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    NEW PRESIDENT

    Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

    Folks, I am standing down at the end of the year as I am termed out after 4 wonderful and rewarding years.

    The Union needs to get its mind around my successor before the end of the year. The process is for a nominee(s) to be proposed and seconded at or preferably ahead of the meeting and then a vote by member clubs in good standing.

    I will happily help the new incumbent through the transition.

    Time to give back to the game that has given you more than you can ever give back. The position is supported by excellent VP’s – it just needs a leader of the orchestra.

    Please feed nominations through myself or Brian Richardson Secretary of the FRU and call me if you need any questions answered about the role.

    YOUNG SOUTH SEVEN LEARNING FAST AT NATIONALS

    Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

    South 6th, But Achieves Goals

    By Alex Goff (The South 7s All-Stars youngsters learned a lot this past weekend. Ed Hagerty photo)

    So what’s a winner?

    Certainly the Pacific Coast 7s All-Star team was a winner, taking all six of their games. Certainly the Southern California team were losers simply because they weren’t there – finances preventing the players from being able to show what they could do.

    But what about the teams that finished in the middle? Mid-Atlantic, 4-2 and being defeated only by Pacific Coast (twice), can count their tournament successful. Northeast, which finished up 3-3 might be disappointed, but actually performed better than we expected them to.

    And then there’s the South, who ended up 1-5 and last. Hardly winners right? Right?

    Well it depends how you measure it.

    “We had an average age of about 22,” said head coach Julie McCoy, who was the USA women’s 7s head coach from 2006 to 2009. “Take Ben Jones out of it and the average age is about 20.”

    In the five games the South lost, they were within a try in three of them, lost by nine in another, and in their biggest loss, 21-5 to eventual champs Pacific Coast, the game was 7-5 with about four minutes to go.

    Everyone coming out of the tournament had to agree, 1-5 and last place seemed harsh for a team that was in every game. And McCoy did it with kids – the only way, it turned out, she was going to do it.

    “As a territorial coach I wanted to be the type of coach I wanted when I coached the USA team,” explained the Arkansas-based surgeon. “I wanted to bring a young team of players who had potential and ability and develop them so they could be part of the national team’s future. Winning is one goal, but the main goal was to develop players.”

    In fact, it was the overriding goal. McCoy stated outright that is what she wanted to do as coach of the South men’s 7s team, and the South concurred. It was the South that had previously cut the 7s all-star budget to $1,000, but upped it once the idea of developing young players like Adam Ducoing and Joey Luttrell, Sam Anderson and Benji Goff was the plan.

    “If the goal had not been to develop young players, the team wouldn’t be here, and I wouldn’t be the coach,” McCoy said.

    They did have former England international Ben Jones is as experience and an assistant coach, and he was invaluable. McCoy said that is the best use of a foreign or very experienced player.

    “Those types of players need to be a mentor,” McCoy said. “But if I am filling my team with 28-30-year-olds, then I’m not doing my job.”

    McCoy said the young players embraced her approach and were eager to learn, and while the wins didn’t come, the performances were there, and the experience will be invaluable.

    “We got a bunch of young kids out there playing high-level stuff and that was great,” she said.

    Overall, the South scored 75 points (average of 12.5) and allowed 104 (average of 16.3). Not exactly a case of being outclassed. And maybe those young players got more out of it than the scoreline.

    “It is tough to see them lose,” said McCoy. “I love these guys and to see them lose is like watching a son or daughter lose. But we got a bunch of terrific guys, and two terrific coaches in Ben Jones and Greg Schor, and I am having a blast.”

    All Florida Days Schedule Finalized Oct 16 & 17

    Monday, August 30th, 2010

    Oct 16 & 17, 2010

    Hickory Point Park

    Tavares, Fl

     

    The schedule has been finalized for All Florida 2010. 

     The Men’s Florida Cup format will be a 2 day tournament.  Saturday’s qualifying games will decide which competition you are in on Sunday.  Top team in each bracket plays for the Cup, 2nd place plays for the plate. And 3rd place plays for the Shield.  Each team will play 2 games on Saturday and at least 1 on Sunday.  All Men’s Florida Cup games will be 25 minute halves except for the finals.  They will have 40 minute halves unless both teams agree to shorter games.

     Division 1 Brackets

    A

    B

    C

    D

    Boca Raton

    Fort Lauderdale

    Miami Men’s

    Tampa Bay Area Krewe

    Gainesville Men

    Naples Men

    Bay Area Pelicans

    Miami Tridents

    Jacksonville Men

    Brevard Old Red Eye

    Daytona Beach

    Orlando

     Division 2 Brackets

    E

    F

    Boca  B

    Sarasota

    Pasco

    Krewe B

    Treasure Coast

    Miami B

     

    Let me know ASAP if I included a team that cannot commit or if I missed any teams. ( nrfcken@cox.net )

     Colleges, please note there is a short collegiate meeting scheduled at 12:30.  I would like to get some input from all of you on what the FRU can do better for the college program.  Please send me any proposed agenda items.  An agenda will be sent our prior to the meeting.

     Women’s games will be announced as soon as they are finalized.

     If you have any questions, please contact me.

    Thanks

    Ken Simmons

    239-410-3032

    Schedule

    Saturday Oct 16

     


    Field 1

    Field 2

    Field 3

    Field 4

    Field 5

    9:00

    Boca v Gvl

    Pel v DAY

     Krw B v Sar

    UF v UCF

    Women’s G1

    10:00

    Bre v FTL

    KRE v Orl

    Pas v TC



    10:45




    FAU v Eckerd

    Women’s G2

    11:00

    FSU V UNF

    USF v FIU

    Ave Maria v UM



    12:30




    FRU Collegiate Meeting

    Women’s G3

    12:45

    Boca v Jax

    Pel v Mia

    Pas v Boca B



    13:30




    UF B v UCF B


    13:45

    Bre v NAP

    KRW v Tri

     Krw B v Mia B



    14:15





    Women’s G4

    14:45




    FSU B v USF B


    16:00

    Gvl v Jax

    DAY v Mia

     TCv Boca B

    FSU C v UF C

    Women’s G5

    17:00

    FTL v NAP

    Orl v Tri

     Sarv Mia B



     Sunday October 17

     

    Field 1

    Field 2

    Field 3

    Field 4

    9:00

    Shield Semi

    Shield Semi

    D2 Shield

     

    10:00

    Plate Semi

    Plate Semi

    D2 Plate

    Collegiate All Stars Camp

    11:00

    Cup Semi

    Cup Semi

    D2 Cup Championship

    (10am -3pm)

    12:00

    Shield Championship

    Plate Championship

     

     

    13:45

    Florida Cup Championship

     

     

     

     

     

    REFEREE APPOINTMENTS THIS WEEK SEPT 4

    Sunday, August 29th, 2010

    CLUBS: Please confirm with the referee by Wednesday evening at the latest.

    4-Sep Boca @ Miami Friendly Mike Kennedy
    Boca B @ Miami B Friendly Ross Devonport Martin Gardiner
    Krewe @ USF Friendly Tom Galante

    UCF Player Kiki McNight scores vs. U-20 Bahamas team

    Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

    Congratulation Kiki on your great play vs. the U-20’s Bahamas team keep up the hard work!

    For Immediate Release August 17, 2010

    USA Rugby U20 Women Crush Carribean Senior Side

    Two individual records broken in the 85-0 USA victory in the Bahamas.

      NASSAU, Bahamas – The U20 Women’s National Team won their opening game in the 2010 North American Caribbean Rugby Association Championships as they defeated a spirited Cayman Islands Senior Women’s side by a score of 85-0.    Kick off was pushed back by thirty minutes due to heavy rain and lightening, but the U20s were clearly unfazed by the delay.  From the opening kick off they strung together a flowing multi-phase attack that saw ten different players touch the ball before a knock on in the Cayman red zone brought the play to a halt. Two plays later, Bui Baravilala went on the first of many hard-charging runs of the day and went in under the posts for the first try. Chelsea Garber kicked the conversion and the USA was up seven points. The U20s struck again right from the kick off as several of the American forwards were linking well on attack and keeping the ball moving before lock Alycia Washington offloaded to Kiki McKnight who beat a couple of defenders to touch down for the second try.

    The Cayman team plays predominately sevens rugby and they had a difficult time adjusting to the hard-running American forwards. With a strong pack moving the ball forward, the U20 WNT backs had plenty of space to launch their attack.  As a result, the U20s scampered over the try line six more times, going into halftime with a healthy lead.

    The coaches of the American side used all the reserves in the second half as they took the opportunity to experiment with some different combinations. The Junior Eagles scored another five tries in the second half along with five conversions from Chelsea Garber and Bui Baravilala took the final score to 85-0.

    Head Coach Bryn Chivers was pleased with the result but was cautiously optimistic about the team’s upcoming games. “The team played well tonight but we saw the Canadians look equally impressive against the Caribbean Select Side. It’s easy for a young team to let down after a big win and the Caribbean women have the size and speed to cause us some problems if the players don’t stay focused”.   Chiver’s was pleased with the performance of several players such as Chelsea Garber from Brown University and Bui Barivilala from Hawaii. “All the vets played well and several of the rookies stood out. Bui was a force all game and scored a couple of nice tries.  But it was Chelsea Garber who was the revelation. With Garher at flyhalf, we wanted to test the move to fullback, which was a big experiment for us. She turned in a great all around performance.”

    While Garber’s total of twenty-five points (3 tries, 5 conversions) in the game made her the top point-scorer for a single U20 game and in total points for the U20 WNT program, it was another milestone that was Coach Chiver’s highlight of the game. “We were all excited for Peach (Haley Anderson) as her try tonight made her the youngest American woman to ever score a try in an international game.”

    The U20 Women will play their next game against the Caribbean Select Side who lost their opening game to the Canada U20’s.   For updates from Coach Chivers, visit the team blog: http://womeneaglesu20s.blogspot.com/

    Tries: Chelsea Garber (3), Bui Baravilala (2), Katie Johnson (2), Kiki McNight (2), Ann Marie Bowlus, Candace Barley, Haley Anderson, Wendy Sherman, Katie Hathaway.

    1 Kelly Sager Penn State (Replaced by Sherman)
    2 Rachel Ryan U of Wyoming (Replaced by Hathaway)
    3 Andee Samborski Livingstone, MI
    4 Alycia Washington U Conn
    5 Brittany Rose Unattached (Replaced by Humphreys)
    6 McKenzie Lewis Mesa State
    7 Katie Johnson Hopkins, MN (Replaced by Gessner)
    8 Candace Barley Lee Univeristy (Replaced by Svatos)
    9 Haley Anderson Summit, CO
    10 Hannah Lockwood Oregon State
    11 Holly Zoeller U of North Carolina (Replaced by O’Brien)
    12 Bui Baravilala Aliamanu, Hawaii
    13 Kiki McKnight U of Central Florida
    14 Anne Marie Bowlus U of California – Santa Cruz
    15 Chelsea Garber Brown

    16 Mileka Grager (injured) Washington State
    17 Wendy Sherman Colorado State
    18 Katie Hathaway Norwich
    19 Katie Humphreys Kent, WA
    20 Amee Svatos Canby, OR
    21 Brittany O’Brien U of Rhode Island
    22 Jozy Gessner Colorado State.     Inspiring America to fall in love with Rugby
    Jarrod Beckstrom | Interim Director of Communications & Public Relations | USA Rugby
    2500 Arapahoe Avenue, Suite 200 | Boulder CO 80302
    W: 303.539.0300 x124 | C: 303.501.9692 | Fax: 303.539.0311 Follow the Women’s National Rugby Team as they prepare for the Women’s Rugby World Cup in London!

    Pool Play

    Friday, Aug. 20 – USA vs. Kazakhstan
    Tuesday, Aug. 24 – USA vs. Ireland
    Saturday, Aug. 28 – USA vs. England

    USA Women Dominate Kazakhstan in World Cup Opener

    Tuesday, August 24th, 2010
    For Immediate Release
    August 20, 2010
     

    USA Women Dominate Kazakhstan in Opener

    The first Pool B match of the Women’s Rugby World Cup concluded with the USA putting a definitive stamp on the competition.

     
    GUILDFORD, England – The USA Rugby Women’s National Team defeated Kazakhstan by a score of 51- 0 at Surrey Sports Park in Guildford.  Christy Ringgenberg tallied 26 points and involved many of her teammates in attack to secure a massive victory in the opener.
     
    The scoring started off the boot of Ringgenberg as she slotted a penalty kick, capitalizing on an early Kazakhstan infraction.  With a quick break down the touch line, Nathalie Marchino went over for the first try of the day.  Ringgenberg converted and the Eagles found themselves ahead with seven points.  Ringgenberg was not only a threat at kicking for points, but with ball in hand, she proved to be extremely evasive.  The USA continued the attack after a short lapse in momentum due to frustrating penalties.  Ringgenberg added another three points just before the half, making it 13-0.
     
    “We struggled with adjustment around the breakdown at first in terms of penalties, but we were able to solve the issue, making it easier for our backs to run free,” said Head Coach, Kathy Flores.
     
    Ringgenberg added, “We feel like one of our strengths is getting the ball to the outside and we have been working to involve the wings more; we are refining our attack with every new opportunity.”
     
    Second half scoring started very shortly after the restart with Victoria Folayan breaking the line and Ringgenberg finishing with a try.  With a successful conversion, the score was 20-0 as the Eagles began to pull away.  Marchino and Amy Daniels stopped the attack of Kazakhstan with chasing tackles and stout defense all around.  A try by fullback Ashley Kmiecik and a conversion gave the USA a 27 point lead.  Flanker Phaidra Knight drove over the try line for another five points, but the conversion missed, putting the Eagles ahead, 32-0.  The USA continued to go forward and Ringgenberg went over for another try thanks to her captain, Jamie Burke, who broke play wide open with a strong forward charge.  Burke was replaced by Douglas as Ringgenberg slotted the conversion. 
     
    “So many of our points came out of necessary adjustments.  We were able to find the right mix of attack and ball retention when it was needed,” said match captain, Burke.    
     
    Marchino continued her impressive form as she offloaded to Daniels to bring the tally to 44 points for the USA.  Marchino then found her own reward while sprinting over for a try with time winding down.  Women Eagles veteran, Ashley English, came on shortly after to build towards the USA’s next match against Ireland on Tuesday, August 20, 2010.  With one last successful Ringgenberg conversion, the scoring ended with the USA racking up a total of 51 points against Kazakhstan. 
     
    USA 51, Kazakhstan 0
    Trys: Marchino (2), Ringgenberg (2), Kmiecik, Knight, Daniels
    Conversions: Ringgenberg (5) Penalties: Ringgenberg (2)
    USA: 1. Jamie Burke (Farrah Douglas), 2. Lisa Butts, 3. Naima Reddick, 4. Beckett Royce (Stacey Bridges), 5. Sharon Blaney, 6. Phaidra Knight, 7. Kristin Zdanczewicz (Kittery Wagner), 8. Mel Denham, 9. Kim Magrini, 10. Christy Ringgenberg, 11. Victoria Folayan, 12. Emilie Bydwell, 13. Amy Daniels, 14. Nathalie Marchino, 15. Ashley Kmiecik (Ashley English).
    Kazakhstan: 1. Natalya Kamendrovskaya, 2. Tatyana Ashikhmina, 3. Tatyana Pshenichnaya, 4. Svetlana Karatygina, 5. Marianna Balashova, 6. Alfiya Mustafina, 7. Irina Radzivil, 8. Anna Yakovleva, 9. Anastassiya Khamova, 10. Tatyana Tur, 11. Irina Amossova, 12. Amina Baratova, 13. Olga Kumanikina, 14. Svetlana Klyucknikova, 15. Aigerym Daurembayeva.
    Further Information:
    Katie Wurst, USA Rugby’s Women’s National Team Communication Manager, 303-539-0300 ext. 124, email kwurst@usarugby.org.   
    Andrea Wiggins, IRB Communications Manager, +353 (0)86-040-3950, email: andrea.wiggins@irb.com.    

    REFEREE APPOINTMENTS AUG 28

    Sunday, August 22nd, 2010

    28-Aug All Star 7’s NY National Appointment Haylee Slaughter
    Pelicans 10’s Simon Page (Head Ref), Scott Florance, Tom Galante, Chuck Krblich, Rocco Kryns, Greg & Zac Tschanz
    Tallahassee @ Gainsville Friendly Gary Nation
    Panama City 7’s Tim Russell, Adam Hyman, Eric Neiberger,

    GREEN FOR GREEN

    Friday, August 20th, 2010

    Good way to raise team/club funds and do your bit for the environment

    www.planetgreenrecycle.com

    STREAMING TV COVERAGE OF WOMEN’S WORLD CUP FROM TODAY

    Friday, August 20th, 2010

    Record Broadcast Coverage to Showcase Women’s Rugby World Cup 2010

    Women’s Rugby World Cup 2010 will be broadcast to more territories than any previous tournament providing a unique platform to promote the Women’s Game, Rugby World Cup Limited (RWCL) has announced.

    The 30-match showcase tournament gets underway in England today, and with the competition promising to be intense, every pass, tackle and try from 13 mouth-watering matches will be broadcast live via an exceptional platform provided by host broadcaster Sky Sports.

    With the demand for Women’s Rugby programming significantly increasing, boosted by the International Olympic Committee’s decision to include men’s and women’s Sevens in the Olympic Games starting in 2016, Women’s Rugby World Cup 2010 will be screened in 127 territories to a potential audience of 227 million homes, smashing the previous tournament benchmark set in Canada four years ago.

    Labelled a resounding success, Women’s Rugby World Cup 2006 was carried by 10 broadcasters to 75 territories and a potential reach of 97 million homes. The figures, provided by the IRB’s Women’s Rugby World Cup Broadcast Management partner ProActive Television, also show live or as live programming hours set to increase from 60 hours in 2006 to 220 for this year’s tournament.

    “This record level of television coverage truly highlights the strong appetite for Women’s Rugby by broadcasters and fans at a time when the sport is enjoying unprecedented popularity and growth,” said RWCL Chairman Bernard Lapasset.

    “I am sure that through this strong broadcast platform, Women’s Rugby World Cup 2010 will demonstrate the significant advances in the standard of competition and the exceptional skill levels of these world-class athletes and reach out to new fans. I am sure that those watching on television will be captivated.”

    The live broadcast action gets under way with Wales v Australia (14:00 local time), champions New Zealand v South Africa (16:15) and England v Ireland (18:30). will be streaming all 13 fully-produced matches live and on demand for free including three in each pool round starting with Wales v Australia, New Zealand v South Africa and England v Ireland at Surrey Sports Park on Match Day One.

    The official tournament website www.rwcwomens.com will be streaming all 13 fully-produced matches live and on demand for free including three in each pool round starting with Wales v Australia, New Zealand v South Africa and England v Ireland at Surrey Sports Park on Match Day One.

    For the UK and Ireland, matches will be exclusively streamed live on Skysports.com Sky Player only, and will be available on demand 24 hours after the match at www.rwcwomens.com.

    For further information on Women’s Rugby World Cup 2010, including full squad listings, match previews and reviews, features, news and audio/visual content produced by 78Seventy, visit www.rwcwomens.com.

    FRU Women’s Player named to U20 National Team

    Monday, August 16th, 2010

    Stories from our Home Page

    U20 WNT Announces 2010 Squad

    BOULDER, Colo. – Following the U20 Women’s National Team Camp held at the University of California – Santa Barbara the U20 WNT Head Coach Bryn Chivers has officially announced the 2010 squad. The squad is comprised of 24 players from 22 high school, college, and club programs from across the country including the program’s first ever player from Hawaii. With only ten returning players, the squad is very different from the one that lost 12-13 to the Canada U20s in January. Chivers wasn’t happy with the team’s performance against the Canada U20s, feeling that squad had underperformed in the one point loss. “It was just a little lackluster. We had very good players but the chemistry of the squad was off and they didn’t play well together.” This prompted a shake up that saw a whole new group of players invited to the U20 Elite Camp and resulted in the U20’s going 2-0 against their opposition at the U23 National All-Star Championships.

    The rebuilt squad has five new forwards including Western Washington’s Mileka Grager and UConn’s Alycia Washington. The nine new backs include All-American center Star Bolinger from BYU, Akalaini Baravilala from the Aliamanu Rugby Club in Hawaii, and wings Holly Zoeller and Bex Siebach from North Carolina and BYU respectively.

    This new squad is very exciting to watch” said Chivers. “We have the experience of players like Jozy Gessner, Katie Johnson, and Candace Barley who are in their fourth and fifth years in the program, but we also have a large group of new players who bring a fierce energy to the squad”. The U20s will represent the USA in the North American and Caribbean Rugby Association (NACRA) Championships, August 15-21 in Nassau, Bahamas. The tournament will feature the senior women’s national teams from Cayman and Bahamas, a Caribbean Select Side and the U20 sides from the USA and Canada. This will be the first time the U20 WNT has played any of the Caribbean sides and Chivers recognizes that the team is stepping into the unknown. “We have no idea what to expect from this tournament. A Caribbean Select Side of senior players presents a different challenge for this young squad and we could get beat by their size and experience or come away with a win. The thing we strong opposition in preparation for the game against the Canada U20s”. The Junior Eagles will open against Cayman on Sunday, August 15th.

    USA U20 Schedule

    Sun Aug 15th: USA U20 WNT v Cayman (5.00 p.m)

    Tue Aug 17th: USA U20 WNT v Caribbean Select Side (3.00 p.m.)

    Fri Aug 20th: USA U20 WNT v Canada U20’s (5.00 p.m.)

    2010 USA U20 Women’s National Team



    doknow is that the Caribbean senior sides will provide us with

    Hailey Anderson Summit, Colorado

    Akalaini Baravilala Aliamanu, Hawaii

    Candace Barley Lee University

    Star Bollinger Women Cougar Rugby

    Ann Marie Bowlus UC Santa Cruz

    Chelsea Garber Brown

    Jozy Gessner Colorado State

    Mileka Grager Washington State

    Katie Hathaway Norwich

    Katie Humphreys Kent, Washington

    Katie Johnson Hopkins, Minnesota

    Mackenzie Lewis Mesa State

    Hannah Lockwood Oregon State

    Kyandrea McKnight U of Central Florida

    Brittany O’Brien U of Rhode Island

    Brittany Rose Unattached

    Rachael Ryan U of Wyoming

    Kelly Sager Penn State

    Andee Samborski Livingston, Michigan

    Wendy Sherman Colorado State

    Rebekah Siebach Women Cougar Rugby

    Amee Svatos Canby, Oregon

    Alycia Washington U of Connecticut

    Holly Zoeller U of North Carolina