckily (and unfortunately) it was two of the fittest girls on our team, and while I'm getting pretty antsy being on my ass all the time I'm pretty glad I didn't have to get through this practice. To start out with there were about 35-40 guys who showed up (I guess all their eagles were at a camp somewhere) and it was an amalgam of Belmon Shore, CSULB, and Belmont's youth program. So they started out running on this long thin strip of grass (about 100m in length) with numerous palm trees every couple of meters. The drill started with a group of about 3-4 running through the course with a ball popping the ball to each other. The ballcarrier would run up to a palm tree, transition the ball to the proper arm to create separation, turn, step out of the line to create space and pop it to a person communicating and coming with speed from depth. Pretty simple drill right? But I really liked how they used an organic drill (the ballcarrier would just choose a route to a palm tree and the support had to react and reposition themselves to keep the ball flowing in bounds. It was also nifty that the opponent was something physically there and easily visible from ones peripheral vision and not just a cone or something. The players were instructed to really burst through the drill and then jog it back and the coach broke up the drill once or twice to emphasize communication, timing in respect to both the ballcarrier choosing to turn and the support, as well as doing the whole thing at pace. All in all they probably ran the drill about 15-20 times through. One of the important points that their coach finished on was emphasizing the importance of turning on the heat at the end of the drill. Players were apparently slowing down near the end of it and he reminded them that working your way down to the 22m it's the last bit where you have to really turn it on and be more precise! It's the whole red zone bit but I thought it was neat that he was reminding them of a meta-purpose within the drill. After this the guys were nice and sweating (they had done some sort of four corners but we had gotten lost on the way there and had missed it) and he split them up into forwards and backs mostly in order to group them by approximate fitness levels. The forwards ran 8 sets of steep beach stairs two at a time and then switched to what the backs were doing which was 25 or so sand sprints from the water up to the sidewalk. After this the two groups got back together, got a quick pep talk and then did a grueling 16 hill runs. Now I know you're thinking I mean hill sprints or something...no...I mean hill runs of about a half a mile or so each...it took the fastest super league (non-eagle) players about 45+ minutes to finish, the rest of the pack finished in about 60. Yeesh! Mo finished about 8th but I know she was killing her knee and the other girl we brought (a rookie) managed to finish about 4th from last (and only because she skipped the beach sprints and ran cross-country in high school). Long story short I'm glad I missed that one, at least in my current couch potato state (thanks doc!).

From a coaching perspective it was pretty neat some of things men's coaches can do. If the coach was talking, everyone shut the fuck up and listened. If the coach called on you, you answered. He was allowed to crack a joke, you were not. Some guy was late and he reamed them in front of people, he made sure they knew that he noticed. After the run he gave 'em a pep talk (they have their first league game right after the holidays) and basically told them they needed to work harder but fuck their teammates who didn't show up for holiday practice. It was neat that he just said it outright that he'd bench those that didn't come, no excuses no bullshit. He called out player's names who he noticed were pushing it in the run (and not just the people who finished first), it was cool seeing them perk up after being mentioned. Overall the coaches were extremely supportive and positive during the drills and especially through the run. Telling them to push it, but lots of positive feedback as well. I dunno it was a neat, efficient practice. There was the head coach, an assistant coach, two managers and a trainer as well as parents of the two youth players on hand. Talk about nifty!

Oh and I also got to talk to the assistant coach about defensive organization drills. They teach a three position defense as well but they emphasize pushing out rather then in. His point was that fitter teams benefit from an outward pushing defense and that was their reason for doing so. Their positions were post, nine, and 1st receiver. Post pushed up and took the inside channel or anyone running back inside, nine protected from a nine drift and pushed up and out, and 1st receiver took the same sort of line and took the (duh) first receiver. His basic drill for teaching this was having a set of halfbacks and some forwards on offense and then have the defense in groups away from the drill, do some fitness like a couple of push-ups and then run into the drill and set up a defense. As players get more comfortable with the drill he sets up a couple stations spread out on the field so they have to run in and set up a defensive line, come up, then retreat backwards, reset, come up, then run to yet another station and repeat. Like the All Blues defense he stressed filling in on the weak side first, going post weak then post strong then 9 weak 9 strong then 1st w and 1st s. Oh and I got clarification that when the defense needs to put more people weakside posts don't really move, people on the strong side (not p,9,1) run behind the line and reinsert themselves on weak side when necessary. I know this is a confusing way to put things but we really really really need some defensive organization so I'm just writing down my notes and kind of comparing and contrasting. He was a bit harder to understand then the main coach and he was probably unsure about how much I understood about rugby. He also mentioned that grubber kicks are really effective against centers who run up aggressively in defense. Which I thought was odd because it would seem like fullback position would also be a factor in that sort of calculation. The gist of it was Belmont Shore a top super league men's team uses the same three position defensive organization off of the breakdown as the All Blues except they push outwards where the ABs push in. So it'll be interesting to see what UC Berkeley does (UC Santa Cruz's season).

Oh well. This has been a long winded post. It's always fascinating seeing how different coaches coach. Well I'll be moving to the bay and there are a number of phenomenal coaches in the area, hopefully I'll be able to catch practices with Kathy Flores, Alex Williams, Ellen Owens, Griff, Mary T, and others. This should be an interesting year =] Now lets just heal up this hip! Two more weeks and we'll see!

Rugby Short Films

Seem to be popping up everywhere with the end of the quarter.



Like this vid from UVA


Right, so I'm waiting on Wednesday to see the specialist and if need be get surgery in the two week window where I still have health insurance. Alright. Wish me luck.

Actually, I broke my hip

Yeah. Got the X-rays and I have a fracture on my hip (socket). Yup. (@#(&#*@()* I'll find out more on Wednesday and I'm praying to @(*#&@#(*& that I just have to rest it. I can't afford surgery and my student insurance drops me at the start of January. Obviously no insurance packet will pick up the tab for an existing injury (or not for 6 months) so if I need pins and crap I'm fucked. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Well at least my parents know (and my mother is freaking out about the money (and not me) sooo I'm going to have a pleasant break...I get to work on my resume and try and get a job...with a BROKEN HIP. Awesome! Like I'm not already the worst candidate ever. *sigh* expect more depressing crap as my life spirals down the drain. Please note that I'm not actually this emo but putting up with all the people in my life who are is forcing me to be emo here. Ugh. PS it's weird when your LAU representative friends you on facebook. Really...it is. Wish me luck anyhoo.

Probably not a fracture

and most likely I just did some major soft tissue/muscle damage to the area that stabilizes my hip. So it's just a waiting game between rest (which I suck at doing...all I do is sit on my ass UNTIL I get hurt and then I'm crutching around like a spastic 11 year old), ice, and arnica until my check up on Thursday. Joy. On the plus side I've written the last essay of my undergraduate career (and am only one bullshit horror film final away from being done with this shit!) Yea I just need some rest, I pulled an all nighter last night killing two essays with one jittery 4am session. Now I just got to remember to stop leaving my (@*&# cell phone in places I can't easily reach it (and the crutches).