USA Rugby Updates

USA Rugby has been busy with the updates, emails and more lately. I love the increased publicity but wonder who are all the emails going to? I know I signed up when the service first came out, but are they pushing these articles to all the resources they could?

I wish they would push their articles to places like digg.com, reddit.com, stumbleupon.com, etc. These sites have million of viewers a day and could really give our sport the publicity it needs.

Anyways, here are a few of the updates over the last few days:

• Women’s National Team Age Grade Structure to Change in 2008

  BOULDER, Colo. – USA Rugby announced today structural changes to the Women’s National Team’s age grade program that will take full effect during the 2008 select side season to further improve player development.

  To better prevent potential players from aging out of the developmental pipeline, the Women’s National Team Program will now consist of the USA National Guard Under-20 National Team, which takes the place of the former U-19 squad, and the USA A Team in place of the Under-23 Team, and culminate in the USA Women’s National Team (Eagles).

  The U-19 to U-20 adjustment will align the USA Women’s structure with other international programs and the IRB, and will also give players an increased opportunity to improve their game through an additional year of training with Women’s U-20 Coach Bryn Chivers (previously U-19 Coach).

  Former Under-23 Coach Barb Fugate will now head up the USA A Team, which will be selected independent of the National Team, train at camps and play international matches. The USA A side will continue a schedule much like that of the previous U-23 squad, with the 2008 CanAm competition specifically designated an A Team event.

  The USA U-23 National All-Star Championship will continue exactly as in previous years. USA A Team coaches (former U-23 staff) will still attend this event and select players from the U-23 Territorial Unions; however, the only difference is that those players named to the USA A pool may now train alongside athletes who are 24 years of age or older.

  Furthermore, the structural changes will make the relationship between the USA A Team and the Women’s National Team more fluid, without age grade restrictions. Athletes will now be able to move up and down between the squads, depending on the venues available and on the individual athlete’s developmental path and performance. This streamlined relationship will also allow the National Team and USA A Team coaches to work more closely in jointly training and tracking the progress of athletes.

  “The USA Women’s National Team, USA A and USA U-20 National Team staff is very enthusiastic about these changes,” USA A Team Coach Barb Fugate said. “We believe we are providing an elite athlete identification and development program that will benefit our athletes, and will ultimately help the USA compete successfully on the world stage.”

  For more information on the Women’s National Team Program, please visit www.usarugby/org/goto/National_Teams or contact Women’s National Teams Administrator Yvonne Parkhurst at yparkhurst(at)usarugby.org.

• USA Rugby Course Leader Training Workshop Achieves Quality Results

  BOULDER, Colo. – USA Rugby hosted its annual Course Leader Training Workshop December 6-9 in Atlanta, Ga. with 23 USA Rugby course leaders and three NAWIRA (North America West Indies Rugby Association) Development Officers in attendance.

  Upon completion of the workshop’s challenging curriculum and a stringent performance assessment, course participants received the new IRB Coach Educator License.

  “The ability for our course leaders to deliver quality workshops is at the heart of developing coaches across the U.S.,” said Nigel Melville, USA Rugby CEO and President of Rugby Operations. “Partnering with the IRB in coach education ensures USA Rugby is at the forefront of coach development delivering programs that offer the latest philosophies in rugby coaching around the world.”

  The course was led by six IRB trainers including Gary Henderson of the RFU and Mike Luke of the IRB, as well as four USA Rugby trainers: Brett Burdick, Nigel Davies, Norm Mottram and Rick Humm. The training workshop also included a special Thursday night scrum technique session with Bill LeClerc, Men’s National Team Scrum Coach.

  “We felt we needed to take advantage of the gathering and augmented the normal agenda to build our course leaders’ technical understanding with the scrum session. We also enhanced the training with a focus on a games approach rather than drills, in all of the modules,” said Rick Humm, USA Rugby Coach Development Director. “We were pleased with the performance of our dedicated course leaders throughout the weekend and are proud to continue our partnership with the IRB in equipping coaches with valuable learning methodology and skills.”

  For those interested in becoming a USA Rugby Course Leader or to find out about upcoming Coach Development opportunities, check out the Coaches section of the USA Rugby website at www.usarugby.org/goto/coaches.

• USA Rugby Announces its Spring 2008 Championship Venues

  BOULDER, Colo. – After careful consideration, USA Rugby is pleased to announce the locations of its spring 2008 National Championship Series.

  The 2008 season features the official sponsorship between USA Rugby and the Army National Guard, an alliance that includes the title sponsorship of USA Rugby’s College and High School Championships as well as select National teams.

  “We are working with many new partners this year and looking forward to again raising the quality and visibility of the National Championship Series,” said Kim Brock, USA Rugby Director of National Championships.

  The championship season will kick off in a new way in 2008. For the first time, all 48 teams competing in the USA Rugby National Guard Collegiate Playoffs will compete in one location. This collegiate rugby festival will provide endless opportunities for many ancillary events. USA Rugby will partner with the Albuquerque Convention and Visitor’s Bureau (CVB) in hosting this flagship event.

  “We believe Albuquerque will provide everything to make this event all that it can be. Albuquerque offers a centralized, affordable location with an accessible airport and a city that is very easy to travel to and within,” Brock said. “The Balloon Fiesta Park offers pristine fields exclusively for this rugby festival.”

  “Albuquerque is very excited and honored to be apart of this new event, which we think can trigger an outstanding growth in the sport of rugby,” said Tara Alarid, Sports Marketing Coordinator for the Albuquerque CVB.

  The nation’s top men’s and women’s college squads will once again take the field at Steuber Rugby Stadium in Stanford, Calif. for the USA Rugby National Guard Collegiate Championships on May 2-3. The event will be hosted by Stanford University.

  Having played host to the Senior Women’s Club Playoffs in this past fall, in May 2008 the Austin Rugby Consortium – comprised of the Austin RFC, the Austin Huns RFC, and the Austin Sports Council – will host the Division I, II and III Senior Men’s Club Playoffs, which feature 40 of the country’s best Men’s Club teams.

  Following the final approval by the Rugby Committee, the date of the USA Rugby National Guard Boy’s High School, and Boy’s and Girl’s U-19 Champ
  ionships has settled on May 30 – June 1. The Pittsburgh Harlequins will host the event at Founders Field.

  USA Rugby will also start another new relationship with a top notch facility close to home in Glendale, Colo. The city of Glendale is set to host the Senior Men’s Club Championships at Infinity Park. The stadium opened its gates in September 2007 and is home to the Glendale Raptors. Infinity Park is the first municipal U.S. rugby stadium and seats 5,000 spectators.

  For more information on the National Championship Series, please visit www.usarugby.org/goto/USAR_Championships or contact Jenna Anderson at janderson(at)usarugby.org.

  April 18-20
  USA RUGBY NATIONAL GUARD COLLEGIATE PLAYOFFS: Division I Men and Women, Division II Men and Women (All Pools)
  Albuquerque, N.M.: Balloon Fiesta Park
  Hosted by: the Albuquerque CVB and USA Rugby

  May 2-3
  USA RUGBY NATIONAL GUARD COLLEGIATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
  Stanford, Calif.: Steuber Rugby Stadium
  Hosted by: Stanford University

  May 17-18
  USA RUGBY SENIOR MEN’S CLUB PLAYOFFS:
  Austin, Texas: Zilker Park
  Hosted by: the Austin Rugby Consortium

  May 30-June 1st
  USA RUGBY NATIONAL GUARD BOY’S HIGH SCHOOL AND BOY’S AND GIRL’S U-19 CHAMPIONSHIPS
  Pittsburgh, Pa.: Founders Field
  Hosted by: the Pittsburgh Harlequins

  May 31- June 1
  USA RUGBY SENIOR MEN’S CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS
  Glendale, Colo.: Infinity Park
  Hosted by: City of Glendale

• Sports News for Kids: Naples Rugby Player Competes Against Australians

  Shane Young, a senior at Gulf Coast High School, played for the U.S. 19-and-under team Sunday as America took on a team from New South Wales, Australia. The game was in Orlando.

  Young also played last year for the 18-and-under national team when it traveled to England to play the English national team. He has been captain of the Naples Bears Rugby team in all three years of its existence, and was voted the Most Valuable Player last season. Young plays the position of scrum half.

  High school rugby started in Florida in 2005, and the Naples Bears were the only Southwest Florida team for the first three years. Bears coach Steve Young recently announced Lely and Cape Coral high schools are adding teams this year. There are now 18 teams throughout the state divided into North and South divisions.

  The rugby regular season starts the second week of January and ends in mid April. For more information, contact coach Young at 239-434-5888 or 973-479-1309.

• Potomac Rugby Foundation Promotes Rugby at Regional Trade Expo

  For the fourth year, The Potomac Rugby Foundation is an interactive exhibitor at the NBC4 Health and Fitness Expo at the Washington, D.C. Convention Center, January 13-14, 2008.

  Foundation members as well the local rugby community will be talking rugby and distributing the latest USA Rugby game development materials as well as regional club information. Video and live demonstrations are also planned. The Expo (celebrating its 15th anniverasary) is the largest annual event of its type in the region and attracts 90,000 visitors.

  The Expo (www.nbc4.com/healthandfitnessexpo/index.html)is one example of how the Potomac Rugby Foundation (www.rugby-foundation.org) “gets the word out” to help promote the game at the grassroots level.

• Don’t Forget! USA Rugby Change in Registration Cycle

  Individual and Club Registration now runs on a competitive year rather than a calendar year. If you registered for the 2007 registration period anytime before August 1, 2007, your registration will expire on December 31, 2007. If you registered anytime after August 1, 2007, your registration will expire on August 31, 2008.

  As a result of the registration season change, all USA Rugby member and club dues will be pro-rated beginning January 1, 2008. These new dues will update automatically, all you need to do is register!

  Type Current/Pro-Rated
  Club $150.00/$100.00
  Senior $35.00/$23.33
  Collegiate $30.00/$20.00
  High School $20.00/$13.33
  Youth $10.00/$6.67