Crusader Cup Saturday May 3rd

The first “Olympic Rugby” or “7’s” event of the WGR year takes place Saturday at Minooka Park in New Berlin. Full Schedule below.    Those with a county parks sticker gain free admission; otherwise, a $4 a car fee is collected by the parks department.

Of note is that Fond Du lac makes their "new" debut under head coach Amanda Pohle.

Varsity Crusader Cup
Catholic Memorial (cm) Oak Creek (oc) Brookfield (Bb) Muskego (m) Vernon (v)
830 OC v CM
845 Bb v M
900 V v CM
915 OC v BB
930 V v M
945 CMH v BB
1000 OC v V
1015 CM v M
1030 V v BB
1045 OC v M

JV Crusader Cup
CM OC Fond Du Lac (f) M Bb
1130 OC v CM
1145 Bb v M
1200 F v CM
1215 OC v BB
1230 F v M
1245 CMH v BB
100 OC v F
115 CM v M
130 F v BB
145 OC v M

Wisc Selects Sunday May 4th

The tryout for this year’s High School All Star team is Sunday May 4th from Noon to 4pm at Minooka Park in Waukesha. Please make sure to pay the entrance fee for the park if you do not have a yearly pass. We will be handling fitness testing, skill work and light practice. I know many players had a big weekend at Midwest, and have matches the day before, as well as prom season. Make sure they wear weather appropriate clothing for rugby, cleats, mouthguard, water bottle. Depending on the interest, I will determine if we try to have a developmental side as well. Please relay the information to any of your players that you feel should represent WI or younger players that have the potential to in the future. All coaches are welcome to observe the tryout and if you want to be more involved, let me know. Please direct any questions or concerns you or your players might have to me. Looking forward to Sunday. Cheers, Jeff Noe WI HS All Star Coach Jeff.noe@constellation.com

Midwest Day Two Results

Championship
DSHA 36. CMHS 5

3rd Place
St Joes 17 Lakewood 14

5th Place
Penn HS 5 Plainfeld 0

7th Place
Warsaw 56 Kettle Moraine 0

D1 Final Standings ... The only shift in standing was a minor one, with Lakewood flip flopping with Penn HS.  Like any good tournament, the four v five game is usually a close call, and this tournament followed that form.  Lots of competitive matches throughout.

1 DSHA
2 CMHS
3 St Joes
4 Lakewood
5 Penn HS
6 Plainfield
7 Warsaw
8 Kettle Moraine

Congrats to Oak Creek high school from Wisconsin as well for winning the second division championship over DSHA jv 31 to 24.

Midwest Championship Results

Saturday Schedule FIRST ROUND
Championship Bracket
10am DSHA 66 KM 0
10am Penn 10 v. Lakewood 17
Penn ran it into the try zone at the end of the game but knocked it on to end a dramatic, physical game.

11am St. Joseph 10 Plainfield 0
11am Warsaw 0 v. Catholic Memorial 54

2nd Division Bracket
12pm Lakeview, MI v. DSHA JV
12pm Penn JV v. Berkley, MI
1pm Oak Creek v. Berkley JV
1pm St. Joseph JV v. Livingston, MI

D1 Semifinal
DSHA 46 Lakewood 0
CMHS 12 St Joe's 5

D1 consolation
KM 25. Penn HS 31
Warsaw 12 Plainfield 20
Painfield 20. Warsaw 12


Its Wisconsin vs. Ohio in the semis.  Four strong teams!

Sunday
Championship. DSHA v Catholic Memorial

3rd Place St Joe's v Lakewood

5th Place Penn HS v Painfield

7th Place. KM v Warsaw

Interesting how the seeds turned out ... 1v2 for the title game, 3 v 5 for the bronze, 4 v 6 for the 5th place, and 7 v 8 for the 7th place game.

D2 Matches

Signing Day

Catholic Memorial senior Maggie Wesolowski signed her NCAA National Letter of Intent last week.  She will attend Quinnipiac University on a rugby athletic scholarship.  With an interest in physical therapy, Maggie appears to be a great fit for the east coast school with a strong health sciences department.

Wesolowski joins fellow WGR alumn, and former DSHA captain Lindey Wise, who is currently a freshman with the Bobcats.  Both class acts, WGR is so proud of them both.

Midwest Championships 2014 Brackets Released

The upcoming Midwest Girls High School rugby championships held at the Moose Rugby Grounds in Elkhart, Indiana features five teams that will be competing at the girls high school national championhips in Pittsfield, Mass. May 17th-18th.

The rankings and matchs for the Championship Division are as follows:
1 DSHA (defending champions)
2 CMHS
3 St Joseph's Academy, Oh (State Champs)
4 Penn HS, Ind (Ind #1)
5 Lakewood, Oh (Oh#2)
6 Plainfield, Ill (State Champs)
7 Warsaw, Ind (Ind #2)
8 Kettle Moraine (Wisc #3)

Saturday Schedule
Championship Bracket
10am DSHA v. Kettle Moraine 1
0am Penn v. Lakewood

11am St. Joseph v. Plainfield
11am Warsaw v. Catholic Memorial

2nd Division Bracket
12pm Lakeview, MI v. DSHA JV
12pm Penn JV v. Berkley, MI
1pm Oak Creek v. Berkley JV
1pm St. Joseph JV v. Livingston, MI

Notes:
-Plainfield, Ill moved up two spots in the rankings after another State Championship. They had to be ranked ahead of KM after defeating them 24-0 in a shortened game two weeks ago.

-Armstrong, MN, their three time state champion, will not compete this year. After losing 56-5 to DSHA and 46-5 to CMHS and suffering some injuries two weeks ago, they dropped out of the competition.

-St Joseph's appears to be a championship contender this year. With 17 seniors, they have essentially the same team as last year, only a year older. They were state champs again and did some traveling this spring, resulting in a nice title win at the DC Ruggerfest against fellow Nationals competitor North Bay, MD in the final. If the first round goes according to the seeds, they could meet CMH in the semis for the third consecutive year. That could be the best or at least most anticipated game of the tournament. Will it be their year to make the final?

-Michigan has elected not to compete in the top division and to treat this as a pre-season event to gain experience in the 2nd division. Credit to them for sending three programs to the tournament. They always participate in large numbers.

-Wisconsin has 5 teams and 4 programs in the competition, so nearly half our programs will be making the trip.

-Nice to see a lot of JV teams in the competition .. that's a good sign and a reflection of rugby's growing popularity

Start a Tag Rugby Team!

The Wisconsin Tag Rugby group is looking to grow the future of rugby in the state.

Coed youth in grades 3-8 can participate in low or no cost tournaments this summer as a platform to grow and energize the development of your future rosters.
Tournament schedule;
6/28 @ Milwaukee Lakefront 7's
7/12 @ Fond du Lac
7/26 @ Menomonee Falls
8/2 @ Appleton

If you have played touch rugby then you have the basics down. Just add flags, size 4 balls, a few cones, team shirts/ scrimmage vests, and any practice field will do.

Grades 3-5 play 5v5, grades 6-8 play 7v7. With unlimited subs and a minimum of 3 games at each tournament, players will get plenty of opportunities to showcase their new skills. Bring one team or multiple, play in one tournament or all 4. There is now commitment too large or small. We just ask that your team brings an adult to ref to help out with the games.

Help is available to get your team off the ground, I am happy to assist with any and all questions and even to volunteer my time to run your clinic or first practice. If your interested or know someone who might be, please contact me at 414-550-4052 or via email dwzeroth@yahoo.com

WGR Announces 1st Ever State Championship

Wisconsin Girls High School Rugby is proud to announce the first-ever State 7's Championship.  Held May 31st, with both a JV and a Varsity division, each team in the state will have an opportunity to compete for the inaugural State Cup. 

Along with the Crusader Cup on May 3rd and a defacto regional championship at the Lakefront 7's the last Saturday in June, a nice 7's circuit has suddenly cropped up for area teams looking to compete in the Olympic version of rugby to be played at the next summer games in Rio. 

Having two divisions, both varsity and JV, is especially exciting as it helps all players gain experience in this different version of rugby.  It should be an easy transition to 7's for most veteran players, as the majority of the laws of the game remain the same; it's only the style of play that may perhaps change for competing teams.

The major differences in rules include kickoffs and free kicks.  When a team scores, in order to allow the other team the opportunity to play offense in such a short match (7-minute halves) the scoring team kicks. 

The other change is designed to speed up play.  On some minor infranctions a free kick is awarded instead of a scrum.  For instance, if a kickoff does not travel the required ten meters, the receiving team gets a free kick at the center of the 50 meter line

Last Call 2014 Midwest Championships!

looks like there will be 3 Divisions of 8 teams in competition at this years midwest regional high school girls rugby championships held in Elkhart the end of the month. To all teams playing in the Midwest Girls Tournament: The tournament is less than 2 weeks away and I need everyone receiving this to confirm that they are coming, and how many sides they wish to enter. I want to have the brackets and game times finished by the end of the week. If you have not booked your hotel rooms see below: Teams should contact our event hotel director to book rooms. Cindy Highberg Total Event Services 3018 Heather Beach Lane Indianapolis, IN 46234 Phone: 317-899-9144 Fax: 317-899-9143 Toll Free: 888-EVENT-10 (888-383-6810) Cell: 317-716-8584 Information packets and registration information will be sent out later this week. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me. Bob Cronquist Midwest Youth Rugby bc@midwestyouthrugby.com

Scores, Week 2

Thursday
Oak Creek 0 DSHA 75

Saturday St Louis Ruggerfest (20 minute halves)
CMHS 36   Storm, Tn 0
CMHS 82   Broken Arrow 0
Sunday Finals
CMHS 30  Storm 5

Wisconsin Ladies Play for the USA

The USA Women's National team embarks on a short tour of Canada next week, as part of their preparation for upcoming Women's World Cup.

Coach Pete Steinberg, who also coaches the Penn St women, has selected three ladies with Wisconsin ties:

Sylvia Braaten, (Twin Cities Amazons WRC) Waterford, Wisc.
Katy Augustyn, (Berkeley All Blues WRC) Antigo, Wisc.
Kristen Zdanczewicz, (Minnesota Valkyries RC) Milwaukee, Wisc.

Sylvia played at Marquette University for her entire collegiate career as a center and flyhalf.  She made an immediate impact on the successful teams they had in those years.  For a short time she formed a dangerous pairing with DSHA flyhalf Natalie Mills as well.  Sylvia never had the opportunity to play high school rugby.

Zdanczewicz played briefly at UW-Whitewater, but she was so talented that she quickly moved on to playing with higher level programs.  She's had a long and successful rugby career.  A devastating tackler and ballcarrier who played a lot at #7, her selection for the team must be very meaningful to her, as she has returned from an ACL reconstruction to play again at the highest level.

The Tuesday game on April 15th will take place at Shawnigan Lake School in Mill Bay at 3:30 PM PT (6:30 PM ET). For Saturday, Westhills Stadium in Langford will host the 3pm PT game.

USA Women's 15s Squad to Face canada
Sadie Anderson, (Penn State WRFC) Fort Collins, Colo.
Katy Augustyn, (Berkeley All Blues WRC) Antigo, Wisc.
Libby Berg, (Minnesota Valkryies) Albert Lea, Minn.
Meya Bizer, (Penn State WRFC) The Woodlands, Texas
Sharon Blaney, (Oregon Sports Union RC) Braintree, Mass.
Phoebe Boone, (Berkeley All Blues WRC) Oakland, Calif.
Stacy Bridges, (Twin Cities Amazons WRC) Robinson, Texas
Jamie Burke, (Glendale Raptors RFC) Chesapeake, Va.
Emilie Bydwell, (San Diego Surfers WRC) Montreal, Quebec
Erica Cavanaugh, (Northern Virginia WRFC) Ashland, Va.
Sarah Chobot, (Glendale Raptors WRC) Medon, Mich.
Kate Daley, (North Shore Chicago WRC) Mishawaka, Ind.
Amanda Kingzett, (Twin Cities Amazons WRC) Ellendale, N.D.
Molly Kinsella, (Toronto Saracens RFC) Hinsdale, Ill.
Tess Kohanski, (Beantown RFC) East Lyme, Conn.
Lynelle Kugler, (Twin Cities Amazons WRC) New Raymer, Colo.
Jennifer Lui, (North Shore Chicago WRC) Ridgway, Penn.
Erin Overcash, (Glendale Raptors RFC) Goshen, Ky.
Samantha Pankey, (James River RFC) Buckingham, Va.
Naima Reddick, El Cerrito, Calif.
Kimber Rozier, Raleigh, N.C.
Amanda Street, (Washington WRFC) Princeton, W. Va.
Shaina Turley, (Women's Eagles Sevens-WCAP/San Diego Surfers WRC) Fox Lke, Ill.
Jacie Vonada
Carrie White, (Seattle RFC) San Jose, Calif.
Sarah Wilson, (Glendale Raptors RFC) Westerville, Ohio
Kristen Zdanczewicz, (Minnesota Valkyries RC) Brew City, Wisc.

Non-Traveling Reserves
Sylvia Braaten, (Twin Cities Amazons WRC) Waterford, Wisc.
Lauren Daly, (San Diego Surfers WRC) Boulder, Colo.
Mel Denham, (Beantown RFC) Norwell, Mass.
Ashley Kmiecik, (Emerald City Mudhens) Seattle, Wash.
Anne Peterson (Washington State University WRC) Arusha, Tanzania
Hope Rogers, (Penn State WRFC) Chambersburg, Penn.
Kittery Wagner, (Glendale Raptors RFC) Fort Collins, Colo.
Sarah Walsh, (Berkeley All Blues WRC) Baltimore, Md.
________________________________________
CANADA VS. USA
April 15, 2014
Shawnigan Lake School, Mill Bay, BC
3:30 P.M. PT

CANADA VS. USA
April 19, 2014
Westhills Stadium, Langford, BC
3:30 P.M. PT

Upcoming Matches Week 2

Thursday April 10th

DSHA v Oak Creek  445pm      @ Dretzka Park
DSHA jv v Oak Creek jv 6pm   @Dretzka Park

Saturday April 12th

Catholic Memorial @ St Louis Ruggerfest
    CMH v Storm, Tennessee   10am    @ Creve Couer Park
    CMH v Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
    CMH b v Storm b


Other Games of Interest

Saturday April 12th
    Collegiate Men's 7's @ Naga-Waukee Park (All Day)

Lakefront 7's Sale

Registration for the Milwaukee Lakefront 7's tournament is now open.  There is a sale on registration.

Girls High School teams may register from now until APRIL 30TH, if spots remain, for only $200.

Go here to register:
http://lakefront7s.com/ticketing.html


Sevens is reshaping the rugby world, as more and more teams switch to a separate sevens spring season.  Although some states, like Tennessee play fall girls sevens and spring 15's, the concept of sport separation remains the same.

Many predict rugby will start to look like high school running sports where teams compete in Cross Country in the fall and track in the spring.  While similar, related sports, the separation of track and cross, and now rugby and rugby 7's, into clearly defined codes of the game is leading to greater school and parental support, particularly at the collegiate and high school level.  It may also be in the best interests of the players to more clearly separate seasons.  Most think this trend wil continue to grow the game.

to Sussex, UK and Beyond!

Yesterday, for example, this site had 249 readers.  And you come from all over, with lots of visitors from all the UW schools, as one standout.  We know many of those are alumni following your old teams.  We get parents and family from out of town checking in as well, from all around; in addition to a large core of readers from the areas our teams are based.

We also get some regular visitors and readers from oversees.  Especially Canada and the UK right now.  There's a nice site dedicated to women's rugby through the Sussex UK women's program that is especially good.   It's especially good because they feature WGR articles on a regular basis :)

Perhaps WGR needs to set up a tour or exchange over there ...

The Sussex site is filled with videos of women's rugby, especially some 7's stuff and inspirational stories, often through the IRB.

Check it out if you can; any rugby fan will enjoy it!

http://paper.li/SussexRFU/1354365027

Opening with a Bang

The WGR Preseason 15s kicked off with a bang Saturday afternoon, featuring three top ten teams in the USA, according to Rugby Mag, at least, and another up and comer in Plainfield, Illinois, their repeat state champs. It was great to see so many girls teams coming together from different states for what used to be called in rugby "friendlies" or matches with no conference or playoff implications. Just a chance to get some good experience, with slacked sub rules, where players can sub in and out if needed. Everyone was especially excited to have our neighbors to the north, Armstrong, MN and the south, Plainfield, Illinois make the trek over to play some different teams.

The most interesting story of the day might just be Plainfield's improvement. With a committed coaching staff and a crew of athletic young athletes, they got better and better as the day went on. Already the top dogs in Illinois, which has a very small conference, they pushed themselves out of their comfort zone into the bigger rugby world and they're getting better and better as a result. Their committment to getting better with this event, matches in the fall, and some clear dedication on the part of parents and players is noteable.

It is also starting to turn into results, as they defeated Kettle Moraine 24-0. In a close match, a match some said was closer than the scoreline, Plainfield was able to find ways to get across the line while KM struggled with fitness and finishing.  This was Plainfield's second match, as they'd earlier defeated Oak Creek. Some might argue they were at a disadvantage from being tired out, while KM was playing in its first match. Others would argue Plainfield benefited more from working out the rust in an earlier game. Perhaps it really doesn't matter, as both teams got a lot of players into a competitive match.

Armstrong, MN travelling light with 20 players through 8 inches of snow to get here, got a badly needed run out. With the extra cold and snow this winter, they've not had any real chance to practice outside. So, everyone knows this was just a preseason game and it'll be different at the end of the month. While Wisconsin weather hasn't been much better, we've at least melted our snow in most of the Southeast in the last week.  Armstrong played the two toughest teams of the day; they showed their physicality and impressed with their never give up attitude. Despite being down a lot, they played hard at all times.

DSHA was simply awesome in their debut. They should be the favorites leading into the Midwest Championships once again. They've clearly worked really hard all winter. Perhaps more on their game story later.

Talk is already in the air about Chicago hosting the pre-season kickoff tournament next year, and trading off locations every other year, with the hope of getting some of the many Indiana teams invovled.

Full Scores:
Plainfield 43 Oak Creek 0
CMH 12 Brookfield 10
CMH 10 Brookfield 15
DSHA 22 Brookfield 10
DSHA 59 Armstrong 5 (Yellow: Sonata)
KM 0 Plainfield 24
CMH 46 Armstrong 5
DS KM (cancelled)

WGR Pre-Season Scrimmages

The WGR pre-season weekend of matches kicks off this Saturday at Naga-Waukee Park in Hartland, Wisconsin.

--Park entrance fee is $4/car.

--Please don't park on any grass.

--Once the lower lot fills, people are asked to park in the upper lot by the park offices and walk down.
Thank you for your cooperation.

Far Field                                                Near Field
11am Oak Creek v Plainfield
12:15 pm DSHA v Armstrong              1215pm CMH v Brookfield
1:15pm Kettle Moraine v Plainfield     115pm CMH v DSHA b
215pm CMHS v Armstrong                  2pm DS b v Brookfield
315pm DS v KM

--Games are all friendly scrimmages, so there will be an open sub policy.  There will not be a "1st place" given or any playoffs.  It's all about getting everyone some experience and enjoying getting outside again.

Hong Kong 7's Now Famous Haka

Whle the Crusader Cup in Waukesha, Wisc. is probably a close second, the most famous sevens rugby tournament in the world has to be the Hong Kong 7's.  Held last weekend, it's renowned for its raucus atmosphere and incredible rugby, long before 7's were the new Olympic sport.  It was often considered the "World Cup" of sevens before such an event was created.

Last weekend, the New Zealand All-Blacks won the tournament.  Their celebratory Haka is always special, but this year's tournament was under a monsoon deluge.  That wasn't going to stop the Kiwis from enjoying their moment and doing their Haka.  So, in a raging storm, they took of their jerseys, as they always do for the sevens Hakas, and celebrated. 

The highlights below are pretty awesome, but the Haka at the 8:21 minute mark is even more memorable.  Enjoy.