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!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

Monday, July 24, 2006

BIRD BEARING NEWS

HAIL, PELICUS!

HARD WORK PAYS OFF

Paul Bretz has been named to the International Panel by USARRA. There are four referees in this group, ranked in order: Kevin McCaslin, Graeme Bullen, Al Klemp and Paul.

Aruna Ranaweera was named to the Development Panel. This is not the same as the old Drip program, but is a list of referees just below the National Panel. This promises Aruna advanced consideration for national appointments.

The Pacific Coast territory was given an opportunity to nominate referees for this panel. The Pacific Coast referee administration chose not to nominate anyone. Aruna received this recognition ‘accidentally’, by the fact that the quality of his refereeing happened to be known to representatives of some of the other territories.

Congratulations to both of these dedicated and talented referees. May they fly from strength to strength.

You might have noticed that Paul refereed the NA4 match between the Hawks and Canada West this past Saturday, an early dividend of his newly-recognized status!

REFS NEEDED

Please respond if you are interested in refereeing these events; we need a referee head count prior to the competitions.

Saturday, July 29
Fresno Sevens money tournament

Friday, August 4
Samoan Flag Day Sevens money tournament
At Crocker Amazon park in San Francisco

And don’t forget, of course, the Air Pacific Marist Tonik Palo Alto Summer Sevens Series, the 2006 finale at Greer Park on Saturday, August 5.

KICKING BACK IN-GOAL

Our data have been corrected. There were actually 355 tries scored at the Palo Alto Sevens on July 8.

(We reported here last week that it was 218, but that did not include the women’s and high school games.)

That’s about 120 tries per pitch. If it takes even thirty seconds per conversion waiting for someone to get the ball before the restart, that’s a hour per pitch that can be saved by having the kicks taken from the in-goal or beyond the dead-ball line.

PACIFIC COAST SEVENS QUALIFIER IN PALO ALTO

Several teams played for seeding at the Pacific Coast national qualifier this past Saturday.

Diablo Gaels and SFGG went through pool play undefeated, with the Gaels winning the ‘final’.

The Park City, Utah, tournament this weekend is open to all teams. We expect Diablo, SFGG, the Olympic Club and San Mateo to make the trip.

Best of luck to all of NorCal’s Sevens ruggers!

YOUR HELP REQUESTED WITH THE CIPP DATABASE

We need your help in reconciling USA Rugby’s database on participants.

Please review the two lists below to see if your CIPP registration is recorded. If is not, we need to hear from you with: your CIPP number and when you paid for CIPP and R&L (if you did it on-line you’ll have a credit card payment you can reference).

All referees should, of course, have CIPP and R&L registration for the current year; otherwise you have no liability coverage and are not qualified to be receiving match assignments. In fact, our society has potential liability if we allow you to referee.

USA Referee Manager Ed Todd called to our attention the following list of NorCal members who have paid both CIPP and R&L for 2006. It was compiled by their membership folks:

Ian Baggott
Edward Barfels
Paul Berman
Bruce Bernstein
David Buckey
Jamie Burke
John Coppinger
John Cullom
Matt Eason
Kathy Flores
Ed Gardner
Ronald Gore
Geordie Hawkins
Rob Hendrickson
Larry Herbert
Vicki Hudson
Fred Khasigian
Rachel Lawton
Gary Malpas
Paul Negus
Tina Nesberg
Bart Nielsen
Bryan Porter
Ray Thompson
John Tomasin
Bob Tustin
JC Van Staden
Russ Wilkening

You will see that many, many, many of our referees are not listed. But it is obviously inaccurate, which was proven to Ed Todd by pointing out that his name was not on the list (which included the whole country).

This list is from the membership page of the USA Rugby website. It has more names but doesn’t inspire any more confidence overall than the first one:

319573 Baggott, Ian
267891 Berman, Paul
206588 Bernstein, Bruce
204231 Bretz, Paul
310292 Buckey, David
202099 Bukowski, Lois
202433 Byrnes, Bryant
202434 Carter, Melvin
266472 Chance, Rod
202435 Crenshaw, James
216825 Davis, Samuel
207899 Eason, Matthew
197938 Gardner, Edward
319586 Gore, Ronald
152705 Hart, Deborah
269124 Hawkins, Geordie
188846 Hendrickson, Robert
201454 Hudson, Victoria
235026 Latu, Atonio
266246 Lawton, Rachel
241975 Leisek, Charles
201522 Malone, Michael
201522 Malone, Michael
319576 Malpas, Gary
127571 Miller, David
308985 Palu, Epalahame
201582 Pohlman, John
202445 Pope, David
201584 Porter, Bryan
209785 Ranaweera, Aruna
204797 Reagle, Sam
143601 Rodman, Bo
269496 Saccomanno, Joseph
260499 Schwartz, Raymond
201311 Smith, Dixon
201313 Smith, Peter
214140 Stumer, Bjorn
213386 Thompson, Raymond
201343 Todd, Edwin
176068 Todd-Schwartz, Kat
319583 Tustin, Robert
279688 Villierme, Michael
202446 Williamson, David
303610 Williamson, David
202447 Wilson, Giles
241979 Wood, Scott

Again and please, if you have registered and paid and are not on either of these lists, we need to hear from you.

Thank you.

THIS WEEK'S PHOTO
Grounded Flock

Tevis Vandergriff visited us on exchange from the Southeast Rugby Referee Society for the tournament at Palo Alto. Tevis was the perfect exchange candidate to come here: he lives in Charlotte, North Carolina and played for Charlotte, which means he played in the NCRFU and is a member of the NCRRS. And, being born in Louisiana, he’s from the Pelican State!

It was awful hot Saturday. Everyone wilted as soon as the last whistle was blown. Here under the Pelican Coop are David Williamson, Tony Latu, John Pohlman, Isaac Caselis, Jim Crenshaw, John Coppinger, Tevis and his host for the weekend Pete Smith.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

Monday, July 17, 2006

LOTS OF FUN STUFF

HAIL, PELICUS!

KICKING BACK IN-GOAL

About ten or twelve years ago, an innovation out of the Midwest called for having conversion kicks in Sevens taken back toward the pitch.

That is, the kicker takes the drop kick from the line through where the try was scored, but it is taken from beyond the try line, ‘away’ from the pitch. This means that no-one has to chase the ball – the ball is back on the field of play.

This has been more or less adopted by the Pelicanrefs on pitches where the geography allows it.

The July 8 tournament in Palo Alto nicely illustrates why this is useful.

Two-hundred and eighteen tries were scored on the three pitches. Let’s do the math:

Let’s call it 72 tries on each pitch. If it takes thirty additional seconds to get the ball back into play (and that is being very conservative – on hot days, with tired players, often no-one is interested in hurrying to accomplish this task), that’s more than half an hour per pitch in dead time by the end of the day.

If the watch is not stopped during these delays, that’s thirty minutes out of play. If the watch is stopped, that’s thirty minutes that the pitch gets behind schedule.

Either way, the referee picnic gets delayed!

INAUGURAL SFGG TOUCH TOURNEY A ROUSING SUCCESS

By David Williamson

Advertise a Touch Tournament and they will come: Kids from ten to 72, expats, women, Fat Guys, Clowns and lots more. Everyone enjoyed the festival atmosphere and reggae/rock music--including the little kids jumping on a two-story inflatable slide.

On Saturday July 15, SFGG hosted a splendid 6-a-side tournament, reflecting the excellent organizing abilities of Shaun Paga, Michael Walker, and Andy Armstrong. Eight teams participated in the Competitive division, with at least ten teams in the Social division. SFGG won the Competitive Cup, Firth won the Competitive Plate; Fiji 1 and Fiji 2 played for the Social Cup, and the Fat Guys barely edged a team of 10 and 11-year-olds from Alameda for the Social Plate. In all, there were over 30 games on three fields. In the match for the Social Plate, both teams wore white tournament t-shirts. When I asked if one team could change colors, a Fat Guy pointed out the obvious: everyone on the kids' team was about four feet tall. Although they were much shorter, the kids were fast, shifty runners with good passing ability and great hands. It's heart-warming to hear an eleven-year-old say "Pass the ball! We have a two-on-one over here."

There was more: At the same time, women's teams from San Francisco, LA, San Diego, and New York inaugurated a new netball court in the SFGG parking lot. Some of these players spilled over to the touch tournament, showing their running and passing skills on a grass field.

After the tournament, all participants and spectators could repair to the clubhouse to watch the Tri-Nations match between South Africa and Australia. What a day!!

USA WOMEN’S UNDER-23 TEAM SCRIMMAGES AT STANFORD

The national U-23 team had a camp at Stanford last week, capped off by some scrimmaging over the weekend.

Lois Bukowski and Pete Smith helped out with the refereeing on Saturday, and John Pohlman took his whistle along on Sunday.

Here is John’s report:

First thanks for the game. It was a real pleasure.

I had the privilege to referee a scrimmage between the under-23 national side this past Sunday at Stanford. These athletics from around the USA were concluding their five day camp.

This was a very hard fought 80 minute game, the last opportunity for players to impress selectors. They certainly impressed me.

A total of nine tries scored. Great defense, good tackling and some amazing passes in the tackle. The coaching staff was well organized and the players very disciplined.

It was a real treat to see our future USA National team up close.

Thanks for a great run. And yes it was hot

PACIFIC COAST SEVENS QUALIFIER IN PALO ALTO

This Saturday, July 22, the only Pacific Coast qualifying tournament will be held in conjunction with the Tonik summer sevens series.

We are not sure how this is going to work. The tournament to decide which teams represent the Pacific Coast at the nationals will be held July 29-30 in Park City, Utah. Apparently, any teams who wish can attend; there have been no other qualifying tournaments in Arizona, Utah or the Pacific Northwest.

Perhaps the winner at Palo Alto is ‘seeded’ into the Park City tournament. We do not know. Apparently, teams that do not win in Palo Alto may attend the Park City event if they wish.

None of this makes a lot of sense to us, except we do know that there is going to be some great rugby going on and good friends gathered at Greer Park this Saturday.

UPCOMING:

July 22 Tonik Palo Alto Summer Sevens ‘qualifier’
July 29 Fresno Sevens money tournament
August 5 Air Pacific Marist Palo Alto Summer Sevens money tournament
September 9 Tri-tip Sevens in San Luis Obispo

NEW YORK SEVENS EXCHANGE

The nominees for this November exchange are John Coppinger and Ray Schwartz.

CAPE FEAR SEVENS EXCHANGE REPORT

The best sevens summer sevens tournament in the USA was held July first and second this year. NorCal sent a ref along on exchange, and here is his report:

By Pete Smith

The trip to Cape Fear started early as Leah and I had planned a vacation in Scottsdale, AZ the previous Monday through Friday. I must say that the Westin Kierland in Scottsdale is quite the place, but boy is it hot there. I couldn’t do much more than lay by the pool with a cool beverage. Rugby is a funny game because of the size and geography of the sport. It didn’t take long before I was spotted by John Bulkley, a past Hawaii Harlequin and current Scottsdale Old Boy, in a rugby T-Shirt and was invited out to Scottsdale’s summer touch practice. John and his family relocated to Scottsdale some years ago and he is now selling fractional ownerships of the Westin/Starwood resorts and is doing quite well. As an aside, I would bet that someone reading this would have crossed paths with this 50 year old rugger who started playing in Sydney when he was 12 and seeing his name here will spark and ex-teammate/friend to drop Bulkley a line. One of the Scottsdale players that played for Red Mountain years ago, and is also working at the Westin, recognized me as the ref from their Div 3 playoff games in Chico from 4-5 years ago. He exclaimed ‘hey, aren’t you one of those Pelican Refs?’ I nodded my head ‘yes’. He followed with ’you guys have the best website in rugby! I’m on it every week’…Yet another one of our thousands of web hits every week.

There were a ton of people out to their touch practice including U19’s, women, and old boys. They had a 3 team rotation with about 15 -20 per team. When I showed up, safe to say no one recognized me, but I did see a tour bag from the Seahawks ’87 World Cup tour to Australia and New Zealand that I went on. I moved the shoulder strap and sure enough it belonged to that well traveled, round head himself, Mike Elliot. I had a good time running with new faces and even managed two tries, taking one to the house from about midfield. Considering I haven’t played much since turning to refereeing 7 years ago, it felt good to know at 37 I still got a little game left in me.

Friday morning is was up and off the airport and the next leg of our travel.

By and large, Friday was a brutal travel day, hung over and heading for the Carolina heat was probably not the smartest thing I could have done. Okay, so we get to Charlotte and it is quite the kick to terminal E from terminal B, but we have scads of time and we stopped at a Chinese fast food place. At this point, I feel like we are both in the South and yet right at home. After some Chow Mien and Sweet and Sour we were off to our hopper over to Wilmington. I have never seen a more unassuming airport anywhere in the world. Small is one adjective I could use, but friendly would be better. From the minute we touched down, people we just the nicest and friendliest I had ever encountered. Maybe they were crazy from the heat, but I wasn’t complaining. Getting a rental car was easy at the counter, but of course we were parked in the last possible space in the lot. West Coast time or not, when we hit town I was beat. We checked in and grabbed a quick bite at the adjoining IHOP only to hit the sheets early.

Saturday 6:30 AM EST, or 3:30 PST, we did our darndest to peel ourselves out of bed and head over to one of the best and most arduous days of rugby I have ever experienced. The heat by definition wasn’t bad, high eighties to low nineties, but the humidity put the ‘heat index’ over a hundred. I was sweating just sitting in the shade.

My first game was ‘English’ versus Cape Fear on field ‘G’. So I asked the locals where field ‘G’ was. They pointed to the colored flags on top of the uprights and said ‘R’ is for red and ‘P’ is for purple and ‘B’ is for blue and so on. I saw green flags and went over to the green field and waited…and waited…until finally I declared a forfeit as neither team showed up. I walked back to the referee tent a bit indignant wondering how the ‘home’ team could possibly be a no show for their first game. It was quickly pointed out to me the they were playing on the ‘G’old field and that they had been looking for their ref. Fortunately, Southern hospitality pushed right to the top as folks were quick to get me another game and get my first real sweat going. Sans the Pacific Coast, the women’s ITT’s were held early at Cape Fear. All of the Provincial sides were there playing in the women’s Elite Division, making me feel just a bit more at home having been to last years ITT’s and reffed most of the players. My first game was the West versus the South and it had just enough of everything to get my head screwed on tight from the get go. Meanwhile, Leah and Christine (John Meyer’s long time SO) had made their way to the beach for an afternoon of sun and surf.

The rest of the day I made my way through the different divisions and brackets to get a good variety of games. It seemed like they handed me every possible tie on the slate with every game being some sort of grudge match or local rivalry. Seven games later, I had made friends, gained a ton of respect for how hard it is to play in the South, sweat more than any other day in my life and had enough fun to make it all worth while. We all headed back to the hotel and hopped in the pool. Doc bought some local suds and Paul Gautier and I exchanged rugby stories-I had no idea Bruce Carter was such an internationally famous referee, but hey, why not! After dropping our body temperatures down to something close to normal, we cleaned up and head over to David VonKolnitz’s place (tournament director) and had a great time. It reminded me so much of our own NorCal get togethers with everyone and their SO’s mixing and having a good time.

Sunday was more of the same with a barrage of top flight games and heat, heat, and more heat. I had a couple of good warm up games to get me going again with my final game being the club division final between Southern Kudus and Old Toe Darosa. Both teams are from Charlotte with the Kudus teams comprised of all South African Ex-pats and Old Toe the local guys. Needless to say there was no love lost between these two teams as they were both very familiar with each other. To the delight of the PA announcer, both teams came out in green socks, white shorts and green shirts. The only differentiation was the thin gold shoulder trim of the Kudu team. The announcer spent the entire game making statements, like ‘green to kick off to green’, ‘it appears as if the referee is determined to only penalize the green team today’, or ‘two knock-ons, the first by green, the second by green…scrum to green”. The game itself may have been the game of the tournament as it was end to end action with the score knotted at 7 at halftime, 14 to 14 at full time and 14 to 14 after the first 5 minute sudden death overtime period. Kudu finally broke through in the second overtime to pull off the 19-14 victory.

Across the board, the guys were great. The tournament was a well organized first class event. My hats off to John Meyer for assigning the referees and David Von Kolnitz for running a tournament with five fields and 85 games-and that is just Saturday! There are teams there from the Bahamas, Kenya, England and all over the US. The competition and conditions make it a very challenging event. I would encourage West coast teams to make the trip sometime and see how they stack up against their East Coast competitors. The people are friendly and make you feel welcome from the minute you arrive. I have since been invited back in addition to whoever we send as part of the official exchange.

THE LANGUAGE OF CAESAR

The University of St. Andrew’s awarded an honorary degree to an actor last month.

Here is the citation in full:

SALUTAMUS MICHEALUM DOUGLASI, FAMOSUM STELLUM HOLLYWOODENSIS ET FILIUS KIRKI DOUGLASI, FAMOSISSIMUM STELLUM HOLLYWOODENSIS IN CIMETATICO CLASSICO NOMINE ‘SPARTACUS’ (‘EGO SUM SPARTACUS. NON. EGO SUM SPARTACUS’ ETC. ETC.) ATQUE MARITUS AD ZETAM CATHERINAM JONUS, PULCHERRIMAM PUELLAM GALLICORUM FAMOSISSIMAM PER… ER… ER… HONORARUM TE, MICHAELE, PER ACTUM THESPIANORUM MAGNIFICO IN PARTICULARAE ‘ATTRACTIONE FATALI’ ET ‘INSTINCTO FUNDAMENTALI’ CUM SHARONA LAPIDA (ADULTUS SOLUS XXXX) ‘EHU QUOD SCORCHERUS’ DICIT TELEGRAPHICUS DIURNALIS (SATIS EDITORIUM)

THIS WEEK'S PHOTO
pelican

Your guess is as good as ours on this one.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

Monday, July 10, 2006

SEVEN THOUSAND FOR SEVENS RUGGERS

HAIL, PELICUS!

A MOMENT OF SILENCE WHILE THE KNEES CREAK

“Thanks, Bruce for letting me put a little announcement in the newsletter. This is very difficult.

”It is with great sadness that I report I am having to hang up my cleats. After years of abuse, my knees are no longer willing to go along with my plans, and I consistently pay for a good week or so after having a run about the pitch on Saturdays. However, I am hopeful that I can help out with our newer members so I can still be out in the fresh air on Saturdays helping to improve the game we all love. And, maybe one day, Santa will bring new and improved knees!

“Kat Todd-Schwartz”

Since retiring from a playing career that included representing Canada in the World Cup and winning a USA championship with the All Blues, Kat has been a valuable addition to our society. We are sad to note the end of her active involvement on the pitch, which has been greatly appreciated by the rugby players of Pelicanland and beyond.

At the same time, we are pleased for our current and future referees that Kat will remain involved, sharing the expertise of her refereeing, the experience of her career and the love she obviously has for The Game They Play in Heaven.

We are so lucky.

TOUCH TOURNEY ON TREASURE ISLAND JULY 15

Who can ref some Touch on Saturday?

San Francisco/Golden Gate is hosting a touch tournament this Saturday. They will play across Rocca Field, with two pitches being created. They anticipate having various brackets: Women, Youth, High School, Old Boys and Men’s Competitive and Social.

There will also be a luau afterwards to which the officials are of course invited.

The rules of Touch are easy to learn and the game is a ton of fun. Refs will be welcomed to play as well should they wish.

Please respond if you can help out for all or part of the day. It would also be a great opportunity to check out our soon-to-be-famous changing room!

TONIK PALO ALTO SUMMER SEVENS

The Las Vegas Blackjacks won top dollar at the Tonik Summer Sevens last Saturday, taking home $3000 after demonstrating both pace and power.

A total of seven thousand dollars was awarded. In the women’s division, the Grizzlies took first place, worth $750, while San Jose State won $250 for finishing second.

Twenty-four teams competed in the men’s division.

In the traditional manner of USA sevens, several faces appear on different rosters once the tight five retires from the pitch. Vegas featured Utahans Alipate Tuilevuka and Mike Palefau, both recently running up and down the pitch a few miles south of Greer Park with the Eagles in the Churchill Cup.

All of the money winners in the Tonik Cup:

Las Vegas: $3000
Hayward: $1000
Diablo Gaels: $1000
Grizzlies: $750
Mission: $500
San Mateo: $500
San Jose State: $250

(It should be noted that the Olympic Club’s best side was in Denver and took second to the Denver Barbarians there.)

This was a very well-run tournament. Your reporter arrived at 8 AM and was probably about the 40th person present, an unprecedented delight. Crews were finishing field preparations, erecting tents and sponsorship booths, and getting ready for the most fun under the summer sun.

On August 5 at Greer Park, Air Pacific will put up another $7000 for the best of the best.

You should plan to join the festivities for the Pacific Coast Qualifier on July 22 and the money tournament on August 5 – national-level Sevens in our own backyard!

WHO WANTS TO GO TO THE NEW YORK SEVENS?

We have a handful of folks interested in refereeing the New York Sevens the Saturday after Thanksgiving. If you’d like to toss your name into the hat for this exchange, please let us know.

GIVE A THOUGHT FOR OUR TONGAN FRIENDS

Two members of the Tongan royal family were killed in a traffic collision in East Palo Alto last Wednesday.

News Article

THIS WEEK'S PHOTO
Money_Tournament_Refs

Fourteen referees from the Best Referee Society in the USA and one of the best from the Met NY worked the Tonik Palo Alto Money Tournament Saturday.

Many had gone by the time the camera came out. They were: John Coppinger, Mike Gadoua, Aruna Ranaweera, Sam Reagle, Sandy Robertson, and visitor Bruce Brown, formerly of the PNW but now living in Las Vegas and refereeing with Southern California.

Left to right: Grill Master Ray Schwartz, Paul Bretz, Dixon Smith, Tony Latu, Bruce Carter, Jim Crenshaw, exchangee Brad Kleiner, Pete Smith and David Williamson.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

Monday, July 03, 2006

BRIEF SUMMER BLATT

HAIL, PELICUS!


TONIK PALO ALTO SUMMER SEVENS

This Saturday, July 8, will be the first of two prize money weekends at the Tonik Summer Sevens. In fact, Palo Alto is now has the largest purse of any rugby tournament in the USA.

This Saturday is the Tonik Cup, with $7000 in cash distributed among the winners of the various divisions.

On August 5, All Pacific Airways of Fiji, in conjunction with the Marist Old Boys USA, will be offering $7000 in prizes to winners as well.

In between these two events is the Pacific Coast qualifier on July 22.

Last time in Palo Alto, we had nine referees. That was enough to cover games on three pitches but not enough to provide TJs or in-goal officials. Please try to make yourself available this Saturday!


WHO WANTS TO GO TO THE NEW YORK SEVENS?

We are expanding our network of exchanges, including Sevens exchanges.

Pete Smith was at Cape Fear this weekend, and Mike Gadoua will be at the Newport (Rhode Island) Sevens at the end of the month.

We have two slots for exchange referees at the New York Sevens, which is played on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. That will be November 25 this year.

Having begun in 1959, this is one of the legendary tournaments in American rugby. It attracts high-level teams from around the world.

If you would be interested in this exchange, please let us know.


EAST MIDLANDS BECKONS

Only three referees have nominated themselves for the East Mids exchange. There is room for one or two more and a referee coach/evaluator. Significant others are, of course, also welcome.

The group at present is David Miller, Sam Reagle, Teresa Schwartz and Bruce Carter. They will depart Wednesday, September 13 and return Tuesday, September 26.

If you would like to go, please respond. The NCRRS will pay for the airfare and the good folks of the EMRRS will pay for most everything else.


EAGLES SOAR IN THE LAND OF THE PELICANS

The USA crushed Barbados Saturday down on the Farm.

This sets up a key game with Canada in Newfoundland August 12. The winner is into the 2007 RWC while the loser has to play Uruguay in the repechage.


PELICANS AND PELIDACTYLS

The Bay Area Pelicans RFC of St. Petersburg, Fla, has an old boys team.

They are called the Pelidactyls.

We like it!


PELICANS IN THE NEWS

Sent in by Scott Wood:

Click here: Rugby Enlightenment


THIS WEEK'S PHOTO
Crocker_Point
You’ve probably seen Bridalveil Falls in Yosemite Valley before, which thunders down beautiful and majestic onto the valley floor.

It seems less imposing but nonetheless scenic from this angle, as seen from the Pohono Trail, which the Senate trod last week.


HAIL, PELICUS!


For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris