Austin opened the 2007 season a different team. We lost 8 veterans and longtime friends and mates. Life was calling them in the direction of family, work, opportunity and more. We understand that you had your time with the Valkyries and that time was over. That doesn’t mean that you don’t think often of us and visit us! The support last weekend in alumni, recently retired players and rugger huggers was awesome!
We are still standing though! We recruited and managed to keep our numbers at around 26, with common numbers at practice around 12. We rallied though…we did the right thing, we kept playing rugby and kept pushing together.
My point here is…we knew going into this season that our league schedule was changing, that we could possibly be challenged by the #20 seed and that we were a changed team. We took this CHALLENGE and faced it with integrity, honor and we did it together.
Saturday, April 21, 2007 the Valkyries faced their biggest challenge this season. A team that was undefeated in the Southern California Rugby Union in league play and a team that was harping for a USA Rugby seed. We knew this was going to be a huge challenge and so we prepared for it from Day 1. The day finally came after months of training and we fought long and hard…unfortunately we were outgunned and were beaten.
Like my earlier post stated, we were singing this team’s praises on Saturday at the drink up after the game. They were fit, fast and devastating in their game plan. The #10, #13 and #8 were brutal in their execution of plays, loose play and dynamic running. Soon after the game though we heard musing that some of these players were foreign and may have not been in the States very long.
Fortunately we had done our homework and knew that Belmont had a few foreign players that were supposed to be pretty good. Our scouting reports from other teams that had played them at Champagne Classic and in their own league matches warned us about them.
What we didn’t know was the caliber of these players and the circumstances that involved them playing for Belmont:
#10 Justine Lavea –
http://www.rugbymuseum.co.nz
http://www.universitysport.org
*Listed just a few websites here, but soon found out that she won Defensive Back and Offensive Back last year in Auckland.
#13 Manuel Huriana –
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2
http://www.nzrugbyworld.com
*Once again I found plenty of links referencing this player, most notably was Women’s Player of the Year last year.
#15 Valuese Taliu –
http://www.planetrugby.com
*Plenty of links here too…just chose two of the first ones on google.
I have many many issues here…and I have been chastised more than once for speaking my mind…so I will try and be fair. A couple of points here are:
Is this fair? Bringing players over from other countries to fill out your roster? As USA Rugby states:
When we were reviewing the USA Rugby regulations it stated that each player must have met these regulations to play in ANY USA Rugby match leading up to a National Championship:
3.3. Player Eligibility
The purpose of these regulations is to prevent club hopping and the importation of guest players late in the season to strengthen teams for the later stages of competition leading to a USA Rugby Championship Event – these additional regulations are that:
a) Player must be CIPP enrolled for the club, through initial enrollment or transfer, prior to the earlier of (i) playing in any match that in any way leads to a USA Rugby Championship Event and (ii) April 15th for men’s competitions and October 1st for women’s competitions.
b) Player must have played for the club in at least two (2) Competitive Matches after September 1st at least a week apart from each other prior to participating in a TU playoff or championship. In the event a TU does not hold a playoff or championship, the matches must be played prior to the date the team qualifies for a USA Rugby Championship Event.
c) The player must not have have played for
any other club after September 1st in a match that in any way leads to a USA Rugby Championship Event.
My issue here is that it appears that Belmont did bring these players over to give them a leg up…they recruited foreign players for a few months so that they would be sure and secure a seed for their union. It is hard to go against the evidence that Belmont knew what they were doing. As it states in point b) up above “player must have played for the club in at least two (2) Competitive Matches,” so these players had to be over for a certain amount of time.
Are we playing for the sport here or are we playing for the win? Do we want women’s rugby to come to this? We have all witnessed men’s rugby where this issue is becoming more and more prevalent. So if you can’t win a match on your own guns, bring in the BIG guns right?
I’m having a hard time because I want to throw a temper tantrum…I don’t know how else to say it…THIS IS NOT FAIR!!
Yeah, I know you found a loophole…I know what you did is technically within the rules…but have you ever heard of ethics?
And the other side of the argument is…should we be so greedy about our 3 seeds? I could go on and on…but this has been bothering me for days and I am tired of it.
We are still standing Belmont…thanks for challenging our hearts, minds and rugby spirit.
I URGE Belmont to show me that they didn’t do this. I know it would make me, my team and the whole rugby community feel better.
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I really don’t have any vested interest in the Austin or Belmont teams but your blog really makes you sound like a sore loser. Perhaps you should look inward at your team and what you can do to improve your game instead of blaming the other team for your loss.
Hi Wendy, I just wanted to respond to your post so that your readers could get the whole story…
Yes, we do have a couple foreign players, all of whom are properly CIPPed, eligible, etc. We have had an international exchange program for a long time. We had an Australian with us for a season, we had a New Zealander with us in 2005, we sent one of our players to play with a club in Auckland NZ for a summer, I actually played in Scotland for a couple months, we’ve participated in (and helped host) clinics with Josh Kronfield, Anna Richards, and Monalisa Codling, we’ve had other guest coaches and coaching exchanges… we’re basically always trying to learn from new rugby influences.
Playing with people who have a different rugby background than you is always a great experience. Its cool to see how different people make decisions and see how they think about rugby. Its interesting to play with new people, whether here or abroad, and expanding the rugby horizon is good for everyone’s development as a player and team member. Plus, of course, the exchange of players, coaches, ideas and influences is fun on the personal side, too. Our players have been able to hang out with and build friendships with people from all over the place. That’s one of the things that rugby is about, isn’t it?
Brooke
Belmont Shore
While I don’t disagree with your ethics arguement, don’t get too hung up on it. There are questions to be answered for Belmont — ie. will these players still be there in the fall? This certainly seems to be a different team than travelled to Pumpkinfest last fall.
I recommend focusing all that (negative) energy (positively) towards recruiting and looking to win one of Wests two seeds.
Also, on a bit of a side note, I do think it is important for EVERY territory to have at least 1 seed for Sweet 16s. I don’t know why USA Rugby doesn’t require that…
I can’t blame Wendy for being a bit sour. Belmont could have at least told us the caliber of ringers that they were bringing; more rugby fans might have shown up.
Just one of the many great things about rugby is the camaraderie that players share. We train hard, we fight like demons on the pitch, and then, win or lose, the home team buys the travelling team a few beers and some food and we share stories; the mutual respect among players is unparallelled in my experience. A lot of that is a result of its amateurish nature. How long will we be able to keep that when important games are not being decided in the gym or on the pitch, but at the computer, on the phone, and at the fundraiser? I’ve been at team meetings where someone gets up and says, “We need to get 6 quality foreign players if we want to compete.” WTF?! Why do we start/join rugby clubs? To subsidize the costs for tourists to come play here? To beat everyone at all costs? I joined so that I could improve my ability to play rugby and regularly test that ability alongside 21 of my best friends, how about you?
Touring players are a great resource to improve your play, your team, and the state of American rugby in general, but don’t piss on my leg and tell me its raining, Belmont. You stocked your team with high powered mercenaries because you were desperate to get the SoCal seed back. I don’t blame you, but don’t walk around too proud of yourself. The Valkyries fielded their best 20 dues paying, hard training CLUB MEMBERS. I believe that is how they will meet their next challenge. I hope that they will not feel the need to ‘keep up with the Joneses’ and start plotting how to stock their team with Kiwi ringers.
I’d be ticked off too…if I were one of the former Belmont Shore starters displaced by one of these visiting players.
Granted we all have to fight for starting spots no matter what every week, but to just bring in superstars from out of town for a season for the sake of winning a seed back…if they won’t be around for the long haul, well that’s not the way to build a club for the long haul either.
Time will tell obviously, and maybe come October/November Belmont will make a liar out of me.