More and more details are coming out about this topic.
Check it out this is the information I have found while digging around on the Internet. I love the Internet, you can find ANYTHING!
WARNING: Austin has NOT decided to challenge yet, some of us want to, but most just want to forget this ever happened. The reason for this continuing discussion is to prevent this from happening again. Bending the rules may make you feel strong, but is it right? I and others are are hoping that this will help change some things so that this doesn’t happen again.
Thanks for listening…
1) An email from a coach in the SoCal region:
G’day,
Just a quick email. I read your blog.
I think that some of your points are great. But, I’d be more worried by the fact that Belmont Shore bolstered their team mid-season from fellow Southern California rugby clubs. The elite players from Riverside Rattlers, Coast and Las Vegas joined Belmont in time to qualify for your challenge match. Players from the Santa Monica Dolphins were approached as well, but politely refused. So, Belmont Shore basically made a regional super-squad to fight for the national seed.
We travelled to Vegas to play, only to find out that they only had 14 players as 2 players had gone to Belmont Shore for the weekend. Not a great rugby situation! We also played Belmont, only to play against players that we had already competed against in other matches. This match was the same week that they tried to poach our players – we had 5 players missing through injury and work and manged to field 15. If our player had played for Belmont, we would have had to forfeit!
I have no problem with players changing clubs. Everyone has a right to play wherever they want. It may seem unfair, but that is the way it goes. You can never stop players personal choices. As long as it is during the off-season. But, swapping clubs mid-season and then going back to your original club is a no-no.
Inviting foreign players into your squad is also not a problem. Clubs all around the world do this, in men’s and ladies rugby. If Belmont Shore wants to spend their sponsorship dollars on bringing in international players, so be it. Santa Monica Women’s Rugby help coach and develop local juniors and are involved in inner-city programmes. I know who’ll sleep better at night!
If you push this matter further, good luck. Unfortunately, I think that Belmont Shore may have bent the rules, but not broken them. But, if enough voices go to USA Rugby, this situation may be able to be stopped in the future.
p.s. we raised this matter with So.Cal rugby (a month ago) and are still waiting on a reply. I’m sure that our club president (outgoing on April 30 unfortunately) will also send you an email.
2) And I was able to get all the rosters from Belmont Shore’s THREE D1 matches for their league schedule. Basically their player eligibility may not be correct. It appears that some of their players did not play in TWO matches as required by USA rugby…If I am to understand this email correctly from Kasey Richer ( kaseyricher@yahoo.com):
Wendy,
Please note that our league is split into a Div 1 and a Div 2 split so our games against Tucson and Santa Monica are considered inter-divisional matches. Only the Coast, Surfer’s and Scottsdale matches would pertain to your inquiry.
Also, can you please let me know what eligibility information is being challenged so that I can have Belmont gather any required documents as well? Also, who at USA rugby should we be copying on this information? I will make sure the official match reports are sent to you from the SCRFU VP who handles this for the SC Territory.
Thanks,
Kasey
3) So I made a spread sheet from the three rosters from their D1 league matches…I also included roster for the Challenge Match. Some of it matches up and some of it doesn’t. I received these match rosters from the Paul Ganey ( scrfu@earthlink.net) of the SoCal Union.
(*click on image to get a larger view.)
Thanks, and and some interesting conversations have come from this on Blondies log at http://saturdayrugbyday.blogspot.com
I think the point here is that we all want to play rugby…that’s why we sweat it out through workouts, officer duties, fundraiser etc. We want this battle to be on the field not because our team scouted out some of the best international players out there and loaded our team.
I understand that their are rugby swapping programs where you can go and play for a different country and such, but would you be able to switch teams mid-season and play for Ireland’s World Cup Team? I highly doubt it…
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(*click on image to get a larger view.)
Just a thought, is it league season in SoCal? Its not in the Northeast; none of this spring’s games count towards the fall championship…
Hi Wendy, here are some quick clarifications for you and your readers:
– Mid-season player transfers are allowed but must be approved by the USAR Eligibility Committee. Two players have transferred to our team mid-season, yes, and they have gone through all the proper channels to do so.
– SoCal runs a split season, with spring and fall matches counting towards a teams final league standing. D1 and D2 teams play each other, but only a team’s results within their own division count towards their league standing.
– According to USA Rugby, any games 80 minutes in length, with a referee and with 15 players a side counts towards a player’s eligibility. That includes B-side games, non-league games, and games that do not count towards a team’s standing. In addition, all games since Sept 1, 2006 count towards a player’s current eligibility, as the “eligibility calendar” does not coincide with the womens competition calendar. I would therefore encourage you to extend your spreadsheet to include all 13 games that contribute towards our players’ eligibility.
– Don’t forget that USAR saw and cleared both teams’ rosters before the game, both teams were able to examine one another’s rosters before the game, and a USAR match official checked all players in before kickoff.
Brooke
Belmont Shore
Do you have the rosters from the games Belmont played against these teams in the fall? My understanding based on what I read on the USA rugby website is that players need to have played in two games since September 1st. If that’s the case then maybe some of these players were also on the roster in the fall…?
Kate Hennenberger has played for Belmont Shore for the past 2 -3 years and has represented SoCal many times on the regional and national level. So to say she was brought in for the challenge match is incorrect as she has been with the club for some time.
-Kate’s old teamate
My turn!
I play for the Valkyries. I know some Belmont women, we went to college together and lost 86-7 there, so I’ve been here before. Of course we’re sore about it, and when I tell friends about the match I make sure to add they brought in super-human indestructible mercenaries, two of whom were my job as strongside flanker (oh 8 and 10 you wiley things!!). I no doubt speak at great lengths about the boatrace, which Austin TOTALLY dominated and that hasn’t been covered nearly enough (thank God Erika didn’t get her chance…), but in the end I give the score (a remarkable 86-0) and finish with a triumphant – This is a rebuilding year!! At least we didn’t turn on eachother!
Belmont, you deserve your seed. Well done.
Yes the game hurt us, emotionally and physically, but we did not die. We all know that what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, so my only words for you are to remain prepared for when we meet again.
Cheers,
Tiffany
Austin Valkyrie
Well said, T-Hall! Because the best thing about this game is how much fun it is. Irregardless of the indignity of the score, it was still a beautiful day of rugby – sun was shining, and I think I learned a new move from those gals each time they ran it in.
Valks, I’m real proud of you. We’re a stronger team from that match. And that boat race really was inspired! (I credit our water boat races at practice)
And Belmont, when we come this summer to play sevens, we’re cool right? We promise not to tell any jokes about how we now have caps from our int’l match.
–Heidi Whitman, Valks Coach
I do have to agree that Austin totally kicked our butts in the boat race (and threw a fantastic social, incidentally). But we definitely made up for our poor boat race showing later in the night at the Women-Drink-Free-Until-11pm bar on 6th street 😛
Brooke
Belmont Shore
That Kate H. girl was playing for Chicago North Shore this past fall …
Of course we’re cool this summer! I can fit a few of you on the floor in my living room (I live like 1/2 way between Long Beach and San Diego). Tiff’s got my contact info, and it is true that I can drink beer unreasonably fast.