Nicolet and UWM Rugger's Documentary Film

Former Nicolet High School rugby player and current member of the UW-Milwaukee men's rugby team, Chris Moore, has been working on a film project for his media degree final project.  The documentary video chronicles the experiences of the perennial state powerhouse Nicolet team.  I's story is fmailiar to anyWisconsin team and what they endure to play rubgy in our "spring" which is usualy more like winter in many other parts of the country.  The documentary shows what it takes to be a champion:  the winter snow practices, the setbacks, the triumphs, and the comraderie.   

A sample clip can be veiwed here:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1552880646/entitlement

As it's an ongoing story, pledges are being accepted to help fund the filming.

USA Junior All-Americans Announce Tryout Camps

Editors note: It's initially very disappointing to see that there is not a camp anywhere near for Midwest or centrally located young women seeking to tryout for the junior All-American women's team, especially considering the huge numbers of youth players encompassed by one of the top two regions for numbers of high school girls playing rugby.  Yet, in fairness, it's important to keep in mind the difficult spring weather conditions in the Midwest and the need for a winter/spring camp.  Is an indoor facility an option for event slike this?  Holding these camps in warmer climates does make sense.  And anyone seeking to play at such a high level is going to have to make sacrifices to make it to the top.  One just has to wonder if the midwest will eventually lag behind in opportunities and development if athletes consistently have a more difficult time attending these sorts of development camps.

Here's the official announcment: The Women's Junior All-Americans (WJAA, formerly USA Women's U20s) program is runing a series of player identification camps this March. Head Coach Danielle Miller and her staff will hold four regional camps around the country, looking to select a team to play in the U20 Women's Nations Cup in England in July. Eligible players must be born on or after September 1, 1992. Players must attend one of the camps to be considered. The regional camps will be: March 1-3 Atlanta, Ga. March 8-10 Fullerton, Calif. March 15-17 Portland, Ore. March 23-24 Merrifield, Va. Players much be nominated, and nominations are due by February 15, 2013.

Disabilities and High School Athletes

An announcment this week from the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, applies directly to youth athletics, even or perhaps especially at the high school level.

"Today, the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights issued guidance clarifying school districts' existing legal obligations to provide equal access to extracurricular athletic activities to students with disabilities. In addition to explaining those legal obligations, the guidance urges school districts to work with community organizations to increase athletic opportunities for students with disabilities, such as opportunities outside of the existing extracurricular athletic program. Extracurricular athletics—which include club, intramural, or interscholastic (e.g., freshman, junior varsity, varsity) athletics at all education levels—are an important component of an overall education program."

The WIAA, the member schools of the WIAA, and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction have been including students with disabilities in the sports offered:  “In 1985, the Wisconsin Legislature enacted section 118.13, Wis. Stats., which prohibits discrimination in public schools on the basis of sex, race, religion, national orgin, ancestry, creed, pregnancy, marital or parental status, sexual orientation, or physical mental, emotional, or learning disability.  State courts have also created law regarding students' civil rights as courts reviewed cases under section 118.13, Wis. Stats., and the equal protection clause of the Wisconsin Constitution.”  (http://www.wiaawi.org/Portals/0/PDF/nondiscrimination.pdf)

Member schools are advised to follow the guidelines provided by the Office of Civil Rights:  http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201301-504.pdf.  

A summary of the five main points of the guidance are:  1) judge each athlete as an individual; 2) provide opportunity with modification (which does not change the game or provide an unfair advantage); 3) provide needed aids which extend to after-school programming; 4) inclusion with able-bodied, although separate, but equal may be acceptable such as separate parallel programming; and 5) expand inclusion, but the best players are still chosen

In other girls rugby news, the Northern California girls conference began their 2013 season with their annual season kickoff tournament.  Word on the street is that the Sacremento Amazons, a national contender, won all their matches against the likes of Mother Lode, Dixon, and Bishop O' Dowd high school.  While it's only pre-season, some are taking it as a statement given the likes of the strong competition in Nor Cal.

Davenport University Women's Scholarships

Davenport University recently announced their scholarship women's rugby team will be begin competition in the fall of 2013.  After several years with a successful men's program, DU is moving into their second phase and including women's rugby in their program.  Interested student atheles should could coach Teliczan directly.  A note below:

 

"My name is Greg Teliczan and I am the head coach for the Davenport Women's Varsity Rugby program. I am currently recruiting players for our fall season and would like to hear from you if you might have or know of any possible candidates. Davenport University offers women's rugby scholarships and also tuition assistance.I look forward to hearing from you. "

--
Greg Teliczan
Davenport University
Head Women's Rugby Coach
(616)340-3874 cell
(616)887-2920 home
gteliczan@Davenport.edu

Girls Nationals Application Deadline Feb 1st

The 2013 Girls Nationals application deadline has been extended until Feb 1st.  Due to some initial confusion with the boys nationals due date being Feb 1st, and with several teams requesting a little more time to figure out their ability to travel, a short extension has been granted.

In other news,the  tournament host committee has announced RASA’s SCOR soccer complex, located in Racine, just south of Milwaukee, as the venue. The location offers good hotel deals and convenient travel to/from Milwaukee and Chicago airports. Check out the complex here.  With space for 30 some fields, it's also venue large enough to host an event of this size.

For more information, visit the following websites for daily updates:

www.rugbychampionships.org/

www.facebook.com/NationalHighSchoolRugbyChampionships

https://twitter.com/RugbyChamp2013

St Louis Ruggerfest April 6th-7th, 2013

For the last six years, it's become a right of passage for multiple Wisconsin teams to travel to St Louis to open their spring season.  The weather is almost always warmer down there and it offers the opportunity to play some different teams.  In 2012 things didnt work out well, as Easter break for high schools resulted in few other teams wanting to travel.  Sadlly the girls bracket was cancelled, but only temporarily due to the scheduling conflict.

With renewed interest in a girls bracket this year, at least three Wisconsin teams have current plans to attend the 65th Annual Ruggerfest.  More info is below from the tournament director:

Make your New Year's RUGBY-lution to attend the biggest & best tournament in the Midwest!!

This year, the Missouri Rugby Football Union will be hosting the 65th Annual St. Louis Gateway Ruggerfest Tournament on April 6-7th. The MRFU has been hosting 70-80 clubs over 2 days on 9 pitches for the most exciting and diverse tournament around.

 We are also the only tournament in the midwest to offer CASH prizes for the top team in each division.

Please check out our website www.stlouisruggerfest.com for up to date details - registration fees, local tournament hotels, confirmed teams, etc.
 
Since 2013 is also the 80th anniversary of the MRFU, we're looking forward to an exciting OLD BOYS division. Does your club have active alumni members +40 years old that would enjoy another run at the try zone??
 
Please email me with any questions or a list of references from prior years. We hope to see you in STL in April!!

 Stacy Pfeiffer

Ruggerfest Chair

JOIN US!!!

April 6-7, 2013

65th Annual Gateway Ruggerfest

Girls Nationals --Applications Due Jan 13th (Sunday)

Application for teams seeking a bid to the Girls High School Rugby National Tournament are due Sunday January 13th.

As of January 9th, the online application has been viewed 710 times, compared to 671 for the boys event.  We found that interesting given there are more boy teams out there than girls teams.  It might have something to do with the fact that the girls event will be much larger and include multiple divisions of play.  The application can be found at Rugby Magazine under their sectoin for tournaments.

Information and press regarding the event can be found at one of three major places:

http://www.rugbychampionships.org/
https://www.facebook.com/NationalHighSchoolRugbyChampionships
https://twitter.com/RugbyChamp2013

These sites will also include scores the weekend of the event.