Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Time To Lace 'Em Up

HAIL, PELICUS!

PLENTY O’ OPPORTUNITY TO REF THIS SATURDAY

If you can possibly free up all or part of Saturday to referee, we can use you.

There is a club match on Treasure Island, Fog hosting the Triple Threat.

There is an English touring side playing in Sacramento.

The Polynesian tournament in Sunnyvale will run all day on three pitches. We’ve got a skeleton crew. If you could spend even a few hours there anytime between 9 AM and 5 or 6, please let us know.

The Scottish games in Pleasanton will have four games and only has one referee assigned.

TAKE YOUR PICK, BUT LET US KNOW.

September 11:
Women’s club season in full swing with three home games. Two of these are covered. Who’s on?

Tri-tip Sevens in San Luis Obispo – four or five refs signed up. Could use a few more.

NORCAL ROUND ROBIN
Pleasant Valley High School, Chico, CA
Saturday, August 21
Report by Scott Wood

Temp: 85

Referee: Scott Wood
ARs: Ron DeCausemaker, Ryan Luis
TJs: Beau McSwain, Alex Triantafyllou, unnamed individual

Rule Number 1: Never piss off a pregnant woman
Rule Number 2: 7 a.m. departure does not mean meet at 6:30
Rule Number 3: See rule #1

Ron and I took an early morning drive up Hwy 99 to Chico. He has never made the trip and I have countless times. The highway is relatively empty on a Saturday morning so we made pretty good time and arrived at the pitch with minutes to spare. The tournament was scheduled for six matches (2x20 minute halves). Fortunately, I volunteered to referee.

Unfortunately, all other referees are slackers and did not step forward (packing for Hawaii is a lousy excuse).

Kudos to Ron for ARing all 200 minutes of rugby and to the TJs for their fantastic job. Beau, you can contact Jim Crenshaw (crenshaw@cal.net) to sign up for the referee course on Oct 30 in Sacramento (this statement only reflects Beau's interest in the course).

NORCAL 13 – Amazons 12
NorCal scored two unconverted tries in the first half to take the lead 10-0. From my initial appraisal, it looked like the hosts would be able to coast through the second half. Not so much...Amazons came out firing on all cylinders. Great hands, scissors, and crash ball gave them the lead a two-point lead early into the second half. However, Norcal got its bearings and punched down the field. A penalty advantage was awarded about five meters from the goal line. Norcal put together a multi-phased attack to move their position just in front of the right upright when I spotted Mary Triantafyllou out of the corner of my eye. Wisely, I stayed put because she took the next pass and slotted a textbook drop goal for the win.

Berkeley 5 – FOG 10
Berkeley started strong but suffered from penalties. Fog started sloppy but had good continuity when needed.

NORCAL 14 – Berkeley 5
NorCal attacked well and took advantage of Berkeley's missed tackles. To Berkeley's credit, they had players participating in four of the five games on the day.

Amazons 0 – FOG 21
Roll, Fog, Roll. And roll they did. Amazons had several opportunities but turned over the ball in rucks. The Fog put together great attacking plays and defended well.

NORCAL 14 – Fog 12
This was the best game of the day and I'm glad my legs and lungs held out. Both teams used the full width and length of the pitch for 40 minutes of action.

Sad note: A handful of NorCal's team, coaches, etc. had to depart early to attend a funeral. Bryan "Beezer" Archibald died in his sleep on August 15, 2010. He played rugby at Cal Poly and coached Chico State. He was 32.

ARROYO GRANDE SEVENS
Saturday, August 28
Report by Bruce Carter

Arroyo Grande hosted a tune-up tournament for the Tri-Tip Sevens coming up in two weeks on Saturday.

The Central Coast ruggers, representing AG, SLO, Cal Poly and what appears to be the nucleus for a new team in Paso Robles, were divided Harlot-style into four sides to compete in a round-robin with Fresno on the lovely and perfect pitch at Talley Fields.

A forecast calling for a high of sixty did not dissuade Tom and Colleen Zanarini from driving down on Friday, nor Eric Rauscher from spending the night at the Pelican's Nest in Salinas and then riding down with Scriptoris at crack-of-dawn Saturday morning.

At the pitch the referees were met by Paul Phillips, a local ref, and by clearing skies which revealed temperatures that were ideal for Sevens. Must have been seventy-seven degrees.

Andy Doukas made sure everything ran on time and Paul got the first match off precisely at the beep of ten-thirty. It ended in tie.

The remainder of the round-robin matches went without any further transgressions, Fresno losing only one match with everyone else losing more.

Eric Rauscher refereed the third-place game between two of the mix-and-match sides.

Championship: Central Coast All Star team 22 - FRESNO 27 Referee: Bruce Carter
AR and In-goals: Tom Zanarini, Eric Rauscher, Paul Phillips

Alas, the first and last games of the day ended with common scores.

Fresno had a lot of young faces, looking like they might be Fresno State Bulldogs. The 'Barbarians' team featured the better players from the four mix-and-match teams we'd worked with earlier in the day.

The teams could have been mirror images of each other, so evenly were they matched. The score was 12-12 at the half and 17-17 time with one minute remaining. The home favorite Barbarians scored.

It was 22-17 with six seconds left at the restart. The referee said, "Last play!" The kicker asked, "Is this it?" The ref said, "Next dead ball."

The kicker saw an unmarked touch line deep and to the right. He kicked for it. The ball bounced about five meters from touch, about ten meters from the goal line, AND DID NOT GO OUT. It barely even bounced. It just lay there.

The Fresno players seemed to have accepted their defeat and hadn't pursued. One unmarked Barbarian chased. All he needed to do was toe it over the touch line for the trophy.

But you know rugby players and they know the object of the game: to score as many points as possible. So he picked it up, ran into the try zone, and then dropped the ball the last three inches, a knock-on.

A Fresno player had recovered and was there to scoop it up and begin his run upfield. Everyone seemed to look at the ref, including Tom Zanarini who was standing in-goal two steps from the play with a look that said 'Nothing to report. Certainly nobody's scored any trys around here'. The ref said, "KNOCK ON. ADVANTAGE GAINED." This counter-attack went 105 meters to knot the score with a try in the corner.

The pitch was 80 yards wide. The kick was only about 20 yards wide.

Overtime similarly ended with an unusual play, one giving Fresno the victory.

A Barbarian was tackled to his knees about 25 meters out from scoring. He released the ball, the tackler released him, and then he picked up the ball and got to his feet.

Wrong sequence - it's supposed to be, got to his feet and then picked up the ball. Whistle. Penalty.

Captain, #10 and tournament MVP Beau Brodtmann took a quick-tap as the Barbarians began to retreat. But he was energized and trying to do everything he could to win the game so he kicked the ball too hard, out of his hands, about five meters ahead.

You've seen this happen. The player didn't mean to do it. He meant to kick it one inch, catch it instantly, and continue running. It was a mistake, the ball was in his hands and now it's gone forward and hit the ground, and players often react as if it were a knock-on.

It's a play-on. It's a short kick out of the hands taken from the mark for a penalty kick.

Beau knows play-on.

While others relaxed just for one count, which is how long it took the referee to say, "NO KNOCK, PLAY ON," Beau exploited their late starts to toe the ball further ahead, collect it on the bounce, and scamper all the way to the bank to deposit a decisive fiver.

Brodtmann’s was a new face to the referee, and this will be his first season with Fresno. We are told he comes from the University of Michigan.

As penance for their tied matches, Paul and Bruce sprung for pitchers of Sierra Nevada at the Branch Street Deli. All's well with the refereeing world.

RETURNING TO ROOST

Dan Wilson will be moving back to Fresno in October after a few years on the east coast to resume his Pelican career.

Welcome home, Dan. The Society missed you, but we kept a seat open.

USA RUGBY REGISTRATION FOR 2011 NOW OPEN

The NCRRS is only up to sixteen registrants. Commit!
https://membership.usarugby.org/IndividualDefault.aspx

Be sure to print the liability waiver, sign it, and mail it to our treasurer along with your $10 dues for the upcoming year.

Note that there are two pages to the waiver, both of which need to be signed and returned, and six paragraphs where you initial. It’s like renting a car in that respect, although more rewarding.

Checks to: NCRRS
Jim Crenshaw
c/o Delta Supply
1248 East Oak Avenue #D
Woodland, CA 95776

PERPLEXED

You'll appreciate this: a fellow I'd never seen before asked me at the club sevens two weekends ago how pelicans came to be associated with rugby referees.

I tried to explain but it became clear I wasn't answering the question that he was asking.

Just as I realized his mistaken assumption he voiced it: "I understand about Northern California. But why are ALL rugby referees called Pelicans?"

Obviously new to the sport but off to a very good start!

LEAST BORING SAFETY BRIEFING

Scott Wood sends along this link to Air New Zealand’s pre-flight announcements:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f1awn9vBZE

RUNNING WITH THE BALL

Here's a good article on the origins of our Game.

http://www.rugbymag.com/features/history/the-webb-ellis-story-you-may-not-know.aspx

It's written by a Pelican expat now living in Mexico - David Harper!

REFEREE RECRUITING OPPORTUNITY

Through the generosity of an anonymous benefactor, the NCRRS is offering free Level 1 tuition for any coach from a men's or women's college and one or two players from the team. (Coach attends course with the player.) Players must have at least two years experience.

This would provide benefits to teams (those who attend the course will be smarter players and can handle scrimmages), and to players (full-time students can receive money for refereeing matches). The Society benefits from a greater understanding of the laws among those we officiate, and perhaps some refereeing of regular season high school or adult matches.

We can provide coaching to any new referees at the Sacramento Kickoff Tournament in January.

UPCOMING REFEREE COURSES

Saturday, October 16: level one referee course in San Jose
Sunday, Oct. 17: TJ and AR course in Vallejo
Saturday, Oct.30: level one referee course in Sacramento
November 13-14: level two refereeing course in Vallejo
December 4: TJ and AR course in Sacramento

Please let our recruitment officer know if you would like to take any of these courses, or simply go on-line to www.USARugby.org, click on Referees and then on Sign Up For a Course.

Rob Hendrickson: RCHendrickson@duanemorris.com

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO
Team of Five
Here’s the team of five from the national Sevens championship at Rocca Field August 15. Preston’s brother took this fine photo.

Preston Gordon, Phil Akroyd, Tom Lyons, George O’Neil and Don Pattalock.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

HEBDOMADAL OR NO?

HAIL, PELICUS!

WHERE'S MY WEEKLY HP?

Most of the year we hew to a schedule, the rhythms of rugby dictating the tempo of our week. But in the summer, Hail, Pelicus is sometime OBE – Overtaken By Events.

Don’t worry – when there’s news to report you’ll get it here.

USA RUGBY REGISTRATION FOR 2011 NOW OPEN

https://membership.usarugby.org/IndividualDefault.aspx

Be sure to print the liability waiver, sign it, and mail it to our treasurer along with your $10 dues for the upcoming year.

Note that there are two pages to the waiver, both of which need to be signed and returned, and six paragraphs where you initial. It’s like renting a car in that respect, although more rewarding.

Checks to: NCRRS
Jim Crenshaw
c/o Delta Supply
1248 East Oak Avenue #D
Woodland, CA 95776

REFEREES NEEDED THIS SATURDAY

We’ve had very poor response to a call for referees over the next few months. Well, a few, “I’ll do a game or two.” We need DATES – which of these can you referee?

August 21:
Women’s club round-robin in Chico. Scott Wood will be there and could use some help. There will be six shortened games.

August 28:
Women’s club match
Arroyo Grande Sevens – this one’s covered

September 4:
Polynesian tournament in Sunnyvale, men’s and women’s fifteens. Three fields.
Women’s league club match
This will feature some very good teams, including national champions Las Vegas.

September 11:
Women’s club season in full swing with three home games
Tri-tip Sevens in San Luis Obispo.

October 2:
Chico State alumni games – 3 or 4 matches

October 8-9:
Fiji Day Sevens celebration, probably in Palo Alto
(Saturday) Two women’s club games

November 6: Society meeting

SAMOAN FLAG DAY TOURNAMENT
Report by Stephen Moore:

Referees: Eugene Baker, Bruce Bernstein, Stephen Moore
Tournament Winner: Palo Alto Bulldogs
Location: Burton High School San Francisco

Teams:
Samoa A
Samoa B
East Palo Alto
Palo Alto Bulldogs
Santa Rosa

A good day of rugby action and competition by all teams. A well run event starting with a flag-raising ceremony for US, American and Western Samoan flags, followed by speeches and prayers. A very good speech given by the pastor about the importance of family, fatherly leadership and the building of lives based on Jesus and Samoan traditions. Ample BBQ food with the pervasive yummy smell and sound of Samoan music all day wafting as games were played. Some very interesting and entertaining cultural dances, with players moving between games and dance activities.

The rugby competition consisted of 10 round robin games follow by a final. All games were well played, behavior and team discipline were good, a few minor handbag exchanges in the last round robin game but no big deal. East Palo Alto (EPA) were undefeated in their round robin matches with their closest game being against Palo Alto Bulldogs (24-7). The final with EPA and Bulldogs was expected to be a repeat of the earlier match but surprisingly it was not! Warm-ups beforehand seem to be taken more seriously by the Bulldogs including a period of silence and prayer. The preparation paid off, the Bulldogs ran away with the game 42 zip! EPA lost heart quickly when a couple of quick tries were scored against them early in the game. The game was well played; a penalty try was awarded to the Bulldogs after tapping the ball through to the in-goal area with the player being fouled.

A proud people, great set of traditions, friendly and good humored. Lunch for me consisted of a significant amount of bbq pork, chicken, taro and sausages, way too much for this 200lb weakling to consume and stay conscious running around a paddock under the hot sun.

Bruce, Eugene and Steve hit it off well, had a hoot of a day, and enjoyed the good Samoan company.

Eugene Baker adds:
The Samoan Flag Day 10's tournament went smoothly - With me, Bruce Bernstein, and Steve Moore alternating matches. East Palo Alto Bulldogs took the cup and $1,000, while the plate and $500 went to the East Palo Alto Razorbacks. Third place went to Santa Rosa, who received a kava bowl. Refs got t-shirts with Samoan Flag Day logos, and delicious artery-clogging Samoan food. We were also treated to outstanding authentic Polynesian dance by local Samoan church groups.

NATIONAL MEN’S CLUB SEVENS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Old Puget Sound Beach won the title, with Provo winning the Bowl. With first- and ninth-place finishes, the Pacific Coast should pick up a team for next year as all three Northeast teams finished below Provo.

This should enable next year’s event to have a NorCal flavor, even though it probably won’t be played here. Golden Gate has hosted it three years in a row but next year’s event is still out for bidding.

Phil Akroyd and George O’Neil refereed games while dozens of Pelicans were spotted on the touch, on the dead-ball line, in the bleachers and the VIP section.

REFEREE RECRUITING OPPORTUNITY

Through the generosity of an anonymous benefactor, the NCRRS is offering free Level 1 tuition for any coach from a men's or women's college and one or two players from the team. (Coach attends course with the player.) Players must have at least two years experience.

This would provide benefits to teams (those who attend the course will be smarter players and can handle scrimmages), and to players (full-time students can receive money for refereeing matches). The Society benefits from a greater understanding of the laws among those we officiate, and perhaps some refereeing of regular season high school or adult matches.

We can provide coaching to any new referees at the Sacramento Kickoff Tournament in January.

UPCOMING LEVEL ONE REFEREE COURSES

Saturday, October 16: San Jose
Saturday, October 30: Sacramento (tentative)

Please let our recruitment officer know if you would like to take us up on this offer:
Rob Hendrickson: RCHendrickson@duanemorris.com

SOLID REFEREEING

Tony Redmond, although back in Ireland, is always on the lookout for the newest refereeing techniques that will assist Pelicans in flying higher.

He sends along this most instructive link:
http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/oddballs/837497-referee-starts-riot-by-sending-off-player-then-punching-him-in-the-face

ROOKIE RUGBY

Want to get a group of kids hooked on rugby? Why not share your passion?
http://www.rookierugbyclub.com/home

All it takes you is a few minutes, a rugby ball, and a patch of ground.

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO
RookieRugbyatSportsAuthority
Rod Chance spotted this display in a sporting goods store, Sports Authority.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

HAIL AND FAREWELL

HAIL, PELICUS!

I count myself in nothing else so happy
As in a soul remembering my good friends.

- William Shakespeare, Richard II, Act 2 Scene 3, 46-7

BLESSED EVENT IN WELLINGBOROUGH
From Murray Felstead:

“Allow me to introduce Joshua James - - - "J J" - - - Born at 09-10 on Saturday 17th July by Caesarian section and weighing in at 7 lbs - 7 ozs.

“Emma and baby doing well!

“Sue and Murray”

REFLECTING ON A FRIEND

Joe Leisek’s words darkened my day this dawn; a break in the routine, a ripple in the wavelength, the need for perspective suddenly upon me.

“Since returning from the Alberta exchange in June, I've been giving my refereeing future a lot of thought. I've decided it's time to retire.”

Wide awake now. An earthquake toppled one of the pillars of our Society overnight? No wonder my dreams were disturbed. Joe’s been intimately involved in NorCal rugby for several player-generations. He’s the glue that’s held more than one of our seams together over the years.

“The decision feels like a passage, a transition of some kind. It's hard to completely describe the profound effect that refereeing has had on my life. Refereeing has motivated and challenged me more than I could have imagined. But this feels like the right call.”

I’ve thought about how I’ll retire, what I’ll say. Motivation and challenge are excellent attributes for a game to inspire, and for a man to respond to. Players retire when time overtakes them, when the youngsters aren’t to be denied their place in the XV. But referees – we await either the inability to continue or the muting of the siren’s call.

“I've had a great run. I've refereed much higher-level games than I ever played. I've traveled to places I never would have seen had I not been a referee. And I've met many good friends I never would have otherwise known. I've met and come to know so many great people: referees, evaluators, coaches, players, administrators, fans. And as involved as I have been in our society over the years, I have received much more in return.”

Remember your first rugby practice, first game, first try scored, first tour and first tournament final? Did you realize this sport would lead to the kinds of life experiences Joe describes, the return on investment only dreamt about in the other walks of our lives?

Thank you, Joe, for crystallizing these thoughts.

“I'll be going out after a great year. After two years marked by injuries and fitness questions, I worked very hard to get into far better shape and stay injury-free. I feel like I reached those goals. In addition to my NorCal assignments, I refereed in Los Angeles twice, Portland, Boise, and Calgary. On my 50th birthday I refereed a Pacific Coast men's D2 playoff match. The last game I refereed was an Alberta Cup match. These will be great memories to end my career.”

Long may they run in the theater of your mind.

“But now it's time for me to focus more on home and family. My daughter will be a sophomore in high school this year, and I want to be as close to her as possible for the next three years. I want to take her to all of her volleyball tournaments. I want to be able to visit my son at UC Santa Cruz. And I will have more time with Tracy and more time to work together on our home.”

Another Joe, Joe Androvich, told me that he referees in no small part because of the quality and character of the people whose peers you become. Selfless. Dedicated. Focused. Principled. Admirable.

“At some point I'll consider a part-time commitment to coaching new referees.”

As long as life endures, there will be time to give back. The game abides. Rugby is not a jealous mistress. In fact, she encourages us to keep the friends we’ve made as our passion for her dies.

I married Joe, but I’m not married to him. No, we didn’t divorce: I performed his and Tracy’s wedding ceremony an honor I never got from my first love, basketball.

Rugby married us as well and those bonds expanded to include heavily-overlapping musical interests and many, many shared experiences and stories.

Joe dated one of the musicians in Game Theory. He saw XTC perform live. He knows what Squeeze song the “likely lads” feature in. I know no other person with these attributes and, in fact, there almost certainly is no other.

Rugby brings us together and insures that we see each other frequently, or at least regularly. That will be the critical absence now, that gravitational aberration that caused Petaluma and Salinas to cross orbits so often.

These are the times of our lives. Thank you rugby, for dear friends such as Joe Leisek.

USA RUGBY SEVENS CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS THIS WEEKEND

This Saturday and Sunday will feature the USA club finals at Rocca Field. Play will begin at 9 AM both days, finishing at 5:20 on Saturday and 4:25 on Sunday.

We believe we have all of the billets covered. If you’d like to see the best practitioners of Olympic Rugby in the USA, drop by!


UPCOMING RUGBY
Please do not hesitate to chime in with your willing to work any or all of these events:

August 21:
Women’s club round-robin in Chico (fifteens). Two or three refs needed.

August 28:
Women’s club match
Arroyo Grande Sevens

September 4:
Polynesian tournament in Sunnyvale, men’s and women’s fifteens. Three fields.
Women’s league club match

September 11:
Women’s club season in full swing with three home games
Tri-tip Sevens in San Luis Obispo.

October 2:
Chico State alumni games – 3 or 4 matches

October 8-9:
Fiji Day Sevens celebration, probably in Palo Alto
(Saturday) Two women’s club games

November 6: Society meeting


ANNUAL TRAINING MEETING AND AGM

The annual NCRRS meeting at society AGM will be held on Saturday, November 6. The site is yet to be determined but will be in the Bay Area. We usually meet from the morning until the mid-afternoon, with instruction, field exercises, and team-building camaraderie. Mark your calendars now!


PACIFIC COAST SEVENS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Old Puget Sound Beach of Seattle and Humless of Provo won the two Pacific Coast seeds to the sevens nationals.

We remember the days in the late nineties when the Pacific Coast had four seeds and once put all four into the quarterfinals. In those days most of the Pacific Coast teams came from NorCal. We also recall the year San Mateo beat Fresno for the national championship. What has changed?

The Mid-Atlantic has always taken Sevens very seriously – already playing a ten- or twelve-week season even thirty years ago. Now, most of the country has a similar commitment except some areas such as NorCal.

The Palo Alto series is one of the best anywhere, but for top teams to be produced it would need to be supplemented by at least three or four more good, local events for clubs to compete it.

We expect college and high school sevens to mushroom the next couple of summers. The club game could be left by the side of the road, right here in America’s rugby heartland.


LEVEL TWO REFEREEING COURSE IN SEPTEMBER

SoCal will be holding a level2 course at CSU Long Beach, Sept 11-12. This course is required for any referee hoping to advance to the T ranks.

Contact Mark Kottke if you are interested: mkottke@mail.sdsu.edu


SHARP FORMATION

Ron Decausemaker sends along a link to a wonderful image. We were in Seattle last weekend and saw the Blue Angels, who have nothing on this crew:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/g/a/2010/08/02/oh_snapshot_reader_photos_080210.DTL&object=%2Fc%2Fpictures%2F2010%2F07%2F16%2Fba-oh_snapshot_r_0501971874.jpg


THIS WEEK’S PHOTO
colourful in olney
During the 2002 East Midlands exchange, Joe Leisek tried to blend in with Keith McLean and Trevor McCarthy.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris