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U-19 Update - Dec 2007

Monday, 03 December 2007

We've come a long way, baby

Our Under-19 program has been up and running for a full year now. Last fall we began our journey practicing in the median strip on the Pelham Parkway (kicking was banned because I was afraid of rugby player road-kill) and we had the one game against Kingston. I always smile to myself when I remember having to stop at the local sporting goods store in New Paltz because most of our 13 boys and 6 girls did not have cleats or mouth guards.

Fast-forward to this fall: we have 26 girls and 36 boys practicing under the lights at Chelsea Waterside Park in full uniform. It's really something to see 62 players stretched across the sidelines in blue I "Rugby" NY T-Shirts, rugby shorts & socks doing our club's hallmark dynamic 'Heidi' warm-up...

Most U19 and high school rugby programs take the fall season off. Of course, our kids insisted on playing in the fall. It seems that we have encouraged the belief that rugby should be played year round because it's really fun. Go figure.

The NYRC fall U19 season had three main components: learning the fundamentals of 15s and 7s play, visiting college campuses, and building a team culture. Our two biggest highlights of the fall were our overnight trips to Southern Vermont College and Washington, DC. We represented the club very well on these trips both on and off the field.

Vermont. We took four 15 passenger vans up to Bennington, Vermont for a weekend of fun and rugby. The kids had a ball singing in the vans, seeing the New England foliage, bowling, taking over the "Walk in the Woods" hotel (20 girls in a two room cottage!), braiding hair until the wee hours of the morning, getting a talk from the college admissions office, and taking a campus tour. The NYRC coaching staff ran a two and a half hour clinic for the players from all the teams on Sunday prior to the first match's kickoff. We supplied players from our own team for both the boys and girls opponents. On the day, all tries scored or set-up for both teams came from NYRC. It was a fine fall weekend.

VT TRIP PICTURES

Washington D.C. Thanks to many donations we were able to take a four day trip to our nation's capitol in November. The impetus for the trip was an invitation from the Hyde Coach, Tal Bayer, to compete against his team in the curtain raiser for the Ambassador's Shield match. The invitation alone was quite an honor. This trip was one of growth and honor: the players learned what it really means to represent the club and themselves on tour. The players were in uniform for the duration, whether it was their dress clothes (#1's), touring outfit (#2's), or game-day kit (#3's). They wore Tour tags displaying both nickname and a number (assigned for the 1-51 count off . . . this took some time to master). The movie "300" was watched about 300 times on the bus. Historical sites were visited: the Capitol building with a behind-the-scenes tour of the Majority Whip, Jim Clyburn's office, National Botanical Garden, Smithsonian Museums, and most of the city's finest memorials. Team dinners were had at the NZ Embassy and the Rugby Café and the tour ended with life coaching sessions given by Lee Knight.

The Main Event. We had a great two days of rugby as well. On Saturday we arrived at Gonzaga high school, prepared to play 15's. The girls played a hard fought match against a side made up mostly of NY coaches with a few Hyde and NOVA girls thrown in. The boys played competitively against the PRU select side team, including a third half for our newer players. Sunday was the day long Ambassador's shield event. Wearing their #2s, the 39 non sevens-playing spectators set up the NYRC banner and sat together in the bleachers while the 7s squad prepared to play. The boys won their first match against the Washington Warriors and they lost to Hyde in a strong showing. All were impressed with our athleticism and flair. After the matches we gathered with the opposition and our 7s captain Arnold Chavis made his speech (pre-written!) and presented gifts to the opposing club. We ended the day by helping to break down and then, in our #1s, the 7s boys went off to the NZ Embassy and the rest of us went to the Rugby Café. I think the most remarkable thing about the whole of Sunday was how well our kids stepped up in the public spotlight. The actions of the group of players spoke for themselves and Arnold's speech was tremendous. However, I was the most impressed when Shaniece Delgado and Kenny Holt each rose at the team dinner and spoke for their respective teams. They made eloquent heartfelt speeches in which they thanked the coaches, sponsors, and the club for all of the opportunities provided to them because they play for New York Rugby Club.

DC TRIP PICTURES

Our U19 program is blossoming because our club is united. The current and continued success of the U19 program is because of you. You have taken these kids and this program into your hearts. The incredible support system of New York Rugby allows our young players to thrive and chase their dreams. Things that seemed impossible to many of our U19s now seem possible because one of you has taken time to show them that yes, you can do it. It is my privilege to be a member of such a fine club.

For The Club,

Laker

* *

Fall 2007 Highlights

U19 boys and girls taught kids how to play rugby with the U12 Brooklyn Dragons.
U19 boys and girls volunteered as Race for the Cure workers.
U19 boys and girls in planted 1000 trees on Randall's Island.
U19 boys and girls set up pitches for the 7s tournament.
U19 boys played matches against Iona College, motley Saranac Barkeaters U19/Southern Vermont College, and the PRU select side in 15s. They also played the Washington Warriors, the Hyde School, LI-XAV Banshees, Bishop Hendricksen HS, and Union in 7s.
The U19 girls played matches against motley Southern Vermont College/NYRC Women, Springfield Rifles, and motley Hyde School/NOVA/NYRC Women & Alums in 15s. They also played Morris and Union in 7s.
NY 7's: The boys made the final in a very competitive new U-19 boys division and the girls won in the final of the inaugural girls U-19 division.
Phoebe Gray made the NRU U-19 team.
Our first ever rugby field day. Players received instruction and completed for gold, silver and bronze in a variety of kicking and passing games.
U19s made posters and signs to cheer on the women's run at nationals.
U19s participated in weightlifting sessions on Sundays at Manhattan Athletic Club.
U19s attended a financial planning class at American Express.
U19 Thanksgiving dinner in Yonkers.

Thank You To Club Members

AJ Fautley, Mira Serrill-Robins, Heather van der Hoop, Zania Campos, Helen Rosie Meisner, Laura London, Rachel Hughes, Laura Bilizarian, John Truehart, Fontaine Lloyd, and Kate Jenkins came out to CWP on Tuesdays and helped out with our practices.
Pete Galen helped out at the boys 7s practice on 11/3/2007
Alison Price, Daniella Mogro, Hedwig Aerts, Tanya Carlson, and Tyshawn Henry came to several practices to coach specific skill sets.
Katie Brethel IS the U19 college counselor. Katie brings groups of kids to her office and works with them for hours at a time. She is taking them all from point A to Z. If you have never worked with high school kids it is a lot like herding cats. It requires a great deal of dedication, patience, and determination. When these kids get accepted into good colleges it will be due in great part to Katie. **
Jenna Bussman and Darlene Miranda are teaching a financial planning class to the U19s. They have created a terrific curriculum and are walking the kids through a 6 week course in which they will learn to manage their money.
Laura Bilizarian has been incredibly busy working to find and write grants for the program.
Matt Persanis hosted our Iona match and invited the pack to use Iona's scrum sled.
Pete Rizzo worked very hard to launch a U19 referee program. Expect to see some of our U19s refereeing in the spring.
Katerli Bounds lead the U19s in tree planting on Randall's Island.
Laura London, Heather van der Hoop, Mira Serrill-Robins, Rosalie MacGowan, AJ Fautley, Tanya Carlson, Alishia Guffy, Molly Dengler, and Annie Collier chaperoned the Vermont Trip.
Laura Bilizarian, Eva DuGoff, Sarah Schillawski, Dennis Cammer, Lee Knight, Laura London, Dave Levine, and Annie Collier chaperoned in Washington, D.C.
The Hyde School, Collier Family, and Lee Knight hosted and breakfasted our team for 3 nights in DC
Women's team stayed after practice and cheered for the girls on 11/3/2007.
Men's team welcomed many of the U19 boys into their training sessions.
Minnie Singh, Shaniece DelGado, Chrissy Ruperto, Pookie Martinez, and Raven Stafford for helped to organize ALL of the DC paperwork.
Chris Hasfal trained our boys at the Manhattan Athletic Club.
Mira Serrill-Robins and Heather van der Hoop attended the USA rugby coaching clinic.
Dave Levine & Hedwig Aerts continue tutoring our players.
Laura London keeps us well outfitted.
Tyshawn Henry, Hedwig Aerts, Alison Price, & USA RUGBY donated kit.
The Men's team supplied blazers to borrow for our DCTrip.
Jenna Flateman advocated to get the U-19's in on the Champion Systems jersey deal and she hooked us up with the sweet new polos.
Jessa Giordano continuously updates our part of the website
Molly Dengler is doing a tremendous job as the head coach of the girls program. Her hours of hard work and patience are clearly paying off and our girls' team has vaulted into being one of the top competitive teams in the area. Molly is the reason our girls program is successful. She is an excellent instructor and a phenomenal role model for her players.
A special thanks to Tanya Carlson for all of her work with our boys backline. She came out on a weekly basis to teach and inspire. If anyone has seen our kids play recently send a nod of thanks Twiggs' way.
Dave Levine is doing a wonderful job as an assistant coach of the boys program. He's always available if a kid needs anything … a ride home, tutoring, some train fare, a kick in the ass, or encouragement. Dave is an invaluable asset to the program.
Annie Collier is an outstanding co-coach. Annie puts in a tremendous amount of hours into the program. She always brings a fresh approach to practice planning, she does an excellent job of managing the finances, and is a great help in managing team logistics. She is also the recipient of many late night calls about health related issues, helps kids with their homework, and drives kids to college interviews. She keeps this program going.

Thank You to Sponsors

A special thank you to the people listed below. You helped to make our trip financially possible..

Mary Keenan - for securing travel grant for DC
Nichols Foundation - for continued financial support
Saatchi and Saatchi - for generous kit sponsorship-helped us look great for our big trip

Also generously donated money this fall in order to meet our travel and kit budgets:

Lee Archer, Cody Eckstein, Nicholas Baker, Karin Ecroyd, Ryan McElduff, Dave Levine, Chris Ryan, Erika Wolf, Jenna Bussman, AJ Goodman, Hedwig Aerts, Rachel & PJ Flanagan, Geoff Andrews, Blaise Latriano, H. Omar Archer, Sarah Litt, Stephen Stanton, Larry Remmel, Sarah (Schillawski) Cammer, Ben Whitney, and Tim O'Donnell

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