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Written by Alex Goff
Tuesday, 28 June 2011 18:29 |
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MARFU Combine a Huge Success |
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Sevens -
All-Stars
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| Left to Right: Mishal Okuoi, Marcus Respes, Michael "Moose" Anderson, Bjorn “Swede” Haglid, Keith McClean , Tim Lowe, Steve Siano, Chris Harvey, Vince Granger, Pete Hesler, William "Biddy" Boyle and Emil "Mr. Atlantis" Signes. |
The Mid-Atlantic All-Star program open tryout and combine, attended by USA 7s coach Al Caravelli, was a big success, with over 70 athletes and 12 other volunteer coaches attending on Sunday. Caravelli said he saw several impressive athletes and several surprises. Among the big surprises was the level of athleticism of the youngest trialists. With the exception of Tim Acker of Kutztown University, and Wilmington club player Martwain Johnson, all the fastest players were under 18.
The two fastest were Peter Ondi, a four-sport athlete (no rugby) who just turned 17, and the other fastest player is also a high-schooler who just took up rugby. Also a surprise, was the fitness levels. While the youngsters were the fastest, it was a 27-year-old from the Pittsburgh Harlequins, Nick Koon, who had the most impressive score in the yo-yo fitness test. Koon is also relatively new to rugby.
Caravelli said he will forward names to All American coach Alex Magleby, USA U20 coach Scott Lawrence, and High School All Americans coach Salty Thompson.
"I think we are developing a pathway, which will help us identify these athletes," said Caravelli.
More combines/tryouts are on the schedule. The South combine will be held Wednesday and Thursday, July 29 and 30, in Cape Fear, NC leading into the Cape Fear 7s.
The Northeast will host a tryout the weekend of July 23 around the Hellgate 7s hosted by the Village Lions. The Pacific Coast RFU will host a tryout around the Pacific Coast Championships in Salt Lake City July 16.
The Southern California union will host a tryout the week after the national club championships on the weekend of August 13. The Midwest combine was already held, but wasn't as well-attended as the MARFU event.
"The coaches have been great," said Caravelli. "Coaches such as Sean Horan, Chris Harvey, Julie McCoy, and John Tyler have been very supportive of what we're trying to do. I am in contact with people in Southern California and the West, where they haven't named all-star coaches yet."
This, said Caravelli, is the beginning of a clarified pathway to the 7s team: open tryouts at the territorial level, which lead to all-star teams, or recommendation to age-grade teams, and then a days-long tryout and tournament in Chula Vista in August. "This," said Caravelli, "is how you get in consideration for the Pan-Am Games."
Players have been told, that to be considered for the Pan-Am Games, they must play at the NASC, or if they are not able it is because they are a) on the World Cup squad or b) injured.
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Written by Pat Clifton
Tuesday, 28 June 2011 16:47 |
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Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference Schedule |
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Colleges -
Men's DI College
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The Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference, one of 14 conferences set to compete in DI next season, has set its schedule. Each team has six conference games. All but one (Arkansas) of the traditional SEC schools is competing in the new league. The schedule pits traditional divisional rivalries against each other. The East schools play each other once and then crossover against a single West team. Since Arkansas would have fallen in the West, leaving that group with just five teams, the West schedules are constructed a little differently. Two in-state rivalries (Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State and Alabama vs. Auburn) are played on a home-and-away basis to give those schools six games. LSU, the other West team, plays each West team and two crossover matches, against South Carolina and Florida.
Feb. 4
| UK @ USC
| UF @ UGA
| Vandy @ Tenn.
| LSU @ Bama
| Ole Miss @ Miss. State
| Feb. 11
| USC @ LSU
| Tenn. @ UF
| UGA @ UK
| Auburn @ Ole Miss
| Miss. State @ Bama
| Feb. 18
| Tenn. @ USC
| Vandy @ UF
| UK @ Miss. State
| Auburn @ Bama
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| Feb. 25
| USC @ UGA
| UF @ UK
| Ole Miss @ Vandy
| Bama @ Tenn.
| LSU @ Auburn
| March 3
| UGA @ Auburn
| Tenn. @ UK
| Miss. State @ LSU
| Bama @ Ole Miss
| UGA @ Auburn
| March 17
| USC @ Vandy
| LSU @ UF
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| March 24
| UF @ USC
| VandY @ UGA
| Ole Miss @ LSU
| Auburn @ Miss. State
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| March 31
| UGA @ Tenn.
| UK @ Vandy
| Ole Miss @ Miss. State
| Bama @ Auburn
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| April 14-15
| SCRC Playoffs
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Written by RUGBYMag.com News Release
Tuesday, 28 June 2011 17:37 |
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All American Touring Team Named |
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Colleges -
All Americans
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BOULDER, Colo. – USA Rugby All American Head Coach Alex Magleby today named his 2011 Men’s Collegiate All-Americans Touring Squad. The team consists of the top men’s collegiate rugby players in the country and will assemble for a training camp at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. in early July to prepare for a three-match series with the New Zealand Universities team. The 30-man squad has players from the roughly 22,000 men’s collegiate rugby players in the country.
The matches against the New Zealand Universities are to be held in San Diego (July 9), Santa Barbara (July 13) and Stanford (July 16).
“The players we selected for the Touring Squad are athletic and experienced. There are some exciting players who earned their spot in this squad through their outstanding play this season and will get to experience in an Olympic training environment, take on the challenge of representing their country against a formidable international opponent, and have the opportunity to put their hand up for future selection into the senior national teams,” Magleby said.
The coach also noted that many of the players at this camp will be Olympic hopefuls for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The All-American pathway, beginning with the High School All-Americans, is a proven route to playing for the Eagles. In fact, four of the players on the touring squad; Cam Dolan (Life University), Ryan Roundy (BYU), Blaine Scully (University of California – Berkeley) and Peter Tiberio (University of Arizona) have all represented the USA at the senior international level.
Nine players on the 2011 All-American Touring Squad have played for the High School All-Americans (Under-17s) or the Junior All-Americans (Under-20s).
Scully and Dolan are also included in the USA’s 50-man preliminary squad that Eagles Head Coach Eddie O’Sullivan submitted last week to the 2011 Rugby World Cup (RWC) organizers. Nineteen of the of the 50 RWC hopefuls named in that squad are former Collegiate All-Americans.
2011 MEN’S COLLEGIATE ALL-AMERICANS TOURING SQUAD
Forwards:
James Besser (University of California – Berkeley), Matt Crawford (St. Mary’s College of California), Zach Fenoglio (Loyola Marymount), Ray Forrester (BYU), Nick Mostyn (Utah), Mike Su’a (BYU), Andy Cooke (St. Mary’s College of California), Mark Bonham (BYU), Nate Brakeley (Dartmouth), Nick Civetta (Notre Dame), Chris Parker (Texas A&M), Derek Asbun (University of California – Berkeley), Jordan Badia-Bellinger (Claremont Colleges), Cam Dolan (Life University), Garrett Lambert (Life University), Dave Martini (UCLA), Shaun Potgieter (Arkansas State), Ryan Roundy (BYU)
Backs
Shaun Davies (BYU), Chris Saint (Penn State), JP Eloff (Davenport University), Pat Sullivan (Arkansas State), Benji Goff (Tennessee), Gareth Jones (Temple), Seamus Kelly (University of California – Berkeley), Duncan Kelm (San Diego State), Kyle Grossheider (Life University), Dustin Muhn (University of California – Berkeley), Blaine Scully (University of California – Berkeley), Peter Tiberio (University of Arizona)
Considered but unavailable:
Danny Barrett (University of California – Berkeley), Roland Evans (Arkansas State), Taylor Mokate (University of Oklahoma), Don Pati (University of Utah), James Bailes (University of California – Berkeley), Dylan Lubbe (BYU), Will Holder (Army), Thretton Palamo (University of Utah), Jared Whippy (BYU), Tyler Harrison (University of California – Davis), Ben Leatigaga (Army), Sione Lauti (University of Utah)
2011 MEN’S COLLEGIATE ALL-AMERICANS v. NEW ZEALAND UNIVERSITIES SUMMER TOUR
July 9: Little Q (Old Mission Bay Athletic Club) | 3 p.m.
July 13: Harder Stadium (UC- Santa Barbara) | 6:30 p.m.
July 16: Steuber Rugby Stadium (Stanford University) | 1 p.m.
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Tuesday, 28 June 2011 16:31 |
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Club 7s Top 20 June 28 2011 |
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RUGBYmag Premier -
Exclusive News
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After a week of action there are plenty of changes to make in the RUGBYMag.com Premier Club 7s Top 20. Coming up this weekend, perhaps the most telling event will be in San Francisco, where SFGG hosts their tournament at Treasure Island.
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