More on the wee ones...

I just want to put out there that the Oconomowoc and Waukesha park and recreation programs are both off to good starts with youth (1st-4th grade) rugby. The Oconomowoc program is in its 3 week this Saturday and has 12 participants. The Waukesha program has 15 registered participants, but on the first day 22 kids showed up.

It has been great to see the rugby community pull together to offer this program to area youth. While some of the participants are children of rugby players, a majority of kids and their families are being exposed to rugby for the first time and having a very positive experience.

New Girls Play-Off Format..

The Wisconsin Girls Rugby teams have divided into 2 pools or conferences for the Fall Season play. All teams will play a five week season, which includes playing each team in the pool and one non-conference match against the ranked team in the opposing pool. At the end of the five weeks of pool play, the top 8 teams will enter into a three week play-off. All the final matches will be held on October 28, 2007 at Nagawaukee park. Final rankings from the Fall season are used to determine who advances to the Midwest in the Spring and Pool seedings for the following fall.

Brookfield Bruiser's site posted a handy summary of the new play-off system on their website. Right below the Bruiser's schedule, the new pools are listed and if you click on the link to State Playoff Schedule, it will take you to the brackets for the last three weeks of the season.

Picture of the Week

A Fond du Lac (FDL) defender takes down a Brookfield ball carrier during Brookfield's 23-12 victory over FDL on June 2, 2007. I think this was the actual last game of the Spring 2007 season. FDL played a strong game, keeping Brookfield on the defensive for much of the fist half. However, Brookfield triumphed with speed out-wide and relentless goal-line defense. It is going to be an interesting fall with so many teams beginning to hit their stride.