"Just happy faces and tears everywhere"

It's amazing how a challenge can bond people and lead to good experiences. We often think of challenges as a negative, but some quotes in two recent Rugby Mag articles reminded us of how impactful on young people the National Girls high school championship tournament continues to be. It motivates and inspires programs around the country, whether they make it or not, to strive to be better teammates, coaches, and ruggers.

West End, Va. Officially on the Radar (a few great excerpts and the links below to the full story)

"The average West End player is sophomore age, but they already have some experience with tough games and state finals. They don’t, however, know what it’s like to play in a National Invitational Tournament (NIT), which up until a few weeks ago wasn’t a concern. But after the Sharks tournament, NIT host David Colli of Berkshire United (Mass.) invited the Virginia side to the national championship in mid-May."

"West End will be the first Virginia girls side ever to compete at nationals. “After the trophy ceremony, and the all-tourney team and MVPs were announced, I read the invitation e-mail to the girls,” Estes said. “Just happy faces and tears everywhere. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house – parents, me, Phil – everyone. It was an explosion of happiness. Our focus has changed a little. Every year you want to get to playoffs and win states, but now we have a new objective and we’re working hard as a team so we can have a good showing at nationals.” West End will be best suited for division two, but the great thing about the girls NIT is that they’ll have access to division one competition and can see what the top teams in the country are doing. No team is the same after watching a Fallbrook or Divine Savior Holy Angels side compete, and that motivation will hopefully propel West End to even loftier heights."

While Rugby Mag asserts West End fits in D2, that isn't a statement from the seeding committee and noone really knows who will end up in D1, D2,or D3 other than Fallbrook and DSHA being in D1.

Check out the full story here:  http://rugbymag.com/girls/10831-west-end-is-officially-on-the-radar.html