HAIL, PELICUS!
UPCOMING EVENTS: SIGN UP NOW
Let us know which events you’d like to work and plan your weekends:
Saturday, June 18:
All Blues Sevens at For Pete’s Sake in Santa Rosa
Need half a dozen refs
Sunday, June 19: NCRYA Sac Valley Sevens – youth and high school, in Dixon
Need about a dozen refs
Saturday, June 25:
Work up an appetite for our annual society banquet at one of these fun-filled days:
Palo Alto Summer Sevens, the granddaddy of them all.
Need eight-ten refs
Olympic Club Oysterfest Touch Tourney in Corte Madera
Sunday, July 3:
NCRYA Sac Valley Sevens – youth and high school, in Dixon
Need about a dozen refs
Saturday, July 9:
Palo Alto Summer Sevens
Todd Phillips Memorial at For Pete’s Sake
Old boys fifteens, a round-robin with five teams
Saturday, July 16:
Dunsmuir Sevens and annual Old Boys match
For Pete’s Sake Sevens
Sunday, July 17: NCRYA Sac Valley Sevens – youth and high school, in Dixon
Need about a dozen refs
Saturday, July 23:
Palo Alto Summer Sevens
Sunday, July 24:
North American debut of the IRB Refereeing Sevens course At the Doyle Family Rugby Clubhouse at Stanford
If you’d like to take the course, reply to this e-mail
Saturday, July 30:
Nevada Sevens in Reno
Marin Highlanders HS Sevens in Corte Madera
Saturday-Sunday, August 6-7:
USA Rugby Club Sevens Championships at Sheeran Field, men and women
OUTGOING EVENTS: READ ALL ABOUT IT
Saturday, June 4: Five Loaves and Two Fish Hope Chapel Charity Sevens Tourney
Report by Mike Gadoua:
Five Loaves and Two Fish, good competitors, and lucky pelicans, Gadoua, Rauscher and Stumer participated, on a rain-drenched day. The sum equals great Sevens. It rained non-stop during the day, and the Tongan Yankee icon, Vuka Tau, and his young San Mateo squad, were knocked out during pool play. The rain storm stopped at the start of the semis and sun light emerged (briefly). The first semi saw the well-experienced and lightning-fast Sacramento Lions spent 14 minutes inside EPA’s 22 - winning decisively. United Samoa claimed the second semi. And the Lions and United met in the Final. Players experienced a torrential side-ways downpour, limiting vision and causing the younger players to ask that the game be stopped (it wasn’t). While United scored a single try, the speed and experience of Sacramento’s older players made the game appear lopsided. The scoring ended at 17-7. Hope Chapel fed the pelican well and the tourney will return next year.
Report by Eric Rauscher:
Most rain on June 4th since 1934. Five teams showed up. Both EPA teams, Sacramento Lions, San Mateo and United Samoa. The tourney was played in a round robin with semi-finals and a final. I ended up reffing 4 games. Not quite sure that I can remember the match-ups or the scores, my scorecard has long since turned to mush.
The Vallejo Mare Island field is quit a nice location with bleachers, lights. For this event a sponsoring church from Santa Rosa (Hope) had a food concession with BBQ, drinks and snacks. The highlight of the day for me I didn't really think much about until the next day. I was under a tent leaning on one of the tables and stretching out my back. One of the players from one of the teams (I do not recall which), came up behind me, grabbed my shoulders and massaged my back for a couple of minutes. The next day I thought about when I used to go to Cal home football games. We started off sitting in the family section on the north side of the stadium. After every game as the crowd is leaving, the police would form a corridor for the refs to run out of the tunnel and into the waiting vans to be whisked away before anyone could get to them. At football games the refs are protected, at rugby games the refs get back rubs from the players.
Saturday, June 11:
Baracus 14 – ALUMNI 20
Referee: Bruce Ricard
Very nice game played between the Baracus team and the alumni under a nice but a bit hot sun of June. They decided to play four quarter-times of 20 minutes. The young ones scored a converted try in the first quarter. The older ones started the second quarter with a converted try, to which the young answered immediately by another try. But the alumni are resourceful, and scored another try just before the end of the period. Score at half time: 14 - 12 for Baracus team.
Third quarter was very excited, both teams wanted to make the difference, but nothing was scored. The fourth and last quarter showed tired alumni, but alumni never quit! After a beautiful maul, and a great work from their forwards, they score a very nice try, and take the lead. The last minutes were intense, and after several picks and go 22m from the Baracus goal line, the full back of the alumni receives the ball from the scrum half and drop kicks the ball towards the posts. The ball passes a few inches on the left of the right post, and a few inches over the crossbar. Drop goal awarded!
The young guys couldn't get over this incredible kick, couldn't score anything else.
KEELHAULERS ON TOUR
Report by California Maritime Academy Coach Steve Hiatt:
Well, my ragtag team lost both in NZ and Australia but came out of both games with a lot of respect. We lost 34 – 3 in NZ, but the score was only 17-3 sixty minutes into the game before I cleared my bench and it was nice seeing the thought cross the Kiwis’ minds 5 minutes into the game that “wow, we’re really in a game and not just babysitting some Yanks for 80 minutes”. It was definitely hard hitting and fun even if we never really threatened to win.
The game in Sydney was a different story even if the result was the same. Cal Maritime lost to the University of New South Wales 34 – 24 in a back-and-forth and entertaining game that saw 6 lead changes with both teams usually only 3 points apart until the last play of the game. The referee was impressed and happy at the breadth and pace of play from both teams and commented on the CMA cadets’ outstanding behavior and enthusiasm. (And their team had quite a few players that were older than 18-22, but it didn’t matter).
My 6 days aboard ship sailing across the Tasman Sea (3 days were in rough seas) were a cool experience and I’m glad I did it – and glad I’m not spending 60 days on ship like everyone else did!
Articles regarding our game in Wellington, NZ:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/us_embassy_newzealand/5783827451/
http://kiwiscots.blogspot.com/2011/05/rugby-diplomacy-in-time-of-war.html
http://kiwiscots.blogspot.com/2011/05/golden-bear-sails-into-welly.html
ANNUAL SOCIETY BANQUET AND AWARDS CEREMONY
The 2011 NCRRS Banquet and Awards Ceremony at Scott’s Seafood in Walnut Creek on Saturday, June 25th. Drinks at six, dinner at seven.
Those who are eligible for free kit (5 or more club/college games by assignment in the past season) are also eligible for free dinner. Drinks are on your own and guests are fifty dollars.
RSVP to Bjorn Stumer: bstumer@comcast.net
HAIL, PELICUS!
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