2009 Wisconsin Girls Rugby State Championship
---All-Tournament Team---

#1 Jamie Wojciechowski* senior Vernon Harlequins

#2 Stephanie Gammon senior Brookfield Bruisers

#3 Hope Kollauf junior Vernon Harlequins

#4 Erin Davis* senior Catholic Memorial High School

#5 Sonya Pavela junior Divine Savior Holy Angels High School

#6 Talia Carrasquillo junior Kettle Moraine High School

#7 Brianna Klein junior Brookfield Bruisers

#8 Elizabeth Linnemanstons* senior Divine Savior Holy Angels High School

#9 Rachel Santulli* junior Brookfield Bruisers

#10 Cayla Clark senior Muskego High School

#11 Rachel Gaenslen junior Divine Savior Holy Angels High School

#12 Kate Cashin junior Brookfield Bruisers

#13 Ellie Miller junior Divine Savior Holy Angels High School

#14 Emily Zemplinski junior Vernon Harlequins

#15 Anita Dillett senior Catholic Memorial High School

#16 Taylor Rozman sophomore Kettle Moraine High School

#17 Samantha Capelle junior Kettle Moraine High School

#18 Alli Cales sophomore Oak Creek High School

#19 Madison Wieland junior Northshore Highlanders

#20 Kaylinne Vega* sophomore Oak Creek High School

#21 Maggie Armstrong junior Catholic Memorial High School

#22 Kali Schulte sophomore Muskego High School

Stuff to Update

It has been a busy, busy Fall and early winter. While I completely failed to get information up regarding the Fall season, I will put the results, post the list for our All-Tournament team recipients, and get all the final results from the Fall 09 season posted prior to the start of this Spring season!

It was a really exciting Fall season and I think there is some really growth for the league coming around the corner. A recent comment on this Blog pointed out the new website (now added to the links) for the Cudahy RFC.

Rumors are still circulating that there may be a Wauwatosa RFC --come the Fall of 2010, as well!

We continue to grow! There is a lot to discuss. More to come.....!!

CMH retains the Claymore and the Founders' Cup

The Highland Games Mass Band. A good end to a long day of rugby:

CMH retained the Founders' Cup by defeating the Brookfield Bruisers in the opening match of the Highland Games. The CMH girls went on to retain their tournament championship trophy, a Scottish Claymore sword, with three victories at the Scottish Highland Games Saturday. Kudos to CMH -- thier victory was a complete team effort as all thirty players contributed significantly to the four matches.

Photos and detailed scores subbmitted by CMH:

Photo #2: senior wing Kelsey Norgal and sophomore Cecillia NavarratePhoto #3: freshman #2, Genny Antunes and friends.
CMHS 31 Brookfield 0Tries: Erin Davis, Maggie Armstrong (2), Kelsey Norgal, Anita DillettConv: Katie Dries (3)
CMHS 26 Vernon 0Tries: Kayla Henschel (2), Anita Dillett, Erin DavisConv: Katie Dries (3)
CMHS JV 14 Muskego 10Tries: Marissa Jurek, Kayla HenschelConv: Sara Dillett (2)
CMHS JV 5 Kettle Moraine 12Tries: Kelsey Norgal

The final result does not tell the whole story of Saturday's tournament. At the end of the day on Saturday, three teams (CMH, Vernon and KM) were 3-1 -- tied for first place. CMH retained the Claymore on point differentials -- leaving the final title decision down to the final whistle of the final match.

The full score report for the day (# of tries in parens.):

Brookfield v. CMH: 5 (1) v. 31 (5)
KM v. Muskego: 24 (4) v. 7 (1)
Brookfield v. KM: 0 (0) v. 21 (3)
CMH v. Vernon: 26 (4) v. 0 (0)
CMH v. Muskego: 12 (2) v. 10 (2)
Brookfield v. Vernon: 12( 2) v. 19 (3)
KM v. Vernon: 17 (3) v. 25 (5)

Brookfield v. Muskego: 12 (2) v. 10 (2)
Muskego v. Vernon: 0 (0) v. 15 (3)
CMH v. KM 5 (1) v. 12 (2)

What's With Those Hawaiian Shirts?

Some have the Maori Haka. Brookfield had its bagpipers for a time. And Wisconsin's local rugby fans have the Hawaiian shirts.

Some fans have come to associate Hawaiian shirts with DSHA rugby. Its origins are a bit more complex than that. In this, the first recorded picture of Hawaiian shirts being used as coach's attire roughly a decade ago, it does in fact show three coaches wearing the dazzling duds. But, it should be noted that two of the coaches are wearing borrowed shirts from the third's extensive collection.

The current head coach of DSHA did not originate this now time-honored tradition; although he must be recognized for his efforts. He has embraced this tradition, even being captured in an ESPN interview wearing the now famed black and red Hawaiian print. Still, others may forget that Kettle Moraine used the 'originals' prints pictured as good-luck Hawaiian shirts and did so continuously throughout the height of their trips to Nationals and Midwest. Perhaps as coaches and players prepare for the upcoming fall competition, some should consider finding an old Hawaiian shirt ....

(Thanks to our guest feature columnist for this story and picture)!

Wisconsin U19 Alumnae.. doing well...

Pictured above, Brittany Huston (a Vernon alumna and current UWM team) is on the attack in the USA U20 38-20 victory over Canada. Brittany scored a try for her efforts. DSHA Alumna, Maggie Reidy, also contributed at second row to the USA victory. Full details from the match can be found on the USA Rugby site.

I believe Brittany is currently a UWM player -- I'm not sure about Maggie, but I am sure someone who reads this blog knows and can contribute.

It is so great to see the players from Wisconsin contributing to the success of our national program!

Fall 2009!

Is it too early to start discussing the Fall 2009 season? Well, with the spring XV's season wrapping up just last weekend, the Wisconsin High School Girls Rugby teams held their semi-annual meeting last week. The schedule is now set for the Division 1 clubs and the clubs agreed to establish a Division 2 for developing teams and B-side teams from larger clubs.

As in the past, the Division 1 clubs will be organized into 2 pools. Pool A: DSHA, Brookfield Bruisers, Kettle Moraine, and Muskego. Pool B: Catholic Memorial, Vernon, Northshore-Highlanders, and Oak Creek. Division 2 will consist of Pius, Fond du Lac, Oak Creek/Cudahy and the newly formed Minomonee Falls RFC, along with B-side teams from the Division 1 pool teams.

It may seem a long way off, but the Girls High School Finals will be played at Nagawaukee Park on October 25, 2009! As in the past, the final matches for all Division 1 teams will be played at the same location.

Other interesting agenda items of note, the Girls High School teams voted unanimously to affiliate with the Wisconsin Rugby Football Union (WRFU). In the past, high school girls teams were members in good standing of the Midwest Territorial Union and USA Rugby. We anticipate that this new affiliation will bring greater coordination of activities between the girls league, the referee society and the WRFU. This past season, the referee society coordinated all match officials for the matches. Continuation of this benefit alone makes joining the WRFU a good bargain!

Rugby Recruiting

In Wisconsin there are three types of clubs: school based, park and recreation based, and clubs. DSHA and Catholic Memorial (#1 and #2 in the state respectively) are deeply rooted in within their school community. Both of these clubs were founded by teachers at their respective institution and, over time, have grown, to varying degrees, to enjoy institutional support and recognition. Without a doubt, both of these clubs have an edge in recruiting new players. Despite the fact both CMHS and DSHA are smaller than their public counterparts, they have larger, more stable teams due in part to their ability to "get the word out" about rugby through official channels. Vernon (Wisconsin's #3 seed) also has "official" sanction through the Vernon Parks and Recreation Department. Thus, Vernon also has the benefit of being able to "get the word out" about its program through recognized channels.

The remaining Wisconsin clubs have, at best, an ambiguous relationship with its local park and recreation department and/or local school district. I have often heard coaches complain about the difficulty they have in negotiating the relationship with local school officials and the negative impact this has on the club's ability to "get the word out" about their club. While an Internet presence goes some way in circumventing this problem, this communication channel presupposes that someone is aware that club rugby exists in the local community and that they are searching for the club online. So, what are local high school rugby clubs to do? I want to throw out some strategies and pointers from my experience --for what its worth -- and briefly discuss your rugby club's "rights" within a public institution. However, be forewarned, exerting your "rights" is not the ideal method. Rather, collaborative and positive relationships are the way to go.

So, some basic pointers:

PLAYERS AS LEADERS:

• Give your players the recruiting mentality. Remind your players that responsibility for the growth of the club rests with the players. They are the best source of new players (see the post about the Black Ferns... peer recruitment was the #1 reason for joining rugby).
• Encourage your players to facilitate positive relationships within their school. Players (as members of the student body) have greater access to the school community than "outsider" coaches. For example, some recent successes by the Brookfield team, that can only be achieved by student-athlete leadership are: (1) the Brookfield Central players convinced the year-book editor to include a page dedicated to the rugby club (even though the club is not an officially recognized sport); (2) the school paper included an article about the rugby club in their upcoming issue. (Remember -- our athletes are not just rugby players-- they are year book editors, members of the school paper, members of the student council). By encouraging players to utilize their networks, we are actually helping players to develop important self-advocacy and leadership skills that go beyond rugby. (As an aside, don't be afraid to write letters of recommendations to college for your players and high light their off-the-field contributions, as these really demonstrate leadership. "so-and-so was not only a stellar athlete, but also did x, y, and z to demonstrate her leadership skills" --some players shy away from rugby in the fears that being part of a non-school sponsored sport will not contribute to their college admission application. However, the opposite is true. Rugby is a great opportunity to take responsibility and develop leadership skills).
  
• Let your players lead the way, but always maintain a hand in the image that your players present. Remember, our role as a coach is to help facilitate positive youth development (so don't let your players portray in image that is counter-productive to the growth of the sport in your community).
  
• Don't forget that parents are another important key networking component: "My daughter plays rugby... and I'm proud of her" is a very powerful recruitment statement.

COACHES AS COLLABORATORS:

• Don't let rugby be marginalized as a "rugby club" versus "school system" mentality. Always remember that, at our best, we are, like the school system, interested in the positive development of our players. Therefore, we are partners not competitors in the process.
• Don't let rugby be seen as "taking away" from other sports programs. Often, I've heard athletic directors and other coaches characterize rugby as "stealing athletes" from other legitimate sports. The script for rugby coaches should be that we (1) offer choice to student athletes; (2) by offering rugby, some students who might not otherwise play a sport is give an opportunity to get active and get involved (e.g. it is very difficult for a high school student who hasn't been playing soccer for years to walk onto a competitive high school team. Rugby offers these players a new opportunity, no experience necessary).
• Be responsive to school administration concerns. (e.g. when posting rugby posters-- do your players always use the appropriate administrative procedure and get the appropriate approvals).
• Always frame the conversation in terms of what rugby can offer and not what rugby wants. It is counter-productive in these days of tight budgets and program cuts to think that rugby can (or should) get financial support from the school system. But, most clubs don't need much (we have balls, jerseys, volunteer coaches, etc...). By partnering with the schools, we can add to the school community -- bringing resources, not taking away. What does the club need from the school? access to the communication network, access to playing fields, and already existing no-additional cost resources. What can rugby add? A new, low-cost, exciting sports program for the school, contributions to field maintenance costs, partnering to raise funds for new goal posts...? we are only limited by our imagination and willingness to ask, not what the schools can do for us, but what we can add to the school.
  

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS:

• The rugby club has the same right to post flyers, distribute mailers in school communication vehicles (e.g. stuffing mailers in middle school take-home packets) as any other similarly situated group. Thus, if your school district allows the local church to distribute flyers about summer bible camp, the rugby club likely has a constitutional right to distribute hand-outs about rugby (subject to the same time, place and manner restrictions). Obviously the negative corollary is also true: if the communication tools is only open to officially school sponsored activities, then the non-school sponsored rugby club has no "right" to communicate. Find out what your school district rules are (very respectfully) and follow school policies. If the rules really prohibit the use of these communication vehicles by out-side groups, respect that policy and explore alternatives.
  
• Remember, not all information is private -- try a direct mailer. If your schools distribute a student directory -- try and get the names and addresses of incoming students and try mailing them all a post card prior to the season. Often, your players already have access to these documents. Moreover, this information (depending upon local school board policy) is often publicly available. For example, FERPA (the federal law which protects the confidentiality of student records) does NOT generally protect the confidentiality of "directory data", i.e. information including student's name, address, school most recently attended, etc. Most states have "open records" laws or sunshine laws that allow members of the public to request records which are not otherwise protected by confidentiality laws. Thus, you may be able to ask your school district for a list of the names and addresses of students and create a mailer to incoming students in your district. (This is a tactic used by people marketing services to high-school students -- such as year book photographers).
  
• Always remember, it is not optimal to exert your "rights" when interacting with a school district. But I think it's helpful to know that there are creative ways to overcome the structural deficit created by being an unofficially recognized sports. The best way is to always be collaborative.
  
• Finally, don't forget the local paper. Often times, the major newspaper in the area is too busy covering "major" sporting events and officially recognized sports. But the local community paper is often looking for things to write about. Posting weekly box scores in the community based paper is a great way to remind people that rugby exists in your community. By cultivating relationships with reporters, you may even get a feature article and a couple of photos.
  

These are just some ideas and I know there are a lot of other good ones out there. Remember, be creative, be positive, and your club can become a recruiting success story.

More on DSHA...

Congratulations to Sarah Chmielewski, (in red-below) from DSHA, picuted here as she recieves the MVP award for her role at the USA Rugby National Championships!
Also in the news, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett dropped by DSHA on Thursday to declare May 21, 2009 "DIVINE SAVIOR HOLY ANGELS HIGH SCHOOL RUGBY CLUB NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP DAY" for all Milwaukee! Talk about raising the image of rugby. Below is s a copy of the official proclamation. (I am hoping that we can track down some pictures of the mayor presenting the award as well).


I want to note that, despite the fact that DSHA has a lot to be proud of, almost all my information comes from individuals who are not affiliated with the club. I wish Chin and his cohorts were a little less modest ... so I don't have to hear about them third hand. Besides, DSHA's continued success is only possible because they have teams to play. We should all take pride that a Wisconsin club does so very, very well!

Also... I strongly encourage any club to send me their pictures/news ... getting the word out about our individual clubs is always a positive -- even if we aren't all national champions. Just for fun, here is an image captured by a Brookfield Rugby player -- captured on her cell-phone cam -- of the Brookfield Coach celebrating the 5-0 victory of the Brookfield-B-side over the DSHA-B side from that rainy weekend a couple of weeks ago:



Why? Well... because you have to take pride in every accomplishment .. whether it "counts" for your record or not!

Wisconsin's Rugby Culture

DSHA's success -- and the news coverage of DSHA's national title run in two articles from the Journal sentinel (one, two) -- really illustrates how far high school women's rugby in Wisconsin has come in the past 11 years. Perhaps one of the more important side-effects of DSHA's success is not the title, but the positive impact on the image of rugby in the community. This positive impact is highlighted by one simple fact, the location of the story in the paper. Both the stories about the DSHA national title run were printed in the sports section with the tag line "rugby." This may seem like a small accomplishment, but the very first press that DSHA received from the Journal Sentinel (and don't get me wrong, we were glad to receive it) was a full, front page story in the STYLE section. Women's high school rugby has clearly moved from a "curiosity" to a legitimate, competitive sport -- with DSHA leading the way for all of us.

The legitimacy of women's high school rugby in Wisconsin as a sport is no small accomplishment. In Kicking Stereotypes into Touch: An Ethnographic Account of Women's Rugby (full cite at end of post), P. David Howe notes that, even in Wales where rugby is an important cultural activity which forms part of the Welsh national identity, negative perceptions of women's rugby impacts the ability of rugby clubs to recruit high school players: "We have real difficulty attracting high school girls to the team. It would be great if we could because by the time they are in there [sic] mid-twenties they could be really accomplished at the game." (Howe, p. 237).

Wisconsin seems to have to overcome some of these negative perceptions associated with women participating in a contact sport -- an accomplishment that is due in no small part to the inclusion of rugby stories in the preps section of the Journal Sentinel. Last weekend, I was in the mall and getting a hair cut. The barber noted that I seemed to have gotten a lot of sun. I responded that I spend a lot of time on the sideline of the rugby field. The barber stated, "oh, I thought that around here only the girls played rugby." I indicated that I coached a girls' high school team and this led to a discussion about how her daughter was a senior at a high school in Wisconsin and how she wished that there was rugby at her school. The significance of DSHA's success (and its coverage by the press) is that the general public -- those with no connection to rugby -- form a positive image of Women's rugby players and see rugby as a legitimate sport for women. (an ironic comment given the fact that there are probably twice as many boys high school teams as there are girls). The positive perception of women's high school rugby creates the opportunity for the growth of women's rugby in the high school (and by extension boys' rugby). There is interest in the growth of women's rugby by female athletes who read these stories; The only thing holding us back is the need to find more coaches and referees!!

So, kudos to DSHA -- not only for winning an impressive 6 National Titles and having the first ever USA Rugby Coach of the year in John "Chin" Klien-- but also for generating headlines that highlight the athletic accomplishment of our women's high school rugby athletes and foster a positive image for rugby.

For those of you who want to follow up on the citation: Howe, P. David (2003), Kicking Stereotypes into Touch: An Ethnographic Account of Women's Rugby, in A. Bline and J. Granskog (eds.) Athletic Intruders: Ethnographic Research on Women, Culture, and Exercise, pp. 227-246.

(p.s. -- it is really nice to have access to a tier 1 research institution's library when exploring your casual interests!!)

Scores....

Congratulations to DSHA for their repeat win 19-14 over Lakewood (OH) in the National finals! A full story about DSHA and the U19 National Girls High School Championship is available online at the USA Rugby website. I think we should take tremendous pride that Wisconsin and the Midwest -- (as both the #1 and #2 teams came out of the Midwest Territory) -- continue to produce such high caliber, competitive teams.

In other scores, Brookfield fell to Vernon 10-12, and Brookfield-B defeated Vernon-B 10-0.

Anyone else have scores to report?

Scores

Scores this week:

Saturday:

DSHA v. Brookfield 60+ - 0
DSHA-B v. Brookfield-B 0-5

Wed.:

KM v. Northshore 20-10

Rugby Research...

Over the past 13 years that I've been involved in coaching or refereeing high school girls rugby in Wisconsin, there have always been recurring questions that come to mind. Some of these questions impact how we grow the sport (i.e. why do girls decide to come out and play rugby? How do players and their families perceive rugby as a sport, and how does that perception impact the growth of the sport?); other questions impact our assessment on the value of rugby as an alternative sport for young women in Wisconsin (i.e. what impact does rugby have on players, both during their years as player and beyond? What value do the players and their families see in playing rugby?).

There are intuitive answers to these questions. There is also a body of scholarship to validate and extend thinking around these same questions. Although these studies are not particular to Wisconsin and/or high school girls, they provide a framework for exploring these questions in the high school and local contexts. Over the next few months (since I happen to have a little time on my hand as the spring season wraps up), I will be summarizing some of the current research on Women's rugby to provide a basis for further reflection on the impact of our own league and, just out of curiosity, to see what's out there.

In the article, The Black Ferns: The Experiences of New Zealand’s Elite Women Rugby Players (full citation at end of blog entry), researchers explored the experiences of women playing on New Zealand's national team, the Black Ferns, by interviewing 23 players during the 1999 tri-nations tournament between New Zealand, Canada and the USA. The researchers utilized a nine question, semi-structured interview, which was centered around seven themes: participation motives, reasons for continuation, experiences participating in a male dominated sport, experiences being a Black Fern, the governing body (NZRFU), sport and life plans, and general background information. Interviews were taped and transcribed and then reviewed by the interviewees for participant verification. Transcripts were coded for themes and sub-themes independently by the lead authors to ensure dependability. The researchers then utilized HyperResarch, a qualitative research software, to assist in analysis of the data.

The article focused on three of the seven themes: (a) reasons for starting to play rugby, (b) reasons for continuing to play rugby, and (c) being part of a predominately male game. (My summary focuses on the first of these three themes, and I will summarize the other themes in subsequent posts). In exploring reasons that players started playing rugby, players indicated the following reasons (listed according to the frequency with which they were heard):

• Their friends played and introduced them to the sport;
  
• They cam from a rugby family;
  
• They enjoyed the physical nature of the game and had a desire to change sports, particularly from netball (a basketball like game played predominately by women);
  
• The liked that rugby was an intelligent sport;
  
• They always liked rugby, but never had an opportunity to play until later in life;
  
• rugby provided an opportunity to travel and meet other people.

In summarizing the implications of these reasons for playing, the authors caution that their findings may not be generalizable to elite athletes in other sports or to rugby players in North America, or other regions where rugby does not have the same culturally significant role, as in New Zealand.

However, may of the motives for beginning to play rugby likely carry-over into the experience of high school girls who chose to play rugby in Wisconsin. Based on informal discussions with players, three themes in particular would likely emerge in the high school context: (1) players begin playing rugby because of peer recruitment (i.e. their friends are playing), (2) players want to try a new, and more physical sport, after years of playing other sports, usually soccer, and (3) players enjoy the opportunity to travel and meet new people (i.e. players like that club rugby usually engages in some form of travel).

An open question for players in American high schools is the amount of exposure that high school female athletes have to rugby prior to starting play. Many players join rugby without ever having seen a rugby match. Thus, it is unlikely that rugby players join rugby because of a well-formed appreciation of rugby as presenting a particular type of challenge or physical activity. Rather, their perception of rugby is likely limited to general concepts (i.e. I know players tackle). A participation study would help to clarify what are the pre-conceived ideas that high school athletes have about rugby and how do those perceptions influence their decision to play. Thus, it would be important to replicate the participation study with particular emphasis on exploring young players perceptions of and knowledge about rugby as an added dimension.

In posting these summaries, I hope to solicit feedback from readers to identify important themes for research and, if there is interest, identify potential collaborators for conducting further research.

CITATION: Chu, Michael M. L., Leberman, Sarah I, Howe, Bruec L., and Bachor, Dan G. (2003). The Black Ferns: The Experiences of New Zealand’s Elite Women Rugby Players. Journal of Sport Behavior, Vol. 2 (No. 2): pp. 109-120.

Pictures from the Midwest Chapionship

Photographer, Jim White (Indyblanc@aol.com) , a contributing photographer from Referee Magazine, was at the Midwest High School Girls Rugby Tournament and provided the following pictures of the action. For information about purchasing photos or to review other action shots from the weekend, please contact Jim directly.

Thanks for the pictures!!

Final Score Reports from Last Weekend

Here are the scores from the Mauston Border Battle with Minnesota and Illinois:

OC v Armstrong 0- 36

FDL v Rockford 0-48

Brookfield v Wayzata 7-7

Km v Orono 20-5

OC v Rockford 0-44

Brookfield v Armstrong 0-5

Wayzata B v Rockford 0-7

FDL v Orono 10-48

KM v Wayzata 10-0

Muskego was also represented at the Mauston event, combining some players with Rockford, IL to help fill out that side. It was a great event. The ability to play diverse competition on a very sunny spring day makes for a great weekend of rugby.

The complete score reports for the Midwest Tournament can be found at the Midwest Site. But a quick round up of the Wisconsin Teams. Sunday, DSHA secured the Midwest Cup for Wisconsin by defeating Lakewood 22-8; CMHS placed third after defeating Lakeview 22-0.

In the open division, Vernon, DSHA-B and CMHS-JV played a lot of rugby. Those scores are now all on the Midwest site as well. Vernon went 3-0 in the open division! Congratulations Vernon on a successful weekend of rugby. The Wisconsin Scores from the open division were:

SAT:
Vernon 27 - Traverse City 5
DSHA-B 0 4 v. Southeastern 15
Carmel 5 v. Vernon 29
CMHS-JV 29 v. Brownsburg-B 0
CHMS-JV 0 v. Toledo 15
Columbus 0 v. DSHA-B 20

SUN:
Southeastern 0 v. Vernon 10
CMHS-JV 7 v. Livingston 27
DSHA-B 15 v. Plainsfield 17

Youth Tag Rugby

Now on it's third year, the City of Waukesha is offering a co-ed tag rugby clinic for children in grades 1st through 8th grade. Last year, the program had a lot of returning players, and the progress from year to year has been great to watch.

If you know anyone who wants to play, you can register through the City of Waukesha website. If you want to volunteer, contact me or just show up! It's a lot of fun.

Program Details:

Schedule - Friday, 5:30-6:30, June 12th to July 24th (off July 3rd)
Location - Mindiola Park in Waukesha
Groups - 1st-2nd, 3rd-4th, 5th-6th, & 7th-8th
Tag rugby is co-ed for all groups

$54 for residents and $74 for non-residents
All registered participants will receive a t-shirt and rugby ball

To register go to: http://wprf-recware-online.ci.waukesha.wi.us/registrationmain.sdi and select Mindiola Park under Location to quickly find Tag Rugby.

Scores (last week + Round 1 Midwest)

This past week, Muskego defeated Pius 39-5 and KM defeated Brookfield in a mixed A/B-side scrimmage.

Today, down at Midwest, our two Wisconsin teams (DSHA and CMHS) competed in the quarter-final and semi-final matches in hopes of making the Midwest Cup final a repeat of the Fall 2009 Wisconsin state championship. However, the much anticipated re-match between DSHA and CMHS was not to be after CMHS fell in the semi-final match to Lakewood, a perennial player in the Midwest Tournament. In a heart breaking match up, CMHS led in its quarter final match 7-5 with only ten minutes remaining, before Lakewood rallied to defeat CMHS 7-17. CMHS will go on to play for the third place match against Lakeview.

DSHA will again compete for the Cup, facing Lakewood in the finals tomorrow.

When I have some time -- I'll look up what states Lakeview and Lakewood are from. Also, no scores were reported for Vernon in the Festival division, but I hope they had a good day of it.

The scores that were reported to me are:

Quarterfinals:
CMHS 33 Noblesville 5
DSHA 35 Brownsburg 5


Semifinal:
CMHS 7 Lakewood 17
DSHA 20 over Lakeview 0

Final:
CMHS v Lakewood

3rd Place Match:
CMHS v Lakeview

May 2-3 Preview

This weekend is a big weekend for Wisconsin U19 Girls Rugby. Obviously, the big show for the weekend takes place in Carmel Indiana at the Midwest Girls Rugby Tournament. Click here for a link to the official brackets. DSHA (WI #1) and CMHS (WI #2) will compete in the cup bracket, with hopes of bringing home the Midwest Cup to Wisconsin soil once again. Vernon (WI #3) will be representing Wisconsin in the Festival division.

Last fall, DSHA earned the top spot after defeating CMHS is a narrow, nail-biting 5-0 victory. Vernon secured it's 3rd place standing with a 24-7 win over Brookfield in the Fall 2008 conference. The complete play-off brackets from the Fall 2009 season are available here.

Meanwhile, KM has organized the MN-WI Border battle, which will pit top teams from Minnesotta High School Girls Rugby Union (Wayzatta, Armstrong and Orono) against Kettle Moraine, Brookfield, Fond du Lac, Oak Creek, with a guest appearance from Rockford Il. This is a great opportunity to see some diverse competition up in Mauston, WI. Thanks to Noe, KM's coach, for all his efforts putting this together!

Good Luck everybody as we take on out-of-state competition!

Founders' Cup

CMHS retained the Founders' Cup by putting up 31 unanswered points before the game was called due to the stormy weather. CMHS closes out the 2009-2010 season having overcome Brookfield three times to retain the cup in advance of their Midwest run next weekend. The match opened with excellent tactical kicking by both teams. However, CMHS forced Brookfield to defend its try zone for twenty minutes before finally pushing through the opening try of the match. CMHS broke through with a second try as the whistle blew to close the first half with a score of 13-0.

While Brookfield made several incursions into CMHS territory, the CMHS forwards continually forced the turn over and place Brookfield on their heels. With a well discipline attack, CMHS put three more tries on the board, early in the second half before thunder called the game with the final score 31-0.

Good luck to CMHS and DSHA as they travel to Indiana to play in the Midwest Championship Tournament! And Good luck to Vernon as it travels to Indiana to play in the Midwest open tournament!

p.s. It's true, CMHS did not kidnap the pig. Rather, CMHS player's helped return the wayward pig from Iowa after it was lost by a BBRFC player. Although-- the text message was a little ominous.

Founders' Cup Preview

The Brookfield Bruisers RFC (BBRFC) were saddened at the loss of Mr. Pig, the stuffed animal of senior wing Beth F., who originally believed that Mr. Pig was left behind in the hotel after the Iowa tournament. However, late yesterday afternoon, the senior wing received a disturbing text message which read "we've got Mr. Pig -- and if you don't want him to become bacon, I wouldn't go scoring any tries on Saturday."

The BBRFC front office staff released this comment in response to the text message: "We are disturbed that, evidently, Mr. Pig is in the hands of CMHRFC and that they are using Mr. Pig as a means of intimidating our wing, who scored a hat trick of tries last weekend. We intend to take this matter before the arbitration panel to pursue recovery of the pig."

CMHRFC officials have denied that that the arbitration panel has jurisdiction over the alleged kid-napping of Mr. Pig. CMHS officials noted that the arbitration clause was clearly intended to resolve disputes regarding the Founders' Cup and cannot be used to
recover the allegedly kidnapped pig. BBRFC officials noted that "when CMHRFC attempted to use Mr. Pig as a means of intimidating our players in advance of this weekend's Founders' Cup match, they brought the dispute within the scope of the arbitration clause of the Irishfest Accords of 2008."

In a speech to the BBRFC players, Coach Dan "William Wallace" Chanen noted that "they may take our pig, but they cannot keep our trophy."

The Founders' Cup match is set to be played at 10:00 a.m. at Minooka Park in Waukesha, this coming Saturday.

April 18-19 Score Reports

Wisconsin Action:

Kettle Moraine 40 - Pius 5
Muskego 62 - Oak Crekk 0
Vernon 70 - Fond du Lac 0

Iowa Festival:
CMHS 22 - Hopkins 0
CMHS 53 - Edina 0
CMHS 34 - Orono 5

Brookfield 62 - Edina 0
Brookfield 10- Orono 0
Brookfield 0 - Hopkins 5

Lot's of rugby was played last weekend -- with CMHS and Brookfield traveling to Iowa to participate in the Des Monies Rugby Festival. The festival was a great opportunity to play competitive teams from around the Midwest in a non-tournament format. It was great to play against some very competitive and classy competition.

I have to give special kudos to the Kansas City Dragons who, after borrowing a player from Brookfield to fill out their team at the Des Moines Festival, gifted the player a pair of brilliant orange socks for her efforts.

Muskego's New Home on the Web

Muskego RFC has a new website. Always nice to get information right from the club.

More Scores...

Oak Creek hosted a mid-week game against CMHS on Thursday. Rockford Illinois came up to fill in the B-side. The results are:

CMHS 63 Oak Creek 0
CMHS JV 0 Oak Creek/Rockford 20


The match was played in Cudahy at Gen. Michel School where, evidently, the school district has put in permanent, real rugby goal posts. The official report is that they are "pretty cool."

Score Update...

This past weekend, Muskego defeated Fond du Lac 30-10.

Anyone left to report? Oak Creek? DSHA? Anyone else play matches this past weekend?

KM's Match Report from Ruggerfest

From our reporter in the field (hopefully with pictures to follow):

With several rookies eager to get in their first game, the Knightmare's traveled down to St. Louis for the Ruggerfest Tournament. The WI girls' were able to enjoy the warm sun on Saturday despite strong winds that persisted throughout the weekend. The first opponent was a combined side of Arlington, TN and Des Moines, IA. The Knightmares were able to put up a balanced attack and the forwards and backs each contributed 3 tries en route to a 38-5 victory. The 2nd match of the day came against a familiar opponent in DSHA's b-side. Again, the attack remained balanced as the forwards put in 3 of the 7 tries. Toni Cattani converted 3 of the kicks to end the match with a final score of 39-10.

Sunday brought much colder temperatures and closer games. In a match to earn a spot to the championship game, KM took on an experienced Kansas City side. Kansas City was able to get on the board first with a converted try to take a 7-0 lead that lasted until halftime. After the half, the Knightmares were able to pull within striking distance by putting in their own try to make it 5-7. But the scoring, continued to go back and forth with Kansas City getting a converted try followed up by another unconverted try by the Knightmares. With the score 10-14 and time running out, Kansas City was able to find space to put the game out of reach of a comeback. Kansas City secured a spot to the final against DSHA's A side with a hard fought 19-10 win over the Knightmares. The 3rd place game against Brighten, TN, was a more defensive battle, with the strong wind making it difficult to move the ball. With a strong kicking game, the Knightmares were able to keep the TN team pinned in their half and play under pressure. However, a strong defense was able to limit the score to 5-5 at the end of regulation. To find a winner, the sir ordered dropkicks to be taken at the 22 meter. Both teams failed to convert on the 1st attempt, but Toni Cattani slotted the 2nd kick down the middle for the win.

The rumor is that DS defeated Kansas City 22-0 (unconfirmed)

Thanks Noe for the update!

Spring Sir Assignments

I was told that someone wanted a place on the web to find the Sir Assignments. Well... here it is. Follow this link and it should take you to the sir-assignment list of the Spring 2009.

April 5-6 Results

Here are the scores reported to date:

April 4, 2009
CMH Varsity 27 v. Vernon 0
CMH JV 15 v. Vernon-B 0

April 5, 2009
Brookfield 50 v. Pius 7

Rumor has it that DSHA and KM both had very successful weekends at the St. Louis Ruggerfest, with DSHA winning the cup and KM winning the consolation bracket. But there is no official confirmation on this report.

Getting Support...

Catholic Memorial RFC got a nod from that school's president when he posted about their opening weekend on the presidential blog. Certainly, one element of the CMH team's success on the field is the support the Club receives from the school. Kudos to CMHRFC for creating a positive image for rugby in the school community and congratulations on the win over Vernon.

Score reports to follow?

Rumors about growth...

At the start of this spring, there were rumors about 2 new teams joining the league --- New Berlin and Cudahy. As with any new start-up club, the first season can be difficult and the rumor was that each team had just about 1 side. (Again, I'm reporting all third hand hearsay here -- so correct me if I'm wrong). However, a review of the master schedule shows that neither of these potential start-ups has scheduled matches for the spring.

Well, rumor has it that Cudahy is going to throw it's numbers in the Oak Creek and that New Berlin has thrown in with Muskego. These mergers would help bolster two teams and, hopefully, allow both Muskego and Oak Creek to field 2-sides, which has been the sine qua non of placing in the top three of the league brackets over the past several years.

While it's always nice to have new clubs -- these potential mergers may help strengthen the leagues base and create a more level playing field as we move towards the fall season. Ideally, each of these communities could (and should) support their own clubs, but this is an important first step in introducing girls rugby to these communities!

WISCONSIN GIRLS RUGBY MASTER SCHEDULE

I am sure there will be some additions and revision as the season approaches, but here is a master schedule as gathered by Wally:

April 4th Sat
Vernon v. CMHS 12pm at Vernon Town Park
Vernon B v. CMHS B 1pm at Vernon Town Park


St Louis Tourney, St. Louis Rugger Fest: DSHA, Northshore, Oack Creek, Kettle Moraine

April 5th Sun
Pius v. Brookfield 1pm Tbd

April 9th
Oak Creek v. CMHS 5pm at Oak Creek High School

April 18th Sat
Northshore v. Vernon TBD, TBD
Iowa Tourney Des Moines IA: CMHS, Brookfield

April 19, Sun.
Muskego v. Oak Creek, noon at Bluhm Park

April 22, Wed.
DSHA v. Vernon, 4 pm at Dretzka Park

April 25, Sat
CMHS v. Brookfield, 10 a.m. at Minooka Park
CMSHS-JV v. Fond du Lac, 11:30 a.m. at Minooka aPark
DSHA-B v. Northshore, 9 a.m. at Dretzka Park
DSHA v. Oak Creek, 10:15 a.m. at Dretzka Prk

April 29, Wed.
KM v. Brookfield, 4 p.m. at Naga-Waukee Park

May 2, Sat
Midwest Championship, Carmel, IN: DSHA (WI #1); CMHS (WI #2); Vernon (WI #3)

May 3, Sun.
Brookfield v. OakCreek, 2p.m. at Minooka Park (OR Oak Creek, KM and Brookfield may be playing in Mauston, WI against in a cross-boarder invitatinal tournament with MN)

May 9, Sat
DSHA-B v. Brokfield, 9:30 a.m., at Dretzka Park
DSHA-C v. CMHS-JV, 11:30 a.m., at Dretzka Park
KM v. Northshore, TBD at Naga-Waukee Park

May 10, Sun
Oak Creek v. Vernon, noon at Oak Creek High School

May 17, Sun
Brookfield v. Vernon, 2 p.m. at Minooka Park
Oak Creek v. KM, Noon, at Oak Creek High School

May 30, Sat
Northshore v. Brookfield, 10 a.m. at TBD

May 31, Sun
Oak Creek v. Pius, Noon, at Oak Creek High School

June 6, Sat
Northshore v. Oak Creek, 10 a.m. at TBD
Fond du Lac v. Brookfield, 10:00 a.m. at Fond du Lac
Fond du Lac v. Muskego, 11:30 a.m. at Fond du Lac

Wisconsin High School Alumnae Make Good

USA Rugby posted its list of players invited to participate in the U-20 Elite Camps for the Women's National Team (WNT). The approximately 50 players who are invited to the camp are the elite few who will be competing for spots on the U20 WNT. We are proud to announce that two of those players are alumnae from our area high school programs. Maggie Reidy (DSHA) and Brittany Houston (Vernon). Both these players are currently playing at UW-Milwaukee.

Congratulations Brittany and Maggie and good luck!

Founders' Cup Dispute Heats Up!

The CMHS front office has downplayed accusations of mis-care and negligence in the possession of the famed Founders Cup. The CMH Director of Rugby replied unequivocally that; "The Cup remains safely in our trophy case. No harm will come to it." Curiously, the release also references a noted local rugby historian who points out that "a talisman of such reverence and historical value is bound to acquire a few scuffs along the way, only adding to its unique and long-standing value." Some might be left to ponder, "What would the F-Cup be without a few distinctive dings?"

The founders Cup has become something akin to the Lumberjack Axe, exchanged by the Wisconsin and Minnesota football teams for over a hundred years. Sources have learned that some CMHS officials are audaciously planning a permanent display of the Cup, hinting strongly that they never intend to relinquish possession of the vaunted pewter cup.

One daring sports photographer was able to surreptitiously obtain a recent photo of the Founders Cup. Judge for yourself.

If the dispute escalates, it may be necessary for the parties to exercise the arbitration clause contained in the Irishfest Accords, which set forth the terms of competition for the trophy. The Accords call for binding arbitration between the parties to be held on the grounds of Millennium Stadium. Officials from BBRFC have expressed their dissatisfaction with the picture, which they believe was intentionally lit in such a way as to minimize the damage. BBRFC Officials added "We are shocked and appalled that CHHS would consider investing in a permanent addition to its trophy case to house this treasure which will surely only be in their possession for a matter of months."

Founders' Cup News

Rumor has it that the Founders' Cup was seriously damaged while in the possession of the Catholic Memorial RFC. Unnamed sources from inside CMH indicated that the damage may have resulted from the handing out of bricks used in that Club's traditional post-match award ceremonies. Authorities are investigating the nature and extent of the damages and whether the damage done to the trophy may have been intentional.

The Brookfield Bruisers RFC front office issued a statement, noting that "once the investigation is complete, we will pursue all legal and equitable remedies available to have the cup repaired by the perpetrators." BBRFC officials added that "It is clear that -- whether the damage was intentional or not -- CMH RFC cannot be trusted to retain such a valuable object. Therefore, it is a priority for our spring season to recover the cup by winning a decisive on-the-field victory over that club of scalawags and ne'er-do-wells."

Officials from the CMHRFC have declined comment, pending the outcome of a full investigation into the allegations by the appropriate authorities.

A New Team is Forming...

For anyone looking for a team, rumor has it that New Berlin is forming a new High School Girls team. The team is currently recruiting players from New Berlin Eisenhower High School and West High School.

Let's cross our fingers and hope that a new club will emerge in New Berlin!