The Leaves are Changing…

I can’t believe the summer has flown by and its already Fall here in Austin! The weather has been unnaturally cool for this time of year (due to pressure systems around Hurricane Ike) and the break from 100 degrees has been welcome.

So what has been happening in my neck of the woods? Starting in June I was released to play rugby and spent plenty of time training for the West All-Star Team. I knew I was a backup scrumhalf going into the whole situation, so the pressure was low and it was actually nice to enjoy my time at NASCs. I also had a BLAST working with the West U23 All-Star as a trainer/scrumhalf coach for that team. Don’t forget to read up on The Girl’s LONG trip to PIT as she was also on the West Senior team and also helped with the West U23’s as a forwards coach.

Before NASCs, I played my first game since ACL surgery at Dallas 7s in Ft, Worth TX. That tournament is always a blast with the Debutante Ball after a long day of 7’s. Good tournament with plenty of women’s teams (6) and of course it is always good to see old friends! We played well as a team in our first event and placed 4th I believe. I reffed two games and played in a few as well, love that tournament!

In July I was disappointed to not be selected for the Nations Cup Team, but knew it was a long shot as I was still coming off my ACL replacement surgery. However, I watched with pride as the team fought hard against England, Canada and England again. The pictures from the event were amazing and the new jerseys look smashing!! Also, make sure to check out the Youtube highlight video of England vs USA.

Bloodfest 7s was in July and that is an amazing tournament as well! I reffed and played with the Satiated Beavers in that tournament. My knee was coming along well and I was feeling more and more fit and more and more confident. The Beavers kicked arse in that tournament and placed 1st while A&M (last year’s champions) placed 2nd. The Austin Valkyries, my club team, also began Sprint Training in July in order to be ready for our first league match against Glendale in September.

While some of the Beavers were in Cape Cod at Cape Cod 7s, the rest of the Beavers headed down to Corpus Christ for 7s by the Sea. The weather was absolutely gorgeous as we had partial cloud cover most of the day and of course the ocean was lovely as well. I reffed over 6 games that day and enjoyed every minute of it! Reffing men has been a pleasure as they have been respectful, honest and understanding. It has challenged my fitness, mind and character, and I am enjoying it immensely.

In August the summer continued to fly by as The Girl, Meg and I headed to Shreveport, LA to referee the TOLA 7s Championships and we enjoyed good buffet food, gambling and of course some great rugby. In the middle of August, the Austin Valkyries began fall practice with large numbers (yea for recruiting) and plenty of heart and gusto.

Of course August is the best month because it is my birthday month, and everyone knows that Virgos are the best!! For my birthday it was pretty low-key on the actual day as I had motorcycle classes, but that night was another killer Ros/Wendy duo birthday party.

September is almost half over and rugby is back in the works full swing! We are hosting a Private & Exclusive screening of Forever Strong next week, we have already played a few A side and B side games and I will be reffing under the new ELV laws this weekend for the first time. All in all things are moving well, my knee is stronger than ever and I hardly think about it anymore. I am training a new backup scrumhalf and she is kicking ass, I have had fun teaching her all the ins and outs of being a bad-arse scrumhalf.

Some good news on the WNT front, I just received an invitation to a Red vs White game in November in Ft. Lauderdale, FL…we are playing as an exhibition match for the U19 Tournament…more details to come as that event develops.

I have a few projects in route for the blog and the most recent is creating some sort of HTML form or ASP project that will allow you to submit your team’s scores each week. If anyone has any hints or suggestions on this, I would appreciate it as I am trying valiantly to figure it out between work, school (one more semester till I graduate!) and rugby!