News from the Colonies (i.e. us)

The Front Row Union (FRU), a rugby website from Ulster, Ireland, gave a mention to the Wisconsin High School Girls on their webzine (the Nov. 4th 2007, Issue 75) in their "News from the Colonies" column (near the bottom).

The FRU prominently features profiles of the UWM Panther players in anticipation of their Midwest Final 4 match this weekend, Nov. 10th. Good luck to the Panthers as they take on Bowling Green in their upcoming semi-final match.

Good press, results, and some final thoughts

Here's the link to the story in the Journal Sentinel. In short, it was a wonderderful way to end the season, a real celebration of the whole league. I was most impressed by the fact that every game mattered, every team played with pride and determination whether they were playing for 7th place or 1st. I think 10 years from now, many of us will be standing on the side-lines of a state tournament in late October in the driving cold rain or snow and we will all have fond memories of that first tournament, when sun shined down and the girls just played good rugby.

And now the final score reports and rankings for the Fall 2007 season:

7th Place Oak Creek 20 – Northshore Shore 10

5th Place Brookfield 40 – Kettle Moraine 10

3rd Place Catholic Memorial 22 - Muskego 15

State Champ DSHA 27 - Vernon 0

A special thanks to all the volunteers who put the state tournament together, especially Noe for taking on the thankless job of tournament coordinator and Wally, for his tireless efforts to get out the word to the press.

Hopefully, we'll be posting the names of the all state tournament team on this blog in a few days.

Any Press is Good Press

The Journal Sentinel carried this article which mentions both the boys and girls rugby conferences and thier post-match tradition. It has been great, over the years, to watch the players from all the different girls teams come together after matches and get to konw thier opponents. Because some of these girls are playing for four years, they really get to know the opposition through the post-match social and on-the-field play which is unique. Our high school rugby community should be very proud of our unique tradition of post-match hospitality.

I konw the post match is a lot of work for teams and players and sometimes it doesn't seem to fit in to the hectic lifestyles we all live. But it is very rewarding to see the teams play hard and then take the time to share and socialize with the opposition.