Put me in Coach!

Title nine...so misunderstood ...

2011-10-14T12:30:00.001-07:00

The other day Pat Clifton wrote an editorial for Rugby Magazine on the state or college rugby in the US. He made an impassioned case for rugby at the varsity level, largely as an alternative to football, which is outrageously expensive. you can read it here... http://www.rugbymag.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2303:college-rugby-state-of-the-union-part-deux&catid=101:op-eds&Itemid=302

I enjoyed Pat's article and agree.

The commenters, however, enraged me. Many of the comments were about Title IX, or, as one commenter called it, 'the elephant in the room'. He asserted that Title IX is what is holding rugby back from becoming a varsity sport, and that even if he came to the table with an outrageous amount of money, he wouldn't be able start a men's varsity program, because of Title XI. He didn't consider starting a women's program with the fictitious outrageous amount of money, which prompted another commenter to state 'thats exactly why we need Title IX.

The thread then turned to a discussion of ticket sales and the marketability of women's rugby, with lots of thumbs up about women's rugby not being as exciting as men's rugby, and how somehow has something to do with Title IX (to which I can't help but wonder, has he ever seen a high level women's match, or is he comparing d3 college women to the men in the rugby world cup?)

But I digress.

What enraged me was how much approval and agreement there was about how Title IX is a problem. While big time college sports like football and basketball do have a revenue component, most do not. Has anyone ever heard of a d2 wrestling or golf program generating revenue for a university? No. Because varsity sports a not about ticket sales, or marketability, or entertainment. Varsity sport programs exist for the players who participate. There are volumes of incontrovertible evidence that participating in well run, structured, competitive athletic program pay a lifetime of benefits. Athletes have greater academic success, use drugs less, have a lower incidence of unplanned pregnancy and STDs, and have a higher degree of success in the workplace. If I'm going to pay to send my hypothetical daughter to college, a college thats accepts public funds (the only schools that title IX applys to) then she damn well better have access to the same opportunities as my hypothetical son. I want them both to get all the benefits and personal growth that sports provide. THAT is why Title IX exists. It's not some BS wanna-be affirmative action program that hurts men's sports, that is, unless you think pushing out daughters to achieve and be successful is a waste of tax dollars.

If you ask me, we'd be better off lobbying the NCAA to reduce the number of football scolarships for third string kicking team, since just one of those would fund a rugby program, and two of them would fund two rugby programs, providing more athletes of both genders with an opportunity for personal growth and development, which is why they are in college in the first place. I DO NOT CARE if you think my hypothetical daughters game 'isn't exciting enough'. She isn't playing entertain you.

To the commenter who thinks that attendance differences for the finals of the women's and men's rugby world cup is a good reason to trash Title IX, here's a thought: for the first time last year, every women's rugby world cup game was sold out. We couldn't have sold more ticket if we wanted. So next time? We are going to need a bigger stadium. And I really hope you don't have any daughters.

Leagues, competition, and why we're our own worst enemy

2011-09-20T07:17:00.000-07:00

You'd have to be living in a women's rugby vaccum to have missed all the upsets going on this season in the WPL. The Surfers, freshly promoted to the WPL are tearing things up with a big road win against NY, and an even bigger home win against the Valks. The Amazons are looking fabulous, and Berkley is back and again dominant with K-Flo at the helm.

However .... there's still talk about how hard it is to do all the traveling, how much money it costs, and speculation about how some of the top D1 clubs would match up with the struggling WPL clubs. Teams are not going to away games at full strength, as the results last year showed and the results this year continue to show. Out on rugbymag.com, a poster brought up the promotion/relegation policy as being problematic. I think it's bigger than that.

The goal of the WPL was to raise the level of competition for our top rugby athletes by pulling the top teams out and creating a nationwide premier league. The vision was that 60, 70, 80-0 blowouts would be a thing of the past, and that each and every game would be challenging and competitive. Our former WNT staff was very committed to the success of the WPL, and current and prospective WNT players were pushed to play in the WPL. Several players relocated, changed jobs, left clubs they'd been with for a long time to get into the WPL and play at a level that would get them the best chance at making the WNT.

What happened? For the most part (with some exceptions), the same 4 clubs continued to dominate, and we finished in the same spot at the World Cup as we did in previous World Cups - 5th.

Our current WNT staff isn't aggressively promoting the WPL, rather, they are directing players who aspire to play for the WNT to go overseas for experience. As a result, players are moving back to the clubs they started with, going to clubs other than the perennial big 4, or going to the better D1 clubs for job, relationship, and quality-of-life reasons.

The result? We're seeing it. Traditional teams are being upset due to lack of personel, and new leaders are rising. Will this be good or bad for our top level of competition? Only time will tell.

Me personally, I don't think the WPL OR overseas play is the answer to improving out quality of competition. I think we need to redefine our club experience.

Currently there is not alot of internal competition at the club level. What I mean is, there are very few clubs where, at each and every practice, our best players are competitng for positional and game time. When CIPP rolls are less than 30, you can bet you'll see the same faces week after week on the pitch. Clubs are defined by the division they play in, rather than the development they provide. Beantown is WPL, Atlanta is D1, the Atomic Sisters of NM are D2. If you've got numbers, you're putting out a B side squad whenever you can.

IMHO, this is a flaw in thinking, and a flaw in our development model. In order for us grow the top athletes into top rugby players, they need to compete every week - in practice AND in games. We can't do that if we continue to spread ourself so thin. For the US to become a rugby superpower, and for HS and College players to have somewhere to go that provides them a true development environment, we've got to get over ourselves, and loosen up our vice grip on the single-side club model.

Imagine if you would, the potential strength of the following PROGRAMS, and the ability of the following PROGRAMS to provide week in and week out competion for players, as well as clearly defined pathways not only for players, but for coaches to move up the ranks:

Berkely + Fog
Philly + Keystone
Boston + Beantown
NY + Lions
Glendale + Black Ice
Seattle + Mudhens
and perhaps the most potent alliance of all Valks + Amazons

Obviously we couldn't do this in smaller locations, but when's the last time you heard about the NFL or MLB team in Norman OK, Allentown PA, or Fort Collins CO? What I'm talking about is having a set of TRULY PREMIER organizations, that are defined by the overall strength of the organization, rather than by the strength of a handful of individual players.

These organizations could become massive powerhouses, with WPL, D1, D2, and U19 sides, maybe even and Old Girls side. Coaching staffs would grow by leaps and bounds, and a "Director of Rugby" could provide a coach development structure to improve the skills of subordinate coaches, and provide mentorship to all, especially entry level coaches. Each program could have positional and or skill specific coaches shared across multiple sides. And, in response to our biggest challenge - MONEY - we'd have more dues paying members, more resources to leverage for fundraising and sponsorship, and more appeal to sponsors. Our top sides would be able to travel strong!

Yes, this is the Commonwealth model. I don't think we should "do things like England", because we are different in so many ways, but it's not just England that uses this model, it's the whole world. Except us. Team rivalries and individual reluctance for positional competition at the club level are what holds us back. I myself was in that thought trap for a good amount of time, but now my thinking has shifted.

I heard about a comment made by one of our new WNT staff to a potential WNT player, when asked where she should play if she couldn't go overseas. "Play for a team that will force you to compete for your position every week". I couldn't agree more.

It's been forever since I posted ....

2011-09-20T06:32:00.000-07:00

I posted in about a year and a half, which is about a year and a quarter too long. Since then I've moved on back to Colorado, where Ginger and I have our own little homestead on 70 acres. We were recently approved to open the "Colorado Sports Ranch", a secluded facility for elite athletes to train at altitude, and we are throwing every penny we have at that project.

In rugby news, I'm entering my second year as the Head Coach of the Glendale Raptors. Coaching at Glendale is pretty amazing - it really is Rugbytown USA. No. REALLY. As in the boundaries of the City of Glendale are marked by banners that say Rugbytown USA.

I am still doing Coach Development for USA Rugby, and it continues to be very rewarding. This year I went to Anchorage, St George UT, Las Vegas, and Salt Lake City. Last minute issues prevented me from joining the crew in Little Rock, but I'm sure there will be fun locations in the future!

So there you have it, a quick update. I decided to revist this blog because there are still a ton of things to talk about. We've had so much change in the last couple of years - new WNT staff, the creation of the WPL, restructuring of competitive leagues and collegiate structures, just a ton of stuff.

My next post will surely give anyone still reading something to comment about :)

EXHIBITION RUGBY SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE WACHOVIA CENTER: A new sort of challange...

2010-02-15T16:11:00.000-08:00

My club, the Philadelphia Women's Rugby Football Club, has a fabulous opportunity this coming Saturday. We're playing a single 10 minute period, 6:00 PM, at the Wachovia Center, as a warmup to the Philadelphia Wings match against the Rochester Knighthawks. The Philadelphia Wings are a pro indoor lacrosse team, so we'll be playing rugby on their field.

Dimensions? 200 ft x 60 ft.

Obviously, we're not playing 15 on 15. We're playing 7 on 7. It's half PWRFC players, and half standout college players from local Philadelphia colleges. The players are terrific, but the space will be challenging.

It's turf, so it's that part is fine, BUT:

60 ft x 200 ft
Boards instead of sidelines
A small "try zone" with curved ends (think: HOCKEY RINK)
more and more
Only 10 minutes to figure it all out and look good doing it
And most important, SAFETY SAFETY SAFETY!

Our plan was to meet with the ref and have a practice on a grass space that's marked off to the above perimeters, so all the players could get used to the space, but given that there is THREE AND A HALF FEET OF SNOW in Philly, with MORE COMING, that seems unlikely. Hopefully we'll be able to get on the turf early.

No matter what, it will undoubtedly be a good time and I know the crowd will get a great show. Our college players represent Temple, Drexel, Penn, LaSalle, and others, and we've got a solid base of offensive and defensive skills. And of course, all those Lacrosse fans will get a taste of rugby!

Come join us, support rugby, and help explain what the heck's going on to the person sitting next to you ... details can be found here:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=247615369658

Love to see you out there!

Youth Rugby debuts in South Philly!

2009-12-18T06:32:00.000-08:00

On January 2nd, the Philadelphia Women's Rugby Football Club, in cooperation with the Schuylkill River Exiles RFC and the Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Football Union, will be hosting a Rookie Rugby clinic in South Philly.

The clinic will take place on Saturday, January 2, from 10:00-2:00, at the Donald Finnegan Community Center (commonly known as "Gray's Ferry), located at 1231 S. 30th Street in South Philly.

The free clinic (lunch included for players!) hopes to leverage the excitement generated by the Invictus movie, as well as take advantage of the neighborhood kid's last days of winter break.

PWRFC trains and practices at Gray's Ferry, so the kids we're trying to reach are the same kids we see every day at practice. South Philly/Gray's Ferry is our second home, and it's time for us to share our love of rugby with the kids around us.

The Rookie Rugby model will be used to introduce the game in the morning, and after a lunch break we'll play several scrimmage-type games. The Rookie Rugby model focuses on fun, safe learning through small sided games, and is strongly suited for introducing the game to kids of a variety of ages.

A second session is planned for North Philly, details to follow soon.

For more information, contact me - coachingrugby@gmail.com.

Coaching the Lineout Throw

2009-12-02T05:13:00.000-08:00

I've seen dozens of coaches teach (or try) the lineout throw, and I myself have taught (or tried) to teach it to who knows how many players. I'm convinced that most of us out there are taking the wrong approach.

What's the first thing most coaches look at? Hand position. What's the first thing most coaches SHOULD look at? Outcome.

Let the thrower throw, and see where the ball goes. Then troubleshoot, but resist the urge to simply make them do it the way you did it when you played. The bottom line, the lineout throw is a study in ballistics. How far, how flat, how straight, and how fast does the projectile, in this case a rugby ball, go?

Points for observation:

Flight of the ball- is it wobbling, or, does it have a tight spiral (which helps with distance and speed, but really isn't all that important when starting out).
Path of the ball - is it straight, or are our jumpers consistently catching it on their side of the tunnel (or worse, are the defense's jumper catching it because it's thrown to them?)
Distance of the throw - simply, how far can the thrower throw?
Arc of the throw - is it a flat throw, a lob, or what? Does it drop right in on the jumper, or is it overthrow? If throwing to the back, is there enough arc to clear defensive jumpers?
Speed of the throw - how long does it take to get from point A to point B? If it's too slow, the defense will have time to contest, if it's too fast, maybe we need to adjust the timing of the jumpers

Once we've determined what's going on, prioritize what need to be troubleshot, and work from there. I like to proceed in this order, although what's most important to you may vary depending on the level of player you work with.

Straight Throw
Necessary Distance
Appropriate Arc
Necessary Distance Again
Appropriate Speed

A straight throw can win you a lineout to the front. As you build distance, you can win a lineout to the front moving backwards, a lineout to the second jumper, and a lineout to the back. That being said, the lineout to the back won't be won't be won consistenly without a suitable arc, so distance and arc need to be continually balanced. It does the team no good if your thrower can deliver a 20 meter bullet if it's snagged by the first defensive jumper.

Straight:

Can your thrower deliver a straight ball? Don't worry about whether it's a one handed throw or a two handed throw (a big debate here in the US), just see if he or she can throw straight. If not, find out why ...

Where are the throwers hips pointed? If they aren't aligned with the tunnel, then the ball won't be aligned with the tunnel. Don't worry if its one foot up or two feet flat at this point, just look at their orientation to the tunnel. We can work with the feet when we work on power.

Had the hip alignment fixed the straightness of the throw, or is it still off? If it's fixed, great, if not, look at the thrower's follow through. Just like every other sport, if the follow through is off the throw will be off. I like to tell 2 handed throwers to "take a picture" of their target with every throw, to focus on the follow through. For one handed throwers, their delivery hand should be perfectly aligned to the target after every throw. There's lots of talk about weighting the hands, etc, but I find that those problems can be fixed with proper focus on the follow through. Even if the ball tumbles wildly, when the throwers hips are aligned to the tunnel, and when the thrower has perfect follow through at ball delivery, the ball will go straight.

Distance
Now that we have a straight throw, whats next? Does it have the power to carry it to the target? If not, take a look at the thrower, and see if you can tell where they are generating power from. Are their arms bend deeply behind the neck (indicating that power is generated through the triceps?) Are the leaning way back pre- throw (indicating that power is generated through the core)? Is the player taking a step forward (indicating power through the hips and legs?) Is there a big wrist snap?

Once you know where player is generating power, you can make work through techniques to generate more power. Focus on using the largest muscles (hips, legs, core) for maximum power generation. Let the player work on their throw while lying flat on the grown, to let them explore power generation from the core, and from a kneeling position to add the hips to the equation. If the player really needs more, add a step. But whatever you do at this phase, don't loose sight of the first phase - straight.

Trajectory (ARC)
In order to be a successful thrower, the ball must not only fly straight and true, but it must have enough arc to clear defensive jumpers, so we can attack quickly off the back. The trajectory of the ball is directly related to the release point. That is, the point in the throw where the thrower actually lets go of the ball. Since we want the ball to clear a jumper, and then drop in on OUR jumper, the highest point in the are is actually going to be in front of our target, so first off, our thrower need to visualize the path of the ball, and then use the peak of the arc as his or her target, and the point where he or she directs the follow through.

Sounds difficult? Maybe, maybe not. If your player has trouble clearing defensive jumpers, or dropping the ball in on a target, let them spend some time throwing over the goalpost. I like to set up a tire underneath and about a meter behind the goal post, and ask the thrower to put the ball in the tire. With repetition, they will learn specifically how they need to adjust their release point, most often without any input from me. As the player gets the concept, you can start throwing over jumping pods. The player will learn that, in order to put and appropriate arc on the ball, he or she needs to release it earlier, so it goes up, in addition to forward.

Distance, AGAIN

As this point, many players, especially younger players, will begin to struggle. Why? Well, when your throwing those big lobs, much of the distance is eaten up in height. That is, an arc is longer than a straight line. So, to be REALLY good throwing to the back, the player must work on trajectory as well as distance. This is a great time to revisit power generation, and remind players how to generate power through their big muscles - specifically their core. I like for players to work on the "Crunch Throw" at this point. Let the player lie on the ground with knees bent and feet firmly planted in the ground. Let then then throw to a standing partner. It's important that the throw happen AS the player crunches to the top, not AFTER, and that the learning re-inforced is that power comes from the core, not from the arms.

Speed

Speed is really the finishing touch. Adding the speed component enhances everything - the ball flies truer, further, and, obviously, faster. This is the "spiral". There are many thoughts on how to get the magic spiral that carries with it the gift of speed, here are my thoughts.

It's different for everyone. My personal technique for generating a spiral is to simply use a finger to put a little english on the ball as it leaves my hand. When I work with players, though, I don't assume that they will be throwing exactly the way I do, so we experiment. I like to have each player grab a ball, and genty toss it over head, with the goal of making it spin. They can do it with a thumb, a forefinger, with the throw hand, or with the guide hand. If the player is throwing one handed, he or she can "roll" the fingers off the ball as it leaves the hand, just as if throwing a football spiral (which lets face it, Americans, players can throw football spirals). Whatever method your players use to spin the ball, the key now is to make sure they throw the same way, EVERY SINGLE TIME. The bottom line: If you can shoot one bulls eye, you can shoot 100, as long as you do it the same way every time. Since the spiral is so intimately tied to hand position, a good way to remind players of their key factors, is to simply have them go through a pre-check at every lineout:

Feet .... Hips... Hands ...

Feet and hips are a reminder to align the body with the tunnel ... Hands is a reminder to use whatever hand position works, consistently and meticulously. At this point the thrower is ready to throw.

Target ... Power ... Follow Through
Target ensures the thrower knows WHERE he or she is aiming for ... Power reminds the thrower to use the core, and not the arms, to throw, and finally, Follow Through reminds the player to meticulously follow through directly to the target, wherever it may be.

Lisa Rosen is a USA Rugby and IRB Coach Educator and the Head Coach of the Philadelphia Women's Rugby Football Club. She has worked with and continues to work with USA Rugby's age grade National Team programs, has completed the USA Rugby/IRB Advanced Coaching Course, and is the Head Coach of the Mid-Atlantic U-23 Women's All Stars, 2 time National All Star Champions.

The Advanced Coaching Course - Better Late than Never

2009-12-01T09:19:00.000-08:00

The final weekend of the 2009 Advanced Coaching Course wound up this fall, and I regret I've been remiss in my blogging, so here we go.

It was tough. Bottom line, the course, if completed, serves to professionalize your approach to coaching. While in the early training sessions we did some practical coaching modules, it became clear that the purpose of those modules was to ensure that participating coaches understand and by into the notion of coaching across a continuum, and that the coaches are on board with using player-centered coaching methods. Once that gate is passed, the emphasis of the course shifts to game analysis, player and team profiling, year long periodization cycles, and technical growth.

It was tough. Can I say that again? First off, I was the only coach in attendance who was not currently a Super League or National Team coach. I got very lucky getting into the program, and was able to do so through my role as a course leader, participating in the Elite coaching course, and via my stalking of Nigel Melville. Essentially, someone dropped out of the course and I was in the right place, LITERALLY, at the right time, and was able to fill the seat last minute.

The very first session was a bit intimidating - we did game analysis and practical coaching. We coached players, and our peers. EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING we did, we presented to our peers, to the facilitors, and the instructors. Now, by peers, I mean super league and national team coaches. Admittedly it took me a little while to get over the sticker shock of coaching some of the most well known names in the American game, but thanks to the facilitators and mentors (all very senior IRB and USA folks), the shock didn't last too long and I was able to move on (whew!).

There was a significant amount of attrition in the course, which lasted for 1 year and included 3 face-to-face workshops and about a zillion deliverables. Recently the announcement went out for applicants for the 2010 cycle, and here's my recommendation to anyone thinking about it. If you aspire to run your team and your own coaching practice as a professional, DO IT. If you are in it to get a feather in your cap, a stamp on your resume, or to just rub shoulders with the various guest coaches and the attendees, don't do it. The shoulder rubbing part is certainly one of the best parts of the course, but IMHO, that privilege should be reserved for the few coaches who really want to bring their entire coaching practice to the next level - not just their technical knowledge. The technical knowledge we were exposed to, from both guest coaches and from each other, was tremendous, but without the analysis, profiling, and planning pieces, it really doesn't carry the same bang.

If anyone's got any questions about the course, or is thinking about doing it, etc .. please don't be shy about asking, or if you were a participant, don't be shy about commenting. Personally, I thought it was a fabulous experience, and I'm still processing everything I came away with. But it was hard. It was challenging, thought provoking, and time consuming, and really forced you to examine how you do things, whether your serving your team and your players to the best of your abilities, and more than anything, it reminded me of how much ALL of us still have to learn. Hopefully we are creating a community of coaches who all want to move the practice forward, and even more, hopefully the next class of coaches will continue and push the envelope even further.

Who gets to call themselves an Eagle?

2009-09-30T17:46:00.000-07:00

So I'm not a bra-burning protest marching hard core feminist, but this just plaine rankles me. I strongly support ALL our national teams - men, women, boys, girls, 7s, 15s. And I love the traditions and culture of rugby. But if we just take the "its the way it's always been done, don't mess with it" approach, well, I don't even want to think where we'd be. So sir, I respectfully disagree in words I can't repeat without raging unprofessionaly. At least not tonight. Friends, if you feel as strongly as I do, please read the recent post on ARN and let the editor know.

http://www.americanrugbynews.com/artman/publish/editorial/Lowe_Down_It_s_all_in_the_name.shtml

Back on the pitch ... forwards and backs?

2009-09-05T19:39:00.001-07:00

So i've been slacking on blogging for a while, largely because I had a pretty heavy duty surgery and have been trying to focus on recovery.

LOTS of interesting rugby things have happened - I was privileged to complete the final session of the first Advanced Coaching Course here in the US, and now have just a few final deliverables to finish. The City 7s events occured, and four of our players here in Philly participated, as well as several of the MARFU U23 players. The Nations cup has come and gone, and our own Stacy Baker ROCKED the front row ... I reviewed a CDP workshop in Nebraska, and I'm currently working on some new coaching videos for our coaching workshops.

Of course, the fall season kickoff is here, now, and that's where my main attention is. We did a preseason camp in mid-august, and have been practicing and preparing for our first league match next Saturday. Due to the travel associated with the new women's divisional structure, Atlanta and Philly will be playing our first CR3 D1 match AT Pumpkinfest. P'fest will be alot of rugby, as we've got two sides entered AND we're playing the league match, AND we're running the tournament (and apparently I've got quite a historical position of honor as Philadelphia celebrates Pumpkinfest's 25th Anniversary in a very special way, thank you Allison).

But on to the business of COACHING. As I read and hear about various team's preseason preparation, I notice that a lot of teams don't bring forwards and backs together until several practices have passed by. I can see the value in devoting alot of time to unit skills preseason, but I've always felt that the connection between forwards and backs is too critical to take that approach. That being said, some of the teams who DO take that approach run very very successful programs, and so I'm curious to hear some thoughts.

Anyone?

OLYMPICS!

2009-08-13T07:31:00.000-07:00

Just one last hurdle in October, hopefully it will just be a formality ...

http://www.olympic.org/uk/news/olympic_news/full_story_uk.asp?id=3090

High Level Findings: Match Preparation - Behavior and Perceptions

2009-08-05T11:31:00.001-07:00

Thanks to everyone who participated in the study!

High level findings are available here ...

Match Day Preparations - Behaviors and Perceptions

Some very interesting data. If anyone is interested in working with the complete data set, or is interested in further analysis, please contat me directly via coachingrugby@gmail.com.

East Penn Rugby Union and USA Rugby Coach Development present Luke Gross Extended Technical Lineout Workshops

2009-07-15T09:12:00.001-07:00

The EPRU in conjunction with USA Rugby’s Coach Development Department is pleased to announce a coach education opportunity, it's new Extended Lineout Workshop featuring veteran Eagle lock and lineout specialist Luke Gross.

After attending Luke Gross’ Extended Lineout Workshop coaches will increase their abilities in coaching the lineout safely and effectively; in understanding the fundamentals of throwing, lifting and jumping; and will also learn basic offensive and defensive lineout strategies. This 4 hour extended workshop will be a practical coaching workshop. Coaches will have an opportunity to actually coach players under the guidance of Luke Gross.

Two sessions will be available. Session one, Friday evening, is held in conjunction with the Philadelphia Women's Rugb Club's Pumpkinfest tournament. Tournament participants are encouraged to make an early trip to Philadelphia for this session. Session two, Sunday, will be held in cooperation with the Wilmington Rugby Club. Specific workshop locations are currently being finalized and will be posted at http://www.epru.org, and communicated via email to all registered participants.

Participating coaches will receive 5 USA Rugby continuing education credits for participation in this workshop.

September 11: Philadelphia, PA
In conjunction with Philadelphia's Women's Rugby Club's Pumpkinfest Tournament
An extended four-hour Technical Lineout Workshop
Time: 4:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Location: Philadelphia or Northern Suburbs - exact location TBD
Contact: Lisa Rosen lrosen@usarugby.org
Worth 5 Continuing Education Unit's

Cost:
$30 per coach - each coach can bring 5-8 players
$10 per player (EPRU member players are free)

Luke will be available onsite at the Pumpkinfest tournament in Pennypack Park on Saturday for a meet and greet.

September 13: Wilmington, DE
In cooperation with the Wilmington Rugby Club
An extended four-hour Technical Lineout Workshop
Time: 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Location: Wilmington, DE - exact location TBD
Contact: Lisa Rosen lrosen@usarugby.org
Worth 5 Continuing Education Unit's

Cost:

$30 per coach - each coach can bring 5-8 players
$10 per player (EPRU member players are free)

To pre-register for either of the workshops, contact lrosen@usarugby.org

Please include in the subject of your email :
Luke Gross Lineout Workshop: Sept 11 or Luke Gross Lineout Workshop: Sept 13. You will receive a tentative confirmation with payment details. Workshop spots are available on a first come-first serve basis. Payment must be received by 1 September 2009 to guarantee participation.

Lisa E Rosen
EPRU Game Development Officer
USA Rugby/IRB Coach Educator

Study on game day match preparation ... I need your help!

2009-06-26T18:31:00.000-07:00

Dearest visitors:

I'm conducting a research project, and I need your help. I'm currently in the data collection phase of my project, and your input is critical. This study will require participation from players, coaches, and player-coaches. If you already know you want to participate, skip reading and go straight to the survey.

This study will inform a research project as part of required coursework for a USA Rugby and IRB Advanced Coaching Certification. The subject of this study is Match Day Game Preparation Behavior and Perceptions, and will examine a broad spectrum of warm up activities for Rugby Union, and their relation to player and coach performance self-assessments.

Participation in this study is purely voluntary, no compensation will be provided. Information provided will not be used for any reason other than that expressly describe above. Personal data, email addresses, and individual responses will remain anonymous unless express permission is granted by the study respondent.

Your participation is greatly appreciated! In order for the study to provide the most statistical relevance, a large volume of participants are needed. While participants are not paid or otherwise compensated for their effort, this study provides an opportunity to improve and enhance match day preparation throughout the rugby community. The study will take between 10 and 15 minutes (slightly longer if you are both a player and a coach) to complete.

Results will be published at the conclusion of this study at http://coachingrugby.blogspot.com responses will be collected until midnight EST on July 10th, at which time the data collection phase of the study will be complete.

Please feel free to circulate this study to your teammates and coaches, as well as to contacts from other rugby programs. If you have any questions about the study or any of the questions in the survey, contact Lisa Rosen at coachinrugby@gmail.com.

Thank you for your time!

Begin the survey!

Answers re: Community Guidelines on Ruck and Tackle from the National Panel Manager

2009-05-08T09:50:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to Richard Every, the National Panel Manager for referees, for taking the time to respond to my many questions in such detail!

Here's his response to my recent post on ruck & tackle guidelines. I'm reposting rather than just put in the comments because I think it's THAT important.

INTRODUCTION

The RSL Guidelines differ in referee "instruction" at certain areas, and allow more room for interpretation by the referee with regards to materiality of offenses.

A. The Tackle

Defenders, want to slow down ball availability. In the RSL we decided that if we have to instruct the tackler to move away, that they have already slowed down ball possession and should be liable to PK. If attacking players arrive at a tackle, and do not make contact with opposition players, but 2 or 3 of them huddle over the ball, no ruck is formed and there are no offside lines, except for the existing tackle gate. If a defender counter rucks, a ruck is formed. We work with the referees to get to the tackle early, ensure the tackler has released the tackled player and the tackled player exercised their options. Only if a ruck forms, AND the ball is secured, to then ensure the fringes are onside, and then to move out to manage the backlines. A big issue is that referees do not get in to manage the tackle, but rather remain some distance away, and assume a ruck forms on most occasions.

B. The Gate

You question the "square shoulders". It was suggested by a coach, as at times the gate is wide, and at times, narrow. It is a part of the game that is refereed inconsistently, but that referees would give preference to players in the "square shoulders" entry, as it would visually appear that the player is entering correctly. Your diagram is correct that all 4 players are legally entering through the gate.

C. Arriving Players

The answer is that the guidelines are applicable to all rugby, and include iRB Directives, and serve as clarification of Law and application. An example is that at international level, as seen in some (NOT ALL) Six Nations matches, referees instruct the tackler to move away, which they then do, which has already slowed down ball recycling, and allows the defense that extra time to get into position, and on almost all occasions when this is consistent throughout, leads to a low scoring game. Quick ball availability = dynamic rugby.

The player in the illustration that you refer to as obstruction, is not. The tackle area is dynamic, and often many things happen very quickly, so the player does not necesarily remain static in this position for very long. We will allow players to take that position over or very near the ball. It is allowed internationally. If the player gets far beyond the ball it would be obstruction. It is a subjective judgement by the referee.

Your view on the "diving over" is correct. Here is a video from the RSL 2009 which clarifies what is allowed and what is not. It is an 18 minute video with 40 clips. Probably best to view it more than once. (http://richardevery.com/Tackle.wmv)

Richard Every

National Panel Manager

USA Rugby Referees

T: 773 895 6013

Community guidelines around ruck and tackle - REFs and COACHES please read and chime in

2009-05-03T03:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had the pleasure of watching two local D2 teams play and one D3 college team and one thing stood out: There is a big disconnect between how coaches perceive the how a post-tackle contest should be refereed, and how the referees actually referee the post-tackle contest.

Back in February a document named "Community Management Guidelines for 2009," that made it to most all in the ref community, but not necessarily to folks in the coaching community. So that's what we're going to look at today, as well as explore some options to get refs and coaches on the same page earlier. Throughout this post, highlights from the document will be displayed in dark green. Its worth noting that while the excerpts below refer to USA Rugby, a similar document was circulated by the RFU. So these aren't just "American Rules."

INTRODUCTION:
USA Rugby Referees’ management has established guidelines to refereeing at all levels in USA Rugby. These guidelines enable players and referees to have a clearer approach to the game, to enable consistency in Law application throughout the country. They also reflect directives from the iRB, particularly in relation to the tackle/ruck, and players staying on their feet. The guidelines were first established for the USA Rugby Super League in 2008, and upon its success, it has been further developed for the 2009 season. The RSL Game Management Guidelines 2009 apply only to that competition. This document applies to all other competitions. These guidelines are to be distributed nationally to all referees, referee observers, referee coaches, players/teams, coaches and administrators.

Ed Todd, Referee Manager, USA Rugby Richard Every, National Panel Manager, USA Rugby

I personally received this document because it was forwarded to me by a friend who refs. At that time, I was getting ready to do a guest session with the USA U20s, specifically on ruck/counter ruck and creating turnover ball, and the one thing unclear about the first statement is "does this apply to our national teams as well?" What's the difference between community guidelines and law? I also have several WNT pool players I work with - will these laws apply to them as well, and if so, how to I coach them to do one thing in a league match, and another when they are training with the WNT. So that's one part I want to know. The other part is this: If RSL (Rugby Super League) is playing to a different set of guidelines, what are they, AND will the new Women's Premier League play under different guidelines than D1 and D2?

Let's dive in to the specific guidlines around law (displayed in green below):

Tackle/Ruck

A. The Tackle

1. The tackler has to immediately release the tackled player, and move away or get to their feet. PK

2. The tackled player must exercise their options immediately. PK

3. Players that slow the ball down should be penalized immediately. PK

4. Referees may instruct the players, i.e. “release the ball”, “roll away”, etc., as long as these players have not already slowed down ball availability.

Referees are to approach a low tolerance level at the breakdown and should penalize early in the match to establish compliance. PK

For the most part, the section on tackle hasn't, changed but there are some clear guidelines about what should be immediately penalized that lead me to some questions: 1 and 2 are basically stuff we all know and all coach - but what about slowing down the ball? A technique used by one to team to speed up ball delivery (something like sealing) is certainly speeding up ball delivery, but it has, over time, started to erode the contest for the a ball. Over time this has evolved into strategies like "zero ruck", where essentially it only takes a tackled player and a sealing support player to secure possession and rather than contest, the defense sets up a 7 or 8 man picket fence on the fringe. Since there is technically no ruck formed, no one is offsides, and the defense can launch without waiting for a ball to be "out" Because there is no contest for the ball, the balance in the IRB charter is off (The IRB charter states that one of the unique qualities of rugby is the balance between the contest for possession and continuity of play). So what of counter-rucking? It's certainly designed to slow down (or turn over) the ball at the tackle contest but I can't imagine it would be blown up as it's absolutely part of the fair contest for the ball. So that's another question I'd like to have answered by a high level slash B panel ref. I think most coaches teach their players defensively to slow down the ball in order to limit the offenses optionsand buy time for their defense to re-align.

B. The Gate

Overhead view, Blue tackled Red. Players are only allowed square entry through their indicated gate area.

1. All players have to enter the tackle through the gate, referred to as a square entry, shoulders parallel to the goal lines. No part of a player’s body (including their arms), may enter the tackle through any other area. PK

2. Not entering through the gate should not be tolerated. PK

Ok, we're all on board with entering through the gate. But entering with square shoulders is either new, or I've just been ignorant (both are possible). I was forever under the impression that as long as you entered through the gate, you were kosher. Sometimes its advantageous to take an angle to remove a player from the ruck and create a turnover, or even to clear out fringers who may be dangerously offsides. But "square shoulders" implies something entirely different ...

Overhead view, Blue tackled Red. Blue A and Red C are entering through the gate with square shoulders, Blue B is beginning his/her run from outside the gate, but entering through the gate, without square shoulders. Red D is entering from behind the gate and going through the gate, but without square shoulders.

So in the above illustration, who is legal? I suppose A and C are no brainers. Are B and D illegal because their shoulders aren't square? Is only D illegal because technically his or her hand or arm might be outside the gate upon entry. Again Bish or higher level referees, HELP!

Next up:

C. Arriving Players

1. Players are to enter the tackle on their feet, and remain on their feet. PK

2. At a tackle, arriving players are allowed to play the ball with their hands after an opposition player binds onto them, if:

a. They arrive at the tackle legally,
b. remain on their feet, and
c. Have possession of the ball (i.e. was grasping/holding the ball) prior to the contact occurring.
NOTE: Thus, a ruck has not formed yet.

3. No players may bind onto players that are on the ground. PK

4. Players who secure the ball without their weight fully on their feet (i.e. bound on OR leaning on players on the ground) OR who go to ground head first, or dive over players on the ground, OR dive over players on the ground with the ball between them should not be tolerated and penalized. PK

From the images above, and from item 4, it should be CRYSTAL CLEAR that the act commonly known as "sealing" (also sometimes referred to as bridging, which technically is where the players hand is on the ground, rather than the body) is without question ILLEGAL and will be penalized. That didn't take long ... didn't we just start teaching this a couple of years ago? Phoey!

But seriously - my real question here goes back to the somewhat ambiguous verbiage around "Community Guidelines". Is this application of the law only relevant to "community" rugby (ie anything other than International, Professional, or in the USA, Super league NA4, .. and, with the new structure in place ... Women's Premier League. Or, are community guidelines like this simply addendum's to the law book issued between annual publishing, and do they apply to EVERYONE?

The first illustration below, illustrating legal actions by arriving players, confuses me. Why? It appears to be obstruction. Can my player really stand in a ready for contact position, on the other side of the ball carrier, and initiate a ruck when the ball carrier is not beneath her or in front of here. REF PLEASE HELP! The second illustration should be something we are all familiar with and probably requires no discussion.

Part 5 of this series of clarifications is the one that I find MOST INTERESTING AND RELEVANT, and that from my observation, is not generally being applied uniformly, AT ALL. The referee who did yesterdays game did employ this new clariication, to the delight of one team, and to the frustration of another. Once she explained fully to both sides the logic behind this particular guideline, I think everyone understood and adjusted as well as they could. Here it is:

5. If a player enters the tackle in conformance with the required criteria and subsequently goes to ground during the process of removing a tackler or because the opposition were unable to retain their position at contact, this player should not be penalized because they did not willfully go to ground.
NOTE: They may not remain on the ground, nor be lying on or over the ball. PK

Between guideline 4- specifically the below phrase:

4. ...... or dive over players on the ground, OR dive over players on the ground with the ball between them should not be tolerated and penalized. PK

and guideline 4 in it's entirety (repeated below for clarity)

5. If a player enters the tackle in conformance with the required criteria and subsequently goes to ground during the process of removing a tackler or because the opposition were unable to retain their position at contact, this player should not be penalized because they did not willfully go to ground.

I interpret that the "Diving Over" penalty is reserved only for, literally, DIVING OVER. As in, "hey, there's a player on the ground, the balls on the other side, I'm going to DIVE over the player and try to kill the ball or get the ball". It's got to be willful. It's got to be intentional. Period.

From what i've seen, refs across the country are implementing the no sealing law. But they aren't implementing the subtlies of the diving over law. Stuff like pulling a rucking player over the top, backing out of a ruck as a player comes at you, or simply playing zero ruck, giving the opposition NO CONTEST, will almost always result in a player on the ground in what appears to be a "Diving Over" position. And that player gets penalized for diving over, when really he or she is simply attempting to participate in a contest for the ball. Going forward, if I read this right, if a player winds up on the ground on the opposite side of the player or the ball, because they encountered little or no resistance, because the defense lost their feet and as a result the rucking player lost their feet, or because they were pulled down by their opponent, it is not a willful act of "diving over", and it should not be penalized, as long as the player fulfills his or her obligation to roll away.

Refs and coaches - any thoughts on this?

In yesterdays game, one team was clearly stronger moving the ball wide and superior outside speed. The second team was clearly strong at the breakdown and created alot of possession for themselves through turnovers. The first team put only one or two defensive players in the ruck, and set everyone else up on the fringe, or got bodies in the ruck and didn't drive through. The second team piled players in, over, and through the ruck, and frequently wound up on the wrong side of the ball. But since it wasn't willfully diving, and because it occurred as a result of the opposition not giving them enough of a contest, it was not penalized, they were able to play from a quick source of possession, AND turn over a lot of ball (that didn't help them win, but the game itself was a classic forward vs back game, with nearly every try on the outside - it was a 3 points separated the teams at the final whistle)

So how do get get coaches and refs on the same page, and how can we prep our players BEFORE new interpretations go into effect.

Its simply in my mind - just like with the ELVS, give the coaches warning before any implementation. If there are minorm law changes or guidelines, 30-90 days is probably fine. Major changes, like the ELVs, require at least 6 months to a year. Give coaches an implementation date, across the country. Give us time to prep our players.

What's happening now, is that guidelines or law changes are circulated to the various referee societies, and not every union circulates them to coaches (or coaches don't ready them: BAD coach!). As a result, players show up at game day and are reffed to a different standard than they have been coached to all year, and coaches get P.O.ed because they think the ref doesn't know or is making up laws as they go, when really, these referees are attentive and reading and learning all the updates.

We also need referees and/or referee educators - but not just C2/C3 type referees, bonafide B panel refs and ref educators at coach development events, and coaches (again not just new coaches, but coach educators and mentors) at referee development events. The reason I say not just C2/C3 types and not just new coaches, is because I believe when bringing in a high level coach (or ref) for coach (or ref) development, a high level ref (or coach) is needed to put things in context, explain issues of materiality, spirit of the game, etc. Lower level refs tend to err on the whistle blowing side and ref towards whatever style of rugby they are most familiar with. On the flip side, a higher level coach can explain what techniques and tools are currently in use to deal with particular rules, what techniques are blatantly illegal, and what techniques truly rely on the discretion of the refs. That will in turn help some of the negative sideline chatter that occurs when coaches and refs disagree about what the law is.

There are more community guidelines available - the Midwest has converted the pdf to html and has them them posted on their site - http://www.midwestrugby.org/09usarugbygmguidelines.htm . I'm sure they are on the USA Rugby Site, but when i was search for an online version, this was the first result.

Let's have a lively dialogue about this one. I want to know if my interpretations are correct (especially regarding part 5), and I'd really like to hear from both coaches and refs. The closer we get to each other in our understanding of the laws the game and how they are enforced, the closer we will get to the spirit of the game. So go for it!

Making Lemonade - Ruggerfest 2009 with MARFU U23 Dev

2009-04-28T20:01:00.001-07:00

As most readers probably know, i coach the MidAtlantic U23s. We've got about a zillion players in our territory, from traditional powerhouses like Penn State, UVA, and Navy, all the way to DIII collegiate.

Since there's such a range, we work very hard to ensure that we do events that specifically target the NON powerhouse team. Every D2 or D3 club out there has at least one natural athlete waiting to be discovered. Its the discovery process that is so time consuming and so hard.

The primary venue is the LAU Round Robin. With the U19 program moving to U20, its an opportunity not only to assess U23 players, but U20 players as well.

The Round Robin happens at the very end of the fall season, and I get a team of selectors to watch players in position groups on specific team. From there, we invite about 40 players to the Capitol City Ruggerfest, hosted by the DC Furies. 40 sounds like alot of players, but Ruggerfest falls right between Collegiate Round of 16, and the Championships aka final 4. This year two D1 MARFU Teams (PSU and Navy) and two D2 MARFU teams (UDel and Shippensburg) are going to final 4, and we generally know that because of that, at least half the players we invite will decline. Which is again, OK - it just opens up doors for other players. Basiclly the rule is "if in doubt, invite".

We try not to "stack" this team, and use the NASC vets primarily in leadership positions and to provide program continuity. In the 2009 tournament we had only two NASC vets - all the rest were first timers in a MARFU jersey. Only one player is aging out after this year, and most of the players were 19 or 20. We had about 4 21-22 year olds, and a 17 year old high school player. A 17 year old 8, 19 year old 9, and 19 year old 10 is indeed a young team.

Well this year, in addition to the normal players going to nationals declinations, school conflicts, last minute game conflicts etc, we had 6 injuries less than a week before the event. So the coaching staff and myself had to make a decision. Should we/could we really go down there with 12 players? Three more were coming Sunday, so what we ultimately decided to do was loosen our requirements this year.

Normally we tell college players who's teams are in the tournament that they must make a full commitment to the MARFU team - no cross rostering, except for the occasional senior looking to get one final 1/2 with her team before graduation. My view is that if you want to play and train at a high pace, you can't overdue it. I know the young players have huge energy reserves, but its very hot and we try to create an environment that makes the players feel special and encourages peak performance.

This year we had no choice - torn patella tendons, dislocated shoulder, sprained ankle AND knee, a broken arm, and a concussion just aren;t things you can predict. So we reached out to all the coaches in the territory first for last minute recommendations, and then contacted all the college coaches with teams in the tournament. The same eligibility rules applied, players must be U23 eligible members of MARFU, and this year we would allow cross rostering.

So miraculously, thanks in no small part to American University, George Washington, Temple, and Norfolk, we filled the hooker/flanker/wing vacancies we had and on Sunday actually had a couple of subs.

Things looked pretty bleak at first. We got together friday evening in DC, at a patch of grass on Catholic University, just to work out our communication system, get to know each other, and just do some loose play. At first the players were very quiet, and you could literally hear a pin drop when I told them we had 12 players. But, as the session went on, everyone loosened up. We were very fortunate to have Eamonn Hogan, who I previously blogged about, join us for the tourney, and he did a 40 minute contact skills session for the girls on Friday, and stuck around to watch them play on Saturday.

Slowly confidence began to shift. Every single one of the core group was a good athlete and a good rugby player - they just needed to believe it. As long as our pickups could hold their own, we would be OK.

American University sent us three players, right off their game, and they fit like a glove. I don't know how much rugby those three played that weekend, but they probably deserve a full week off. So off we were to our first match, at 8:30 AM, against Chesaoeake, an upwardly moving but relatively new DII club in MARFU. The only prep we had done for scrums or lineouts happened in the pre-game warmup. Bottom line, when putting together a team like this, you can;t cover everythihg. We mde sure the scrums would be safe and we had some lineout options, and off to kickoff we went.

Chesapeake really kicked our ass in the scrums, but our fitness and speed shined through. Our forwards did a great job enploying the tools Eamonn taught, although we did pay the price with penalties when we didn't execute fast enough. Lineouts were so so and continuity wasn;t great, but we came away with a W (10-0) and a clear picture of what we needed to work on.

At these types of events, we don't do the traditional warmup, except prior to the very first game. Instead, we have the captain take the team through some dynamic stretching, and then we introduce a new tool. So prior to game II, we decided we needed to really straighten out how we used the forwards on attack, and how we were going to realign on defense, and how we were going to deal with penalties.

So we introduced the pick and charge and the power up, and then we played a defensive realignment game where the coach randomly awards penalties, just to introduce the idea of moving away from the old school "give it to a forward and crash" method of attack to the two passes away from contact method.

After that it was time for game II, against the Maryland Stingers, a women's D1 club. It was obvious the players confidence ws growing, but we struggled to maintain focus and discipline for the length of the game. Our scrums were much improved, but our lineouts still left alot to be desired. It was pretty typical - moments of brilliance, moments of disaster. Lucky for us, we had more moments of brilliance and few moments of disaster, but the outcome of the game could have gone anyway until right at the end. Final score MARFU 27, Stingers 14.

It was getting really, really hot, so prior to our last game, against the Furies B, we decided to stay in the shade until the last possible minute, and just do 10 minutes of dynamic stretching and a 5 minute team run. This was the game where EVERYTHING clicked. The team was clearly borderline exhausted when they got on the field, so Roshna and I did our very best to channel our excitement into their brains and hearts. And we scored on the first kickoff, and never stopped. there was continuity, lateral and vertical support, line breaks all over, dominated in scrums, went about 50/50 in lineouts, and just played great rugby until the final whistle. Final score, 63-0. Many of these players in D2 or D3 programs have only every been on the receiving end of a game like that, so going 3-0, finishing the game with such great continuity, really had everyone feeling positive. It was during that game that those players became a team.

After giving every one the hydrate, icebath, sunscreen, eat speach, the players and staff dissapated. We watched Amercan University and our cross rostered players play yet another game, and watched some of the Temple U game. And then it was time for hotel, shower, and AC.

We had a team dinner at noodles and company in Alexandria (great place for a team dinner FYI), and handed out an award to the player who did the most to "spark" the team. I'm not a huge fan of MVP awards, as they usually wind uo going to the person who scores all the tries, although there are appropriate times for them. This award was more about providing inspiration - and it went to Hannah Bennett, our 19 year old scrumhalf from Drexel University, who all game just kept hammering, She realy lit up the field in the third game, and quite dramatically dived completely over the top of a ruck at the try line, ball in hand, to score. Congrats Hannah!

Everyone dispersed for the evening and got some much needed sleep.

The next morning - us VS Back in Black. Normally that spells doom for not-Back in Black, but I believed these girls had it them to upset the forever champions, and if not that, keep it close.

For warmups we introduced a couple of more things - the notion that you actually start rucking BEFORE the player hits the ground, as well as introducing a hinge run but the forwards to allow more options for the 10. Practice went well and spirits were high. Players were super excited to hear that one of our players, Tanya, would actually be playing against her Mom. I recall being asked why one of the Black in Black players had "63" on their back, and explained that most of the team actually wears the year they were born on their back. So it was definitely the youngest team in the tourney, vs the oldest. This was the 4th consecutive year we've met BinB in either the semis or finals, and we coaches knew what to expect. Fast, smart, and alot of tactical quiking.

We did great for the first 30 minutes, and while BinB had most of the possession, we played great defense and they were forced to play going backwards. We traded tries, and BinB went ahead by one try and a penalty kick just before the half.

It sill looked doable, and we had fresh legs (or as fresh as they can be after 3 Saturday games). We put our fresh legs in, but alas, Back in Black had broken our code. We just couldn't react as fast as they could, nor could we pass as long as they could. As a result they were able to isolate our outside backs, and they literally gave us a lesson in how quick tap penalties AND line outs should be done. Final score saw them up 3 tries and a PK on us, for a final score of 37-14.

As a final act, we awarded the "Spark" award for the Back in Black game to SMBC's Laura Miller. She made head on tackles, side tackles, from behind tackles, and was essentially a tackling machine. Congrats Laura!

While it would have been nice to have the upset of the century and play in the final, I think more was learned by playing hard and loosing to a team of this caliber. Beacuse these players represented 11 different schools I think we can assume that where this team struggled, many players at this level will struggle, and we'll be able to sort out some of those issues at the Evasive running, playmaking, and support workshop at American University on May 10th, and at the Selection and Training Camp May 23-24 at the University of Maryland.

Anyway,it was a great weekend and I have high hopes for tryouts. I know that the players who participated will be better prepared, we have gobs of information regarding where we're at and what we need to work on, and all the players will be with us for several years.

Additional information on the MARfU U-23 Program can be found on my sister blog, http://marfu-u23s.blogspot.com, or on our facbook page at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=29161390168

The Ruggerfest MARFU U23 Developmental Roster is reprinted below.

Hannah Bennet - Drexel (scrumhalf) - 89 SPARK WINNER FOR SATURDAY
Elaine Bigelow - Princeton (back row)- 88
Loretta Charles- George Washington (back row) - 87
Rebecca DeMoor - Philly Women - 86
Mia Escobar - 87- Drexel (front row) - 87
Tanya Gouws - University of Maryland (center) - 88
Liz Hilliard - American (front row) - 89
Katie Hunt - Temple - (back row) - 87
Laura Miller - St Mary's BC-(lock)- 88 VICE CAPTAIN AND SPARK WINNER FOR SUNDAY
Ugochi Madubata - Princeton (lock, back row) - 87
Danielle Monica - Temple (wing) - 87 MARFU 2008 NASC VET
Shantel Nelson - American (wing) - 89
Trish Nowlan - George Washington (front row) - 89
Kate Rada - Westchester (flyhalf) - 89
Kaitlyn Rooney- American -(back row) - 89
Nicki Scheurch - Temple (fullback, wing) - 87
Moira Somerdyk - Temple (center) -88 CAPTAIN and MARFU NASC 2008 VET
Hannah Strayer - West Shore United High School (bacck row)- 91
Molly Walter - Mary Washington( front row) - 88
Angela Yue - Princeton (wing) - 89

Special thanks to American University and George Washington University for allowing their players to participate at very short notice, to Eamonn Hogan for the great session on Friday night, to Emily Sabato, our manager, and to Roshna Wunderlich, my fabulous assistant coach.

the Master of Disaster part II with video!

2009-04-23T07:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my club, Philly Women, had the pleasure of hosting Eamonn Hogan's second clinic. This session was designed primarily for adult players and their coaches, but we had several more experienced players from Princeton, UPenn, and Drexel, as well as men and women from Skuylkill River Exiles (our Philadelphia rugger brothers), Philly Women, and Brandywine Riot.

The weather was much better and we advanced and a pretty quick pace, finishing with a full contact series of games. Unfortunately I was only about to video document about half of the session, as the lights on the field just weren't enough when the sun went down, but I hope you'll like what you see and can use some of it in your coaching.

Part 1 of 2

Part 2 of 2

This event has been approved for Continuing Coach Education credits via partnership between USA Rugby and EPRU, so if you attended or want to learn more about continuing coach education, visit http://www.usarugby.org/goto/ceu

The Master of Disaster/ Continuing Coach Education

2009-04-21T04:34:00.000-07:00

Through a growing network of rugby coaches dedicated to growing the game from the grassroots all the way up the the national teams, EPRU was able to get the services of Eamonn Hogan aka the Master of Disaster (see previous post for his bio etc). Eamonn ran the first of four clinics yesterday with local high school and college players (men and women). The topic - point of contact skills.

The focus shifted back and forth from offense (how to not turn over the ball and buy time for supoort ) to defense (how to turn over the ball and attack quick.

We opened the session to all area coaches, and the EPRU picked up the bill. I can't tell you how terrific it is to be in a union that believes in coach and player development, and is willing to put $$ behind it. So often we have fabulous coaches come over for clinics and workshops, and the grass roots coaches just never get face time with them. So we decided to change that.

It was raining (medium to hard) and FREEZING, so I was a little concerned with turnout. But, buy 4 pm, i'd already gotten 6 "is it still on" phone calls. At the end of the day, 16 coaches and 65 player showed up. Not bad for 5-6:45 on a Monday night, eh?

Some highlights:

a new spin on the long body ruck that I like a whole lot better than the old spin on the long body ruck
how to determine, as a player, if you really have been tackled and hence if you have any obligation to release the ball
several tools to deal with poachers
the "clamp" - we've been using this with my team, never had a name for it, I guess we do now! Basically it's another tool to deal with potential poachers
the judo take down (hip throw) tackle with follow up ball disruption
turtle (we call it a barrel roll on my team)
some other sneaky #$&*

After the session some of the coaches met up to do a casual Q&A with Eamonn at a local mexican restaurant and I ate some amazing fish tacos.

Thanks so much to Philly Women, who are hosting the first two sessions getting all the equipment there, battling to get that tent up, hosting Eamonn, and for the great turnout.

I really wanted to video the session, but alas the rain was too much. I'll try again tonight.

Eamonn is doing another session tonight (7:15 - 9:00) for the Philadelphia Women and the Schuylkill River Exiles Men, and any adult players (and select higher level college players) are welcome to attend - FREE for EPRU, nominal ($5 - players, $10 coaches just observing for 1 CEU, $25 - coaches participating and coaching for 4 CEUs) for non- EPRU members. There will be an open social at O'Neals Pub, 3rd & South St, proud sponser of both Philly and Schuylkill after the session

He'll be in Delaware Wed and Thursday, doing a U19 session, and then another collegiate session . Details are here ... http://epru.org/news/news-and-events.php?n=955

After that, Eamonn is headed to DC where Friday evening he'll work with the MARFU U23 Developmental team for a short while, and then will be running an open session or two at DC Ruggerfest courtesy of the Furies (contact Dre Khoury - drekhoury@hotmail.com for details.

The EPRU sessions are approved by USA Rugby for 4 continuing education units. Since you can apply for a single CEU for a wide range of self directed coach development activities, participants at the DC clinic should be able to apply for 1 CEU - instructions will be available. For more information about the Contining Education component of USA Rugby's coach development program, visit http://www.usarugby.org/goto/ceu

More after tonight's session - if you are in the Philadelphia area and are interested in attending, please contact me directly (coachingrugby@gmail.com). Hopefully the rain will stay away and i can get some decent video.

On an unrelated note, please accept my apologies for not blogging about anything coach worthy for a while. I had a pretty major neck surgery recently (recovering now) and just wasn't in the right mental space to make this a priority. Activity will now resume!

EPRU Partners with USA Rugby for Continuing Coach Education Workshops April 20-23, 2009

2009-04-14T01:32:00.000-07:00

EPRU Announces USA Rugby Continuing Coach Education Series: Mastering the Collision Area with Eamonn Hogan
The EPRU, in conjunction with USA Rugby's Coach Development Program, is proud to welcome Eamonn Hogan to the EPRU for a series of FREE practical coaching and player development workshops April 20 - April 23, 2009. In an effort to provide coaches with ongoing educational opportunities, the USA Rugby Coach Development Program (CDP) has launched a continuing education program. Coaches who hold a current USA Rugby coach certiﬁcation will be able to extend the life of their certiﬁcation by participating in various coach education events. EPRU Members will have four FREE sessions to choose from (detailed workshop schedule follows)

Eamonn Hogan
Coach Hogan will be joining us in the EPRU fresh off his tour as the backs coach with the USA U17 National Team. Coach Hogan most recently served as the Talent Development Coordinator and Tigers Academy coach for Leicester. As the Talent Coordinator for the Leicester Tigers, Coach Hogan managed 4 Elite Player Development Centers and a staff of 15. Coach Hogan was responsible for recruiting new talent and identifying potential elite players for entry into the Leicester Academy.

Known as the "Master of Disaster" at the collision area, Coach Hogan has conducted extensive research and pioneered techniques such as the "Sandwich", the "Turtle", and the "Clamp".

Coach Hogan is currently consulting to USA Rugby's Age Grade programs as a Backs and Breakdown specialist, and serves as the Master in Charge of Rugby at the Lincoln Minster School. Coach Hogan holds numerous certiﬁcations and is a former RFU Tutor and Assessor. Coach Hogan's rich resume includes coaching assignments with the England Women Student's, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire,

USA Rugby Continuing Coach Education Credits
EPRU has been approved as a continuing education partner to USA Rugby for this professional development series, and this workshop series is free for all EPRU members. Local USA Rugby and IRB Educators will be on hand to assist with any Continuing Education issues related to these workshops.

Coaches can receive continuing education credits two ways:

1 CEU: Coaches attending a workshop as an observer will recieve 1 USA Rugby Coach Development Continuing Eduction Credits (FREE for EPRU Members, $10 for non-members)

4 CEU: Coaches attending a workshop who bringing 10 player participants and engage in coaching activities will recieve 4 USA Rugby Coach Development Continuing Education Credits (FREE for EPRU Members, $25 for non-members)

Workshop Schedule: April 20, 21, 22, 23 2009

SESSION 1
April 20th 2009 5:00PM - 7:00PM
Edgely Field, Fairmount Park Philadelphia
E. Reservoir Dr & Edgely Dr, Philadelphia, PA 19121, (www.pwrfc.org for directions)
Players actively participating in this session should be high school or college men and women and their coaches
Hosted by the Philadelphia Women's Rugby Football Club (PWRFC). A coaches meet and greet will be available at Johnny Mananas 4201 Ridge Avenue, in East Falls PA, at the conclusion of training. Coaches from all ages grades are invited to attend.

RSVP TO: Lisa Rosen, coachingrugby@gmail.com or 215 421-1823
FREE to EPRU Memners
NON- EPRU members will be charged a $10 or $25 Fee depending on level of participation.

SESSION 2
April 21th 2009 7:00PM - 9:00PM
Greys Ferry Community Center, Philadelphia, PA
29th & Wharton Sts, Philadelphia, PA. (www.pwrfc.org for directions)
Players actively participating in this session should be adult men or women and their coaches
Hosted by the Philadelphia Women's Rugby Football Club (PWRFC) with support from the Schuylkill River Exiles. An evening adult social with open Q&A will be held at O'Neills Pub, 3rd and South Street at the conclusion of training. Coaches from all age grades are invited to attend

RSVP TO: Lisa Rosen, coachingrugby@gmail.com or 215 421-1823
FREE to EPRU Members
NON- EPRU members will be charged a $10 or $25 Fee depending on level of participation.

SESSION 3
April 22th 2009 3:30PM - 5:30PM
Stanton Middle School, 1800 Limestone Road, Wilmington, DE 19803
Players actively participating in this session should be U19 high school boys and girls and their coaches
Hosted by the Wilmington Colts U -19. An evening coaches dinner will be held at Buckleyʼs Tavern, 5812 Kennett Pike Wilmington, DE 19807 . A traditional supper with adult beverages will be served at 7 PM for $20. A Q & A session will be held afterwards. Coaches from all age grades are invited to attend; seating is limited to 25.

RSVP to Bob Weir at 302-377-6107
FREE to EPRU Members
NON- EPRU members will be charged a $10 or $25 Fee depending on level of participation.

SESSION 4
April 23th 2009 8:00PM - 10:00PM
University of Delaware, Newark, DE
Players actively participating in this session should be college and adult men and women and their coaches
Hosted by the Wilmington Rugby Club and the University of Delaware DE 19807.
Exact training location is TBA - contact Bob Weir for details.

RSVP to Bob Weir at 302-377-6107
FREE to EPRU Members
NON- EPRU members will be charged a $10 or $25 Fee depending on level of participation.

Full release below - click to enlarge

While we recognize the timeline on this is very short, it was an opportunity we couldn't pass up. If you can make it up to any of the sessions (FREE for EPRU members, NOMINAL for others), please give it a try. I'm also so grateful for my club, Philadelphia Women's Rugby Football Club , for taking on a huge leadership role in making these sessions happen. If you a player or coach and your interested in what it's all about, please stop by the Tuesday session have a run around, and join us out for a post-training sharing of ideas and information.

If you have any questions at all about the sessions, which one you should go to, bringing/sending players, etc don't hesitates to ask.

MARFU U23 Spring/Summer schedule

2009-03-25T12:29:00.000-07:00

All local coaches & age-eligible players are welcome!

The MARFU U23 program, defending USA Rugby National All Star Champions from 2007 and 2008, announces their schedule for spring 2009.

April 24 - 26 MARFU U23 Developmental at DC Ruggerfest.
Players will assemble for a short training session Friday evening, participate in the tournament, and will be involved in mini-training sessions throughout the weekend. Initial invitations have been sent, and an additional round of invitations will be sent after the MARFU Collegiate Championships this weekend.

May 10 - skills camp (open, location TBD): Part 1: Winning the tackle contest. PART 2: counterattack.

MAY 24 - 25 - Selection camp & matches (open, Washington DC area, exact location TBD)
Saturday May 24th we will introduce the tools and tactics that the team will use in a competitive format. Two teams will be identified and two matches played will be played on Sunday May 25th. Selections for the 2009 National All Star Championship team will be made at this venue. All efforts will be made to find local lodging for players and eliminate any costs.

May 26- Selection deadline. All players will be notified of selections no later than May 26.

June 9 - June 14 - USA Rugby U-23 National All Star Championship, Pittsburg, PA

The MARFU U23 squad will assemble in Pittsburg PA on Tuesday June 9th. The team will train together Wed and Thursday. Friday MARFU will play the Northeast U23 team. Sunday MARFU U-23 will play either the Midwest U-23 or the Pacific Coast U-23 All Stars.

Players competing to represent MARFU should be fit, have a fundamental grasp of general rugby skills, and be highly competitive players who thrive in a team environment. Eligible players are CIPP registered members of MARFU born on or after January 2, 1986.

RSVP for camps are recommended but not required. If you intend on attending the the MARFU U23 event or if you have any questions, please contact:

Lisa Rosen, Head Coach - coachingrugby@gmail.com
Emily Sabato, Manager - emilysabato@gmail.com

Every effort has been made to work around graduation conflicts, but we understand that exception circumstances may impact individual players. If you are unable to attend the selection camp but wish to be considered for the 2009 team, please contact Lisa directly.

For further details, please visit the MARFU U23 blog at http://marfu-u23s.blogspot.com .

*** PLEASE NOTE: THE MARFU SENIOR WOMEN's program is running a concurrent schedule. For information about the MARFU senior side, please contact Lance Connelly, Head Coach - proplance@aol.com or Maria Vastola, Manager - mvastola@gmail.com

Pat Summit reaches 1000 wins ....

2009-02-05T17:01:00.000-08:00

Thought this was worth sharing...

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090202/SPORTS0601/902020349 .

ESPN has a list of Summitt's former players that are now in coaching as part of their all-Pat-Summitt tribute... and it's impressive

Professional ranks
Nancy Darsch, A/GA (1978-85): Assistant, Seattle Storm
Danielle Donehew, BO (2001-08): Executive VP, Atlanta Dream
Tanya Haave, P (1980-84): Former head coach, Satila Skene, Sweden
Lisa Harrison, P (1989-2003): Former assistant, Phoenix Mercury
Carla McGhee, P (1986-90): Former WNBA Player Personnel
Carolyn Peck, A (1993-95): Former head coach, Orlando Miracle
Trish Roberts, P (1976-77): Former head coach, Atlanta Glory (ABL)
Heidi VanDerveer, GA (1986-88): Former assistant, Seattle Storm

College ranks
Jody Adams, P (1989-93): Head coach, Wichita State
Jane Albright, GA (1981-83): Former head coach, Wichita State
Kathy Allen, GA (2002-04): Assistant at UAB
Sheila Frost Anderson, P (1985-89): Former assistant, Richmond
Debbie Ayers, GA (1989-90): Assistant, Stony Brook
Alysiah Bond, BO (1998-2001): Assistant, Arizona
Al Brown, A (1991-2002): Assistant, Duke
Greg Brown, A/GA (2002-04): Assistant, Central Florida
Niya Butts, P (1996-2000): Head coach, Arizona
Tasha Butts, P (2000-2005): Assistant, UCLA
Nikki Caldwell, P (1990-94)/A (2003-08): Head coach, UCLA
Shelia Collins, P (1981-85): Former head coach, West Georgia College
Abby Conklin, P (1993-97): Assistant, San Francisco
Kelli Casteel Cook, P (1988-92): Former head coach, Maryville College
Tony Cross, GA (1983-84): Head coach, Belmont
Nancy Darsch, A/GA (1978-1985): Former head coach, Ohio State
Mickie DeMoss, A (1985-2003): Assistant, Texas
Rochone Dilligard, P (1991-94): Former assistant, Austin Peay
Todd Dooley, M (1994-97): Former assistant, Maryville College
Tonya Edwards, P (1986-90): Head coach, Alcorn State
Angel Elderkin, GA (2006-07): Assistant, Virginia
Kyra Elzy, P (1996-2001): Assistant, Kentucky
Sharon Fanning, GA (1975-76): Head coach, Mississippi State
Daedra Charles Furlow, P (1989-91): Assistant, Tennessee
Teresa Geter, P (1997-99): Head coach, Denmark Technical College
Bridgette Gordon, P (1985-89): Assistant, Georgia State
Aubrey Guastalli, P (2005-06): Assistant, Fresno Pacific
Tanya Haave, P (1980-84): Head coach, San Francisco
Sylvia Hatchell, GA (1974-75): Head coach, North Carolina
Cindy Noble Hauserman, P (1978-81): Retired head coach, Centre College
Dean Head, P (1988-92): Former assistant, Central Connecticut State
Marlene Jeter, P (1990-92): Former head coach, Clinton (South Carolina) JC
Bernitha Johnson, M (2003-05): Assistant, Binghampton
Dana Johnson, P (1991-95): Former assistant, Morgan State
Kellie Jolly Harper, P (1995-99): Head coach, Western Carolina
Nancy Bowman Ladd, P (1973-75): Retired head coach, University of the South
Angela Lawson, GA (1989-91): Head coach, University of the Incarnate Word
Cheryl Littlejohn, P (1983-87): Former head coach, Chicago State
Lea Henry Manning, P (1979-83): Head coach, Georgia Stated
Michelle Marciniak, P (1993-96): Former assistant, South Carolina
Nikki McCray, P (1991-95): Assistant, South Carolina
Calamity McEntire, M (2002-03): Director of Basketball Operations, UC Santa Barbara
Carla McGhee, P (1986-90): Assistant, South Carolina
Matthew Mitchell, GA (1999-2000): Head coach, Kentucky
Zandra Montgomery Morris, P (1977-79): Former assistant, Lee
Mary Ostrowski, P (1980-84): Former assistant, Ohio State
Carolyn Peck, A (1993-95): Former head coach, Florida
Shalon Pillow, P (1998-2002): Assistant, Hofstra
Semeka Randall, P (1997-2001): Head coach, Ohio
Jill Rankin Schneider, P (1979-80)/GA (1980-81): Former assistant, Texas
Trish Roberts, P (1976-77): Former head coach, Stony Brook
Joy Scruggs, P (1972-75): Head coach, Emory & Henry College
Amber Stocks, BO/GA (2000-02): Assistant, Xavier
Judy Southard, GA (1977-78): Retired head coach, Marshall
Pam Tanner, GA/A (1990-93): Former head coach, Denver
Heidi VanDerveer, GA (1986-88): Head coach, Occidental College
Holly Warlick, P (1976-80)/A (1986-08): Assistant, Tennessee

High school ranks
Janet Allmon, GA (1983-84): Former head coach, Baldwin (Ga.) HS
Sheila Frost Anderson, P (1985-89): Assistant at Giles Colo. HS
Debbie Ayres, GA (1989-90): Former head coach, California School for the Deaf
Diane Brady, P (1974-75): Former head coach, McMinn Colo. HS
Cindy Brogdon, P (1977-79): Former head coach, Centennial (Ga.) HS; Facilities Director, Northview (Ga.) HS
Debbie Groover Buckner, P (1977-81): Assistant, Woodstock (Ga.) HS
Shelley Sexton Collier, P (1983-87): Head coach, Webb (Tenn.) HS
Abby Conklin, P (1993-97): Former head coach, Trinity (Ill.) HS
Karla Horton Douglas, P (1984-87): Assistant, Webb (Tenn.) HS
Rochone Dilligard, P (1991-94): Former head coach, Lebanon (Tenn.) HS
Tonya Edwards, P (1986-90): Former head coach, Northwestern (Mich.) HS
Cindy Noble Hauserman, P (1978-81): Head coach, Chillicothe (Ohio) HS
Marlene Jeter, P (1990-92): Assistant, Victory Christian Center (N.C.) HS
Dana Johnson, P (1991-95): Assistant, Western High (Md.) HS
Dawn Marsh, P (1984-88): Former head coach, Duluth (Ga.) HS
Zandra Montgomery Morris, P (1977-79): Former head coach, Cleveland (Tenn.) HS (boys team)
Pam Owens, GA (2006): Head coach, Judson (San Antonio, Texas) HS
Jill Rankin Schneider, P (1979-80)/GA (1980-81): Head coach, Monterey (Texas) HS
Suzanne Barbre Singleton, P (1974-78): Former head coach, Maryville (Tenn.) HS
Tiffany Woosley, P (1991-95): Former head coach, Lincoln Country (Fayetteville, Tenn.) HS

Some interesting highlights:

A few notes:
Summitt has a 100 percent graduation rate for all Lady Vols who have completed their eligibility at UT.
Summitt is the first woman’s basketball coach to earn a $1 million salary [but only as of 2006 and despite huge success].
She donated $600,000 last August to be split between UT-Martin and UT-Knoxville to support the women’s basketball programs.
Coached gold medal winning U.S. team at the 1984 Olympics (with Kay Yow).
Has won 8 national NCAA women’s basketball titles, 27 SEC tournament and regular season titles, 27 consecutive appearances in the NCAA tournamment Sweet 16.
Tennessee players include 12 Olympians, 19 Kodak All-Americans and 71 All-SEC players.
Summitt earned the John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching lifetime achievement award in 2008.

Her son's unique perspective on women's sports, by virtue of his unique mom, is really interesting (althought admittedly has a little cheesy touched-by-an-angel feeling to it that's probablly not quite reality) http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=summitt

Upcoming Clinics for College/U23 women

2009-02-02T08:00:00.001-08:00

Feb 21 2009 (Saturday): "Winning the Tackle Contest". Hosted by the MARFU U23 program, and James Madison University.

http://www.facebook.com/editevent.php?info&eid=73295614224

March 1 2009 (Sunday): Philadelphia Women's Rugby Free Collegiate Clinic. Hosted by PWRFC and Temple University. Register online at http://www.pwrfc.org/register.html

http://www.facebook.com/editevent.php?info&eid=73295614224#/event.php?eid=51448907521

The 100-0 high school girls basketball debacle ...

2009-01-26T18:35:00.000-08:00

I don't even really know where to begin with this. Having been, like most of us, on both sides of the ridiculous score coin and:

1) instructed my team to try and defend one blade of grass and measure our success by how long the interval between trys is, or how often they actually had to stiff arm one of us to get in the try zone

OR

2) subbed every player and then instructed everyone to play with their shoes untied, out of position, using only one hand, and not score until 10 people had touched the ball

I'm exaggerating for effect, obviously, but I'm sure you get the point.

Anyway, in a nutshell, a high school girls basketball team in Texas, who in previous seasons had lost as badly as 86-6, beat another team 100 - 0.

http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=264483

The coach was accused of unsportsmanlike conduct for allowing his girls to run up the score, and was asked to issue an apology. He didn't. The school did. At issue is the contention from the losing team that he kept his starters in way too long. The coach in question says this is unrepresentative of the actual game and that he subbed very early. The coach of the winning team did write a rather compelling statement in support of his choices, his players, and the lessons learned along the way.

He got fired.

http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=266213

Thoughts?

New Resource: IRB Coaching.com

2009-01-26T09:34:00.000-08:00

Just got an email from the IRB peeps about a new online resource they have released:

http://www.irbcoaching.com/sp8/ngb/irb/6stages/en/index.jsp

It looks like there's quite a bit of material there, so take a look, and please don't be shy about sharing your opinions. Membership is free!

Call for Contributors!

2009-01-04T10:36:00.001-08:00

I've been MIA for a little while, and decided that perhaps the best way to contribute to the coaching dialog here in the USA would be to open this blog to other coaches from around the community.

So how about it? Let's take this from "Lisa's blog" to a real, bonefide, mult-voice dialog.

I'd love to get a handful of regular contributors representing the various age/division/gender groups in the community - mens, women's, high school, college, D1, D2, etc etc.

2009 will undoubtedly be a very exciting year for rugby coaches here in the US ... just a few things coming down the pipe on the coaching side that I'm aware of:

USAR/IRB Advanced Coaching Course part 2 in Atlanta, February
USA Rugby Coach Development workshops all winter
IRANZ High Performance Coaching course in Glendale
Queensland University Coaching workshops
USA 7s and World Cup 7s (go USA!!)
Women's Territorial Season
Women's Superleage possibilities
Women's National Team camp in Feb - u20s, USA A, USA
Women's National Team USA and USA A matches with Canada this summer
Elite Coach Development Program attachment opportunities
a new MARFU Women's Senior Side coach (congrats Lance!!)

Anyone interested in being a contributor, just shoot me an email and let's get started!

Queensland Coaching Videos - Attack vs Defence Activities

2008-12-06T04:29:00.000-08:00

The folks that run the Queensland Rugby Union coaching courses have passed on some clips (below) from their various clinics ... For more information on the QRU, or to register, visit http://www.qru.com.au/qru/qru.rugby/page/67050

The Roff Drill for a simple overload and re-alignment activity, developed many years ago by Joe Roff while playing for the ACT Brumbies. The Activity develops both attacking and defensive realignment skills as well as attacking with, and defending against an overload in a dynamic situation.

Mark Bell Interview – 6 Principals of Scrummaging

Scrummaging 1v1 Progression Example

Video-Based Decision-Making (best viewed full screen & high quality)

Hooker – Post engagement shoulder technique

Front on Defense Technique

Catch/Pass Technique Demonstration

Catch/Pass Footage Examples Lecture

Ball Carrier into Contact - Tackle Contest Technique Demonstration

Tackle Contest - Ball Carrier Footage Examples

Pool workouts? Anyone?

2008-12-04T04:01:00.000-08:00

It's the off season now, and players are either in recovery mode or off season training mode.

I recently received an inquiry from a player recovering from some minor joint injuries for some pool training.

Anyone out there have any good pool workouts?

Good wishes to the WNT and MNT 7s team in Dubai !

2008-11-26T18:48:00.000-08:00

I heart thanksgiving. It's really the only holiday I really and truly celebrate. So, while we're thinking of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, string bean casserole, corn, sweet potatoes w/marshmallows, cranberry sauce, gravy, apple pie and pumpkin pie, enjoy some november highlights ...

Best of luck to both programs in their 7s World Cup rehersal ... track the womens experience here .

Congrats to everyone in the U19NASC and the red/white game .

Props to Candice from DC on her Obermann appearance .. here.

And happy Thanksgiving to everyone courtesy of our favorite gun-toting vice presidential nominee ... here.

No WAY...Rugby is for GIRLS !

2008-10-15T10:05:00.000-07:00

We train at field next to a playground/community center in a West Philly neighborhood. Every day there's an interesting assortment of kids out - some love us and are constantly tossing rugby balls around, hitting tackle dummies, etc. Some just see as as people occupying their playground space and interfering with their ability to toss around a football or hit some baseballs any time they want. "PERMIT? Lady, we were here first!" (ie playground rules apply).

Regardless of which kids are out at the playground that day, it's usually an entertaining and highly interactive experience.

Yesterday at training, one of our players was working on her throw-ins (hooker). She was interacting with one of the more colorful kids - (he's about 3 feet tall, sweet as cherry pie one day, and the next - he's got the mouth of a sailor who's having abdominal surgery with no anesthesia).

Dialog follows ...

Player to kid: So, are you gonna play rugby when you get bigger?
Kid to player: No WAY ..... Rugby is for GIRLS

Out of the mouths of babes ... :)

Defense!

2008-10-09T14:30:00.000-07:00

I've heard two pretty interesting and very different statements over my career from two VERY successful coaches.

"Sometimes you just have to play defense long enough to figure out how to win".

"I don't coach defense, I coach turning over the ball, and offense."

What do you think? How much of your time is spent during any given session, week, or season on defense?

Women's Club Rugby Action Calendar - available online (updated)!

2008-08-29T07:02:00.000-07:00

Pass the word (shameless self promotion of my club):

Philadelphia Women's Rugby is proud to present our first ever Women's Rugby Calendar for 2009! This calendar is filled with high quality action shots of some of the top women's rugby teams and players. Calendars are $25 each or two for $40. Proceeds benefit the Philadelphia Women's Rugby Football Club.

Attached is a screen shot of "July", featuring the Atlanta Harlequins vs the Raleigh Venom.
Each month features a top matchup from games and all over the country (not just pumpkinfest as I previously posted ... sorry!) including shots from the National Round of 16 and the National Championships in 2007. We've got teams from all across the country, including Berkeley, ORSU, and the Amazons.

More previews and order information is available at www.albrightstudio.com/anthony. html

Enjoy!

What are YOU going to do to help?

2008-08-27T07:22:00.000-07:00

I can't help but notice, reading the rugby news sites (Gainline, ERN aka Goff) how much venom is in the comments. What's it all about? Winning - specifically, the lack thereof.

Whether its our MNT or our WNT, age grade or seniors, it's the same. Everyone wants results from our national teams, and if those results don't come the moment we want them, the masses rally with pitchforks and torches, ready to storm the castle.

We complain about money, salaries, resources, etc. We complain about assemblies and foreigners, and boards and grants. We whine about what other countries have, and focus on what we do not.

Well, this is America. So why don't we talk about America - after all that's what this is all about, and we have, quite surely, lost sight of what that means.

Sports, at the international level, are so much more than just demonstrations of skill. Our sports teams reflect our successes and failings as a culture and as a society. Our sports teams reflect our social and political identity. Our sports teams reflect how we live our lives and how we conduct ourselves in the face of adversity.

International athletic competition, at its most base level, is a metaphor for war. It is a way for civilized cultures to test their mettle against each other in a way that doesn't involve loss of life or territory. No where is this clearer than in the most recent Olympic games - one only need look at the medal race between the USA and China to realize - these Americans aren't just competing to see if they are faster, fitter, or can better nail a vault but to demonstrate that athletes don't need to be political prisoners in order to be successful.

It's not just a test of our physical and mental toughness, it's a test of our ability to organize, its a test of our technology, it's a test of our leadership.

If anyone out there thinks that China wasn't sending a message about their organization, technical superiority, and unity of purpose, watch the opening ceremonies again.

Some quick historical reminders of how international sports aren't really about speed, agility, or quickness:

Adolf Hitler and the 1932 games
Jessie Owens response to Adolf Hitler and the 1932 games
USA vs Russia, the Miracle on Ice, during the height of the cold war.
USA's boycott of the Moscow Olympics in 1980, in protest of Soviet aggression in Afghanistan.
The massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich games in 1972
The bombing at the Atlanta games by white supremist Eric Rudolf in 1996

If national sports teams are a reflection of who we are as a nation, what does that reflection look like, for rugby?

I see players, men and women, who reflect a vastly diverse cross section of our population. We have 'foreign born players'? Well, we have foreign born Americans. We have gay and lesbian players? Well, we have and protect that diversity in America.

Our support of womens national teams and programs reflects our commitment to equality and women's rights, our cultural and social diversity reflects our commitment to embrace social and cultural diversity as a country.

But we are losing our @#*(, if I may speak bluntly. So I'm asking everyone out there ... what have YOU, personally, done to help our national team programs - both genders, all age groups? Anything?

What can you do?

Alot.

Our national team coaches need players to come into the system fit, skilled, smart, and tough. They need to step into their first assembly with skills and smarts. No one coach needs this any more than any other. If we started from scratch with new coaches in every single position, they would still need players who were fit, skilled, smart, and tough. You have the power to make that happen.

How? We need to step out of comfort zones and start learning from each other. We need to start working with each other, not against each other. First and foremost, we need to start asking "How can I help?", and never stop asking.

Go to a coaching clinic. Don't like the material presented? Then get something from the other coaches. Go to someone else's practice. Have someone else run yours. Step out of your silo. Some of the best coaching in our country are at the collegiate level and even at the youth level. Talk to them. Watch them. Ask them what they do. Who cares that you coach superleage and they coach College? I bet you'll still leave the session with something new to try, or a new way to present the information.

Find a coaching partner, who can watch you coach and help you improve. Watch him or her, and help him improve.

Question everything you do. Push yourself.

Volunteer to host camps & events. If funding is a problem for our national teams, let's find ways to use the resources we have, so our men and women and boys and girls don't have to pay for them.

DO SOMETHING. BE PART OF THE SOLUTION.

If we want rugby to be embraced by Americans, American's rugby people need to start embracing rugby. All the way. And that means we all need to start working harder - we need actions, not words, plans instead of just ideas.

We need leadership, and when leaders are identified and chosen, we need to support and trust them, and give them time to build something. We need to support and trust our leaders AND the players the select, their jobs are hard enough as it is without them having to fight a never-ending internal battles.

We need to start treating our national teams, our players and coaches, as the flag bearers for our country. We need to embrace all that is great about being American, and inject that into the heart and soul of every player or coach wearing a jersey or polo - whether they were born here or not. Bottom line, players need to want to play for the USA because they want to represent the USA - not just because it's cool, they get a trip to a foreign country, a few weeks off work, and maybe a pro contract.

We need to practice singing the National Anthem, and when we sing it, we need to sing it with love not just for the game, but for the freedoms and opportunities that being AMERICAN give us. And we need to find away for EVERY player with the desire, heart, and skill to represent America to get there, not just the players who can afford it.

So I'm putting out an open call to everyone coaching rugby out there, and I'm gonna ask ... what are you going to do? What specific, measurable, step are YOU going to take to help? If you're willing to share an idea here, let's see it. No bitching or moaning, no whining. Just action. What are you going to do?

Highlights: USA v England Nations Cup Match, full match available for download

2008-08-26T06:27:00.000-07:00

Highlights courtesy of Escher Rugby Club. I've been going back and forth trying to get the quality up without the bandwidth sucking, and I've basically given up. Presented for your pleasure are 2 different players. The youtube player is lower fidelity, but will start playing quickly.

The podbean player will you you nice high fidelity, but takes forever.

Low:

High (scroll down):

Download the full match here, in it's entirety. Be forewarned, its a 441 meg file - you are on your own for download support.

Got 7s' Game?

2008-07-02T07:43:00.000-07:00

I just got this from Julie McCoy, the WNT 7s coach. What I particularly like is the call to anyone who thinks they've got the right 7s stuff, to contact her, and prove it.

So if you believe you are the @*#$ at 7s, contact her.

The US Women's 7s TU committee, in conjunction with the US Women's 7s Coaching Staff are holding an informal "7s Challenge Cup" tournament in Chicago, Illinois, July 18,19.

The US U23, and TU teams will be competing as a "warmup" venue for 7s ITTs to be held in Pittsburgh, PA, Aug 23-25.

This summer will mark the end of scouting opportunities for selection of the World Class Cup Squad, that will be practicing and playing together Sept 2008 culminating in the 7s World Cup, March 2009.

If you want to be seen, but haven't had the opportunity to make it to your TU camp, please contact Julie McCoy, the US Women's 7s coach for assitance. The US Team is interested in ANY player, which includes those in the Club 7s/15s system, collegiate, or the D2 level.

Julie McCoy: jmccoy@usarugby.org

NCAA Rugby Videos = AMAZING!

2008-06-24T06:47:00.001-07:00

As brought to you from yourscrumhalfconnection, these videos are just TOO GOOD for one blog...

NASC 2008 Video Highlights: MARFU U23 v MIDWEST U23

2008-06-20T06:49:00.000-07:00

Got a few more clips for this one. Tries are first, followed by some other memorable sequences.

Try #1 v Midwest U23. Off a driving lineout, Katy Black( prop, Westchester) peels off the back and is shut down just short of the tryzone. Kara Bodison (lock, PSU) is in support, picks, and dives in for the try.

Try #2 v Midwest U23. Kate Daley (#8, PSU) picks off the back of a solid scrum and dashs strong for the try.

Try #3 v Midwest U23. Kate Daley (#8, PSU) picks off the back of a solid scrum and dashs weak for the try.

Try # 4 v Midwest U23. From a scrum, the backs run a blind side attack using Danielle Monica (Temple). She is well defended, but in the follow up forward attack sequence, after several phases, Blythe Hagan (Lock, Brandywine) dives in for the score.

Try #5 v Midwest U23. Midwest lose the ball in their own end, and MARFU move it sketchily through the hands. Moira Somerdky (center, Temple) powers through the defenders and touches down for the final try of the game.

Scrum tackle tackle poach kick catch run

A Midwest driving lineout is foiled

COLLISION: Moira vs Schmarrah

A nice kick reception sequence

NASC 2008 Video Highlights: MARFU U23 v PACIFIC U23

2008-06-20T06:45:00.000-07:00

I've only got a few done from this match (really just the tries), but I'll add more later ... There were some terrific tackles in this match that I'd love to share, and of course the whole swinging a tackled player into the ref thing ...

Try #1 v Pacific U23. Pacific launches a powerful forward attack out of their own end, looking to clear. The clearing kick is blocked, MARFU gains possession, and the ball is transfered through Alison Wormans hands (flanker, PSU) to Megan Newton (fullback, JMU) who stiffarms two defenders to score the try.

Try #2 v Pacific U23. Julia Swavola (flanker, JMU) poaches in her own end, pitches to Kara Bodison (lock, PSU) who pins the first defender and put's Steph (wing, Westchester) away for a 90 meter try.

Try #3 v Pacific U23. Annie Ziegler (Scrumhalf, PSU) moves the ball to Megan Newton (flyhalf, JMU), who moves the ball to Natalie Monroig (Fullback, Shippensburg) who slices through the defense to score with Danielle Monica (Wing, Temple) in support.

Yay us! And some thoughts about rest ...

2008-06-17T07:46:00.001-07:00

So this weekend I was privileged to be with the MARFU U23 team as they won their second straight National All Star Championship title. I'll write a bit more about that later, as well as post some videos, but my immediate thoughts are around the issue of rest and recovery while in competition.

The heat in Pittsburgh was oppressive. It was hot, it was humid, and we trained and played in the hottest parts of the day. After a less than optimal performance on Friday (we played well in our system and made smart decisions about space, but our defense left quite a bit to be desired), the coaching staff and I made a consious desision to NOT practice on Saturday.

Thing is, if we had practiced, we certainly would have been able to tighten some things up - especially our defensive alignment. Without a doubt, playing the Midwest, improvement in all phases of our defense was critical. But it was sooo, sooo hot, and we'd been pushing everyone pretty hard.

So we made a choice. We did a pool recovery session, and watched a bit of video, then gave the girls the afternoon off. The game plan and patterns we put in place required mental acuity and group decision making, so we wanted everyone to be fresh and rested, body and mind, when we kicked off. One or even two practices Saturday wasn't going to get us in that state. When players are physically and mentally tired, the often make poor decisions and are vulnerable to injury (the same could be said for coaches who don't take time to decompress!). When players are fresh and sharp, I believe they play better rugby, communicate better with each other, and they can problem solve on the fly.

On Sunday our turnovers were reduced, our ball presentation was much improved, our speed across the tunnel better, our clearance of defenders from the rucks was quicker, but mostly our defensive pressure and decision making was radically different from Friday. Granted, we went out early Sunday and walked through roles on defense, but we didn't really run anything at pace.

This is the second year we opted not to train on Saturday, and thus far I've learned that if you take care of the athletes and give them rest and recovery, they take care of the ball and make good decisions on the pitch.

Any thoughts on rest and recovery? I know a lot of the teams in Pittsburgh trained on Saturday, and at least a couple of the programs trained twice. What's been your experience with training/not training in these sorts of events, or training the day before "the big game"? I know the NRU senior side trained on saturday, and they came away with an impressive victory so arguments can be made for either strategy.

Thoughts?

Exploring the ELVs - Assistant Referees

2008-06-05T05:38:00.000-07:00

The implentation of the ELVs will be here before we know it - August 1 to be specific. Since they effect EVERYONE - 7s, 15s, u19, etc - I thought it would be interesting to discuss them in detail, in sequence, and talk about how they may impact us at the grass roots level, and see if we can have some Q&A, now, before all the changes happened. An excerpt from the IRB ELV Guide is first, with my commentary below. Feel free to join the discussion!

[ ------ Begin IRB Excerpt ----- ]

Experimental Law Variation 1 Law 6 - Match Officials
Assistant referees are able to assist the referee in any way that the referee requires.

What this means for the Game
When appointed by a match organizer, e.g. a Rugby Union, SANZAR, ERC, etc., qualified touch judges will be known as assistant referees and can, at the discretion of the referee, be assigned additional responsibilities.

This Experimental Law Variation is designed to allow assistant referees to provide additional information to the referee to assist in decision making.

Law text: Law 6 MATCH OFFICIALS
Every match is under the control of match officials who consist of the referee and two touch judges or assistant referees. Additional persons, as authorized by the match organizers, may include the referee, reserve touch judge and/or assistant referee, an official to assist the referee in making decisions by using technological devices, the time keeper, the match doctor, the team doctors, the non-playing members of the teams and the ball persons.

A touch judge may be appointed by a match organizer or a team involved in a match and is responsible for signaling, touch, touch-in-goal and the success or otherwise of kicks at goal. An assistant referee may be appointed by a match organizer and is kesponsible for signaling, touch, touch-in-goal, the success or otherwise of kicks at goal and indicating foul play. An assistant referee will also provide assistance to the referee in the performance of any of the referee’s duties as directed by the referee.

[ ------ End IRB Excerpt ----- ]

Opinions, projections, and speculation

So basically what this law is saying is, if the Touch Judge is "qualified", he or she may be designated as an "Assistant Referee". Well, this kind of happens, now, certainly at Nationals, at Test matches, and and some LAU/TU championship games, and at National All Star Championship venues. It sort of sounds like this is simply formalizing the role of "qualified" touch judges as bone fide assistant referees.

What does "qualified" mean? Does it mean that the individual has completed a formal Touch Judge certification course, or do you need to complete a Referee certification course?

And who, for our purposes on the ground, in our routine matches, is the Match organizer? Ref society? LAUs? Agreement between match secretaries? In most of the matches I'm involved with, there's a ref, and each team contributes a touch judge. Often times that person is a replacement player, an injured player, a friend of the team, alumni, or a coach. Sometimes (seldom) that individual is a certified ref, but they are almost NEVER a neutral party with no interest in the outcome.

The language here - "A touch judge may be appointed by a match organizer or a team involved in a match and is responsible for signaling, touch, touch-in-goal and the success or otherwise of kicks at goal" indicated to me that we are formalizing the varying role of "touch judge" vs "assistant ref". A "touch judge" gets to weigh in on the stuff they've been weighing in on forever (touch & kicks), and an "assistant referee" gets to weigh in on the stuff the touch judge does, PLUS specifically FOUL PLAY, plus specifically anything else the Referee tells them to weigh in on.

I'm personally just fine with this, it seems like it's mostly about role delineation, though I don't expect we're going to see assistant referees outside of championship matches for a while, we just don't have the resources. As the rule reads, "match organizers" assign assistant referees, "match organizers or teams" assign touch judges. Works for me.

Any thoughts?

Getting ready for NASCs

2008-06-03T07:44:00.000-07:00

This past weekend our MARFU U23 pool players met up with the MARFU senior players and the NRU seniors player in Phoenixville, PA, as the last preparation for the 2008 NASCs.

Circumstances have arisen that make this a great opportunity for our territory - for one thing, Pittsburgh is hosting this year, meaning, for the first time in my whole rugby career, I don't have to get on a plane to go to NASCs.

Since our territory is hosting (of course some Pittsburg teams identify with the Midwest, others with MARFU), we got some bonus opportunities.

MARFU Seniors are fielding not one, but two sides this year, in order to fill the vacant 8th seed. In years way past the USA U23s filled that slot - in recent years past it was the Canada U23s, and last year the Minnesota selects. MARFU II (as we refer to this group of players) have been preparing along with MARFU I, so I think it will be a great experience.

On the U23 side, the 8th seed has previously been filled by the USA U19s (now U20s). But, the U20s are touring South Africa this summer, and won't be available for NASCs.
To fill this spot, USA Rugby asked us to help coordinate a territorial development team. Teams can roster up to 28 players at NASCs, but typically not all those players get a chance to compete, and coaches often identify a smaller primary team and several alternates. This year, all those players will get a chance to play together in Tier II and practice together as part of this territorial development team. I'm excited to see SO MANY athlete's get a chance to play this year.

So anyway - last weekend we all circled up in Phoenixville PA. All the programs came out early to do some prep training. For MARFU U23 (and NRU Seniors), this was the final step in the selection process. We went over set pieces and team pattern play during the morning, and after a brief lunch break/rain delay, the matches began.

We didn't get to see much of the MARFU/NRU game, but i know the NRU came out on top despite some strong individual performances and solid scrummaging by MARFU.

The remaining teams played a 40 minute round robin format, with MARFU U23 vs MARFU II, MARFU II vs NRU, and MARFU U23 vs NRU. The MARFU U23 v MARFU II game was very, very competitive (5-5), and both team's were able to identify areas for improvement going into NASCs. I didn't get to see the MARFU II/NRU game (7-5), as we were prepping our second group of players. For the last 40 minute period MARFU U23 played NRU, as both coaches were looking to flesh out their final selections.

MARFU U23 got our asses kicked (7ish tries?), by the NRU, but I must say it was an honor and a privilege to play against some of the more experienced NRU players - our girls definitely have a view of what higher level rugby is about, as well as a sense of how seriously investing time in agility, weight training, and skill development can build you into a world class/world cup level player. Though we were outmatched through experience & age, there were definitely some strong performances by the MARFU U23 players, and we know what we need to work on going into Pittsburgh this year.

If you're interested in the final selections for MARFU U23, visit the team blog at http://marfu-u23s.blogspot.com .

Congrats to everyone and thanks to both MARFU Seniors and NRU for the fantastic competition.

Non Rugby: Finding a dead body

2008-05-26T05:40:00.000-07:00

I thought for a while about whether I should blog about this, since it's completely non-rugby. But it's my space to do with what I want, and today I want to write about what happened to me and my partner on Saturday. This memorial day weekend did not turn out the way I expected.

We decided to take the two younger dogs to the local dog park on Saturday, and then go for a short hike. The Mondauk dog park in Ft Washington is a really terrific place for pet owners. They have a big dog area, a little dog area, and a couple of different trails. We spent some time in the big dog park, walked down one of the little trails, and then decided it would be fun to explore the creek.

It reminded me a lot of living in Colorado, and hiking up a shallow stream bed looking for a hot fishing spot. Really really good times. I was super happy :)

So we're about calf deep in water, looking at the baby fish and laughing at Ursula (the giant puppy), as she experienced wading for the first time. A couple of times we thought about turning around, but each time decided, "naa, maybe there will be a really cool little picnic spot around the bend".

Except there wasn't. There was a dead body. At first, for just a second, I actually thought it might be a mannequin. But in my heart I knew it wasn't. The body was small. It was male. He was face down in the water, in jeans & a short sleeved shirt. He didn't have any shoes on. It looked like a kid.

So we called 911 and immediately got out of the water. We really weren't deep in the woods at all - it was one of those suburban hiking trails, where it seems remote, but really your skimming backyards along the way.

By the time we got out of the woods, the police had arrived. We led them back to the body. The first officer mentioned that there hadn't been any recent reports of missing kids, and that the body may have been in the water for a while. The second officer took our names and contact info, and then we left and went home. The very first thing we did was take showers. There is something about being in the water with a dead body that makes you feel so much worse than just dirty. It makes you feel like you have death on you. As if death were somehow contagious and we could wash it off.

It was really odd - i wasn't upset, or shocked, or anything like that. But my adrenaline was very high. I felt like I desperately needed to tell someone what had happened. So I told a few people, and realized maybe I was a little more upset that I thought.

We decided we needed to have some sangria and just chill. My partner recently lost a family member (as in like 3 days ago) so it was a little more death than either of us needed. We spent the rest of the day on the deck - with a fire burning and wine in hand.

Saturday night we put on the news, and sure enough, there was the story. That's when I finally freaked out a little. I mean, this was a kid - it's amazing how your brain starts inventing possible back stories. Who was he, what happened, what about his family, was it an accident, was it foul play, what? When I closed my eyes that night it was clear that the image of this body, face down in the creek, with jeans, a short sleeved shirt, and no socks, would be burned in my memory forever.

So now it's Monday and it's still on my mind. It's still in the news, and what's interesting is that the person face down in the stream with jeans, a short sleeved shirt, and no shoes was in fact an adult male. They identified him via a cell phone, and are waiting to release his name pending notification of his family. Hopefully that will happen soon - regardless of what the circumstances are surrounding his death, I imagine his family wants and needs this closure.

Today's Memorial day and it strikes me that for someone will remember Memorial day as the time the found out the fate of a missing family member.

So that's it. The fire, alcohol, and showers haven't done a thing to soften the image of the dead stranger, face down in the creek, in jeans and a short sleeved shirt, with with no socks. It's going to take more than a weekend for sure.

Experimental Law's Variations - August 2008

2008-05-22T07:22:00.001-07:00

Just received this via the IRB for broad circulation.

Just received this from the IRB for broad circulation, consume and enjoy.

Attached please find the details of the ELVs, slated to go into effect as a "Global Trial" in August of 2008. This global trial applies to 7s and U19s as well as 15s.

Note: This initial set of ELVs to be trialed starting in August DOES NOT include upcoming changes to what happens in rucks. It does address mauls, lineouts (all sorts of modifications), scrums (specific to off sides), and kicking (specific to the 22) in detail.

The document can be downloaded in it's entirety here: http://www.irb.com/mm/Document/NewsMedia/0/IRBELVGuideENFINAL_5097.pdf

Thoughts?

MARFU U-23 Updates

2008-05-13T13:14:00.001-07:00

'Tis the season for select sides!

All the MARFU U23 stuff is being hosted on a seperate blog site - please visit!

Open Tryouts May 18th 2008 - Directions and Details

MARFU U23 Developmental team at Ruggerfest

Non rugby: Dear Dr Leibovitz

2008-05-08T07:00:00.000-07:00

So K-2 (pictured in black and white on the sidebar) is a Siberian Husky, closing in on 15 years of age. He is perky, active, talkative, agile and puppy like in many ways. He's also got a variety of tumors. There's a big one in (not on) his butt, several little ones all over his torso, a small one that looks like a miniature brain on his head, a fatty one on one of his front legs, and this one....

On Tuesday morning, this lovely tumor was red, inflamed, hot, and generally gross in every way.

So today, my 14 y/o going on 15 y/o dog is getting it removed. The last time he went under anesthesia, he basically talked for 2 straight days. Apparently this is common with northern breeds. Seriously, yelp, yelp, yelp, yelp, yelp for about 48 hours. NON STOP. But of course, I'd rather have him chattering for 2 days than not have him.

So Dr. Leibovitz (vet extraordinaire), please have an awesome day today.

MARFU U23 Women's All Stars: Tryouts this weekend and next!

2008-05-07T07:42:00.001-07:00

For details:

http://marfu-u23s.blogspot.com

OR on facebook ...

May 11th - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=13221718412
May 18th - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=24489371088

Shoulders below hips - is it ever ok?

2008-05-07T06:59:00.000-07:00

I had a lengthy discussion this weekend with a referee about the notion of "shoulders below hips". After reading the comments on the Stanford v PSU women's collegiate championship final, it seems this topic requires further discussion. (how does it feel to be the subject of our discussions Alison?)

At the forefront of the shoulders-below-hips issue is the technique known as "sealing".

Sealing occurs when, as the offensive players who arrives first to the breakdown, you bind tightly to the player on the ground. When done correctly, the player pulls the head and neck towards the shoulders, tensing everything in the front and back of the neck, and pulls the player on the ground towards the upper body, essentially creating a seamless "seal". This technique of "securing" the head and neck is known as "turtling". Players contesting the breakdown are free to counter-ruck and drive the sealed player off the ball, though a nice tight bind by the sealing player, and traditional "drive over" support by the supporting offensive players make it more challenging to contest for the ball. when done correctly, a seal does not kill the ball, in fact it makes it more playable for the team that arrived first to the breakdown. It completely eliminates some of the wild kicking that can occur at the breakdown, and it significantly cuts the number of players required to maintain possession at the breakdown.

At the highest level - Sealing is a no brainer. Do it, and do it well, or you won't get selected. From a coaching perspective, coaching the seal safely should be considered as critical as coaching safe scrummaging or safe tackling.

What's the point of contention for referees? Well, there are few. If the defense does not in fact contest the breakdown, and the sealing player came in with power (as they should, since the may very well transition from seal to clear-out mode as they arrive), the arriving players momentum may create a "diving over" scenario. At the higher levels, arriving players are not penalized for diving over, since that scenario does not present itself unless the breakdown is uncontested - in which case there since there no defense, a player who finds themselves on the other side of the downed ball carrier is neither impeding play, nor in a dangerous position (if theres no one around you to injure you, are you going to be injured?).

Many referees contend that, at the seal, since the shoulders are often below the hips, the act itself is inherently dangerous. And there is guidance to back this up.

So I suppose this is where discretion of an individual referee comes in. Do we apply the same standard of safely to a new, younger, or less physically mature player that we do with a fit, well trained, experienced player?

My discussion this weekend ended at an impasse - the specific take on sealing was that, if your butt was down and your head up, it was safe, since the shoulders were above the hips.

I disagree - in this scenario, players arriving from the defensive side of the breakdown can very easily drive a knee (unintentionally, simply in the act of rucking) into the sealing players face and chin, and players from the offensive side can easily drive the sealing player over the top of the downed player, simply by applying any pressure to the sealing player from behind.

In the "tight and turtled" scenario, the sealing player is in a modified 4 point stance, with their head securely nestled on the offensive side of the downed player, with their head and neck muscles in a solid and balanced position. Is their head below their shoulders? YES. But, if done correctly, you are literally pulling the downed player toward you, and, were you as a player, to let go, you'd remain on your feet.

Interestingly enough, this same weekend we ran into some challenges with our scrummaging style. Since the head is in a neutral position (imagine how your head sits on top of your body now, then simply bend at the waist without changing head position, and you'll see what that's like), the clear cut "head above hips" is hard to see. In fact, it looks like the head is exactly even with the hips (which, is what this particular style calls for). Since guidance is "head above hips, always and forever", this style of scrummaging has drawn some angst from many in the referee circuits. Which, lets face it, is a problem - since this style of scrummaging is being taught throughout the country, to men and women of all ages, as the way WE (USA) are going to scrum.

What to do? I'd love to hear from a high level (B1 etc) ref on the matter ... At this point, on game day - I have no idea what to expect. With the ELV's looming on the horizon, it seems we'd better sort this all out.

Good luck to PSU, Navy and Shippensburg - and watch it all live!

2008-05-02T05:27:00.000-07:00

This weekend 3 MARFU Collegiate women's programs vie for the #1 spot in the country at USA Rugby's Collegiate Championships.

AND YOU CAN WATCH IT ALL LIVE (times are pacific - add 3 hours if you are on the east coast) ...

USA Rugby has partnered with the National Guard & ESPN to stream all the games live and do television broadcasts.

From usarugby.org ..

Friday, May 2
11:00 pm: Division I Women's Semi Final (Penn State vs. Brown) 1:00 pm: Division I Women's Semi Final (Stanford v Navy) 3:00 pm: Division I Men's Semi Final (Cal v Saint Mary's) 5:00 pm: Division I Men's Semi Final (BYU v CU - Boulder)

Saturday, May 3
11:00 pm: Division II Women's Championship - UM-Duluth vs.
Shippensburg
1:00 pm: Division II Men's Championship - Radford vs. Utah Valley State 3:00 pm: Division I Women's Championship 5:00 pm: Division I Men's Championship

And don't forget, the 2008 USA Rugby's National Guard College Club Championships is also part of ESPNU's expanded coverage of USA Rugby. A tape delayed telecast of the USA Rugby National Guard Men's and Women's Division I College Championships will be aired on May 21 and 22, at 10 p.m. EST.

To access the live stream ...

http://usarugby.tampadigital.com/video/665EC396CF/Click+Play+for+Live+Stream

Politics meets rugby at the Philly WNT skills camp ....

2008-04-20T18:22:00.000-07:00

From the Philly WNT skills camp ....

Who's front and center, wearing a USA Rugby jersey? Yup, it's Chelsea Clinton. She was visiting the Lansdowne YMCA, across the street from where the WNT was training, talking about her mom and (of course) universal healthcare.

The players signed a USA Rugby jersey presented it to her. She donned said rugby jersey and took some photos with the team.

Primary season in Philly continues ...

Getting struck by lightning

2008-04-13T04:41:00.000-07:00

So yesterday, while the pitch set up for the day's activities, we all got struck by lightning.

I'm totally serious.

How can a bunch of people get struck by lightning? We'll it's called a ground current, or a side flash - not sure what the heck we experienced, maybe one, maybe both Read about it here ...

Here's how it goes: Lightning strikes an open field, or something in an open space (in this case a light pole), and if the conditions are right, the electrical current zaps anyone in the area. In this case, a wet field = the right conditions. I think we're all very glad that the individual closest to to light pole was wearing giant rubber galoshes, and spared what could have been a life-stealing jolt.

So anyway, we're futzing about the field, it's a light drizzle with a few dark clouds, but certainly nothing scary. Then WHAM! A flash, a bang, and then a TAZER to the head!

Most everyone got knocked to the ground and felt the shock through the tops of their head, though a couple of people who were bending over at the time felt it through their posteriors. The distance impacted was pretty big - the guys playing softball one field over also got knocked down and were grabbing their heads.

After we retreated (a little shook up) to the cars to wait out the ensuing thunderstorm, I took a stroll to inspect "ground zero" of the strike (within 20 minutes of the event the sky was blue and the sun was out). This pole was SHREDDED - shards of splintered wood were sticking out of the ground like spears."

So there it is. I will never ever underestimate lightning and its power. I promise to adhere to any and all lightning related safety policies.

And I'm really hoping everyone gets super powers, myself included.

Absoulutely non-rugby, rather, irritated about my voter registration form

2008-04-03T12:34:00.000-07:00

So, here's the deal.

I've been an independent my whole voting life. There are philosophical things that I like about the Republicans, but when it comes to my day to day existence, I mostly support the Democrats. Recently though, I've grown weary of the shenanigans.

Like a zillion other Pennsylvanians, I'm excited about having a chance to vote in the Democratic primary. I got a voter registration form, so I could change my party affiliation from Independent to Democrat. It sat for a day or two, and then one day on the way to work, I was stopped by some people doing voter registrations in Suburban Station, and I said "heck, I better do this now before I procrastinate and I'm S.O.L". So I did. Yay!

Not yay. B@&**#*T. Less than 48 hours after handing this nice volunteer my voter registration form, I got a phone call from one of the two campaigns. The caller left me a voicemail and said "We heard that you were interested in supporting XXX. We also hear that you might be interested in volunteering! I'm your neighbor, I live in your area... call me!"

There is only ONE PLACE that the caller could have gotten my number ... my CELL phone number ... from my Voter Registration Form. Without a doubt, my data was harvested and forwarded on to a rep in my county... a "neighbor."

I have been receiving calls from this campaign every 2-3 days. Always the same thing. I've told them very clearly, "I'm not supporting XXX, I'm supporting DDD. Thank you for your enthusiasm, but please don't call me anymore". It hasn't stopped. It's as if my phone number, name, age, etc, from my voter registration form, has been loaded into a sales-lead of database. It's rude. Its NOT OK.

Most people who know me are aware of the candidate I support - however I have little doubt that both campaigns are doing this. Which is crap. What happen to registering to vote because it was both your civic duty, AND your privilege as an American?

My voter registration form is a government document. Its private. It's got all my personal info on it. ITS PRIVATE!!!! You don't have the right to harvest my information! YOU DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT TO TREAT ME LIKE A SALES LEAD.

So, to "my neighbor" who keeps calling me .... PLEASE. STOP. NOW. PERIOD.

A question from a visitor ...

2008-03-25T07:56:00.000-07:00

I received this in my mailbox today from reader from the Men's Club community. It highlights how routine and casual decisions by us as coaches can have a heartbreaking impact on players. When we dangle that carrot and say "you'll get a chance to compete", we have to do just that.

body of email:
---------------------------
I play for a D3 club team and I'm in the pack. I have always wanted to become one of those TDMs (tactical decisionmakers) for the team and put a lot of thought and practice into improving how I see the game. This year our team has a need for a scrumhalf, and I was told to train up my fitness to play the position. I knew that two other guys would be competing for it as well; we all have different pluses and minuses.

Last week, after our second week of spring practice, I was told that they wouldn't be using me at scrumhalf, but to keep my skills up because it might "be an option" down the line. I will admit that I was deflated by this, and as an adult club rugby player, it's been hard to motivate myself to keep up the fitness or enthusiasm for practice since then.

The problem I have with the process is that none of our practices even involved any scrumhalf play (they were all just "let's get back in the swing of things" basic skills refreshers), and there was no opportunity to trial for the 9 shirt. While I'm sure I would be disappointed if I was beat out for a position, it is far more disheartening to lose a position without ever having a chance to
compete for it. I believe my skills are better than the other guys, and given a scrimmage, that I could run the scrumhalf position better. If I compete and am proven to be wrong, I am willing to accept that. It is hard to accept being shown a carrot and then having it removed so offhandedly.

I'd love to hear your (and your colleague's) thoughts on what a player should do in this situation. I also wanted to put out there the idea that, in my opinion, coaches should be conscious of players individual ambitions, and not make decisions like this with the appearance of casual judgment.
---------------------------------------

Its interesting that this email comes the day we're "declaring" our individual seasonal goals at today's training. How do others in the coaching community balance the needs of the individual with the needs of the team?

Anyone have any advice for this guy?

Deciding, Planning, Scripting

2008-03-24T11:12:00.001-07:00

Every Coach Development workshop I go to focuses on the criticality of developing decision makers - players who can look at what's in front of them, collate and assess all sorts of relevant information, select a course of action, and implement that course of action.

How well are we doing it?

One of the things that's becoming clearer to me, as I examine my own coaching sessions, as I watch other's sessions, and as I talk with players, is that we need to distinguish between planning and deciding.

Very few coaches, when asked, will tell you that they want to play a heavily scripted game. There are a few of us who still hold fast to the 900,000 page play book, but those of us who do stand fiercely by the theory that a "play" is a starting point, it's the follow up actions that constitute the decision.

I'm thinking about that ....

Now I'm not saying we should throw away the play book - every team ought to document their communication system, their game plan, their philosophy of the game.

So today's coaching question is: Are your practices encouraging decision making and creativity, or do your practices encourage planning; an if-then method of choosing from a list of scripted, acceptable choices?

According to all the coaching theory, the process of true decision making takes four steps:

Recognition: you've got to not only see whats in front of you, but recognize it in a way that is useful. For example, maybe I recognize that my opposite is bearing down hard on me in defense. If I don't, however, recognize that she is leaving her partner behind, and therefore creating a gap in the defense, then I'm not truly recognizing the situation, I'm only seeing it.
Assessment: once you've recognized the problem in front of you, you've got to take in all sorts of relevant information, and mentally assess various solutions.

In the scenario above, that might mean that i need to know if I have vertical support, and if a short pass to a penetrating runner is a possible option; I need to know if I have wide support - maybe moving the ball out early and far is an option; I need to know if the player outside me is running an angle towards me, if she is, perhaps attacking the gap in the defense is an option; I need to know what the opposing teams back triangle is up to - perhaps a kick is a way to mitigate the pressure. Once I've assessed these various options I need to make a ...
Decision: The player needs to pick one of the options.

Good decision makers make decisions that put a player across the gain line or get the team out of trouble. Great decision makers make decisions that put a player in the try zone, and turn poor situations to their team's advantage.
Execution: All the brilliance in the world is for naught if we can't actually run, pass, or kick the ball where it needs to be, when it needs to be there. When the golden opportunity comes around, we need to deliver.

So, in order to teach decision making, we need to first teach players how to recognize and assess various situations. This is where the difference between teaching "planning" and teaching "decision making" comes in.

Let's start with the standard "around the cones 2 v 1". Your instructions as a coach are something like this:

"If the defense sticks to you, pass. If the defense slides, keep the ball." Pretty normal stuff, right?

Clearly, the player needs to recognize what the defense is doing and act accordingly. But is he/she making a decision? Or simply acting out a pre-planned course of action? How about the support player? In this scenario, we're killing the "assessment" part of the four step cycle.

Let's tweak the standard "around the cones 2 v 1". This time, a third player tosses the ball into the grid, for either attacking player to catch, pick up off the ground, whatever. The defender can enter the grid the moment either attacking player touches the ball. Suddenly everything is different - and maybe a little chaotic. Suddenly, all three players have to pay attention to whats going on .... all three players need to recognize, assess, decide, and execute.

Many coaches are strong proponents of the decision tree. It goes something like this:

If x, then a or b
If a, then 2
If b, then 3
etc, etc, etc.

For example:

If the defense commits to you, and you have time to pass the ball out, pass the ball out.
If the defense commits to you and you have no time to pass out, look to pass through contact .
If you cannot pass through contact, keep your feet moving till help arrives.
If you cannot keep your feet, look to place the ball towards your team in the tackle.

These trees can get pretty detailed, and can be expanded to encompass small units, large units, and full teams. Sometimes the options are mapped to field locations and grids. For many coaches and many programs, this approach work just fine.

I see a use for these types of trees, but I think they restrict us, even when there are a myriad of options specified. My primary issue: they only address what is in the COACH's head ... creativity, on the field, comes out of the player's heads - and from the intereactions between players. Like so many scientific discoveries, it happens when two or more events collide in space and time to present an opportunity not previously imagined, and it required a willingness on the part of all players involved to venture into this unknown territory, and "try something different". A dash of "what the #$@*" mixed with a little serendipity.

No matter how detailed our script is, no matter how many options and scenarios we can imagine, we can never BE in the heads of the players on the field, we can never see what they see, and we can never fully understand why they chose what they did. No one every makes a bad decision on purpose; rather, for whatever reason, during the recognition and assessment phase of the process, they saw or assessed (or didn't) something different than what we saw and assessed on the sidelines.

A question to ponder:

Team A: You spend the bulk of practice learning to recognize the field situations, learning to assess options, and learning to make decisions, but your team struggles with execution. Your team is smart as hell, but the mantra on game day always seems to be "right idea, just unfortunate" The last pass, the last tackle, the last kick always fall short.

Team B: You spend the bulk of practice working on execution: pass, kick, catch, tackle, run - that sort of things. You look sharp, but on game day you never really find the gaps, you never really exploit the defense's mistakes. You always look good, but on game day your mantra always seems to be "we're so much better than them, why are we losing?".

So now we take a few sessions with Team A, and work on their execution skills.
We take a few sessions with Team B, and work on their decision making skills.

Which team is going to show the biggest measurable difference? What takes the longest to develop?

I pick A.

It's requires a leap of faith to be sure, and requires a belief that even the most ordinary of players can have moments of extraordinary creativity and vision. I don't know about the rest of you, but on game day, I like surprises.

High Performance Kids?

2008-03-13T09:12:00.001-07:00

The big buzzwords in rugby circles these days are "High Performance". We have High Performance Plans, High Performance Coaches, High Performance Centers.

So I googled it.

One of the most surprizing results was the Discovery Education: High Performance - Sports. It talks not about VO2 max measuring, not about hip-dominance and hamstring chains, not about micro-cycles or high intensity intervals.

The particular lesson plan is designed for 6-8th graders. It might also be relevant to 20-40 yr old men and women.

In a nutshell, the kids have to work in groups to invent a new "game" (sport). They have a list of everyday objects (some sports objects, some not), and they have time. They need to define and shape this sport, and then they need to teach it to the other kinds. It's all broken down into a detailed lesson plan, complete with pre, in, and post session tasks for the kids. One of the most interesting set of tasks is this particular post-session task:

--------
Students will then need to discuss and write about how their game affects a person mentally, physically and socially (mind, body and spirit). This can be done in their groups with one report submitted per group. Students should break up responsibilities of the report into sections with each member of the group writing one section (this will all depend on the number of students per group). Report responsibilities can be broken up as follows:

Introduction (giving how the game was created, objects used to play, name, rules, how the game is played, etc.)
Mental affects from the game
Physical affects from the game
Social affects of the game
Conclusion (summarizing group findings, outcomes, feelings, etc.)

Afterward, there are the following discussion questions:

1.	How does the pressure of a sport affect you mentally?

2.	How does the discipline of a sport affect the way you approach other things in life?

3.	What is it about any sport that keeps you interested?

4.	Why is it important to prepare yourself mentally for an event?

5.	Do you ever feel so drained of energy that it takes away the fun of the sport?

6.	Do you ever feel the need to keep going in a sport even though you are hurt or not 100%?

7.	What are the pressures like to loose or gain weight while playing a sport?

8.	How can physically enhancing drugs help or hurt you?

9.	What does it mean to be a team player?

10.

What are the feelings experienced when the whole team contributes to the win?

11.

What do you learn from loosing?

12.

How do you learn to depend on your teammates?

Pretty cool stuff ...

Non-Rugby: It's going to be a long six weeks in PA

2008-03-12T11:34:00.000-07:00

That's right, it's family feud time for Democrats in PA ... here are a couple of ways to pass the time in between surrogate outbursts, town hall meetings, rallies, and debates.

Become a political balloon artist.

Theft Alert!

2008-03-11T08:21:00.000-07:00

Dear rugby community (especially those of you located in the Philly metro area),

Be on the lookout for a set of white/maroon/blue numbered rugby jerseys with the Philly Women's logo. A team member's car was broken into last night, and a full set of jersey's stolen.

Here's two photos so you know exactly what they look like:

If spot one ( or 22 of them) on the street, please email captain@pwrfc.org , or text 215.421.1823, and we'll take it from there ...

Thank you all!

Standards High for Conduct and Safety released by EPRU

2008-03-11T07:22:00.000-07:00

Recieved this via the EPRU today - the "code of conduct" pieces especially interesting, as this is the first time I've seen match officials, coaches, players, and supporters all address in one documents.

There are some very interesting line items in this doc ... the tread into areas I haven't before seen a union policy paper tread. Since this is a blog about COACHING, I'll pull out the coach-specific stuff here.

Coaches of players should:

A. Recognize the importance of fun and enjoyment when coaching players.
B. Understand that most learning is achieved through doing.
C. Appreciate the needs of the players before the needs of the sport. Specifically
coaches MUST be aware of any size mismatches and move players to
compensate
D. Be a positive role model, and think what this implies.
E. Keep winning and losing in perspective, and encourage players to behave with
dignity in all circumstances.
F. Respect all referees and the decisions they make, even if they appear to make a
mistake (remember it could be you refereeing next week), and ensure that the
players recognize that they must do the same. Refrain from shouting out
decisions from the touchline. It simply confuses players and can cause them to
lose potential advantages being played
G. Provide positive verbal feedback in a constructive and encouraging manner to all
players, both during coaching sessions and matches.
H. Provide rugby training matched to the players’ ages and abilities, as well as their
physical and behavioral development.
I. Provide a safe environment, with adequate first aid readily on hand.
J. Avoid the overplaying of the best players by using a squad system which gives
everybody a satisfactory amount of playing time.
K. Never allow a player to train or play when injured.
L. Provide good supervision of players, both on and off the field.
M. Recognize that players should never be exposed to extremes of heat, cold or
unacceptable risk of injury.
N. Develop an awareness of nutrition as part of an overall education in lifestyle
management.
O. Recognize that it is illegal for players under 21 to drink alcohol and those under
18 to smoke. Coaches should actively discourage both.
P. Keep their knowledge and coaching strategies up to date and in line with USA
Rugby philosophy.
Q. Be aware of, and abide by, the USA Rugby recommended procedures for taking
young people on residential tours at home and abroad.
R. Coach to the laws and keep up-to-date on law changes.

Thoughts?

------------------------------------------------------------------------
The full copy for your review below - links to a host of safety resources .

To the Rugby Community:

The EPRU is proud to announce the issuance of two new standards which are intended to improve the enjoyment and safety of rugby by all.

Feel free to use these standards and as well as passing them along to your rugby contacts that would benefit from them.

Comments and suggestions for the improvement of this standards are both welcome and encouraged. Please send them to me at president@epru.org.

With you on-and-off the pitch.

Steve Cohen
EPRU President

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

EPRU Sets Standards of Conduct for Participants and Supporters
A high degree of sportsmanship and fairness is expected from players, coaches, match officials and supporters.

In its continuing efforts to improve the rugby experience for all involved - both on and off the field of play, the EPRU has issued a series of Codes of Conduct that it expects compliance with from match officials, players, coaches and supporters. This document can be found at: http://www.epru.org/forms/pdfs/conduct.pdf.

In addition....
All age-grade (ages 6 to 19) coaches and collegiate coaches are required to sign and abide by the EPRU “Rugby Coaches Code of Conduct” which is found at www.epru.org/forms/pdfs/conduct_coach.pdf

AND

All collegiate players and coaches must comply with the USA Rugby's Collegiate Code of Conduct which states:
'Collegiate rugby players represent their universities and are ambassadors of United States collegiate rugby. As such, each collegiate rugby player and coach is expected to be a lady or a gentlemen on and off the field. Collegiate rugby players should not tolerate obnoxious, impolite or antisocial behavior of any sort which could adversely affect the image of collegiate rugby as a serious and disciplined athletic endeavor. Any breach of this Code of Conduct at this event, either at the event site, area hotels, public facilities, etc., as witnessed and reported by any individual will be forwarded to the appropriate disciplinary committee for action.'

Compliance with these conduct codes requires cooperation from everyone involved in the game and recognition of the fact that we are all in this together for the same reason.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EPRU Improves Its Standard for Rugby Safety
The EPRU continues to lead the way in making rugby a safer experience for everyone.

Since 1995, the EPRU has been pro-active in making rugby a safer sport with its publication of "Safety Precaution Recommendations". In 1998, a more comprehensive safety publication "Making Rugby Safer" was issued. This document was well-received by the rugby community nationwide and is used by many Unions as "their" safety document. In continuing its pro-active approach to rugby safety, the EPRU has issued its Safer Rugby Program and feels its 7-step approach to rugby safety will help to make the rugby experience even better for all involved. Please start using it today.

In recent years, safety has received more focus by both National and International Rugby governing bodies as seen by the wealth of information found at USA Rugby's website (www.usarugby.org ) as well as the IRB (www.irb.com). USA Rugby has partnered with the National Center for Sports Safety ( www.sportssafety.org) to provide its sports safety course "PREPARE" which is now part of the Coaching Certification Program. PREPARE can also be taken directly online at the NCSS website. The IRB has produced its "Rugby Ready Program" ( www.irbrugbyready.com) and can be taken online. Both of which are part of the EPRU's "Safer Rugby Program".

The EPRU Safety and Risk Management section is at: http://www.epru.org/safety/index.php and has links to various safety and risk management articles and information. The Safer Rugby Program and Making Rugby Safer documents are available at: http://www.epru.org/safety/safer_rugby.php.

Recruiting Revisited

2008-03-10T08:04:00.000-07:00

My last post on recruiting practices got its fair share of dialog, a lot of it around 5 year college students.

Just to make it clear - i absolutely believe that players can and should make all decisions regarding their lives and futures; my primary concern is that we have zero ...ZERO.... ethical guidelines for recruiting. My concern is that we, as coaches, control the bulk of the information that enables players to make sound, rational, informed decisions .... and some times we don't do the right thing with either the information, OR the responsibility we have.

At the club level I personally feel there is a lot bigger gray area, and a lot more is kosher (if only with a big K instead of an OU) - simply because the colleges and universities, athletic departments and rec sports offices - are not involved. There are still ethical issues, but without the oversight of a major institution, there is less accountability, so really less to base any standards on.

To the reader who commented that, if a players wants to stay in school 5 years just so they can play more college rugby, or doesn't want to finish college at all (and is around just for rugby), that's totally cool (cuz it's his or her money), I have a question. Would you be willing to take that stand with the university sports or recreation officials? How do you think the university would respond to the player who says "Well, I'm paying the bill, and I've decided my priority is rugby. I'll graduate when I graduate, if I graduate. School is less important than rugby". How do you think the university would respond to the coach who echo's those sentiments? Keep in mind, while the player may in fact be footing the bill, most universities get some sort of public subsidy, and most university clubs are at least, in part, funded by student fees. So while it's mostly YOUR money, some of it is my money.

One reader commented that the sketchy event is rare. It's not as rare as we'd like to think. There are IN FACT college coaches telling players, as freshman, they they need to get on the five year plan. There are IN FACT college coaches who pay the "special" player's expenses for them, to entice them to stay around longer. There are IN FACT coaches who promise players that, if they stay with them, or if they move, they will make this or that all star team.

So the debate isn't about the player's choice, it's about the coaches actions. It's about what we, as a community, think is OK. Its about what our employers (and sorry, even if you are a volunteer you are accountable to the school) think is OK.

Just looking through a range of NCAA documents on recruiting, it's clear that they have had to put boundaries in place. Very little of the documentation describes a minimum, it describes boundaries and limits.

NCAA rules describe things like how often a coach can make phone contact with a player, over what period of time, and starting how early. How often a coach can make face-to-face contact. Even, yes, how often a coach can use text messaging, chat, IM, and email. Their guidelines specify WHERE contact can take place, and its in almost all situations it is school grounds, practice fields, sports locations. These rules are incredibly detailed, and specific for sport and division. They discuss exactly what "deals" a coach can make with a prospective player, and how these "deals" must be documented in writing and reviewed.

Now granted, we're not NCAA. But do we really believe as a community, that there's no need to discuss ethics? That to question what's ethical and what's not is the equivalent of complaining?

I don't think so.

It's a market based economy, with rugby players as the currency

2008-03-06T07:45:00.000-08:00

Alternate Title: the Head Coach as a Recruiting Agent

I'm hoping to open a lively but potentially charged discussion about recruiting. Every team has to do it, those that do it well develop strategies they improve and build upon year after year. Strong teams with longevity are strong recruiters.

My guess is that we all agree - recruit, recruit, recruit. Recruit HS players into rugby colleges, college players onto rugby clubs, and HS, college, and club players into local, territorial, and national select sides. Where's the controversy in that?

Since for the most part our HS and College programs are not varsity, not formally state based, we have little ethical oversight when it comes to recruiting. At the club level, we have nothing. There are a host of ethical questions that repeatedly come up, and I'm sure I'm barely scratching the surface - so what the heck, let's tackle them.

Select Side coaches recruiting for their home club:

This is probably the one that comes up most, and generates the most emotional response. If you, as a club/college/HS coach, are ALSO a select side/national team coach, is it OK to recruit players you're exposed to through select sides over to your own program?

It gets complex in my opinion ... are you a college coach coaching a u19 select side, who recruits high school players to your college? If so, it seems like an unfair advantage to coaches who are not in your position. But, if it's a market based economy, and you've done the hard work to develop your coaching skills and your program, aren't you entitled to promote it, if only "for the good of the player?"

There are two problems as I see it. First the implied influence. I mean, only the boldest of us would say "play for me and I'll put you on the lau/territorial/national team", but even if we don't say it, it's implied. Second is funding ... if your LAU/Territory/Country is funding your Select Side, and you're recruiting through your select side program, isn't the LAU/Territory/Country in part funding your club's recruiting program?

Another layer of ethical question comes into play if you, as a select side coach at any level, coach a team of the same level. Ie, U18/19 select side coach also coaches High School, Collegiate/U23/U20 Select Side coach also coaches College, Senior select side coach also coaches Club. So now, if you recruit, we have a situation where perhaps you are recruiting directly from your competitor. And, consciously or not, dangling the "if you play for me you will ..." carrot.

While this post is limited to recruiting, it's impossible to ignore the other issue ... its near to impossible NOT to show some favoritism to the players you coach daily. Why?

They understand your communication style, the type of game you'd like to play, the skills you most emphasize
You understand them, and have the time with them to work specifically on improving whatever weakness you see. With players not on your team, you have to hope their coach is responsive and capable of doing that by proxy.
The players you play against are always viewed by you in a "how can we beat them" view port, so you are more likely to focus on their weaknesses, and your own player's strengths.

But that's a separate topic for later.

So here's the last question regarding recruiting and ethics .... is it OK to actively recruit players from the team across town? From the other teams in your league? Rivals? Teams from a lower division in your area? On one hand - if you can offer those players something that you're coaching competitors can't, why not? If it is indeed a market based economy, and the currency is indeed rugby players, and we agree that its a free market, the only conclusion is YES, it's OK.

But does it feel right .... or does it sometimes feel, dare I say ... shady? Do we, as head coaches, ignore the social and ethical burden that our recruiting puts on players, or do we just recruit with blinders on? Do we entice them away from home, encourage them to break off friendships, tell them that we are better able to coach them then another coach? Promise them a position? Promise them playing time? Money & Fame? Are there any boundaries? Or is it all part of healthy competition?

Probably the worst thing I've every seen crossed a pretty clear line from "ethically questionable" to "downright sleazy", when at a collegiate tournament, a bigoted coach for club X purposefully outed member of a club Y to a wide audience of college players, and listed it as a reason not to play for club Y, but rather for club X. There is nothing quite like using hate and bigotry as a recruiting tool.

I can tell you from my personal experience that I have been on both sides. I have indeed, in the context of being a select side coach, said to players, "So, I'd love to have you check out my club team when you graduate ..." I've justified such action by telling myself that I make no promises, no assurances, and dangle no carrots of national team or select side glory. I tell them to check out other clubs, but strongly encourage them to check out mine ...

I've also been pissed beyond words when I've felt like an ethical line has been crossed ... PISSED. But even in my angst, I've struggled to pin down what exactly it is that's irked me. The problem at it's core is, we as a community haven't agreed on where the ethical line is, or if there even is one.

And yet another recruiting technique that I'm a little ashamed to say I've unintentionally used is the "guilt card". Essentially, this is the "after all I've done for you .... " card. Yeah, I played that card once. And I felt like a complete s#&t-head, and I haven't done it again. It wasn't premeditated, it was a gut response, and I was incapable in the moment of self-censoring. As it turns out, things turned out just fine, but it doesn't change the fact that, in that moment in time, I was thinking as much about what was best for me, as what was best for the player.

And on to this idea of "rugby players as currency" thing. A highly capable and successful coach once told me that recruiting in rugby was simply an extension of the market based economy. So should I recruit just one or two 100 dollar bills? 20 5s? or a whole lot of singles? It's an interesting metaphor if nothing else.

Last, is it the head coach's job to recruit? The survey I posted a while back indicates that at least half the coaches out there are the PRIMARY recruiter ... yet most every club has a recruiting committee. Any conflicts? Are we making promises to players we really can't deliver on?

Does anyone have any recruiting stories they'd like to share? Or any thoughts/opinions about what's mentioned here? Ethical dilemma's you've struggled with? Share!

The All Blacks Sports Wizards

2008-03-04T10:14:00.001-08:00

Has anyone tried this? Feedback please ..

http://www.rugbysportswizards.com

A vacation without rugby?

2008-02-25T10:37:00.000-08:00

If you are anything like me, "vacation" doesn't mean what it does to non-rugby people. More often than not, "vacation" = using your precious time off to fly somewhere for rugby, never actually see the place you are flying to, work your ass off playing/coaching/reffing/administering, and return home more in need of a real vacation than you were when you left.

Take a vacation. A real one. It will make you feel better :)

I just got back from MY ridiculously fabulous vacation in Honduras - about 1/2 mile east of Sambo Creek, which is about 15km east of La Ceiba, to be exact.

We flew into San Pedro Sula, via Atlantic City/Ft Lauderdale, after frolicking just a bit in the overprices Atlantic City Casinos. Some bummers about AC: you cant' find a craps table for less than 10 bucks, you can't drop coins into slot machines anymore, and a cheese steak costs 10 bucks.

By the time we arrived in Honduras, we seriously needed a break. We stayed at this little B&B called "the Diving Pelican", which was right on the beach. Unfortunately there's some security issues at night, so almost all the beach hotels are gated. No matter - it was still amazing.

The place was run by a couple from Texas who bought their tickets the day after Bush won the election. There is room for only 6 guests - so it was really just like staying at someone's house. The place included a "Champa" which is essentially like an outdoor bar/recroom with beer, juice, wine, and rum rum rum. It was pay as you go and dirt cheap. Seriously, in the states, our bar tab for two people for a week at the beach would have been at least 500 bucks. Instead it was about 40. Here's the Champa (right outside the gate is the ocean) ...

The first day was basically beach, beach beach. Duh! This is Playa Helen - the boats are used by the local Garafina people, who do largely subsistence fishing.

On Day 2, we took off to the jungle canopy for a zip-line tour. We were picked up by a kid who couldn't have been more than 15, on horseback, with horses for us. Now, we Americans LOVE our animals, and it was a little tough seeing the conditions down there. I had to keep reminding myself - pets really are a luxury. The horses that picked us up were clearly working ... they were quite a bit scrawnier than what we're used to, and you could really feel them sweating in the heat.

We got kitted up with our harnesses (just a climbing harness with a wheel thingee-that fits on a cable) and rode on horseback up a trail into Pico Bonito National Park. The "Canopy Tour" involved traversing the jungle canopy via a network of cables. There were 21 cables total - the longest one was over a kilometer! I would have liked to take a little more time and really learn about the local flora and fauna, but it was still pretty awesome, flying through the jungle, hundreds of feet above the ground. Though the whole experience would NEVER pass any sort of OSHA safety inspection, I never felt unsafe, even for a second.

Once we finished the zip line tour, we went back into the edge of the jungle, where there was a natural hot-spring to soak in. AMAZING!

On Day 3 we decided to go into town. La Ceiba is the third largest city in Honduras. It very much has the feel of many poorer southwestern towns in the US, with a constant wave of people buying and selling fruits, grains, clothing, and WWF t-shirts. We bought a bunch of souvenirs, some rum for the champa, and had a FANTASTIC dinner.

Day 4 ... SNORKELING! A young couple staying at the inn told us that the guys who run the snorkeling tour would also just drop us off at an caye (island) and leave us for the day, so thats what we did. It was breathtaking. I've been snorkeling before, but never in anywhere that was so completely saturated with life. Alas, no waterproof camera = no underwater photos, but they are seared in my brain. I don't do the diving thing, in this particular area it wouldn't have mattered so much - the water wasnt more than a few feet deep for what seemed like forever. Literally, there wasn't a place you could look that wasn't teeming with life. At first the barracudas creeped me out a little bit, but after a few moments it was clear that they intended no harm and we just enjoyed staring at each other a bit.

Now I'm by no means a tree-hugger-environmentalist type, but in this day and age I hope we are all getting a bit more sensitive about the world we live in. I couldn't help but wonder, if everyone got a chance to see how peaceful, beautiful, and full of life these pristine pockets of earth are, that we would perhaps take just a little bit better care of the planet. Of course I'm currently working for a client in a 28 story office building, in center city Philadelphia, that gives out free canned soda (we go through at least 4 cases a day on my floor alone), and doesn't recycle. Hmm.

anyway...

We spent our last day at the Diving Pelican, laying around in hammocks, reading, drinking rum, swimming in the ocean, the strolled into Sambo Creek for a massive "meat platter" with beans & rice, plantains, salad, and of course beer, that cost about 10 bucks for both of us. The sunset was glorious, and then it was time to return to the states. No sooner did we get to Atlantic City, then we were ripped off by a cab driver. That's right, the bill was 23 bucks, I handed him 40, he said "let me get you change", and them promptly drove away. So much for so-called civilization.

Side note: We flew on Spirit Airlines, a discount carrier that specializes in the Carribean and Central America. I was a little worried that our plane would be held together with duct tape and rubber bands, but it was actually brand new, with roomy leather seats, and no BS. Plane fare to San Pedro Sula from Atlantic city was about $300 per person, and we left and arrived on time. I highly recommend flying with them, just go into it knowing that checked bags, even one, cost money, and even soda's cost money on board. If you put that aside, the plane, service, and flight were better than any I've recently had from any of the big name domestic carriers. I just wish they flew out of Philly. Oh well.

The jump back into rugby happened very quickly, as the day after we got home was Philly Women's annual free collegiate clinic. More on that later, for now I'll leave you with this final image....

Non-rugby political rant

2008-02-15T06:47:00.000-08:00

I've been absolutely OBSESSIVE about this years presidential election. I must have 20 tickers in my blog folder - CNN, MSNBC, Fox, Savage Politics, Politico, Media Matters, Real Clear Politics, Radical Left, Slate, Salon.

I can't get enough. It's not so much the candidates or the articles themselves that facinate me - it's the comments. Talk about mud-slinging! These people are RUTHLESS. If I were to look at the negative comments only and if I actually believed them then:

Hillary Clinton is the Devil in a pantsuit
Barack Obama is either the second coming of JC (OR the anti-Christ)
John McCain is Ghengis Khan, Alexander, and Hannibal all rolled up into one.

Then there is the behavior of the so called "surrogates" - and there are close, trusted surrogates (mostly family members and close advisors) as well as far distant surrogates. Basically, these are people who say the things the candidates can't get away with saying without being slammed for "going negative". Often candidates are accused of having "positioned" a surrogate to say something, when the reality is that said surrogate probably just spoke their mind. It's like a giant Junior High game of he said/she said.

And it's out of control.

If you click through PAST the news articles and blog posts, to the links that the commenter's have put in the post, it gets even crazier. For example, there is a theory out there that the Republicans are SAYING that Barack Obama will be harder to beat then Hillary Clinton, in order to stimulate Dems to vote for him. The logic here is that republican insiders actually think he'll be easier to beat, so are trying to influence the nominating process.

There is the theory that Karl Rove is pushing independents and non-registered republicans to go out and vote in the democratic primary in order to ensure that the Republicans can run against the Democrat of their (republicans) choice.

There are as many conspiracy theories out there on the flip side too. It's almost impossible to ignore the spin... I can't even count the times that a headline has got my attention, and when I read the article, I learn that the headline was a load of misleading crap.

Where am I going with this? I've been reading some disturbing stuff in a lot of these comments, some real elitist BS. Basically the so-called reality is that, "educated people & people with high income" are voting for one candidate, and "working class people & people with low income" are voting for another. The conclusion that is being drawn in the media and amongst the commenter's is that "you must be stupid to vote for .... ".

Seriously? Isn't it the JOB of the most powerful person in the nation to help people who need it the most? Is it a bad thing for poor people and less educated people to pick you? I mean, maybe it sounds sort of communist, but shouldn't our leader be a champion for those that have less and need more? Really, in a country like ours, founded by immigrants who were craving for religious freedom, populated by people who were once slaves, by native American's who were driven from their homes, by political and economic refugees, where theoretically everyone is equal, haven't we learned anything?

All I know is I'm incredibly disappointed by our media making headlines out of non-events, creating conflict when there isn't any, and telling us who to choose.

WNT Team Announced for Hong Kong 7s

2008-02-13T09:59:00.000-08:00

Just in from Jules,

Amy Daniels- Beantown RFC, Boston MA (NE TU)

Tyshawn Henry- NY RFC, NY, NY (NE TU)

Pam Kosanke- Chicago Northshore RFC, Chicago, Ill (MW TU)

Alison Price, NY RFC, NY, NY (NE TU)

Kelly White, Belmont Shore RFC, Belmont Shore, CA (SoCal TU)

Teena Maestrangelo, Chicago Northshore RFC, Chicago, Ill (MW TU)

Ines Rodriguez, Keystone RFC, Philadelphia, PA (NE TU)

Christy Ringgenberg, Minnesota Valkyries RFC, Minneapolis, Minn. (MW TU)

Ellie Karvoski, Little Rock RFU, Little Rock, AR (West TU)

Jen Starkey, NOVA RFC, Washington DC (MARFU TU)

Hong Kong Player Sponsorship Opportunities:

You can sponsor the USA Women's 7s Team! Simply choose which player (above) you would like to hear from while in Hong Kong (via email) that describes her personal experiences playing International Rugby at the Hong Kong 7s!

Red Level: $250-$499

This level awards you: an email from your favorite player while in Hong Kong, an autographed Team postcard and picture, and a Hong Kong 7s baseball cap.

White Level: $500-$999

This level awards you: an email from your favorite player while in Hong Kong, an autographed Team postcard and picture, a Hong Kong 7s baseball cap, and an official Hong Kong 7s Tournament T shirt.

Blue Level: $1000-$4999

This level awards you: an email from your favorite player while in Hong Kong, an autographed Team postcard and picture, a Hong Kong 7s baseball cap, and an official Hong Kong 7s Jersey.

Silver Level: $5000 or greater

This level awards you all of the above plus a free Saturday Footwork Camp for your club or TU team, held by the USA Women's National Coaching staff (www.footworkcamp.com)

Please email Julie McCoy (www.julesmccoy@sbcglobal.net) for more details!

Yesterday's Scrum Clinic

2008-02-11T12:34:00.000-08:00

So yesterday we had the last in a series of 3 scrummaging clinics for the U23 women here in Marfu. Previous clinics were held in EPRU and PRU, yesterday we traveled to James Madison University in VRU.

What a terrific day! First of, Harrisonburg is beautiful, and our hosts JMU and VRU were terrific. Thanks so much to Roshna (who in addition to coaching JMU, has been on the MARFU U23 staff for several years and works with the VRU U23s as well). There was a tremendous amount of wind, but it turned out not to be nearly as cold as it could have been.

The best part - despite the cold weather and the earliness of the season, nearly 50 players showed up. We've hovered around 40 the previous clinics, but in both EPRU and PRU, we opened it up to men's college programs to increase numbers. No need for that this time - with players from JMU, Virginia Tech, UVA, University of Maryland, and the Stingers among other teams, we had plenty of participation. Every single player had a great attitude and was eager to learn.

My esteemed asst coaches Kristin Aliberto and Stacy Baker, both currently with the Philadelphia Women's Rugby Club, MARFU senior side players, and WNT pool players, did as always a tremendous- job. We were able to keep all the players engaged, get everyone lots of repetition, and trickle down some of the current scrummaging practices.

We've managed to hone the format for these clinics, and since this is after all a blog about coaching, I thought it worthwhile to share the format for the masses, in case there's something that y'all in the blogosphere can add to or take from it.

Warmup & orientation: about 15 minutes
Introducing the repetitive execution of the individual set-up profile: about 15 minutes.

We then sliced up the players into 4 groups, as much as possible keeping them in their team units, and worked through a 3 station circuit:

station 1: core agility. If you've seen the stuff that Bill LeClerc's been doing, you're familiar with this. Various types of planks, "angry cat", and everyone's favorite, the 2 person-fireman-around-the-back-scoochie thing. Usually Angie is available for the 2 person-fireman-around-the-back-scoochie thing, but alas she couldn't make it this time. Apparently there was some sort of gummy-clearance sale at the Gummy and Sugar Warehouse.

station 2: solo work on the predator, focusing on a) picture perfect body position b) sustained pressure c) quickness across the tunnel

station 3: harness work, progressing from solo to groups of 4. I'll post an image or two later about this - basically it's a fantastic tool for teaching players EXACTLY how to apply pressure, how to use the ground as their source of power, how to transfer from the ground through their legs and core to their shoulders to create forward drive. It's hard work, but its fantastic work. This station has a 30 minute duration to the other two's 15.

So, the station work takes about an hour and at the end there's little doubt in anyones mind about how to generate power, what body position is the most effective, and what areas the individual players need to improve in.

After this, we went to one-on-one engagements, focusing on transferring the great body position learned earlier to a competitive situation. We work from the ground up, and focus on using the knees as a spring, to transfer your opponent's kinetic energy into your potential energy, and how to channel all your power into "go forward", rather than "go up or down".

Once all the coaches had time to work with the individual pairs, we introduced some binding concepts, previews what we would cover after the break, had some Q&A, and broke for lunch.

Well, not everyone. We spent about 20 minutes with the hookers and 8s, having them work together on releasing the "brake", timing the strike with extra pressure from the 8, and letting the 8 work on their body position and timing out of the gate for pick attacks. At the same time, we worked with the flankers - showing them how to take the power of the scrum and use it to improve their speed and explosiveness off the scrum. Ie, it is possible to watch the ball, think about what comes after the scrum, AND actually drive.

Once the whole group returned, the real fun started.

With each of the 4 groups, we worked on speed of engagement, and movement as a unit. Too often, the players in the scrum wind up "chasing" the front row into the engagment, creating an accordian-type effect. We used something we've been calling "scrummaging sprint starts" to teach players how to apply and maintain pressure from the back to the front, how to use their binds to preserve as much individual power as possible, how to react to pressure from behind, and how to explode, like a sprinter, across the tunnel. We start this process in groups of 3 (2 + 1, position irrelevant), and build to groups of 8. This is when everything starts coming together, and the players go through the setup sequence the learns as individuals, only now as a group. This takes about 20-30 minutes, and once the full 8 person start looks good, we start doing reps on the predator.

At this point - we're working in full packs. We like to take a few reps on the predator, do some starts, and challenge another pack. We continue like this, tweaking, getting faster, and challenging, for the remainder of the day. As the groups get better and better, we can advance. One of my favorite exercises is to the have the groups work as "cooperative competitors" to move up, back, left, and right. This sort of movement is only possible when the players focus on solid body position, balance, core tension, and collective movement ... EIGHT AS ONE. We did this for about 45 more minutes, until we sensed the players were reaching the saturation point. At about 2:15, we wrapped up for the day. It was a hugely fulfilling day - most college players seldome get to spend even 30 minutes working on their own individual scrummaging skills, let alone 4 hours.

So t was a really good rugby day, and I'm starting to get pumped about the spring club season and the U23 Territorial season.

Thanks again to Roshna and the JMU hosts, but especially to Kristin and Stacy, who have really grown into terrific young coaches. Thanks guys!

Survey Results: Practice Participation

2008-02-04T11:11:00.000-08:00

So, some 50ish people have responded to my "what do you do" survey, and the results are certainly interesting. I'm not quite willing to tackle some of the more sensitive subjects right yet, so today we'll focus on "active participation in practice", since 33 of 53 respondents replied that yes, they actively participate in practice.

To be clear, what I'm referring to is the practice of lacing up your boots and jumping into a drill or game. This does not include giving formal demonstrations - which is another topic all together. What I'm talking about is actually participating, physically. Breathing hard, getting dirty.

Clearly, for the player-coach, pretty much everything is a gray area, and the player coach has a responsibility as a PLAYER to maintain his or her skills. So they HAVE TO PRACTICE. The rest of us don't, but some of us choose to.

My personal opinion? No matter how much you believe that "seeing you in action" will help your players, IT WON'T. I've heard all sorts of comments....

"sometimes my team is just lazy, if I get in there and set the pace, then they'll have to keep up with me at practice".
"the players tend to take it easy on each other, so if I get out there and play defense, I will challenge them".
"the players will respect me more if I show them that I'm willing to do the same things I'm asking them to do"
"sometimes there aren't enough bodies at practice, so they need me to participate"
"I'm a big guy and I coach a women's team. I like to have them tackle me at practice - if they can get me down, they can tackle anyone.
the best way for me to figure out what's going wrong with a scrum is to just jump in there. If I feel it, I can fix it.

I don't buy it, for a million different reasons, but a few stand out.

1. If you go out there and "set the example" by increasing the pace or intensity of the practice activity, then you are in fact preventing the team from finding their own drive. Leadership seldom emerges when it is not needed. If you, as a coach, provide the "on field leadership" at practice, come game day the players who are formal or informal leaders will be unprepared. They will lead by assignment, rather than through experience. Yes, some people are natural leaders - but even they need to practice their craft and find their own style. Make them wait until game day, and you set them up for failure.

2. If you are playing, YOU AREN'T WATCHING!!! And if you ARE watching, you are only seeing what you are in position to see. We've got to be able to move about and look at both details and game flow - you just can't do that if you're catching your own breath or admiring your own work.

3. SAFETY!!!! REFER TO #2 above...

4. Maybe you're not as good as you think you are? The big risk of "watch me while I show you" is that you may in fact SUCK at whatever skill you are demonstrating. Who's coaching you?

5. You are taking valuable repetitions away from the players, and missing valuable opportunities to give feedback to players.

6. To those of you who like to "jump into the scrum" to see what's going on - how will your players learn those problem solving skills?

I'm sure some of you disagree ... bring it on!

What is appropriate? What do YOU do?

2008-01-08T10:00:00.000-08:00

There's been a lot of discussions on various forums around just exactly what's it's ok for a coach to do. So rather than jump on a high horse (since I've marked a few boxes myself), I thought it would be really really interesting, to take an anonymous survey. I hope you spread the word - and be honest!

The questions below all apply to "player(s) I coach(ed)". Even if you've only done it once - that counts. Mark every single thing that applies. Please don't vote on what you THINK the role of the coach is.... I want to know what people are actually DOING. Just like Kinsey.


Which of the following have you, as a coach, done with players you coach?
Had a couple of drinks with club players Gotten drunk with club players Had a couple of drinks with college players Gotten drunk with college players Dated/hooked up with a club player Dated/hooked up with a college player Shared a hotel room with college players Shared a hotel room with club players Spent time at a club players house or had players at my house for purely social reasons Spent time at a collegiate players house or had players at my house for purely social reasons Smoked marijuana with a player (club or college) Borrowed money from a player Showed up unannounced at a players house Attended the social (college) Attended the social (club) I manage the team's checking account I do selections exclusively I physically participate in practice sessions I am responsible for the teams recruiting efforts I determine the goals and direction of the team I am responsible for getting the team sponsers I am responsible for the match schedule Most of my friends are on the team I coach Some of my friends are on the team I coach Just a couple of my friends are on the team I coach I am not friends with any of the players I coach None of the above apply to me. I am a frigging saint.

Recovery=Pampering? Crossfit and rugby, so many questions

2007-12-28T11:29:00.000-08:00

While the clock ticks away and I wait for the moment that I get my paycheck and can leave for the airport (and pray that my flight from ATL to PHL is on time and without incident), I've been trolling the internet for ideas that will inform the transformation of our garage to home gym. And I stumbled upon some Crossfit stuff along the way.

I know there are some big time Cross-Fit fans out there, so I encourage you to speak your peace. But I have to wonder just a little bit about some of the training philosophy.

In this article, written by the founder of Crossfit, the author states that 'those most inclined to worry and ask about “overtraining” are about as likely to set a new record in the Olympic Decathlon as they are to ever overtrain' . He also states that 'If we clump the recuperative modalities together as “pampering” what my clinical practice suggests is that the pampered athletes are generally performing below the 50-percentile mark. Those most inclined, for instance, to yoga, meditation, and chiropractic treatment are not our fire-breathers.'

So recuperative modalities, among them listed as stress control, massage, sleep, contrast hydrotherapy, hydration, recreation, stretching, and chiropractic treatment, qualify under the Crossfit model, as pampering.

REALLY.

While I agree wholeheartedly that mental toughness is developed under intensely anearobic activities, the leap to treat recuperative techniques as 'pampering' is a little out there. It's so easy for us as coaches to leap right into the blame game, and shout out that the unsuccessful player of the unsuccessful team simply 1) wasn't trying hard enough 2) didn't want it enough or 3)isn't mentally tough enough, instead of identifying specific weaknesses and creating specific plans for improvement.

A friend of mine who coaches at a very high level tells me that she almost always needs to reduce the amount of time and the number of repetitions that players do in training, in order to improve quality and get tangible results. The cross fit philosophy seems in contrast to this ...

At its core, the methods that drive Crossfit are stated as being "empirical". It's an interesting choice of words, with definitions that are someone in conflict...

em·pir·i·cal –adjective
1. derived from or guided by experience or experiment.
2. depending upon experience or observation alone, without using scientific method or theory, esp. as in medicine.
3. provable or verifiable by experience or experiment.

Basically, its the "it worked for me and for others, therefore it's valid" argument.

I can't even count the number of players who define a workout as "good or bad" based upon how hard they breath or how close to vomiting they get. Crossfit clearly appeals to this personlaity type. Think you're tough? Not unless you do our workout you aren't!

Quick, let me jump on board and do pullups and squats till I vomit. I'll show you tough!!!

Is this sort of training intensity good on a regular basis? Shouldn't the training be gaged by the on-field results? Will training to that level exhaustion translate to on field results?

So does Crossfit have it's basis in science or not? Does it have a place in rugby? Will it make you faster, better at tackling, or more evasive? Should we use it for general fitness or for developing mental toughness?

And to the bigger question, is harder, faster, MORE MORE MORE the answer to all our training woes? Are recuperative methods "pampering", and if so, does it matter?

If you've got personal experience you'd like to share, I'm all ears.

Truth

2007-12-23T09:58:00.000-08:00

I found an article on KR's blog about reporting to boards, giving speeches, etc. He in turn is quoting from a gentleman named Peter Guber, who's a movie producer, who essentially deals with "stories". The article speaks of four truths when storytelling, making speeches, delivering reports, etc.

For me personally in my coaching career, the concept of "truth" is way more complicated than I'd like it to be. There's always got be be a balance. We've got to edit ourselves, choose our words wisely, tailor what we say to the individuals we work with, and find a way to always go forward, whether the truth is something positive or negative.

You know what I mean - maybe you're working with a player who just can't catch to save her life. Tell her that and you've lost her forever. Maybe your have a player who stands out head and shoulders above the rest - communicate that truth too often, and before long you're playing favorites.

Add the that the fact that all of our individual "truths" are colored by our past experiences, perspective, and supporting info. What might be
"true" to me could be completely untrue to someone else. It's a delicate balancing act that I will likely struggle with forever.

For those of us who choose to coach, "truth" is something that we dole out, when and where it's appropriate, in a delivery mechanism that we hope will work for the widest group of players. I found the four basic points below to be really insightful ideas about how truth applies to communications.

# Truth to the teller. Yes, authenticity again. Show and share who you are with an open heart.

# Truth to the audience. It’s Value for Time. They give you their time on the understanding that you will give them emotional value and personal insight.

# Truth to the moment. Be prepared and then – improvise. The preparation will ensure you don’t lose focus. The improvisation will make sure you don’t lose your audience!

# Truth to the mission. Don’t even try to inspire people to do something you don’t believe in yourself. They won’t believe in it either.

USA 7's, International Women's Rugby, Free 7s for participants, show the IRB/USA Rugby your support

2007-12-23T09:47:00.001-08:00

Spoke with Julie McCoy, the women's 7s coach yesterday, and she asked me to pass this on, as well as some information regarding the USA 7s tournament. There are two big parts, i'll summarize.

USA RUGBY and the IRB need to SEE that women not only participate, but support their own programs in order for the women's final to be played in Petco park.

There are two ways to do this:

1) If you are going to USA 7's for any reasons, to watch anyone - buy your tickets from Kim Brock at USA Rugby.

2) If you want to play 7s, Kim Brock will help arrange for you to find an opponent and you can play on the 7th/8th ... FOR FREE! That's right FREE!! And then get your spectator tickets to USA 7s through Kim for the big event Saturday.

If we can show enough interest in the women's game, the women's International Final can again be played in Petco Park. That's cool. Let's try and make it happen.

The official words:

As many people already know, the San Diego 7s event in rapidly approaching. It is the largest International rugby event hosted in North America and a stop on the iRB’s 7s World Series. This event will take place on February 9-10 at PetCo Park, home of the Padres, in Downtown San Diego. This event features 16 of the Worlds best 7s teams including New Zealand, Australia, England, South Africa and your USA Eagles!

What you may not know is that on Thursday and Friday the 7-8th there is another event running in conjunction with the San Diego 7s known as the San Diego Invitational. There will be nearly 50 rugby teams in town ranging from youth, high school, collegiate and Masters (AKA old boys). Also, as a part of the San Diego Invitational, there is an International Women’s 7s event featuring teams from Samoa, South Africa, Canada and most importantly, the United States Women’s National team!

Last year the women’s final between the US & Canada was played at PetCo Park in front of 15, 000 spectators who were there to watch the men’s event and we are really hoping for this to happen again. This is a tremendous opportunity for women’s rugby, not only here in the states, but internationally as well. In order to make this happen, USA 7s is asking us to show that the women’s rugby community supports their National Team.

How do we do this?

The San Diego Invitational has all age levels, but for the most part, only male participants. Women’s senior and collegiate teams have not shown interest in participating. I am not sure if this is due to lack of knowledge or interest in the event.

If we, the women’s community, can band together and show that we are participating in the San Diego Invitational and purchasing tickets to the USA 7s event (at a discounted group rate) it will help the USA 7s make the decision to have the women’s final inside the stadium once again.

How does the San Diego Invitational work/how does my team get games?

On Thursday and Friday we have 8 fields available all day long. Your team can challenge another team from a different territory or you can submit your interest to Kim Brock and she will work on matching you up to another team who has shown interest. We can work out a round robin format, short halves, full matches or whatever you want your matches to be in order to get you to the event.

There is NO ENTRY FEE to play in this event!!! PLEASE FEEL FREE TO PASS THIS MESSAGE ALONG TO ANY AND ALL TEAMS WHO MAY BE INTERESTED.

Who knew ... our CEO has a blog

2007-12-20T10:06:00.000-08:00

Kevin Roberts of Saatchi and Saatchi, USA Rugby's CEO, is a blogger! Posts span a variety of topics, but there are gem's of rugby everywhere ...

http://krconnect.blogspot.com

Blog updates from England

2007-12-12T12:11:00.001-08:00

Haven't seen this out to the public so I thought I'd pass it on ...

http://www.usarugby.org/information/default.asp?NavPageID=67241

Watch Women's Nationals via Webcast!

2007-11-08T05:38:00.000-08:00

Unless you've been in a vacuum, you've heard that the D1 women's club championships this weekend will be available LIVE via Webcast .... as a result the schedule has changed - please get everyone you know clicking through! The more people who watch, the more likely it is that they'll do it again.

All you have to go is go to USARugby.org tomorrow morning, all times are EST....

Friday

10:00 Philadelphia v ORSU
11:45 Keystone v Atlanta
1:30 Amazons v Berkely
3:15 NY v Beantown

what a scrum...

2007-11-05T13:42:00.000-08:00

Normally I like to keep clubs stuff and this blog separate, but this video clip from last week's Club Playoff match-up between Chicago North Shore and Philadelphia represents a whole lot of work paying off.

Prepping for a "big game"

2007-10-18T08:40:00.000-07:00

So I haven't blogged in a while, mainly because "in season" i want to be cautious to keep my generic online coaching blog separate and distinct from my week by week and player by player real world coaching experiences.

As those of us in the women's club world wind up our regular seasons and our territorial championship, the focus shifts a bit . For those of us who are traveling to the USA Rugby Women's DI Club Playoffs in Austin next weekend (aka Sweet 16s or Nationals, and yes, i know its an NCAA copyrighted term), we start to think about the "big games".

We should all be at a point in our season where we are starting to peak - when everyone's really clicking but there are still some things to work on. We should know by now what we're good at and what we aren't and maybe we are thinking about our opponenents and what they are and aren't so good at.

So I've got a question for the general audience and I'm sure there are more than a few opinions.

Do you prepare any differently for the "big game" than you would for any other game, or do you treat every game as the "big game", or do you treat the "big game" as if its just another weekend match?

Specifically - how much new stuff might you introduce? Do you still work on basic skills, or is the focus on decision making, or perhaps team pattern play? How about contact - is it balls out in order to get the best preparation, or do you take precautions in order to keep everyone healthy? How many of you play a match the weekend before nationals, and how many take it off? Which do you think is better?

We are running two full sides most every weekend, so for us our match at home on Saturday is a "big game" too - since there is a roster limit at nationals we've got some players playing their final game of the season on Saturday. So to add to the complexity, there are two tasks 1) get the developmental team ready to rock out anyone they play completely, finish that season with a big feel good, and 2) get the higher level players as tuned up as they can be for our trip to Austin (and a big feel good). It's a huge challenge.

It's been a while since we've all dialogged so lets have some comments!

USA Rugby Releases Women’s Collegiate All-American Selections for 2006-2007

2007-09-20T07:56:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to all!

September 19, 2007

USA Rugby Releases Women’s Collegiate All-American Selections for 2006-2007

BOULDER, Colo. -- USA Rugby is pleased to announce the Women's Collegiate All-Americans for the 2006-2007 academic year. In this thirteenth year for the Women’s All-American program, players were selected based on their performance from the entire collegiate season. Many of the athletes have repeated as All-Americans, and others demonstrated their abilities with their respective territory's Under-23 team.

Out of nearly 10,000 women playing college rugby in 2006-2007, 32 First Team and 35 Second Team All-Americans were selected by a committee, with players representing 38 individual colleges. Those chosen will receive a letter and a certificate from USA Rugby and their respective school's club sports director will also receive a letter and certificate of recognition.

"The growth in collegiate rugby, its competitiveness and excellent quality of play continue to amaze us, thus making the committee’s decision process long and difficult,” said Women’s Collegiate All-American Committee Chair Alan Osur.

The committee consisting of Osur, Darlene Connors, Steve Murra, Nancy Kechner and Ellen Owens, represents a cross-section of rugby coaches and administrators. They received input from other coaches and administrators from across the nation and spent many weeks analyzing player performances.

The Women's All-American program was started by the Collegiate Committee in 1995 and has grown over the years as the number and quality of the players and teams have improved. Back in 1995, there were 167 collegiate teams, while this year more than 300 collegiate teams are in competition. Between 1995 and 1998, the committee named only first team All-American selections, but since 1999 both first and second team players have been selected.

The Women’s Collegiate All-Americans for the 2006-2007 academic year are as follows:

FIRST TEAM:

Northeast - Kirsten Ahrendt (Dartmouth); Emilie Bydwell (Brown); Danielle Goodman-Levy (Vassar); Jennifer Hustwitt (Brown); Tess Kohanski (Syracuse);Dianna Le (Army).
MARFU - Katy Black (West Chester); Kate Daley (Penn State); Elizabeth Inkellis (Princeton); Diana Klein (Penn State); Sarah Miller (James Madison); Carrie Perdue (Virginia); Alison Worman (Penn State).
South - Becky Urion (Florida).

Midwest - Sylvia Braaten (Marquette); Kassie Drey (Northern Iowa); Kristy Lear (Minnesota); Tiffany McCoy (Northern Iowa); Sarah Wilson (Ohio State).
West - Rebecca Barron (Texas A&M); Sydney Forestal (New Mexico); Jillion Potter (New Mexico); Gina Steffano (Texas A&M).
Pacific Coast - Olivia Anglade (Stanford); Katie Chou (California); Kelly Nielson (Chico State); Elaine Schlarb (Oregon State); Cameron Stewart (Davis); Jacelyn Tseng (Stanford).
Southern California - Phoebe Boone (Santa Barbara); Kelly Griffin (UCLA); Alexis Volen (San Diego).

SECOND TEAM:

Northeast - Ida Bernstein (Syracuse); Emily Dupre (Northeastern); Aimee Gough (Radcliffe).
MARFU - Stephanie Burkhardt (West Chester); Allurie Kephart (Penn State); Lauren Rosso (Penn State); Alison Searle (Penn State); Emily Shiflett (Virginia); Siobhan Tiernan (Virginia).
South - Allison Fischman (Florida); Khadijah Glast (Clemson); Victoria Prader (Florida).
Midwest - Schmarrah McCarthy (Purdue); Kathryn McCormick (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee); Amanda Rolling (Iowa State); Jessica Travers (University of Illinois).
West - Jennifer Ballinger (Colorado); Elizabeth Bryant (Texas A&M); Natalie Frank (New Mexico); Olivia Herdt (Wyoming); Rocio Ramos (New Mexico); Desbah Yazzie (Air Force).
Pacific Coast - Thania Balcorta (Davis); Megan Mendivil (Davis); Tara McBride (Chico State); Carey Myslewski (Stanford); Amara Reddick (UC-Santa Cruz); Rachel Reddick (Chico State); Alissa Sambucetti (California); Melissa Smit (Stanford); Megan Thompson (Western Washington); Caroline White (Chico State); Chelsea Willes (Brigham Young).
Southern California - Rosie Krauter (Santa Barbara); Kara Mathews (Santa Barbara).

Pumpkinfest Detailed Scores and Results

2007-09-11T08:16:00.000-07:00

Congrats to all who attended ... I was particularly intersted to see how many of these matches were one or two try affairs. It looks like a great season is ahead of us!

Visit the PWRFC Pumpkinfest results for all the details:

Highlights:

Philly wins pool A 12-7 vs Atlanta, 12-7 vs Raliegh
Beantown wins pool B 58-0 over Maryland, 19-5 over Nova
Boston wins pool c 12-7 over Keystone, 17-12 over Washington
Atlanta advances to the semi's as a wild card by virtue of a 40-5 win over Raleigh

Semi Finals:

Beantown (1) vs Atlanta (4) , Beantown 27-0
Boston (2) vs Philly (3), Philly 15-5

Finals:

Beantown v Philly, Beantown wins 22-3

In the social division, Back in Black, Beantown B, Nova B, and Washington B all advance.

Back in Black vs Beantown B 44-0
Nova B over Washington B 8-5

Finals:

Back in Black vs Nova B, Back in Black 22-0

WNT 7s Footwork Camp

2007-08-31T02:03:00.000-07:00

Photos from the most recent (August) USA Women's National Team 7's footwork camp are online, courtesy of Michelle Posey, sports photographer.

Look for open registration footwork camps in Little Rock this winter, for both men and women ...

Potential .....

2007-08-29T20:59:00.000-07:00

Potential .....

The fall ramp up has officially begun, and, like every other coach on the planet, I think about potential. It's a word that coaches use often when speaking of players - "gee, she's got so much potential!"

Since "potential" is a scientific term as well, I've been thinking about what it means. Presented for your amusement are my conclusions (be kind, I've been spending a lot of time in the dentists chair recently and not a lot sleeping).

We coaches really have very little idea how much potential an individual player has - not unless we know what they want,what they are willing to do to get it, and at least a little about their background and what makes them tick. Sure, we can look at, for example, a kick ass shot putter, and proclaim "DAMN she'd make a fine prop! So much potential!"

What we mean, of course, is that this individual exhibits certain attributes that mirror certain attributes of a rugby player. Does this individual have potential in rugby? Not unless she actually wants to apply those attributes TO rugby, and develop all the other things required to play.

So now I've used the word potential AND apply. And I sound like my Mom. Young lady, you have so much potential, if only you applied yourself! Well, my Mom wanted me to be a Dr. and I didn't. So as far as I'm concerned, I had zero potential at doctoring.

Where am I going with this? In physics (or electronics, or whatever), potential refers to theoretical stored energy. A rock on a ledge has potential energy. If and when it falls (or is pushed) off, it will have kinetic energy. Potential energy is nothing more than a prediction - because there is always an "if" associated with it. That brick with a specific set of attributes (mass for example) can never have MORE potential energy in that moment in time and space. To increase potential energy we have to add more mass, perhaps relocate to a higher location, or, if there are other items with potential energy, find a way to them to our brick.

In the theoretical frictionless environment that high school science teachers talk about, potential energy and kinetic energy express different states, but the value is the same. In the real world, this isn't the case. The wind blows and there is friction .... which despite the bricks potential energy, reduces its kinetic energy. Maybe the brick picks up some rubbish on the way down, increasing it's wind resistance. Maybe someone throws a rock at our brick, hits it on the way down, and knocks it off course. Reduced kinetic energy. Maybe, as a result of the collision, a chunk of our brick breaks off, and it no longer has the same mass. You get the picture. It's pretty easy to reduce potential, damn hard to increase it.

Bottom line is, our brick doesn't have potential tomorrow, it has potential today. Right now. Right at this instant. Tomorrow, the brick might be changed, ever so slightly, and it will have different potential. Maybe more, maybe less.

Our players have exactly as much potential on a given day as their physical and mental skills (speed, size, agility, technical prowess, mental toughness), the environment (the weather, the length of the grass, the grippyness of the ball), and their preparation (rest, nutrition, injury management, hydration, arousal level etc) will allow them to have. Not more. In addition to all of this conditional stuff, there just has to be the willingness. A massive muscular devastating player, coiled to execute a bone-crushing level iii tackle, has the POTENTIAL to destroy. The moment they choose not to tackle, the potential is gone.

I believe that there IS such a thing, on any given day, as "the best you can possibly do". We as coaches can only change that within limits - we run an optimal warm up, say a few inspiring words, and make sure there is plenty of water and plenty of oranges at half time. We must accept, at the end of the day, that players will NOT play to their maximum potential, because perfection is an unreasonable expectation, especially in a 80 minute rugby game.

Gee Lisa, that sucks. Are you seriously saying that I will never achieve my potential? HOW POSITIVELY DEPRESSING ... clearly you've spent too much time in that dentists chair. YOU SUCK.

What I'm saying is that, in order to improve a player's performance, we need to CHANGE their potential. There's lots of ways to do that - rugby practice, mental training, fitness workouts etc. We could reshape our brick and make it more aerodynamic, just like we can help develop the skills of our player - but to REALLY alter the potential of our player, we need to add something.

TEAMMATES.

Rugby is a team sport - and the holy grail of any group of rugby players fall into two categories. Two on ones, and mismatches. Since a mismatch really is MY potential at exactly this second vs YOUR potential at exactly this second, lets look at two on ones.

When our players work together to create a 2 on 1 - be it offensively or defensively, they change their individual potential. This dynamic is always and forever being altered, but one thing is sure. Unless there is a gross mismatch - two players in combination will ALWAYS have more potential than one player alone.

Rugby math problem:

Average player plus awesome player vs awesome player. Who has more potential? Just like in chess, a queen AND a pawn pose a greater threat than a queen alone.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

clearly I'm making a case for teamwork, but its more than that. I'm making a case for working not only to individual players potential, but to the potential of groups of players.

Scenario:

Wicked fast player in red goes 1 v 1 with wicked fast player in blue, blue is defending her 22ish. Wicked fast player in red is supported by average speed player in red.

Case 1. Wicked fast player in red goes wickedly fast and is tacked by wicked fast player in blue. Since average speed player in red can't keep up with the pace, wicked fast player in red turns over the ball.

Case 2. Wicked fast player in red takes just enough off her pace to allow average speed player in red to work at the limits of her potential. Blue defender (wickedly fast) tackles red player (wickedly fast) but, since the average speed player is able to support, the offload occurs an a try is scored.

At first glance, it sounds like I'm recommending that we ask the faster or bigger player to LOWER her potential to that of the average speed player. NOt at all. In this scenario, the potential of the "average speed player" has shot through the roof. At the moment in time that this average speed player puts the ball between the posts and finishes the try, we've re-defines that individual's potential. Tommorrow, that player's potentil is markedly higher because he or she has learned how to support and finish, at top speed. The wicked fast player's potential has increase - she, at that moment, became a play maker.

Alternate scenario for forwards who put everything in scrummaging perspective:

Tight head vs loose head, Red tight head is stronger. Hooker vs hooker, equal strength. Loose Head vs Tight head, blue tight head is stronger.

At first glance, the two teams, each with a dominant tight head, seem equally matched. What happens if all six players drive at maximum effort? Wheel, every single scrum. Since the loose heads are weaker, and the tight head on their own team is CONTRIBUTING to the wheel, both 1s are victims. What happens if the tight head on the red team backs off just a little bit? The loose head on the red team can stabilize, her opposite isn't as enabled to push since OUR tight head isn't making the scrum spin, and lo ... the team putting out LESS raw power, but an even application of power, will have control of the scrum.

So basically, as relates to potential, 4 things I'm thinking about pre-season - particularly when tackling the challenge of working with 50 plus players of varying skill, experience, desire, and POTENTIAL.

1. You or I, as the coach, have no idea about what a player's potential is. If she doesn't want for herself what you envision for her, the her potential is limited. She's not failing to meet it - it just isn't there to begin with. The moment an individual player says to herself - "I DO want this, and I'm willing to work at it", their potential skyrockets. When presented with a selection choice - choose the player who really wants to be there. Not the player who's convinced the team will crumble without her, or who believes she's doing the team a favor showing up.

2. On game day, we can't change anyones potential. We do what we can to optimize the environment, and the rest is in the hands of the players. On game day, our job is basically over.

3. Potential can be changed by increasing individual proficiency, but TEAMWORK, even in the smallest of units, creates increased potential and as a result creates increased performance in all players involved. If we, as coaches, work our very hardest to change the potential of our individuals, we'll change the potential of our team, and vice versa. Play players next to players who make them better players.

4. Everyones potential at any given moment in time is NOT the same. This goes not only for our team, but for the opposition. As a result of this difference in potential, mismatches occur. Learn to recognize these mismatches on the field, and the team's potential goes up. Learn to CREATE the mismatches on the field, and every player's potential goes up AND the teams potential goes up. Make smart selection choices and do not place players on the field in positional situations where they will repeatedly be the victim of a mismatch. Let the other team be victims.

Bring on the fall!

A ridiculously stupid and insanely fun rugby game

2007-08-13T22:32:00.001-07:00

When hanging out with rugby people one day, just for fun, contemplate what sort of rugby team you might put together with actors, actresses, politicians, superheros (imagine superman at 8!) etc ...

My celebrity (actresses/musicians etc) world cup team (non-rostered reserves included)

1 - Oprah
2 - Pink
3 - Queen Latifa
4 - Charlize Theron
5 - Sigourney Weaver
6 - Hillary Swank
7 - Angelina Jolie
8 - Gina Davis (captain)
9 - Jodi Foster
10 - Helen Hunt
11 - Mariel Hemingway
12 - Demi Moore
13 - Lucy Lawless
14 - Mila Jojovich
15 - Angela Bassett (vice captain)
16 - Kathy Bates
17 - Lil' Kim
18 - Brigitte Nielsen
19 - Linda Hamilton
20 - Francis McDormand
21 - Kristanna Loken
22 - Gina Gershon

Head Coach: Glenn Glose
Assistant Coach (forwards): S. Epatha Merkerson
Assistant Coach (backs): Meryll Streep
Physio: Sandra Oh

Alternates

Regina King (1/2)
Anna Nicole Smith (3) (pretend)
Uma Thurman (lock)
Tina Fey (9)
Jennifer Garner (back row)
Holly Hunter (10)
Madonna (wing)
Mariska Hargitay (center)

The selection committee had a rough time making these decisions - but we're confident. I dare you to try the game. It's a guilty pleasure.

Scrummaging - old school vs current style

2007-07-30T06:26:00.000-07:00

I was very fortunate over the past few days to get another chance to observe our MNT in training. One of the biggest areas where change has occurred over the past few years is at the scrum. There are more variations on scrummaging than I could possibly cover - bind high, low, high and low, crotch bind, waist bind, pocket bind, balls of feet, splayed feet, lock out, knees bent, bla bla bla.

Much time is being spent improving our scrum, and our MNT scrummaging coach recently did some training with players in Rochester. Clearly this is an area that the MNT staff has identified for improvement in the upcoming world cup.

Rather than dissect the whole thing, I thought it would be useful to post a summary that compares how "we used to do things", with how "we are doing things". Some of he old school methods referred to below may be things you are currently doing, some of the current methods may be things your currently doing. Feel free to comment. Bill LeClerck, the current MNT scrummaging coach, has posted a paper with key points on the usarugby coaches portal - if you've got a chance to check it out, there is a lot of good info there.

old school	currently endorsed method
props sit on locks shoulders	prop and locks are perfectly in line - shoulder to buttocks
everybody "looks up", locks looking at their opponent	head is in a neutral position, tongue to teeth, look through the eyebrows to create muscle tension
binds are top priority - shoulders "pop out" for a tight fit	binds are a means to an end - body profile is the top priority, binds are designed to channel power forward
Scrummaging is a "less important" role for flankers and 8	flankers and 8 are part of the "back 5" and are critical power contributors, participating in all aspects of training previously thought of as "tight 5 time"
the tight head prop "leads in", and the rest follow	the back five, but especially #8, drive the props in, so power generation starts from behind
forwards engage on an auditory cue from the referee, going on "engage", with the front row generally a spit second ahead of the rest of the pack	the #8 takes his/her cue visually from the hooker to initiate the drive, the remainder of the players, while still "listening" react to the drive behind them as the primary trigger
flankers set up in a split legged "sprint start", and maintain the position throughout the scrum	flankers set up in a power position and driving just as hard as locks
#8 sets up like a lock and drives off of both legs at engagement	#8 sets up in a sprint start and drops the forward leg back at engagement, effectively "letting off the brake"
locks start on their knees, and enter the scrum via the space between the calf and the knee of the prop and hooker, sliding their head up and "locking" it into position	locks start off their knees, in a comfortable power position, and the props and hookers simply let them in
locks "hang" from the prop in front of them, treating that playe as a pillar	locks bind in such a way as to apply pressure to the buttock/leg "seam", while the props push back against them for balance. Both players have identical profiles
power comes in waves, with an initial drive and secondary drives as distinct phases	pressure and tension are continually in balance until the ball is out of the scrum.
locks "lock out", splaying their feet with all 8 cleats in the ground to hold the scrum steady	all 8 stay in a bent legged position applying constant pressure to the individual in front of them, the individual behind them, and the ground
upper body and leg strength are considered THE bottom line attributes of a tight five player	core strength is considered THE bottom line attribute of a tight five player

On the definition of high level rugby ....

2007-07-18T19:02:00.001-07:00

Along with the idea of "high level coaching", we often speak of and hear of "high level rugby". This summer I've an an opportunity to attend a variety of high level rugby events, and observe both the players and coaches in action.

So what's the difference between "high level rugby" and the rest of the rugby? How do we as coaches get "high level rugby" to happen? Is it in fact happening here in the US, or are we kidding ourselves when we use the term?

Certainly "high level rugby", as I see it, requires more than just highly skilled athletes. It's about the team's ability to make collective decisions, on the fly, to overcome the defense, or, defensively, overcome the offense. That much I feel sure of.

What about the individual players and their skills? Do we teach players progressively, ie level 1, 2, 3 skills? Or, do we teach the skill at the highest level, and progressively coach to success?

If the skill set does not have a safety component, I say go for it. I'm tired of seeing players who have been told "just run forward" by their coach, simply because they are new. I'm tired of the athleticism being coached out of players in order to facilitate better ball retention. Here's an example if that doesn't make sense.

A player with a couple of years of college experience, very athletic, good power and size, comes to a camp or a practice. Nearly 100% of the time, he or she chooses to "take the contact" offensively. Why? Because they've been told FIRST learn to hit someone, hold onto the ball in contact, and place the ball. By the time they were "ready" to learn how to pass through contact or run evasively, they had already developed habits and muscle memory to do exactly the opposite. So, to coach them through to this next skill level, we need to deconstruct what they've worked so hard to get good at.

So what's the answer? Do we coach how to run evasively and pass FIRST, and then teach all the ball retention pieces? This method will undoubtedly result in lots of 50-50 passes and lost balls in contact.

We can take a whole-part-whole approach to things, but this is really hard, and takes a willingness by coaches to let failure occur, let players struggle, and sometimes, lose games in the interest of developing skilled decision makers. Using this approach, the decision making about WHEN to pass happens a whole lot sooner, but we need to continually go back to the pieces and tweak the pass, the body control in contact, etc.

What would you describe as "high level skills" as opposed to "beginner or intermediate" skills? How do you know "high level rugby" when you see it? Or, is high level rugby simply what happens when EVERYONE on the pitch is fit enough to accomplish their jobs at a moderate level?

And more so, how to you "teach" high level rugby? How do they do it outside the states? And really, how many of us who "say" we coach high level rugby are actually doing that? Seriously ... ?

on being qualified to coach high level players

2007-07-09T07:20:00.000-07:00

I'm going to split my next post into two parts - one regarding coaching, and one regarding game, since it's a topic that could generate much discussion.

I got an email while I was on vacation from a new coach, who is experiencing some self doubt (I'm keeping her name anonymous by request).

"I've never played for a really good team, I've never played select sides, and I never even dreamed of playing for the Eagles. Now I'm coaching a team that is getting really competitive and I don't know how to take them to the next level, since I never played at that level".

So here's the question - is it necessary for a coach to have "high level athlete experience" in order to coach "high level rugby?", or, can a coach educate themselves to the point where they become qualified to coach high level rugby.

To this new coach - I totally understand how you feel, and have wondered the very same thing myself. Elite level athletes play sports at a different level, but how much of that is based on genetics/fitness/training/instinct, versus how much is based on study and education? As a player I never reached the highest level. As a result, when I first started coaching I was very comfortable coaching "up to" the level that I had reached. It took quite a bit of time and study before I felt comfortable with players who achieved greater glories that I did on the field. I'm confident that practicing the craft of coaching, studying video, attending camps and clinics run by other coaches, and actually working with higher level players can build your coaching skills to the degree necessary to meet your players needs, but what of that final extra step that takes a coach and/or her players all the way to the top?

As a player who never instinctively knew how to evade defenders, I had to dissect how to decelerate, shift weight from one foot to the other, accelerate, balance, etc etc etc. Often I've heard the naturally evasive athlete say something along the lines of "why didn't she just step that defender and take that hole?". For some at this level of skill, "how" to execute isn't nearly as hard to learn as "when" to execute. I seemed to always know "when", but couldn't get my body to do it in time. While this was somewhat disatrous to me as a athlete, I think it helped me develop as a coach (especially when working with newer or less athletic players). But how about coaching the elite level athlete whose bodies CAN execute? Is there something a coach with an elite athlete past can give them that I'll never be able to? What do you think?

If we were to look at the coaches in our nation who work with the senior US teams and with the senior territorial teams, there certainly does seem to be a pattern of retired USA players occupying those roles, particularly in the women's game, particularly women coaches. Yet this doesn't seem to be true of the men who coach the women's high level teams/programs. Are we, as women, holding each other to a higher standard than we hold our male counterparts? Or even worse, are we, as women, making gender assumptions that we shouldn't regarding the skill/knowledge of male vs female coaches? Can a man without International PLAYING experience achieve the highest level of coaching in the US? Can a woman?

Interestingly, when i google Peter Thornburn, the men's national team coach, the press releases speak entirely to his coaching experience - not a word about him as a player. When I google Kathy Flores, the women's national team head coach, the press releases mentions primarily her playing career and this despite the fact the her achievements as Berkley's head coach make her far and away the most impressive coach in US women's rugby, and that under her our WNT is back on track and fast on the road to success.

So - is this just random? Or, as Americans (men but especially women), do we demand that our home grown rugby coaches have an international athlete resume? Is it wrong to suggest that coaches born outside our shores are not held to this same standard? Is it because we are still young as a rugby nation?

And to the original question - Can a coach, who has never competed as an athlete at the select side or higher level, coach players with those ambitions and even those experiences? Opinions please!

My advice to this individual - keep working at it. Go to camps, go to clinics, go to coaching workshops. If you can't find a rugby coaching workshop to go to, go to another sports workshop. Reach out to the select side coaches in your area and ask to attend their camps and tryouts. Ask to help - get guest coaches to come to your trainings. Find someone to mentor you. When you see something you like - TRY IT. Just like players take chances, we as coaches have to take chances. America is the land of opportunity and invention. Keep working at it, perhaps in a few years you'll be the one introducing new techniques, defensive systems, or attacking strategies. Just keep coaching.

Here's an interesting article from the USOC Coaching newsletter about coaching veteran elite athletes vs emerging elite athletes.

U23 NASC Marfu v Midwest Video Highlights

2007-06-28T09:01:00.000-07:00

From June 15th's Midwest U23 v MARFU U23 match ... great game all around! Scroll down for more

Cool overhead view of a wheeling scrum ...

Montage of all the games tries & the phases that lead up to them ...

Women's NA4

2007-06-20T13:23:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't heard the rumors, it's true - there WILL be a women's North America 4 competition, and right now team names are being discussed. One of the folks at USA Rugby thought it might be a great blogging topic.

The men's program, in keeping with the Eagles = birds of prey theme, went with "Hawks" and "Falcons". What do you guys think? Should the women use those same names? Anyone got any other fantastic, creative, appropriate idea? Any ideas that will stimulate energy and get people fired up? Let's see some comments!

A brief update post NASC

2007-06-19T07:02:00.000-07:00

My mind is still a swirl after this weekend. The MARFU U-23s won the NASC this year, fighting through two incredibly hard games and mounting a somewhat miraculous late game comeback to do it. As I started to think about what to even blog, it occurs to me that I'm really just not ready for that data dump. All sorts of topics come to mind - the criticality of taking points when you can get them (both wins were by only two points), the importance of trusting your team leaders to do most of the actual leading, trusting depth, playing games, and finding the faith to do what appears
impossible. Oh, and while video is effective for statistics and tactics, it's really hard to get a feeling for a teams intensity or physicality. SoCal was INTENSE.

So - let's leave that for now, and in the interest of all the players involved in the championship match, I'll make some corrections to the various accounting that are out there (I may have reported some inaccuracies in my fog of excitement that also resulted in me losing everything that was in my pockets from jumping up and down so high).

The scoring went like this:

SoCal 5 (5-0)
SoCal 5 (10-0)
MARFU 3 (10-3)
SoCal 5 (15-3)
Socal 5 (20-3)
MARFU 5 (20-8)

HALFTIME SCORE - 20-8 Socal
SoCal 5 (25-8)
MARFU 5 (25-13)
MARFU 2 (25-15)
MARFU 5 (25-20)
MARFU 5 (25-25)
MARFU 2 (25-27)

SoCal's try scorers were Kelly Griffin (15) and Alexis (XL) Volen (10)
MARFU's try scorers were Kate Daley (5), Vanesha McGee (5), and Liz Inkellis (10)
MARFU's kicker was Emily Tunney, and accounted for 7 points (1 pk, 2 conversions).

So perhaps tommorrow, maybe I'll blog about something coach-like.

PS - I just received this from the U23 manager .... Congrats to all the players on the NZ list, you guys are going to have the time of your lives!

2007 NEW ZEALAND TOUR PARTICIPANTS:
Ahrendt, Kirsten
Benlian, Amber
Berg, Libby
Boone, Phoebe
Bydwell, Emilie
Daley, Kate
Drey, Kassie
Forestal, Sydney
Goodman-Levy, Dani
Griffin, Kelly
Hughes, Brea
Kohanski, Tess
Lear, Kristy
McBride, Tara
McCarthy, Schmarrah
McCormick, Kati
McCoy, Tiffany
McGee, Vanesha
Potter, Jillion
Reddick, Naima
Schlarb, Elaine
Smit, Melissa
Travers, Jess
Tseng, Jossy
Tunney, Emily
Turley, Shaina
Vargas, Krissy
Villa, Sheri
Wilson, Sarah

Alternates:
Ansel, Tonya
Black, Katy
Crapster-Pregont, Meg
Duggan, Jillian
Mathews, Kara
Volen, Alexis
Worman, Alison

Left vs Right (rugby, not politics)

2007-06-08T12:31:00.000-07:00

I received an inquiry from a coach with a left-handed fly-half today. She is looking for information about how to minimize the impact this has on the player's game, specifically the kicking game.

The conventional wisdom, as least what I've been exposed to, is that it's not so important whether you are left or right dominant, as long as we are are coaching our players to do everything from both sides. In that perfect world we dream of, players should all be able to pass and kick equally well from both hands and both feet.

Now - I also know there's lots of really detailed information floating around out there about left footed vs right footed kickers, that there's some visual math we can do that goes something like this:

If a (left or right) footed kicker puts a ball down the (left or right) side of the pitch, the ball will spin (clockwise or counterclockwise) and will then bounce (in or out) of touch if it hits the ground just inside the line.

Request #1: Is there someone out there who can describe this in terms we can all understand?

I've also heard coaches talk (and have reserved my opinion) about how you should choose wings to play specifically right and left, based upon the idea of handedness that goes something like this:

Since the majority of players are right handed, it stands to reason that players will be more successful moving the ball all the way to the wing on the left side side of the pitch, since they will be more effective passing left (since we use the right hand to pass left). Assuming this is true it is more likely that you will get the overlap on the left and need a player to turn the corner. The right wing will more than likely engage in more contact (since the ball theoretically would move slower when the ball goes down the line on the right). So, when choosing wings, turn-the-corner speed = left wing, win-the-contact = right wing.

Yet another idea is that the wings play left and right based on their "footedness", rather than handedness, and that the whole left right thing maps the the kicking problem above.

As if that's not all of it, several coaches swear by the idea of playing one type of wing on the right because the blind side is more likely to be attacked on the right, vs the left.

Request #2 - Would someone in the know explain the left/right wing selection?

The left-right thing goes on - should we kick to the left side of the field because its harder to move the ball right after the receipt? Some coaches play left and right flanker rather than open and blind, and so on and so on and so on.

The original original request was about helping the left handed fly-half developing the right handed kicking and passing skills - any recommendations beyond the standard "always train both hands and feet?"

Thanks in advance, i hope to see some interesting comments!

MARFU U23 Squad for 2007 NASC

2007-05-22T12:39:00.000-07:00

The MARFU U-23 Women's All Star Program is proud to announce it's roster for the 2007 NASC. Players were selected from the fall LAU All Star Championships, the MARFU U-23 Developmental team, and this weekend's open tryouts.

After the weekend of tryouts, which included a full day of training and 2 matches against the NoVa women's first and second sides, 24 players plus 4 alternates were identified. An unforeseen cancellation of the Northeast/MARFU Senior warm up match allowed some of the senior MARFU players to take the pitch with NoVa, providing the young sharks with a very challenging opponent.

"Testing the candidates against a top division 1 team is the perfect finish to our selection cycle. We know the competition in Blaine is going to be tough, so we look for players who can really push the bar both defensively and offensively. Slotting 2 wins against NoVa this weekend was just a bonus - finding the right players enroute was what we were ultimately after"

The NoVa women awarded #8 Kate Daley (Penn State) and #12 Amber Benlian (Maryland Stingers) MVP honors for the first game, and #13 Lauren Rosso (Penn State) MVP honors for the second game. "We've been exploring a lot of new ways to create space on offense, and as a result we were able to get players like Vanesha McGee (Philadelphia Women) and Liz Inkellis (Princeton) and Sarah Miller (James Madison) into the try zone several times. We are really excited for the NASC, especially our first match against the Midwest".

Next Saturday at 1:00 the U-23 Sharks will take on the DC Furies in a final warmup match. Interested parties can find details and directions at http://www.girlsplayrugby.com/marfu-u23 .

Amber Benlian, Maryland Stingers (c)
Katy Black, Westchester University
Kathleen Brady, James Madision
Julia Brown, University of Delaware
Laurie Bryan, Virginia Tech
Stephanie Burkhardt, Westchester University
Nicole Coffineau, Virginia Tech
Kate Daley, Penn State
Allison Dolan, LaSalle University
Liz Inkellis, Princeton
Lori Kenuk, University of Delaware
Allurie Kephart, Penn State
Fontaine Lloyd, Penn State
Vanesha McGee, Philadelphia Women (vc)
Sarah Miller, James Madison
Allison Myers, Philadelphia Women
Carrie Perdue, University of Virginia
Emily Shiflett, University of Virginia
Emily Tunney, Philadelphia Women (vc)
Elizabeth Walsh, University of Delaware
Lauren Rosso, Penn State
Sheri Villa, American University
Khanh Vu, Penn State
Rachel Warden, NoVa
Alison Worman, Penn State

Staff:

Lisa E Rosen - Head Coach
Roshna Wunderlich - Assistant Coach
Deb Yates - Manager
Jen LaFalce - Athletic Trainer

MARFU U-23 All Star Tryouts - THIS WEEKEND!

2007-05-15T19:05:00.001-07:00

MARFU U-23 All Star Tryouts - THIS WEEKEND!

May 19th and 20th 2007, are the MARFU U23 Women's All Star tryouts in the Washington, DC area. May 19th will be an open tryout - a coach's recommendation IS NOT required, however, competing players should have competence at general rugby skills, good to excellent fitness, and a fantastic attitude :) .

This is NOT a clinic for beginning players. We will spend the day learning the techniques, style of play, and communication tools that the MARFU U23 squad will use. Individual skills, fitness, and team play will be assessed throughout the day.

Saturday, May 19th
MARFU U23 Open Tryout Camp
Colmar Manor Pitch (3200 37th Avenue, Bladensburg, Maryland)
Directions
Open to all USA Rugby CIPP registered, female MARFU players under the age of 23 on Jan 1, 2007.
Schedule:
Check-in 9:00 AM - 9:30 AM
Warm-up 9:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Morning Session 10 AM...
Lunch Break
Afternoon Session

Sunday, May 20th
MARFU U23 Matches vs. NoVa Women
Gravely Point Pitch (near National Airport)
Directions
All selected MARFU Players(based upon previous day's tryouts or other accommodations) should report to the field time specified at the end of Saturday tryouts.
Two full matches will be played.

What to bring to Saturday's tryout camp:

* Please bring your own LUNCH and WATER - there is a Subway near by if needed.
* Please bring your own kit needs (boot, mouthguards, tape, pre-wrap) including a LIGHT and DARK shirt.
* Signed waiver form.
* There is a nominal $10 fee per player to participate in the tryout camp.
* Please also have your insurance information available.
* Your USA Rugby CIPP number (can be found on www.usarugby.org).

Players who are unable to attend Saturday's session due to graduation conflicts but still wish to compete for a spot need to contact Lisa/Deb ASAP. All exceptions must be arranged in advance.

Pre-registration is not required, however, in order to accurately plan and manage the day, it would be helpful to know who's coming. If you intend on coming to the camp, please drop us a line and let us know more about you. If you have rugby-related questions or concerns about your availability, please contact Lisa (coachingrugby@gmail.com) directly.

Coaches are encouraged to provide information about players they believe can compete for a spot - the more details the better. Coaches are also welcome to attend and assist at tryouts. If you are a coach and are interested in attending, please email Lisa and let her know what your specialty is, what timeframe you're available and if you willing/capable to referee at all.

At the conclusion of Saturday's session, 40 players will be identified to return Sunday for two scrimmages against the NoVa Women's RFC. Other players are welcome to stay, however their participation in Sunday's activities will be limited. At the conclusion of Sunday's session, 28 players will be identified to be part of the official 2007 MARFU U23 team. This team will have a test match against the D.C. Furies on Saturday May 26th and travel to Blaine MN, Jun 12-17, to compete at the National All Star Championships, where we will play the other Territory U23 teams in Tier A.

Details are always being posted here on our website regarding specific venue locations etc. Please disseminate this email to interested players, and let's plan for a terrific weekend of rugby. We hope to see lots of you there!

Lisa E Rosen
MARFU U23 Head Coach
Email: coachingrugby@gmail.com
Phone: 215.421.1823
http://girlsplayrugby.com/marfu-u23

Deb Yates
MARFU U23 Team Manager
Email: wcol@epru.org
Phone: 610.738.3890
http://girlsplayrugby.com/marfu-u23

Alex Williams Rugby Camp

2007-05-15T06:28:00.000-07:00

Stole this from Blondie's blog...

Alex Williams Rugby Camp

Updates: College Rugby America aka EIU

2007-05-14T04:46:00.000-07:00

Rather than repost to the comments, I'm bringing this back to the top. Original post is here.

It seems that someone with inner knowledge of the Eastern Illinois program has posted in defense of the comments on www.collegerugbyamerica.com, though that individual chooses to post as "Anonymous". From the content and tenor of your posts, Anonymous, it seems as if you must be someone with the program, so why don't you let us know who you are?

In summary, this individual states that there is no disrespect intended to the "clubs", but until state sports organizations manage rugby as they do other high school sports, the term "high school rugby" can't be used. Likewise, in colleges across the country where rugby is managed as a club sport, the term "college rugby" can't be used.

This claim was backed up by a response to a query to the webmaster at collegerugbyamerica.com ...

"In order to be considered high school rugby, the term must consist of
possession of high school varsity teams who are sponsored by a state
athletic association. Currently, here are no high school varsity girls
rugby teams in the U.S. All information is absolutely correct. High
school age club rugby exists all over the country yes, but the term
high school rugby is not valid as high school track, high school soccer
or high school lacrosse is."

That's interesting ... I had no idea that those terms were copyrighted. Who exactly owns the copyright to "Girls High School Rugby"? Who owns the copyright to "College Rugby"? GIVE ME A BREAK! Stop the BS. Fix the site and represent the state of the sport accurately.

FYI the email response also had no name attached to it - just "webmaster@collegerugbyamerica.com". He or she who is speaking for rugby in America, identify yourself!

OK, I'm being to judgmental. Let's give Anonymous the benefit of the doubt. Let's let the NCAA tell us what the state of the sport is in the United States. I went to the NCAA site entered "rugby" as a search term. It came back with two pages.

The first refers specifically to the state of rugby in the USA, and provides information on it as an NCAA emerging sport.

Level of Participation (high school club/college club):
3,225 girls participating in high school club rugby.
11,000 women collegiate club rugby players.
347 total women's collegiate rugby clubs.

What's this? People are playing rugby? I WOULD HOPE SO, OTHERWISE WHY WOULD THE NCAA NAME IT AS AN EMERGING SPORT? Coach Graziano's statements on collegerugbyamerica.com that he MUST recruit athletes for rugby from other sports, because there IS NO GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL RUGBY IN THE USA, is completely mis representative and misleading. The NCAA has no problem telling the world how many players participate in club and college rugby at the high school and collegiate level, why do you? And yes, Anonymous, i can see that they say "High School Club", and Collegiate Club". I get the distinction, it's about the word CLUB. The point is, they are not saying "THERE IS NO GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL RUGBY", like collegerugbyamerica.com is. The NCAA is telling the truth.

The NCAA site also says this, on the same page:

Remarks: Rugby is one of the largest and continually growing club sports in the United States with almost 350 collegiate women's clubs already in existence. USA Rugby currently provides start-up kits to assist newly formed clubs become successful on-campus teams. In addition, the International Olympic Committee Program Commission has recommended rugby be added as an Olympic sport for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

I get where you are coming from, Anonymous. Varsity, varsity, varsity. That's excellent! I totally support the movement of rugby into a varsity model. But not this way. Varsity programs need to make the sport better, not worse. You state in your comments that "rugby is currently a non-sanctioned club sport at all levels". It's a TOTALLY SANCTIONED CLUB SPORT! Universities with rugby CLUBS manage them through club sports offices, CIPP their players, oversee budget and fund raising activities, manage coaches, and YES, even have "codes of conduct". This is not 20 years go. Club sports, rugby specifically, is NOT what it used to be.

Let's keep digging. One of the things that varsity rugby has always come up against was the idea that it's participants can't play select sides or for the USA. I know from my own personal experience that players at a particular institution were told they could not participate in the USA U19 program, because it was "against NCAA bylaws". REALLY...

Here, according to the NCAA web site, are the "PROPOSED" laws for rugby.

There are in fact some specifications about not playing "amateur rugby" during the school year. But scroll down a little further ...

17.18.8.1.2.2 Olympic and National Team Development Program

There are no limits on the number of student-athletes from the same institution who may participate in Olympic and national team development programs. Such programs may also include a coach and student-athlete from the same institution, provided:

(a) The national governing body (NGB) conducts and administers the developmental program;

(b) The NGB selects coaches involved in the developmental program; and

(c) The NGB or the selected coaches select the involved participants. (Revised: 2/21/02)

WOW! National Team Development programs? You mean like the NASC? Seriously? I'm willing to bet there are some athletes at EIU who would love the chance to represent their country. This is great news!

So just one last detail...

Anonymous says in his or her post that "No club team, in any sport can come close to matching the fitness and athleticism of a NCAA sport."

When challenged by AOF to explain a lost to Texas A&M (a group of "less athletic club players), Anonymous cited that a top scorers was injured. PLEASE! How about just acknowledging that Texas A&M were better. No, rather than acknowledging that perhaps the athletes at Texas A&M were as good or better, Anonymous gave the Texas A&M coach the kudos .. "the Texas A&M coach is very talented and a great guy." I'm sure he's a terrific coach, but don't some of those "club athletes" deserve SOME of the credit? Why is it so hard to acknowledge that at least some club athletes work and train as hard as varsity athletes?

Anonymous goes on to direct us to the EIU website where we can read about EIU's awesome season and record breaking statistics. I was expecially impressed by the "124-0 thrashing" of the Spartans. Hopefully those terrific athletes (and don't get me wrong - there is no doubt there are some great athletes) that are coming to rugby from other sports to play at EIU will get a chance to challenge themselves in hard games against great competition, and possibly even get a chance to represent their country, since the NCAA says they can!

not sure what to think ... collegerugbyamerica.com

2007-05-10T09:44:00.000-07:00

So this link got gchatted to me today ... http://www.collegerugbyamerica.com.
And usually I don't blog mad. Today I am blogging mad.
At first i thought AWSOME! Another step forward towards NCAA Women's Rugby. Awsome!

And then I started reading. This site claims its the "OFFICIAL site of Women's College Rugby". Really? There's no NCAA logo - and USA Rugby, with it's NCAA Initiative isn't even mentioned. I'm not sure who owns this site (a whoisquery has it registered to godaddy.com, so just a service), but it FULL of misinformation and certainly misrepresentative.

There's a prominent interview with Frank Graziano, the EIU Head Coach - and no disrepect intended, but some of his statements are flat out WRONG, and I'm pretty sure it's not an accident.

For example, when asked about recruiting, Coach Graziano states:

"With no high school rugby anywhere in the U.S., the cross-over athlete provides the recruiting base for our program". Are you kidding me? There's high school rugby everywhere! EVERYWHERE! Here in Eastern Penn, there are over 30+ girls high school teams.

That statement is echoed, in italics, in bold on the girls high school page. "College Rugby America recognizes the long overdue need for the formation of girls high school rugby. Currently, there is no girls high school rugby anywhere in the United States".

That's right Divine Savior, Kent, Budd Bay, Haverford, Blackhearts, Conestoga, Summit, Littleton etc etc etc. YOU DON'T EXIST.

You wanna be really pissed, everyone who's played rugby in college? Look at THIS page. The first college rugby program was EIU in 1998? I'll bite on the first NCAA program ... but DON'T IGNORE THE REST OF US!!! I played college rugby in 1982!

There is a press release about the newest multi-sport athletes. All are from EIU.

And then there is the "National U18 Development Program". There's much talk of camps to prep athletes for college rugby. According to the site, "This is the only program in the nation designed for the development of future college rugby student-athletes." Really? So what about the Penn State Camp? The East Stroudsberg Camp? The camps run by the USA U-19 Program? The camps run in Minnesota by MARF? The DOZENS of camps run across the nation by club and college programs every summer and winter? Seriously, this is the ONLY camp in the whole country tailored for college rugby student-athletes? I cry b#@$#@*(t.

Let's take a look at the staff for these camps. WAIT, its the EIU staff!

Hey, there's a section where we talk about laws... WAIT, it's with Coach Graziano!

Ok - so granted, I'm a little pissed. Everyone has the right to recruit and recruit and recruit. But DO NOT misrepresent your program our your place in the world. There are hundreds of high school programs in the country. Oh, they don't have a varsity label? That doesn't mean they don't exist. How many high school rugby players were on PSU's winning team this year? LOTS - and I bet more than a few of them attended the PSU camp when they were in high school. I bet the same goes for Stanford. I know that the high school programs in Colorado and Minnesota and Seattle are pumping out international caliber athletes.

DO NOT Represent your staff and your camp as the only people in the country running development programs. Somewhere along the line someone identified and coached all the student athletes playing, and it was someone other than Coach Graziano. There are SO MANY PEOPLE - "big" names and "no" names working their asses off to develop the high school rugby athlete, working their asses off to get them ready for the best college rugby experience - and this web site is representing itself as the "OFFICIAL" source of pretty much everything. USA Rugby HAS an official NCAA initiative - and the aren't even mentioned!

This is not the official anything. It's a marketing tool for Eastern Illinois University, and its misrepresentations are insulting (I can't speak for the whole rugby community, but I'm insulted). You DO NOT represent everyone. Put the EIU logo on this site and make it right.

MARFU U23 Developmental Team at Ruggerfest

2007-05-07T12:05:00.001-07:00

Last weekend the MARFU U23 program kicked off its 2007 campaign by entering a developmental U23 team in the Washington Ruggerfest, hosted by the DC Furies.

The tournament is one of the largest spring tournaments on east coast and features three tiers of competition. The MARFU U-23 Developmental team entered the middle tier, along with Developmental teams from the DC Furies, Nova, and Beantown, and National Division II Club finalists Albany.

We worked hard to get the roster just right - to have the appropriate depth at each position, and just enough top-level experience raise everyone's level. 2005 & 2006 veterans Emily Tunney (Philadelphia Women) and Amber Benlian (Maryland Stingers) provided stellar leadership as captain and vice captain respectively, while Georgetown's Katie Welter and American University's Sherri Villa returned to the teams vastly improved from last year. Villa put in one of the strongest solo efforts at the tournament, showing speed, creativity and flair both offensively and defensively, while Welter was a rock at fullback, dangerous under the high ball and dead accurate with her open field tackles.

The remaining 18 players were all new to the program, and were identified at the MARFU U-23 LAU Round Robin Tournament.

The group gathered Friday evening for a 2 hour training session - after introductions were done we reviewed our game plan for the weekend, got a little light contact in, defined our communication system, and adjourned for the evening.

Saturday's first match was a bit rough against the DC Furies Developmental side. DC was peppered with veteran select side players, and we were still learning each others names. While everyone adjusted to a new system of play, we held the Furies to 2 tries but were not successful getting into the tryzone. After some light work on our ball retention techniques, the team met the Village Lions Saturday afternoon and turned in much improved 10-0 performance. We steadily improved throughout the day and even through each match. The players got to know each other all a little better during a team dinner in the city, and did some goal setting to improve Sunday's performance.

Sunday was set up as a "play till you lose" day. We faced the Albany Siren's at 9:00am, and were able to really stretch our legs. Albany was tough at the breakdown and very strong ball in hand, but our strength 1-22 was the difference, and we entered the semi finals after a 29-0 victory.

Our semi-final match, it turned out, was a rematch against the DC Furies developmental team. Now the the team was getting comfortable with each other, and bolstered by a very unusual coin toss, the team approached the match relaxed and focused. After an even first half, we were finally able to put players through gaps - and twice Shippensburg center Danielle Dincher and University of Delaware wing Elizabeth Walsh were able to 2 v 1 the fullback for a score. At full time the score was 19-5, an impressive turnaround against a very challenging opponent.

Our third and final game of the day and fifth of the tournament was literally a battle of youth vs experience, as we faced always dangerous, always sneaky Back in Black in the second division final. Back in Black is an over-30 touring sides, but there's nothing weak or slow about these women. With players like Nancy Fitz, Krista McFarren, Dana Creager, and more too numerous to name, it is a team that makes a habit of winning tournaments. Back and Black blew through the early rounds undefeated, and we knew we would be in for a hard contest.

Within the opening minutes hooker Sherri Villa foiled a Back in Black attacked, kicking her own poached ball ahead into the tryzone and winning the race to ground it. Back in Black answered shortly after with a try of their own, as two attackers broke free and smoothly finished with room to spare. The U23s keep the pressure up, but the ball handling and continuity skills of Back in Black proved a little too much to handle as three more tries were put in prior to half.

We started off the second half strong, with fresh legs substituted in bulk, and midway through the second half Villa executed practically a carbon copy of her first try. Flanker Lindsay Wick was tremendously effective defensively, while Tunney and Belian strung together some nice penetrating attacks at the fringe and in the midfield. Welter was again solid defensively, stopping the lone runner repeatedly, but whenever Back in Black could create the 2 v 1 they were successful in finishing. Final score 30 - 10, Back in Black victors.

The spring developmental event is a prequel to the MARFU U-23 selection camp, which will be held in Washington DC May 19-20. Training camp will take place on May 19th, while matches against NOVA A and B will take place on Sunday the 20th. Players will be selected from this venue to represent the Mid Atlantic at the U-23 National All Star Championships in Blaine Mn this June.

The selection camp is open to all age-eligibile players who are members of MARFU. For details, visit http://www.girlsplayrugby.com/marfu-u23 or contact Head Coach Lisa Rosen.

MARFU U-23 Dev, Ruggerfest 2007:

Allison Dolan - LaSalle University
Lori Kenuk - University of Delaware
Sherri Villa - American University
Lisa Hrunka - Shippensburg University
Ally Clements - Virginia Tech
Ashley Keen - Drexel University
Meredith Black - Virginia Tech
Janet Finely - James Madison
Elizabeth Scerbo - James River
Emily Tunney (c) - Philadelphia Women
Lindsay Wick - Brandywine Women
Julie Brown - University of Delaware
Erin Rideout - Mary Washington
Allison Myers - Philadelphia Women
Amber Benlian (vs) - Maryland Stingers
Laurie Bryan - Virginia Tech
Danielle Dincher - Shippensburg
Jeanna Beard - UMBC
Misha Heller - DC Furies
Elizabeth Walsh - University of Delaware
Sarah Foster - University of Virginia
Katie Welter - Georgetown

Manager - Deb Yates
Head Coach - Lisa Rosen
Assistant Coach - Roshna Wunderlich
Local Coordinator - Gabe Ortiz

Referee rating and gender

2007-05-04T10:12:00.000-07:00

This isn't technically a coaching post, rather a question for the general public about policy and practice.

Let me preface my question/comments by saying unequivocally that I respect and honor the hard work and challenges that referees and referee organizations accross the country face week after week and month after month. This is NOT a commentary on the quality of refereeing, just a question of policy/practice.

Are there any guidelines anyone knows about that speak to referee allocations, and specifically refer to gender (of the teams, not the refs)? When the pool of available referees ranges from National Panel/B panel to C3, what guidelines do allocations groups across the various territories and even outside the USA use to determine which matches get what refs?

Has anyone been in a situation where, as a matter of policy and practice men get higher rated refs than women?

In my area, if all things are equal (ie everyone has a matrix match), senior men (of various divisions), men's D1 college, and men's D2 college will be allocated the highest available refs, and then in the pecking order (i think - there might be another level of men in there) is women senior D1. This is due to "the higher pace and intensity" of these matches. One can imagine where women's collegiate D2 etc rates in the mix ....

I'm curious as to how kosher this is. Are collegiate men's matches across the various divisions generally perceived to merit a higher level referee than Division 1 club women? Do men in general merit a higher level ref than women because of the pace of the game? Is there some common sense going on here that I don't see? Is there a pecking order?

I recently got to spend some time with a very high level men's program (TU Select Side +), and really, the "level of play" is similar across the genders. The men of course are faster, hit harder, change direction quicker, etc, but there aren't any super secret tactical or technical things that go on in a men's game vs a women's game that only a higher level referee would recognize.

EVERYONE wants the best ref available for their match - especially for big matches. Is it OK to say "first the men, then the women"? I mean, we all pay the same dues, and a ref doesn't get paid more for a men's game than a women's game so .... ?

Since it's taboo (in pretty much all unions) to bring in a hired gun "ringer" referee from another union to ref a big match, we are pretty much in a situation where we get what we get. I know, I know - pick up a whistle. We have several folks on our team who actively ref, mostly high school and occasionally college matches. So - all credit and respect to all who blow the whistle .. I'd love to hear your take on this particular issue. Please chime in!

U19 Women Junior Eagles Flight Camp

2007-04-18T07:31:00.000-07:00

Recieved this morning from the USA U19 manager, and I adore at least a couple of people on this staff - I recommend it far and wide to your young players!

U19 Women Junior Eagles Flight Camp
June 17-21, 2007
Blaine, Minnesota

CAMP DETAILS:
Who: Female athletes age 13-19

What: The inaugural Under-19 USA Rugby player development camp.

Why: This camp is designed to instruct players from all levels of skill and experience, including beginners,
to play more effectively as an individual and as a member of a team.
* Interact with USA National team players and coaches
* Film study and individual analysis of play
* Individual player evaluation and feedback * Position-specific coaching
* Full on duty medical staff

When: June 17-21, 2007 (Athletes should arrive by 4 PM June 17 and
may depart after 10 AM on the 21.)

Where: National Sports Complex Blaine, MN

Camp Staff: Head Coach: Bryn Chivers, Coaches: Sue Oldenburg, Tasha Bishop & Lance Connolly. Managers: Jeff Noe & Rachel Flynn

Fee: $399 covers all camp fees including instruction, housing and meals at the National Sports Center.

This is an open camp and any young female player aged 13 - 19 can attend. Space is limited to eighty players and registration has already started. U19 WNT Coach Bryn Chivers recently said "The goal of the camp is to provide the players with the best coaching possible, to introduce them to the U19 WNT Program and to give them access to players and coaches from all of our WNT Programs. I think this is going to be an incredible event and it's exciting to see how many players have already signed up"

Contact Information: All questions should be directed to u19usawomen@usarugby.org.

Brochure and Registration Form: http://www.usarugby.org/media/EDocs/eaglecamp.pdf

Role of the #8 on engagement

2007-04-07T03:48:00.000-07:00

I had a great opportunity yesterday to see some of the NA4 preparation, and with that a conversation with one of the specialist coaches. We talked primarily about the role of the #8 as relates to power generation in the scrum.

I've seen and coached #8s to engage a variety of different ways:

Feet shoulder width or more apart, essentially even.
The "slingshot", as part of the total impact method
The "sprint start", with feet split legged like a sprinter, driving forward off the front foot.

What you'll see in the video here is yet another variation. The #8 sets up split legged, as he would for a sprint style start, but instead of driving forward, he actually drops his forward leg back. The resulting effect is that gravity immediately drops him low and forward, propelling the locks ahead of him.

Please forgive the poor quality, it's a cell phone video. Thoughts?

Blowouts, mismatches, a/bs, and the meaning of "development"

2007-04-03T11:23:00.000-07:00

We've all been there - you show up on match day, thinking you are playing a B side, or a developmental team, a friendly match, whatever, and low-and-behold, staring across the pitch from you is a player that just last week was wearing a USA jersey. Or a Territorial select side jersey, or a National 7s jersey, or just played in a national championship game.

More and more teams are moving away from the A side/B side designations and going to "Senior and Developmental" or "D1 and D2". The reason? Well, the promising new rookie just flat out learns faster playing next to stronger players. Let's say we've got young #9 we're trying to develop. Play her with your least experienced pack and a brand new #8, and she's doomed to failure. She will develop at a snails pace and your backline is unlikely to see the ball at all, which hinders EVERYONE's development.

But, play her with your champion of the world #8, and an experienced #10, and suddenly she's got clean ball, she can make decisions, and she's operating at a higher work rate than she ever would in the "b side" game. NOW, she has to step up. Let's face it though ... your champion of the world # 8 is still going to run picks, she's still going to make monster tackles, she's still going to poach the ball. And if she's playing against a team that is not quite as fit, big, or well trained, she's going to break tackles, evade defenders, and get into space.

Is this fair? Where is the line?

The reason I bring this up today is that my team and I ran into an awkward situation this weekend. Expectations clearly weren't communicated between match secs and coaches, and we put out a stronger team than our opposition coach thought we should have. Bottom line, for me, there is a real difference between a B side game and a developmental or "mixed side" game.

We were a D1 team playing two separate matches against two local D2 teams, and in an effort to best develop all our players, we decided to split our 38 person roster right down the middle and play "mixed sides". We had a couple of senior select side players who played in each of the matches, not more than 20 minutes each .... and a couple of very high level U23 players who played most of the match. Two of our select side players sat out completely. Our coaching staff and selection committee did what we though was our due diligence, and were obsessive about how we selected - we wanted enough A players to keep the work rate high, provide leadership, and get good ball to our developmental players, while still giving them the bulk of the game time. When selections for each match shook out, it was right down the middle - 1/2 and 1/2 for both games.

This plan backfired horribly. Or maybe it didn't. It's an ethical dilemma, I guess. We won both of the matches, the first, vs what we perceived to be a slightly stronger team) by 40ish points, the second by 27 points. Not huge blowouts, but decisive wins.

I thought our competition - both teams - performed impressively, and was delighted that only one or two of our tries were the result of solo efforts. I thought everyone was happy. I thought the rugby was good, clean, fast, and physical. There were no yellow or red cards, scrums were safe, the ref didn't give any warnings and it seemed like people were having fun. There was one unfortunate injury to one of our first opponents, the result of a BRUTAL small-woman on small-woman level 3 tackle. I was in my little coaching world, pleased we were attacking space like we practiced, and making mental notes about turnovers, ball retention in contact, and lineouts.

Well as it turned out, we (I, the president, the match sec AND the captain) were vehemently chastised for playing ANY select side players at all. It was, apparently, an issue of "sportsmanship". A good sportsman or woman, the theory was proposed, would not let Select Side players play at all against a D2 team.

So - what does the general public think? Is it OK for an Eagle, or a TU select side player, to play in a D2 game, or should D1 A side players be limited to D1 games, and D1 B side players to D2 games? If it's OK to play your top players in a mixed roster match, how much is too much? How strong is to strong? What score is indicative of a blowout? What's the line between fair and competitive? Is it possible for an individual player or players to be TOO GOOD to step on the field against a particular opponent? Is it possible for an individual player to be TOO BIG (one of the assertions) to play against a team that doesn't match up to her size?

To be fair, the games were won not through the efforts of these handful of players, who barely had time to get warm, but through teamwork and an elevated level of play by all the players on the pitch ... but i digress.

For those of you who are with clubs that have two rosters, how to you develop players? A/B games, mixed squads, what?

I realize it's risky to write about a specific event like this, but its been bothering me, and I want to know what ya'll think. No disrespect intended to anyone, but its a valuable, if sensitive topic, so POST AWAY. Please, productive posts only.

Thanks!

Lineouts - Getting the jumpers up fast

2007-03-29T06:08:00.000-07:00

I received this in my inbox this morning ...

My players are asking for more help with the lineout, and they have correctly identified the fact that our biggest weakness is getting the jumper into the air quickly. Are there any good drills for this? Today I just had two pods going up and competing for the ball, neither was designated ''offense'' and they just had to go on the thrower. I'm just curious to know if anyone has any other ideas for working on this skill.

There are alot things at play here ... are you lifting legs or shorts? Are the jumpers moving or static? Going straight up or into the tunnel? Either way, getting into the air fast is a matter of the lifters reacting to the jumper, and minimizing all the extranous stuff at the actual jump (cadences, steps, delays in binding, etc).
As to timing, if we time things off the thrower, both teams get to initiate their actions at the same time, and neither team will get an appreciable advantage.

I like to use very dynamic lineouts and put everything in the hands of the jumpers. The lifters then have only one task .. lift, or don't lift. As to the mechanics - each jumper is a little different and I like to let them be. I don't personally believe in any kind of cadence at all for jumpers and lifters - again, its all about the jumper moving quickly and the lifters reacting. This is JUST my opinion, I've seen some static lineouts where the jumpers get up fast, its just not my personal preference.

So - if you want to develop speed, make your games/drills about speed. Instead of the "winner" being the one who has the ball, the "winner" can be the fastest unit. Here is a sample format.

Set up a line of 6 cones 5 meters apart. Set up as many of these in parallel as you have lifter/thrower groups. It's a race.

Throwers all start on the first cone, jumping pods on the second. On "GO" the group has to execute a lineout. When the ball is successfully caught in the air, the jumper passes it back the the thrower, and the whole unit moves to the next cone. When they hit the last cone, they now come forward, repeating the process. If the lineout is not successful, the group has to stay on the cone until they get it right. At the end of it every group will have executed at least 10 lineouts, under stress, and the winner will be the fastest group.

There are a million variations on this format, and many other lineout games that can be used to develop this speed and the decision making skills that go along with it.

As to off the pitch, your lifters and jumpers should be doing olypmic style lifts - push presses, cleans, jump squats, etc. This will get them faster and more explosive for the lineout tasks.

Great topic Deanna - lets see what everyone else has to say!

Game day warmups

2007-03-26T12:36:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been out of touch for so long - both work and rugby have escalated and it seems theres hardly a free moment to breath.

As everyone's seasons are now ramping up it seems a good time to discuss match prep.

Like probably 99% of coaches on the planet (at least here in the states), "four corners" was always part of my teams warm up. I'm working with a new group of players, and the night before our first match as I was penciling in our warm up schedule, i realized that I have never run "four corners" with this particular group. I'd been operating under that axiom that "four corners" is match prep because you can do lots of different things, and everyone works together.

But seriously, is it really match prep? I mean, I'd never even run four corners in TRAINING, so why in the world would i even consider doing it before a game? Pre-match time is at a premium. We need to manage players confidence levels, let them warm but not hot, get them aroused but controlled.

So instead of four corners we used a continuous 3 v 2 game with very light contact. The results were marvelous! The decision making gates seemed to open wide, and it became clear as day to me that pregame isn't just about warming up bodies, it's about warming up minds, warming up communication channels.

What sorts of different things does everyone do pregame? How long do you warm up? I've seen teams practically scrimmaging as warmup, is that a good idea or not? How about varying warmups - is it safe to do different things based on the teams needs, or, is your teaching pedagogy that we always do the same thing for warmups, to get everyone in a common frame of mind?

Please share your opinions. It might be fun at a big tournament to go sit up on top of the camera man's scaffollding and get a birds eye view of all the different teams warmiups, see what they do the same, see what they do different. Better yet, see if there's a connection between how a team warms up and how they play.

Brilliant!

2007-02-26T01:30:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update from the UK - my new job it turns out, is very challenging, and as a result I just haven't had time to blog. But this weekend couldn't pass without a brief note.

Saturday I went to Dublin for the 6 Nations game between Ireland and England. It was played in Croke park, which BTW is not normally a rugby venue, but a Gaelic venue. There's alot of politics surrounding the whole thing, and basically, England had never before played in Croke park. The Irish were pumped. Long story short, they destroyed England, and it was BRILLIANT.

These guys were wandering around the city before the match:

On Sunday I went for a drive up the northern coast of Ireland. The country side is spectacular, and if you look close enough, you can see rugby pitches tucked all over the hillside. Look hard, and you'll see it.

You might need to look at the full size image to see the pitch

Two Brief Things

2007-02-16T07:13:00.000-08:00

1. Ohmygod! Its Legally Blonde, the Musical. For serious!

2. I'm leaving for Northern Ireland on Sunday and I plan on watching Ireland vs England in a Belfast pub. My contact person out there is scouting around for actual tickets, but seriously, I'm thrilled to just being in the country during 6N. Go me!

NEWS FLASH FROM USA 7's

2007-02-09T15:48:00.000-08:00

Some results from the Women's International Tournament at USA 7s

USA A vs Canada A - 5-7
USA vs China 29-17
Canada vs USA A 5 -19
USA vs Canada A 14-19
China vs Canada 20-0
China vs USA A
USA vs Canada 19-5
China vs Canada A
USA vs USA A 10 - 5
Canada vs Canada A

Semi-Final

USA A vs USA 7-22
Canada A vs China

Tommorrow's Final - USA vs Canada A (7PM PST)

Scoring Highlights for USA

Phaidra Knight - 2 Tries
Inez - 2 Tries
Jen Starkey - 5+ Tries

I'll post more info as soon as I get it!