Vernon Position Filled

WGR's sources tell us that the Vernon High School girls rugby head coach position has been filled.   The contract and details are expected to be announced at a press conference scheduled for 4pm this afternoon.  We think they wanted to wait until field reporters from the BBC and Associated Press were able to make their way through Mukwonago to Big Bend, Wisconsin. 

Anyone interested in asst. coach roles should contact the Town of Verno Park and Rec Office 262 706 3020.  Hopefuly full details will be released to the public soon.

Respect in Rugby

France drops star for disrespect

The annual Six Nations tournament is well underway in Europe with Ireland, Italy, England,France, Scotland, and Wales battling it out.   One story from this year's tournament stood out to us as we gathered for a drink at the watercooler in the break room of the WGR offices. 

France coach Philippe Saint-Andre caught everyone's attention when he dropped their starting #8 from the team.  Toulouse No 8 Louis Picamoles was dropped for showing a lack of respect towards the referee during the team’s loss to Wales.

Picamoles mock-applauded Alain Rolland after being sin-binned.

Saint-Andre asserted, ‘Respect is the foundation of our values. It is vital to send a signal to all players and remind them having the privilege of wearing the jersey imposes duties and obligations.’

Even at that professional level, it's reassuring to know that values are important and that it's not all about winning or losing.

For the record, France along with England, Ireland, and Wales are all tied at 2-1 going into the last two weeks of the tournament which concludes annually on St Patrick's Day weekend.

Badgerland, NEW, and WGR

There are three high school rugby conferences in the State of Wisconsin.  Badgerland is the boys high school league that runs two divisions of conferences in the metro Milwaukee and Madison areas, stretching as far south as Kenosha and as northwest as Middleton.  NEW stands for North-East Wisconsin and covers boys high school teams in the central and northern parts of the state.  NEW is based primarily in the Fox Valley area (Oshkosh, Fond Du Lac) and Green Bay (Pulaski, Kimberley) areas.

Wisconsin Girls Rugby (WGR) covers the metro-Milwaukee area, although there used to be a program for a few years over in Madison.  Like a lot of startup clubs, once graduation hit the original group of leaders who got the team started, the team struggled to find new leadership.  With the constant turnover of graduating players on school teams, leadership change is a constant challenge.

NEW Rugby recently elected a former WGR coach, Rob Bires, to the post of conference President.  After coaching with the Kettle Moraine girls, Bires moved on to teaching at Appleton Xavier and founded the Appleton Crusaders boys high school team in the NEW Conference.  He's stayed involved in the game for the past decade and now is helping at another level.  His leadership has led to some new efforts to grow girls teams in the NEW areas.  For years there were isolated pockets of girls playing on boys teams in NEW.  Having their own girls teams should surely help capture the interest of more girls who would like to play.

Green Bay has already responded with interest in starting a girls program.  Playing 7's events should help this, and perhaps other programs get off the ground.

If anyone is interested in playing, or helping girls rugby in the NEW areas please contact one of the two leaders below:

N.E.W. President
Rob Bires
rbires@xaviercatholicschools.org

Green Bay Girls Rugby
Matthew Crapeau
mattcrapeau@gmail.com

Vernon Coach Sought

The Town of Vernon Park and Rec Department has been running boys and girls high school rugby programs for a decade.  Along with a middle school program, they've introduced hundreds and hundreds of kids to the sport.  Drawing players mainly from Mukwonago High School; they are also open to neighboring communities like Pewaukee.  The strong backing of the community and its Park and Rec facilities have made Vernon a mainstay of the youth rugby community.

They currently have a vacancy in their girls Head Coach position.  Anyone interested is encouraged to contact the Town of Vernon Park and Rec Office at 262-706-3020. 

A Local Makes it Big

The USA Men's National Team is assembling for a camp in preparation for their World Cup Qualifier match with Uruguay.

What's interesting is that one of the players in camp plays their club rugby for the local Milwaukee Barbarians.  Aaron Young has had an inspiring journey to get there.  He played up at the Univ of Northern Michigan and worked his way all the way up.  It's a great reminder that it's not where you go, but what you do when you're there that makes all the difference.

Milwaukee has had other ruggers play for the Eagles but it's been a while since one played their day-to-day season here.  Tom Katzfey, from Catholic Memorial and St Norberts, was involved in the USA program recently and played in some All-American matches, but he played his rugby post high school rugby with New York and then Life University in Georgia.

The Eagles will face Uruguay in the first leg of the IRB Rugby World Cup 2015 Qualifier March 22 in Montevideo before hosting Los Teros at Fifth Third Bank Stadium at Kennesaw State University March 29.

February Domestic Camp
Forwards
Derek Asbun - New York Athletic Club
Danny Barrett - Men's Eagles Sevens
Tom Coolican - New York Athletic Club
John Cullen - Seattle-OPSB
T.C. Elliott - Seattle-OPSB
Zach Fenoglio - Glendale Raptors
Graham Harriman - James Bay RFC
Olive Kilifi - Seattle-OPSB
Brodie Orth - Kansas City Blues
Louis Stanfill - Seattle-OPSB
Kyle Sumsion - Brigham Young University
Phil Thiel - Life
Matt Trouville - Seattle-OPSB
Nick Wallace - James Bay RFC
Aaron Young - Milwaukee Barbarians

Backs
Chris Chapman - New York Athletic Club
Joe Cowley - Life University
Miles Craigwell - Seattle-OPSB
Shaun Davies - Life
Dean Gericke - Houston Athletic Rugby Club
Troy Hall - New York Athletic Club
Kelly Kolberg - Dallas RFC
Chad London - Glendale Raptors
Tim Maupin - Olympic Club
Mike Petri - New York Athletic Club
Adam Siddall - Unattached
Shalom Suniula - Men's Eagles Sevens

Not considered for selection due to injury
Brian Doyle
James Paterson
Shawn Pittman

Selected but not available
Peter Dahl
Seamus Kelly

Selected but not available due to injury
Brett Thompson

Recently moved overseas to play professionally
Toby L'Estrange
Folau Niua
Tai Tuisamoa

Coaching Staff
Mike Tolkin - Head Coach
Billy Millard - Assistant Coach
Justin Fitzpatrick - Assistant Coach
Phil Bailey - Assistant Coach
David Williams - Strength and Conditioning Coach
Chris O'Brien - Assistant Coach
Paul Goulding - Analyst
James Walton - Analyst
Richard Quincy - Physio
Zach Vyhnanek - Physio
Sarah Sall - Massage Therapist
Tristan Lewis - Manager

16 Teams for 2014 High School Girls National Championship Tournament

The 15th Annual Girls High School Rugby National Championship Tournament has announced invited teams.  Featuring state champions, state finalists, and regional champions from around the country, the 2014 Tournament promises to break new ground.  While the event had taken place in Pittsburgh before, this year's host is about an hour from Boston and Albany in the heart of the east coast in the Berkshires and Pittsfield, Mass. 

Tournament organizers have left the door open for a third division competition, if a certain number of up and coming teams committ to entry.  The teams below received invitations last week, which afford competitors enough advanced travel planning time to make the event possible.  Similar to the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament, teams will then be seeded the week of the tournament based on the most current results of 2014 matches.  It will be interesting to see which of these teams end up in the division one or two bracket and what seeding they will earn.

More info can be found here:
http://www.rugbychampionships.org/

https://www.facebook.com/NationalHighSchoolRugbyChampionships


Amazons, Ca 2013 NorCal State Champs
Armstrong, Mn 2013 MN State Champs
Berkshire, Ma 2013 Mass. State Finalists
Catholic Memorial, WI 2013 WI State Finalist
Cheshire, Ct 2012 Ct. State Champs
Danville, Ca 2013 NorCal State Finalist
DSHA, WI 2013 Midwest Champs, WI State Champs
Fallbrook, Ca 2013 National Champions, SoCal State Champs
Ft Collins, Co 2013 Co State Finalist
Kent, Wa 2013 Wa State Champs
Lakewood, Oh 2012 National Finalist
Lady Mad Dogs, NY 2013 NY State Champs
Morris, NJ 2013 NJ State Champs
New York RC, NY 2013 NY State Finalist
St Joseph's Academy, Oh 2013 OH State Champs
State College, Pa 2013 Pa Conference Champs