MARFU Sharks Men's All-Star Program

The MARFU Sharks Men's All-Star team has been reconstituted this year by the MARFU board as a development tool for the best players in MARFU. The goal of the MARFU Sharks program is to provide the top players in MARFU with an elite rugby experience that will help them develop and improve as players. The program is particularly looking for the best high school and college players to participate. The development program will include regular training sessions with top coaches, and international competition.

This fall the MARFU Sharks will have a match against the New Zealand Embassy XV and then a high performance camp in December. In 2010 the program will include regular training sessions and an international tour in the summer. Selections for the 2010 program will be made this fall.

The start of the MARFU program is this weekend with the first of 2 tryouts/practices. The tryouts are:

• November 1, Severn River 9.30-11.30am
• November 8, Doylestown, 11am-1pm

Registration is not required for the tryouts, however coaches' recommendations can be made at http://www.attackingrugby.com/MARFU.html and will be used in the selection process.

Players that plan to attend should Head Coach, Peter Steinberg, directly.

MARFU - Bid Requests for 2010 Collegaite Championships

Courtesy of Carl Schmitt, President of Virginia Rugby Union

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The Mid Atlantic RFU is seeking bids to host one or more of our 5 divisions of Collegiate Rugby. Bids documents can be obtained at the MARFU website via the following link: www.marfu.org/marfubidform.htm

Bids are due on November 30, 2009, and are to be submitted via email to schmittcf@gmail.com

USA Rugby - Womens Club playoffs this weekend

Couresty of USA Rugby
Despite forecasted rain in the Boston area tomorrow, USA Rugby is planning for the Women's Club Playoffs to kick off as scheduled on Saturday, October 24 and Sunday, October 25 at NARA Park in Acton, Mass (64 Quarry Road). USA Rugby will also be streaming the event (weather permitting) live via U-Stream for the folks at home.

Ruggers needed for movie being filmed this weekend in DC

Got this from Stefan Hankin of PAC Rugby (thanks Stefan!).

Adams Morgan the Movie, a full length feature film, is currently filming in Washington DC. There are two rugby scenes in this film which will be filmed on Sunday morning.

The producers have requested 30 players and at least 60 people to act as "fans". Filming will start at 7am on Sunday and run until about 2pm. Breakfast and Lunch will be provided.

Filming will take place behind the DC United's practice field next to RFK at the corner of C street and Oklahoma Ave NE. Turn off C street onto Oklahoma, take your first right into the parking lot. Closest metro is Stadium / Armory.

If you are interested in being part of this movie, please email Stefan so he can put you on the list.

Players: The "match" is between two adult men's teams, sorry ladies (and young looking college players). Please wear normal rugby attire, boots, headgear if you normally wear it etc, jersey's will be provided.

Fans: The "match" is supposed to take place in the Fall, so just dress as you would if you were going to watch a match. Please do not wear any articles of clothing that could be viewed as product placement, rugby jerseys are ok. Need people of all ages, gender etc. Little kids are more than welcome. Need to make this look as genuine as possible Please let me know if you have any questions.

More information on the movie can be found at http://www.adamsmorganthemovie.com

NYC Youth Rugby Coach Named A Coach of the Year

I wanted to share a press release I got tonight, compliments of Sara John (USA Rugby) and Noel Wolfe (thanks guys!), on local NYC coaches and highschool teacher Lisa Lake (in red in photo at left). Lisa has been named as a coach of the year after coming in third in the “Play it Forward” contest held by Youth Noise, a youth social network.

Congratulations to Lisa! Read the full press release after the break.

Ruggers help local animal humane society

Great article on Radford University RFC who are working with a local humane society to take their homeless dogs on a run each week.

The full article is here (compliments of The Roanoke Times)

And if any local clubs in the New York Metro region are interested in doing a similar thing and need contact information for local shelters in the area, let me know. My good lady wife works with a few organizations and would be happy to share the info.

USA Rugby - College information for High School rugby players

USA Rugby has recently launched a website (www.usarugby.org/goto/hs_player_info) with information aimed at students, parents, and coaches about academic, financial, and scholarship opportunities for college rugby. By doing so, the hope is that players will make rugby a major consideration when choosing a college. They have already posted information for Male High School players and the Female information will be posted soon.

The site also has a form that Colleges can use to submit information and if you or someone you know can help contribute, please pass the information along.

Podcast Episode 5 - USA Rugby & the Olympics

Graphic: cluepill

With the historic announcement on Friday, October 9th that rugby has been readmitted into the Olympics in 2016, I joined the staff and players of USA Rugby to celebrate the news at Mr Denneheys in New York City.

I had the great opportunity to interview USA National players Mark Bokhoven and Jen Sinkler as well as USA Rugby Mens 7s head coach Al Caravelli. I gained insight into their rugby beginnings and what the announcement means to the USA rugby community.

iTunes | Download | RSS Feed

Jen Sinklar (Credit: Randy Mar)

Al Caravelli (Credit: Randy Mar)

 Mark Bokhoven (Credit: USA Rugby)

New York Times - Americans Celebrate Victory for Rugby

New York Times article on Fridays Olympic announcement event in NYC which I was fortunate to attend and will be sharing more on this shortly. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/sports/11vecsey.html

New rugby documentary: "A Giant Awakens"

I just recently heard about "A Giant Awakens" friend of mine, Paul Simko (Cheers Paul!). The 60 minute HD documentary explores 130 years of rugby in America and is schedule for DVD release November 1st in the US (Blu-Ray and International to follow soon after).
Check out the trailer below..

A Giant Awakens - Trailer HD 1 from sylvain doreau on Vimeo.

Chatisode 1 - Francesca Cherchi

For my first online chat ("Chatisode") interview, I sat down with Francesca Cherchi (pictured right with Italy Captain, Sergio Parisse), who is an Italian youth rugby coach and former player in Viterbo, Italy.

Coach needed for Womans University team in Maryland

Received an email, via the PRU, from Erin Arentz who is the captain of Mount St. Mary's University Women's RFC, who is looking for a coach:

I am the captain for the Mount St. Mary's University Women's RFC in Emmitsburg, MD. Currently, we are without a coach. We have a full team of around 20 girls. We are looking to be a serious team and build on the growth we have already achieved. We are not playing any games this semester, but would like to schedule several games and possibly enter a few tournaments next semester. In order to do this, we need a certified coach who is willing to guide us. If anyone is interested, or knows someone who may be interested, please contact me at arentzgirl10599@yahoo.com. Thank you.

Erin Arentz
Captain-MSMUWRFC
Anyone who is interested, please feel free to contact Erin directly or drop me a line, and I'll be happy to pass your details on.

Play Rugby USA - “Brownsville to Xavier: Developing Youth through Rugby”

Got this great email from my friends over at Play Rugby USA and thought I'd share it.

“Brownsville to Xavier: Developing Youth through Rugby”

Gaining a high quality high school education while getting the chance to compete in sports that you love, especially Rugby, is not an everyday opportunity in America. It is even further out of reach for young people from inner-city environments, where public high school rarely exists and educational opportunities can be limited. However, that’s exactly what one young man and Play Rugby USA program participant has just accomplished, having recently enrolled at Xavier High School an academically elite school in New York City with one of the top rugby programs in the country.

Isa Sylla graduated from IS 392 in Brownsville, Brooklyn this year as valedictorian of his class. A well liked member of the school community and MVP of the school’s 2009 Mayor’s Cup Championship winning flag rugby team, Isa is hooked on rugby. Given his athletic talent, Isa attracted the interest of local athletic directors and football coaches, and earned the offer of an athletic scholarship from a well know prep school in Brooklyn with a strong football program. For most public school students in Brownsville this would have been a dream come true, but for Isa it wasn’t enough...he wanted to play rugby!

I play rugby

USA Rugby - Upcoming events

Here are the latest upcoming events announced by USA Rugby:

October 2 Level 1 Officiating Course – Flagstaff, AZ. Contact Knute Knutson for more information and to register, kcknutson@designmodularsinc.com October 4 Level 1 Officiating Course – Tampa, FL. Contact Gerry Fitzgerald for more information and to register, rugbyreffl@aol.com October 10 Americas Rugby Championship semifinals: USA Select XV v Argentina Jaguars – Infinity Park, Glendale, CO. October 17 Americas Rugby Championship finals – Fletcher’s Field, Toronto, Ontario. October 17-18 Introducing Rugby & Developing Rugby Skills Certification Workshops -Phoenix, AZ. October 24-25  Introducing Rugby & Developing Rugby Skills Certification Workshops - San Diego, CA. October 24-25 Women's Club Playoffs– NARA Park, Acton, MA. October 25 Level 1 Officiating Course – Boise, ID. Contact Jim Kautz for more information and to register, jkautz@comcast.net November 6-8 Women's Club Championships - Treasure Island, San Francisco, CA. November 7-8 - Introducing Rugby & Developing Rugby Skills Certification Workshops -Hingham, MA

Former Danvers Falcon turns his attention from football to rugby - Danvers, MA - Danvers Herald

Former Danvers Falcon turns his attention from football to rugby - Danvers, MA - Danvers Herald