"Talia is a great ambassador to the sport, her infectious desire to constantly play and improve made her easy to coach. After her sophomore season, she moved back to Milwaukee but would commute four times a week out to Delafield so she could continue playing with her teammates. The time, energy, and passion she commits to the sport are a great example to others and I'm extremely happy that she has continued to play for a top program in college"
Coach Noe, Kettle Moraine Knightmares
And a note about Kaisee:
"Congratulations to Kaisee for this well deserved honor. Kaisee was an integral part of Brookfield RFC's success with both her innate athleticism and her quiet leadership. Kaisee was such a great player, not only because of her strong performances on the field, but because she always provided a positive role model off the field, at practice and team events, building a real sense of team community. I am so happy to have had the opportunity to work with Kaisee, and glad that she is continuing to play at such a high level in the sport. I wish her the best of luck, both on and off the pitch."
Coach Dan, formerly of DS,KM, CMH, Brookfield, and Tosa :)
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Kevin Higgins Scholarship Winners 2011
The US Rugby Football Foundation, the USRFF, recently announced the award winners of the 2011 Kevin Higgins Scholarships. According to their website, "The $1,000 scholarships, named in honor of one of the all-time great U.S. centers, Kevin Higgins, are awarded to graduating high school seniors who have gone on to continue their education and rugby at the collegiate level."
This year not one, but TWO WGR players were awarded this prestigous award. They join Catholic Memorial alumn Amanda Pohle, now playing at Marquette University, who was awarded the scholarship in 2009, as the second and third young woman from Wisconsin high school rugby to be so honored!
Kaisee Wiesmeuller, from Brookfield, and Talia Carrasquillo, from Kettle Moraine are this year's recipients. Anyone familiar with girls rugby in Wisconsin will remember them well. Their impressive ability and leadership on the field are special.
A few highlights from the press release about Talia (click to read the full story):
"Captaining the Knightmares once again, she led her team to a 2nd place finish at the state championships and a 3rd place finish in the Midwest. She was named her team’s MVP"
"While in high school, Talia gave back to the Milwaukee community by providing community service at the Latin Community Center. In the summer months she mowed the lawns of her grandparents and several other elderly folks in their neighborhood. You could also find Talia in the gym…a lot. She worked out three times a day and many of those sessions would see Talia helping many of her teammates through their lifting routines.
Her discipline in the gym helps her on the field. “I have to always keep thinking to myself no matter how tired I am, no matter how much time is left in the game, and no matter what the weather is like, I have to play my hardest, going all out until the final whistle is blown. It is my goal to put my body through whatever challenges it needs to be put in in order for my team to win.”
What coaches and teammates probably remember most about Talia's high school rugby days is her character and leadership, and it's easy to see this quality shine through in her words.
Kaisee's full story is also a good one (click name for full story). It captures why so many young women participate in such a great team sport.
Highlights from her press release:
"Kaisee Wiesmueller was a very shy person who rarely voiced her opinion before she first started playing rugby in 2007 for the Brookfield Bruisers RFC in Brookfield, WI. But as the years have changed so too has Kaisee. “Throughout my years playing the sport, that shyness I had has slowly drifted away and many other qualities have taken its place. I have gained confidence, independence, leadership, courage and dedication, all from playing rugby.”
Her confidence and leadership earned her the captaincy of her Bruisers team in 2009 and since then she has led the Bruisers to new heights while also achieving individual accolades. The Bruisers excelled under Kaisee’s leadership in 2010. The team finished 2nd in the Midwest, after knocking off Lakewood, Ohio and finished 4th in the nation. They followed that up with a 3rd place finish in the state in the fall of 2010.
She would also like to coach rugby. “Teaching other people to love rugby as much as I do would bring so much joy to my life and hopefully theirs too.”
CONGRATS AGAIN to both our WGR alumni.
This year not one, but TWO WGR players were awarded this prestigous award. They join Catholic Memorial alumn Amanda Pohle, now playing at Marquette University, who was awarded the scholarship in 2009, as the second and third young woman from Wisconsin high school rugby to be so honored!
Kaisee Wiesmeuller, from Brookfield, and Talia Carrasquillo, from Kettle Moraine are this year's recipients. Anyone familiar with girls rugby in Wisconsin will remember them well. Their impressive ability and leadership on the field are special.
A few highlights from the press release about Talia (click to read the full story):
"Captaining the Knightmares once again, she led her team to a 2nd place finish at the state championships and a 3rd place finish in the Midwest. She was named her team’s MVP"
"While in high school, Talia gave back to the Milwaukee community by providing community service at the Latin Community Center. In the summer months she mowed the lawns of her grandparents and several other elderly folks in their neighborhood. You could also find Talia in the gym…a lot. She worked out three times a day and many of those sessions would see Talia helping many of her teammates through their lifting routines.
Her discipline in the gym helps her on the field. “I have to always keep thinking to myself no matter how tired I am, no matter how much time is left in the game, and no matter what the weather is like, I have to play my hardest, going all out until the final whistle is blown. It is my goal to put my body through whatever challenges it needs to be put in in order for my team to win.”
What coaches and teammates probably remember most about Talia's high school rugby days is her character and leadership, and it's easy to see this quality shine through in her words.
Kaisee's full story is also a good one (click name for full story). It captures why so many young women participate in such a great team sport.
Highlights from her press release:
"Kaisee Wiesmueller was a very shy person who rarely voiced her opinion before she first started playing rugby in 2007 for the Brookfield Bruisers RFC in Brookfield, WI. But as the years have changed so too has Kaisee. “Throughout my years playing the sport, that shyness I had has slowly drifted away and many other qualities have taken its place. I have gained confidence, independence, leadership, courage and dedication, all from playing rugby.”
Her confidence and leadership earned her the captaincy of her Bruisers team in 2009 and since then she has led the Bruisers to new heights while also achieving individual accolades. The Bruisers excelled under Kaisee’s leadership in 2010. The team finished 2nd in the Midwest, after knocking off Lakewood, Ohio and finished 4th in the nation. They followed that up with a 3rd place finish in the state in the fall of 2010.
She would also like to coach rugby. “Teaching other people to love rugby as much as I do would bring so much joy to my life and hopefully theirs too.”
CONGRATS AGAIN to both our WGR alumni.
Friday, December 16, 2011
National Championship 2012
USA Rugby has revamped the girls National Championships. 2011 will be a level-playing field with high school-only athletes playing. Prior to that, following USA Rugby decisions for their two years running the event, some teams such as Fallbrook and the Amazons competed as u-19 teams, in the same bracket as purely high school teams.
The event date has also been moved up to May 12-13 at Stanford University, to coincide with the women's collegiate playoffs. The event will no longer coincide with the boys. It remains to be seen how that affects the event. A chance to see Highland boys play, for example, and to see the level of professionalism in programs at that level creates a great atmosphere. On the other hand, the girls won't be second fiddle at the event ... they won't be placed on "the back field." The level of professionalism for the women's collegiate teams will be impressive too though. Combining the collegiate and high school girls events should boost the number of people in the stands for the girls games. That alone is a good thing.
The other significant change is that the event is an invitational, similar to NCAA March Madness, where certain teams get "bids" from a committee. The Midwest Regional is not an automatic qualifier anymore. In some ways, this isn't as big of a change for the rest of the country. Few regions had a true regional championship like the Midwest does. No other region holds an event with six to seven other state champions taking part. In some regions it appeared that teams from other states couldn't agree on when to play or where and when they did, there were concerns over fairness, equity, and complaints about having to travel to play bigger games.
An application and $50, gets you on the list for the High School National Championships Committee, made up of some noteable youth coaches and a few administrators and media. According to their press release, "The Committee agreed early on that long-term success on the field, combined with strong organizational and administrative abilities, are the main criteria through which the clubs will be judged. Clubs who are invited will be expected to put forth a $1,500 deposit, which will go toward their National Championship expenses."
A notable concern is if the event will truely be a championship. How will the committee take into account up-and-coming teams and programs that in the past could prove they were better on the field in a qualifier. Would Brookfield have even been considered if this was the system in place in 2010? Yet, they defeated past national participants Vernon and Lakewood to advance to Utah, where they then defeated Portland, Maine as they ended up 4th overall at Nationals.
A mark of the National Tournament's success has been the number of different programs that have benefited from the experience. Wisconsin alone has had FIVE programs participate:
-DSHA
-Northshore
-Kettle Moraine
-Vernon
-Brookfield
There was not an announcement about whether there will be two brackets or one. A decision is apparently pending. It might depend on the number of teams that apply, although one wonders if more teams would apply if they knew there would be two divisions.
Since USA Rugby has run the event it's been an 8-team tournament. Prior to that the Nationals event peeked at three brackets of eight, for a total field of 24 teams in three tiers. Interestingly, according to Rugby Mag's most recent team census, the number of girls teams has doubled in the last five years.
The Committee Includes:
Chairman – Mike Tolkin
USA Rugby Rep – Kurt Weaver
Press Rep – Alex Goff, RugbyMag
USA National Girls – Bryn Chivers
USA National Boys – Salty Thompson
Girls Coach – Marin Pinnell, Fallbrook
Girls Coach – John Klein, Divine Savior
Girls Coach – Brad Rockwood, West Carroll
Boys Coach – Lee Kelly, Gonzaga (Single School)
Boys Coach – Bart Bottorff, Penn (Single School)
Boys Coach – Stephen Edwards, Union County (Multi School)
The window to apply is December 15 through January 16.
To apply, click on this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFVrcEhpNHdsMVFrVG9lZ1dCcko2Vnc6MQ
The event date has also been moved up to May 12-13 at Stanford University, to coincide with the women's collegiate playoffs. The event will no longer coincide with the boys. It remains to be seen how that affects the event. A chance to see Highland boys play, for example, and to see the level of professionalism in programs at that level creates a great atmosphere. On the other hand, the girls won't be second fiddle at the event ... they won't be placed on "the back field." The level of professionalism for the women's collegiate teams will be impressive too though. Combining the collegiate and high school girls events should boost the number of people in the stands for the girls games. That alone is a good thing.
The other significant change is that the event is an invitational, similar to NCAA March Madness, where certain teams get "bids" from a committee. The Midwest Regional is not an automatic qualifier anymore. In some ways, this isn't as big of a change for the rest of the country. Few regions had a true regional championship like the Midwest does. No other region holds an event with six to seven other state champions taking part. In some regions it appeared that teams from other states couldn't agree on when to play or where and when they did, there were concerns over fairness, equity, and complaints about having to travel to play bigger games.
An application and $50, gets you on the list for the High School National Championships Committee, made up of some noteable youth coaches and a few administrators and media. According to their press release, "The Committee agreed early on that long-term success on the field, combined with strong organizational and administrative abilities, are the main criteria through which the clubs will be judged. Clubs who are invited will be expected to put forth a $1,500 deposit, which will go toward their National Championship expenses."
A notable concern is if the event will truely be a championship. How will the committee take into account up-and-coming teams and programs that in the past could prove they were better on the field in a qualifier. Would Brookfield have even been considered if this was the system in place in 2010? Yet, they defeated past national participants Vernon and Lakewood to advance to Utah, where they then defeated Portland, Maine as they ended up 4th overall at Nationals.
A mark of the National Tournament's success has been the number of different programs that have benefited from the experience. Wisconsin alone has had FIVE programs participate:
-DSHA
-Northshore
-Kettle Moraine
-Vernon
-Brookfield
There was not an announcement about whether there will be two brackets or one. A decision is apparently pending. It might depend on the number of teams that apply, although one wonders if more teams would apply if they knew there would be two divisions.
Since USA Rugby has run the event it's been an 8-team tournament. Prior to that the Nationals event peeked at three brackets of eight, for a total field of 24 teams in three tiers. Interestingly, according to Rugby Mag's most recent team census, the number of girls teams has doubled in the last five years.
The Committee Includes:
Chairman – Mike Tolkin
USA Rugby Rep – Kurt Weaver
Press Rep – Alex Goff, RugbyMag
USA National Girls – Bryn Chivers
USA National Boys – Salty Thompson
Girls Coach – Marin Pinnell, Fallbrook
Girls Coach – John Klein, Divine Savior
Girls Coach – Brad Rockwood, West Carroll
Boys Coach – Lee Kelly, Gonzaga (Single School)
Boys Coach – Bart Bottorff, Penn (Single School)
Boys Coach – Stephen Edwards, Union County (Multi School)
The window to apply is December 15 through January 16.
To apply, click on this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFVrcEhpNHdsMVFrVG9lZ1dCcko2Vnc6MQ
Monday, December 12, 2011
The Wauwatosa School District is seeking a new coach to take on the leadership of the high school girls rugby club. This is a volunteer position, but the head coach will be eligible for a $500 stipend to defray the costs associated with coaching.
Interested applicants should compplete an application on WECAN. The vacancy is posted in WECAN by the Wauwatosa school District.
Interested applicants should compplete an application on WECAN. The vacancy is posted in WECAN by the Wauwatosa school District.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
National Rugby Coaching Week
This is National Rugby Coaching Week: a time to thank all the coaches and volunteers who give players an opportunity to be a part of something special. Coaching is a role that never really has an off-season. Coaches do a lot of things players may not be aware of. To name a few, they plan schedules, help kids with tons of stuff, write recommendations, reserve fields, take care of equipment, and spread the word about their programs to give more kids the opportunity to play.
WGR hopes you will take a moment to drop a "shout out" below in our comments section to recognize and thank your coaches!
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
"Girls Rugby is Misunderstood"
That's the headline from a thoughtful and well-researched article about the Colorado Youth Rugby season. Unlike the majority of the stories the American media tends to publish, it doesn't resort to trite stereotypes about "violence" or what rugby was supposedly like in the 1970's.
The laws of the game have changed multiple times in the past two decades, doing away with ponderous play and creating a safer, cleaner game. Scrums are managed with a cadence, lineout jumpers can be safely lifted for their own protection, and unsafe tacklers can be additionally penalized with red and yellow cards.
Brendan Fanning writes about that idea on his rugby website. Talking about how the game has improved with these law changes, he points out that, "we have a game (now) where not only is the ball in play 33 per cent more than in 1995, but other changes include a 50 per cent increase in the number of passes, a doubling of the number of rucks and mauls, and a reduction in scrums of 58 per cent, and lineouts of 54 per cent. Sounds great doesn't it -- all this ball whizzing about the place?"
A few excerpts from the Colorado Youth Rugby Article are quoted below. They point out how girls rugby is often misunderstood ......
“Medical studies say the injury rate is comparable to soccer,'said Chaparral coach Tom Dill, who has coached the sport nearly 18 years. 'It’s under the injury rate of football. It’s really not that dangerous a game. ... Yes, it’s a full-contact sport, but there’s a lot that goes into it.'
Dill said. “The women’s game is more technically proficient, because they can’t get away with brute force and ignorance like the men’s game, which is one way of looking at it.”
Another important point for girls rugby and its new players is learning how to tackle properly. However, once a player has it down, she generally doesn’t have a problem with it from then on.
“It takes a little time to get everyone up to speed, but first its about learning to hit and take a hit,” Dill said.
Proper training, especially proper tackling techniques, is what keeps the injury rate so low for a full-contact sport.
“It’s not as rough as you think,” Howell said. “We are taught how to play in a clean way. In football, you tackle anywhere, but in rugby, we’re taught to tackle at the waist.”
[Haley] Howell has played rugby three years [with Castle Rock] and fell in love with the sport for being different than any other. She also said it doesn’t have the drama that can infect some other sports. It’s just about playing rugby, she said.
Dill said one way rugby is unique is there is no difference in the rules between the boys and girls games. The rules, field and ball size are equal.
“Rugby gives girls the opportunity to play a full-contact sport, which is one of the very few they have available to them,” Dill said.
One would also think rugby is a game for brute size. Dill said the contrary. In fact, there’s a position on the field for every size and shaped individual, he said. Howell said her team has cheer, pom and track athletes on it, but usually rugby tends to attract soccer players. Two girls on the Castle Rock Rugby team are even in the school choir.
“It’s a very unstereotypical sport,” Howell said."
The laws of the game have changed multiple times in the past two decades, doing away with ponderous play and creating a safer, cleaner game. Scrums are managed with a cadence, lineout jumpers can be safely lifted for their own protection, and unsafe tacklers can be additionally penalized with red and yellow cards.
Brendan Fanning writes about that idea on his rugby website. Talking about how the game has improved with these law changes, he points out that, "we have a game (now) where not only is the ball in play 33 per cent more than in 1995, but other changes include a 50 per cent increase in the number of passes, a doubling of the number of rucks and mauls, and a reduction in scrums of 58 per cent, and lineouts of 54 per cent. Sounds great doesn't it -- all this ball whizzing about the place?"
A few excerpts from the Colorado Youth Rugby Article are quoted below. They point out how girls rugby is often misunderstood ......
“Medical studies say the injury rate is comparable to soccer,'said Chaparral coach Tom Dill, who has coached the sport nearly 18 years. 'It’s under the injury rate of football. It’s really not that dangerous a game. ... Yes, it’s a full-contact sport, but there’s a lot that goes into it.'
Dill said. “The women’s game is more technically proficient, because they can’t get away with brute force and ignorance like the men’s game, which is one way of looking at it.”
Another important point for girls rugby and its new players is learning how to tackle properly. However, once a player has it down, she generally doesn’t have a problem with it from then on.
“It takes a little time to get everyone up to speed, but first its about learning to hit and take a hit,” Dill said.
Proper training, especially proper tackling techniques, is what keeps the injury rate so low for a full-contact sport.
“It’s not as rough as you think,” Howell said. “We are taught how to play in a clean way. In football, you tackle anywhere, but in rugby, we’re taught to tackle at the waist.”
[Haley] Howell has played rugby three years [with Castle Rock] and fell in love with the sport for being different than any other. She also said it doesn’t have the drama that can infect some other sports. It’s just about playing rugby, she said.
Dill said one way rugby is unique is there is no difference in the rules between the boys and girls games. The rules, field and ball size are equal.
“Rugby gives girls the opportunity to play a full-contact sport, which is one of the very few they have available to them,” Dill said.
One would also think rugby is a game for brute size. Dill said the contrary. In fact, there’s a position on the field for every size and shaped individual, he said. Howell said her team has cheer, pom and track athletes on it, but usually rugby tends to attract soccer players. Two girls on the Castle Rock Rugby team are even in the school choir.
“It’s a very unstereotypical sport,” Howell said."
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Picture of the Year 2011: Cast your Vote
Thanks to everyone who provided a submission. A small panel of WGR staff, coaches, and players has been assembled to cast votes. In addition, any WGR supporters can cast a vote by leaving a comment on the bottom of the blog.
1 Rainbow
2 Cadence
3 Lifting to the Sun
4 Piggy Back
5 Laughter
The winners will receive a free t-shirt from the conference tournament.
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