And so the third season of Fort Hunt Rugby goes into the history books...
Gratitude First and foremost, from me and on behalf of Andy and all of the club's leadership,
THANK YOU, moms/dads/supporters for making this club and our program go. Thank you for having the open mind to bring your player into the unknown/fringe/misunderstood sport of rugby, and for sticking with it. Thank you for having confidence in the program and in our coaches. Thank you for collecting money, keeping scores, taking on passengers, cooking hot dogs, etc. Thank you for helping out in all of the ways you have. We cannot make this club work without you, and you all have done a magnificent job of bringing this still very new program to a new level of success. Big, big thanks to all of you.
Thanks to Commissioner Andy Vonada for handling our registrations and finances, for scheduling our field, and for representing rugby to the leadership in FHYAA. Thank you to Andy for conceiving of this program, and for getting it off the ground.
Thank you to FHYAA for making rugby part of its sports program.
And super-mega-honkin' big thank-you to the coaching staff--Andy Vonada, Bobby Strawbridge, Dan Dickert, Dale Roach, Jim Woods, Dave Poulin, Layton Golding, and every parent who got out there and ran with us and helped the kids learn this sport.
Tournament Recap Last year Fort Hunt fielded a single U-11 touch team, onto which a few of our older players snuck. This year we fielded full U-11, U-13 and U-15 sides, and competed fully in all of our matches, without having to rely on in-fill from other clubs. We played nine rugby matches in six hours with enthusiasm and positive attitudes, and clearly improving play as the day went on.
The U-11s finished #5 in the 8-team field.
The U-13s finished #3 in their 4-team field.
The U-15s took second in their 2-team field. What really impressed me about the U-15s was that the first match was all Bailey's, and by the time we got to the final, two matches later, we had the cohesion and confidence to play them solidly, with the score at half 19-0, in our favor. We got a trophy for our U-15s, and we'll hold a drawing on Sunday among the U-15s players (who were at the tournament) to determine who gets to take it home.
On Sunday, Anthony A, Adam H and Cory C came out for tackle. They hooked up with Braddock Road, and all three started in the first BRYC match, ahead of the BRYC players in attendance--that speaks greatly to the character and abilities of our players. I watched them play in two matches, and they performed outstandingly, running straight and true, holding the ball well, posting correctly in the tackle, showing unselfish play and both teamwork and sportsmanship; they represented our club beautifully.
Trophies/Medals The mementoes are ordered, and will be here in time for the picnic. The picnic will be the main venue for handing them out.
Trophies are $6.16.
Medals are $4.17.
You can pay me in cash or make a check out to me.
If you'd like to come by my house and pick up the trophy/medal, feel free to come by in the evenings. They won't be here until Thursday at the earliest.
Picnic We will hold our end of season picnic this Sunday at 4:00 in Area E at Fort Hunt Park (see map).
All players, wear your jerseys, as we need to take team pictures. All coaches, please wear your green coaching shirts.
The club will provide burgers, dogs, drinks and plates/napkins/cups/etc. Anyone who has any leftovers from the season, please bring that out.
You come with non-flatware-required food (sandwiches, cookies, brownies, chips, veggies, etc.) for your crew and 2-3 others. Don't worry about main course, appetizer, dessert, and all of that over-specialization; keep it simple.
I will buy all of the stuff on Saturday, so please give me an RSVP with adult/kid numbers by the end of the day on Friday.
Guests are welcome, especially prospective rugby players.
We'll hand out certificates, trophies/medals and team awards, and should be done and clear by 6:00 or so. There might even be time in there for the much-rumored Dads vs. Kids touch match... for the Ultimate Championship of All Space and All Time! Coaches/Dads: if you're up for this, wear good shoes and comfortable clothes.
Extra Gear For Sale At the picnic on Sunday we will have extra jerseys for sale, and our team patch for sale. The jerseys are great for siblings, moms and dads, and are a powerful recruiting tool--buy lots!
We have jerseys in the following sizes: 2 XLs, 10 Larges, 2 Mediums, 1 Small. Cost will be $40, check or cash.
Patches are $5.
Upcoming Events Some of you may have seen the banners at the tournament for the rugby-themed movie "
Forever Strong," which opens on 26 September. I propose that we meet as a team on the evening of Saturday, 27 September, all of us wearing our Fort Hunt Rugby gear, to see the film as a group. I figure the Hoffman AMC will be the best bet.
The film's website is: http://www.foreverstrongmovie.com/
Check out the trailer at http://www.rugbymovie.com/, http://www.mtv.com/movies/, http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?vid=263356
The film has not yet been officially rated; it most likely will be PG or PG-13.
More info as the date approaches.
Coming up on Sunday,
9 November is the Ambassador's Shield rugby competition at Trinity College in DC. See the website at: http://www.ambassadorsshield.com/index.html (it hasn't been updated yet).
This is a day of high-level competition starting with a U-19 (high school) 7s match, followed by U-21 (collegiate) men's and women's matches between territorial sides, culminating in the final match between the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union Select XV (all-stars) against a hand-picked New Zealand national representative side of Kiwis playing in North America. This is the best way to get to see a haka live and in-person. Max and I have gone the past two years and it is a great day of rugby watching, with lots of souvenirs to buy, too.
More details to follow as it gets closer.
We will try to host a
rugby clinic during the Fairfax County Public Schools spring break, 6-10 April 09.
Right now it's looking something like three two-hour sessions running Tuesday-Thursday, but may expand it as we develop our plans, maybe going each night, M-F, and finishing with a proper rugby social/BBQ on the last day. If anyone has ideas, let me know.
Cost is likely to be free.
More info to come.
The Distant Future My goals for Fort Hunt Rugby next summer are:
100 registered kids (we had 53 this year)
Full U-9 and U-11 touch.
U-13 and U-15 touch programs for players who want to play only touch.
U-13 and U-15 tackle-only teams.
Enter U-13 and a U-15 tackle teams in next year's tournament and play all day without fill from another club.
I stress this again: i
f players want to play tackle at U-13, U-15 or U-17 next season, we will need early commitment from all interested players so we can form a team and make commitments to the league. If players want to play tackle, they need to recruit sufficient numbers to make it happen. My overall goals for Fort Hunt Rugby are:
U-13, U-15 and U-17 tackle rugby every summer, and to be competitive in the tackle tournament.
A Mount Vernon HS/WestPo HS combined Fort Hunt U-19 rugby club (for kids 15+), which will take part in the March-June Rugby VA spring season each year.
Build a catalog of Fort Hunt Rugby gear, to include custom jerseys, t-shirts, patches, team jackets, hats, stickers, pins, coins, hoodies, ties, etc. This will reinforce team, build pride, will help recruitment, and will generate funds for our program.
Get more parents into coaching, and get coaches to national certification training. This further legitimizes our program, and makes our coaches better at applying the latest methods in top-flight instruction to our kids, directly from the national level.
My long-term goals for Fort Hunt Rugby are:
A late summer or spring (tackle) rugby tour for U-15s, U-17s or U-19s. Possible destinations include Canada, the Northeast, the Southeast, or West Coast. This would be a proper rugby tour, with club ties and blazers, club kit bags, matching uniforms, formal dinners and lots of rugby union football. It is not unreasonable to consider doing something like this in the late summer of 2010, or the spring of 2011.
An overseas tour. This is quite a ways off, but something to think about.
Recruiting There are two key assets to recruiting for our program: players and parents.
Players: if the kids want a full tackle team for next summer, they must bring their buddies out to play. Have them wear their jerseys to school, have them talk about rugby, and have them bring their friends along. This is one of the big reasons we'll be doing the spring break clinic, to introduce new kids to the sport.
Parents:
You are key to dispelling the untrue myths and unjust prejudices many parents have about rugby; you are key to convincing other parents that rugby is not an uncontrolled melee, that rugby is dangerous for their kids, and that rugby is a clean, safe, actively coached, controlled and positive experience in every way.
Stress that for the third year, we have had no injuries, in practice or in matches.
Stress that our coaches are nationally certified (Andy and me), and that we are trained specifically in introducing rugby to and coaching youth players who are brand-new to the sport.
Stress the sportsmanship, respect for the referee, playing aspects of decision making/teamwork/common skills and that every kid no matter how small or big not only can but is supposed to run and score, and the highly important social aspect of the sport.
Volunteers Our volunteering this season was fantastic--thank you again to everyone who lent a hand to make our program go, especially the home game socials--this is a key aspect of our sport, and we did it the right way every single time, unlike many of our opponents.
We still need a number of volunteers. These will not just be needed/nice to have in 2009, but absolutely critical if we do in fact turn out 100+ kids.
Next year, we will need the following:
Dedicated U-11 coach.
Dedicated U-13 coach.
Dedicated U-15 coach.
Assistant coaches for all teams.
Match secretary, for arranging all club home and away match details.
Equipment and field manager, to take care of all aspects of field marking and setup/take-down for home games, and to manage the club's expanding physical kit.
Social chairman, to arrange for home game socials.
I will be in contact in the spring to ask for volunteers for next summer's season.
Donations When you sign up for any FHYAA sport, you have the option of making a donation in addition to registration fees, and you can tag that donation specifically to the sport of your choice. If you donate to FHYAA rugby, that allows us to buy more balls, tackling pads, cones and disks, goalpost pads, medical kits, training jerseys, kicking tees, drink coolers, etc.
I believe that FHYAA donations are tax-deductible.
Thanks, in advance.
Communication The good news is that the nonstop barrage of emails from me is going to stop, by the end of the week.
I will continue to send out email notes from time to time, and will do my best not to clog your in-boxes.
If you'd like to be taken off the club email list, just let me know.
I will continue to update the club blog, so check it often.
Do not ever hesitate to contact me, about any issue.
That's long-winded, and you'll get to hear a good portion of this again on Sunday--thanks for bearing with me.
See you on Sunday.
