Monday, July 31, 2006

NOT MUCH TO BEAK ABOUT

HAIL, PELICUS!

LAST RITES OF SUMMER

So far, we only have two officials committed to this Friday’s Samoan Flag Day Sevens money tournament at Crocker Amazon Park in San Francisco.

Come on! Play hooky from work and join David Williamson and Bruce Carter from 1 until 4 for some fun running around!

And don’t forget, of course, the Air Pacific Marist Tonik Palo Alto Summer Sevens Series, the 2006 finale at Greer Park on Saturday.

The only other Sevens tournament on our calendar is a SoCal event, the Tri-Tip Sevens in San Luis Obispo on September 9. NorCal refs are always welcome there.

NO NEWS IS NO NEWS

The Fresno Sevens, scheduled for July 29, was canceled.

KICKING BACK IN-GOAL

Kurt Oeler writes about USA rugby on Gainline.us and he reads Hail, Pelicus!

Last week Kurt wrote an article about having conversion kicks in Sevens taken back in toward the field-of-play, after having encountered the idea here.

Click here: Gainline.us: NorCal refs aim to save time, energy

PACIFIC COAST SEVENS QUALIFIER IN PARK CITY

The three seeds that the Pacific Coast receives in the USA Sevens championships were won by Park City Haggis, the Olympic Club, and SF/Golden Gate at a tournament in Park City on Saturday.

The Diablo Gaels finished fourth after an impressive start: they were the only team to defeat Haggis.

There were no NorCal referees involved. Tony Latu was invited but his flight was canceled too late for him to make alternate arrangements.

EXCHANGE REPORT – PALO ALTO SEVENS
By Tevis Vandergriff

(This report was submitted by Tevis to the Southeast Rugby Referee Society.)

My first exchange is on the books and what fun. It was a short trip, in on Fri and out Sat at midnight, but the experience was well worth it. Pete picked me up and gave me a tour of the Pelican’s facility at Treasure Island. I still cannot believe the concentration of both teams and referees in a 3 hour radius. There was also some sight seeing on the way to his home in San Jose. Not too sure how they make it out there, but man…talk about sensory overload! I told Pete that it would be tough for me to live out there b/c of how much there is to do, see, experience, etc… No wonder people head out that way and never come back!

They started me off with a high school match (two of the premiere high school teams in the Nor-Cal area). Just as we “initiated” Pete at Fear, it was the first match of the day, right in front of the referee tent. Being in the area for less than 24 hrs my legs were a little heavy and my performance was so-so. However, I did ok and the guys accepted me. The day went on and I saw a great mixture of youth, women and club matches. I got the second to last match of the day between Olympic A and Hayward, right before Pete’s curtain call finale. I was shocked, but the boys said that I earned it. Needless to say, it was awesome to be on the same pitch with so many fantastic players, with both current and former Eagle and Tongan selected players. I went out there and had fun, just like you say.

I drew a crowd from our fellow brothers and was applauded when the match was over for a job well done. I should have pulled the yellow card a bit quicker, but other than that, it was a smooth match seeing Olympic win by a converted try. Anyway, Bruce Carter says hello and agrees with Pete that you need to come experience the Pelicans hospitality. Pete was not lying at Fear…the Pelican know how to “refresh” themselves during and after a tourney. We had the usual fruit, bread, cheese, water and Gatorade, but once the tourney was over, what a spread! We sat around for about 3 hours talking shop over sushi, caviar, humus and more bread/cheese…only thing missing was some of the areas great wine (work on that Pete J). Although we Southerners claim to have a hold on hospitality, our brothers and sisters in Northern California do a fine job as well.

Any case, I know I’ve gone on and on, but I promise you this…I feel as if I represented SERRS very well and Bruce has invited me back for a 15s match/assessment this season if I can make it. Many thanks for selecting me and kicking me in the tail on my game. Trust me, this is not giving me a big head, but rather incentive to keep at it, keep learning and do the best I can whenever, wherever. Pete and company showed me a fine time. In my opinion, it’s great that SERRS and the NCRFU Pelicans have this relationship. In my short time out there, I learned a lot about our great game, saw some amazing rugby and experienced some great sights. I hope to either make it back out there in the future or return the favor by hosting someone down the road. Again, many thanks to all and see you soon,

THIS WEEK'S PHOTO
Tevis_and_Host

Tevis and his host Pete Smith exchanged gifts under the Pelican canopy in Palo Alto on July 22.

HAIL, PELICUS!

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