Our First Alumna Eagle!

The Women's Rugby Review blog reported the line-up for the Women's Eagles for their tour of England in December. What is notable is that Kati McCormick, who currently plays for the Univ. of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, will be joining the Eagles as a lock.

While alumnae of Wisconsin high school teams have featured prominently on the US U-19 team and even on the U-23 team, Kati's selection for the tour represents the first time an alumna of a Wisconsin high school team has been selected as a senior side Eagle. Kati played with the Kettle Moraine Knightmares for 4 years while in high school and was part of the 2004 team which placed 2nd at the NIT. Here is a picture of Katie (in blue) taking a tackle at the 2004 NIT, when KM earned a 2nd place finish.

Congratulations to Katie! Wisconsin will be rooting for you.

Coaching Changes/Rugby Alumnae

Since this blog posted the help-wanted add for Northshore, I guess we should report that that Northshore found a new head coach for the coming season, Kathrine Brennan. She will be replacing Katie Ehr, who served as the head coach this past season and who was previously the coach of Whitefish Bay. Both Kathrine and Katie played together at DSHA in the dark years, when there were no other high school teams in Wisconsin. As proof, here is the very first picture from this site from the very first "Nationals" tournament -- both Kathrine and Katie are in there somewhere.

I know the league is glad to see that some of its first players are coming back to help-out and provide opportunities for other players. Fortunately, Katie Ehr won't be leaving the rugby scene for long as, rumor has it, she is getting her credentials as a sir and will be helping out with a whistle come spring. Good luck (and thank you) to both Katie and Kathrine as they take on new roles in the Girls Rugby community.

I think that other alumnae from other clubs are also in the mix for sir certification and coaching positions. We'll try to update when we learn of alumnae from other teams who are coming back to contribute.

Wisconsin participation in USA U19 Tour

The USA U19 Womens' Rugby blog reported today that the National U19 team is setting out on its 2007 tour of England. Wisconsin's high school players, alumnae and coaches have historically had a strong presence on the national squad. This year Katie McCormick, a former player from Kettle Moraine Girls RFC and current UWM player is on the squad. In addition, Jeff Noe, the coach of Kettle Moraine Girls RFC is on tour as the team manager.

Congratulations to our local players!