REFS NEEDED
Prepare to celebrate the Glorious Fourth of July by refereeing this weekend:
Saturday:
SFGG Nestle Nesquik Sevens at Sheeran Field, beginning at 9:30 AM. We have three referees so far. At least a couple more would be ideal.
Sunday:
Youth and High School Sevens in Dixon, starting at 9 AM. Same drill: three refs so far, several more needed – this one is played on three pitches.
Let us know if you can help.
ANNUAL AWARDS BANQUET
At our annual season- (never-) ending soiree, Pete Smith announced the Pelican Awards:
Rookie of the Year: Stephanie Bruce
Most Improved: John Coppinger
Ambassador of the Society: Aruna Ranaweera
Pelican of the Year: Phil Akroyd
Bryan Porter Award: Mike Malone
Scriptoris Award: Eric Rauscher
AR of the Year: Tom Zanarini
Congratulations to all. The trophies are stylish and handsome, deserving to be displayed either in the rugby room or the main room of a home.
Two of these seven worthies were on hand to accept their hardware. For those who weren’t, contact Pete to arrange receipt of your trophies.
Thank you to Bill Yungert of the Marin Highlanders and JC Van Staden of Peltier Station Vineyards, each of whom contributed mightily to the conviviality by donating a case of fine wine.
PALO ALTO SUMMER SEVENS BEGINS
By Eric Rauscher:
More of a reflection than a game report. I did 5 games. Some of them displayed inspired rugby, some were more on the mediocre side. It is still early in the 7s season so we can hope to see improvement. It is other things on that Saturday that stand out in my mind. Getting positive feedback from other refs watching your game or getting pointers on ways to improve your game is a very wonderful aspect to the tournament setting. The ease with which you can both give and get ref coaching is a great benefit to the 7s settings. There is also a great chance for interactions with players off of the field. At one point I has a player come up to me and say "I have seen you around for a while." and proceeded to ask for clarification on the fine points of gaining or not gaining ground when the ball is kicked into touch and how the 22m line comes into play. It is also great to see the camaraderie amongst the players. After one of the coin tosses, the opposing captains gave each other hugs and wished each other well during the upcoming game. It was also great to see a kid (in a high scroll game) run down and attempt to tackle an opponent fully twice his size. I may not be able to remember each game distinctly, but is is these little moments added together which make for a memorable day of rugby.
By Bruce Carter:
Our readers know this is the highlight of the year for your writer, and has been since I moved to PelicanLand in 1980.
My wife enjoys the day watching fast action in the un-Monterey Bay-like warm sunshine. The price she pays: responding to the alarm’s call at 5:30 and being on the road before 6, for we have a standing date for coffee with that other Sevens’ maven, Mike Gadoua, always at 7:30.
We meet at Peete’s near Cubberley even though the tournament has migrated, in homage to tradition. This is conveniently located in the same shopping center with Piazza’s Fine Foods, a wonderful if pricey place to plan and purchase a Sevens’ picnic.
The cheese section alone is worth the drive, and the price of admission.
The day’s initial goal is to be at the pitch with a table between the two pitches secured by 8 AM. And it’s a good thing: at 8:09 all of the tables were claimed.
You may want to read this twice: it has probably never happened before in rugbydom: both first games kicked off fifteen minutes EARLY. This is possible due to the eagerness of the referees no less than the players.
The tournament featured eight HS teams and six women’s, with the remaining twenty being men’s clubs. Far-rangers included Dartmouth, Cal Poly, and the Arroyo Grande youth.
SF/Golden Gate, after taking last summer off, appears ready to challenge for the club title on their home pitch August 6-7.
The referee crew up until 4 PM consisted of: Stephanie Bruce, Bruce Carter, Mike Gadoua, James Hinkin, Tony Levitan, George O’Neil, Eric Rauscher, Pete Smith and Scott Wood.
As this crew departed to get ready for the banquet, the reins were handed to Rich Boyer, Bruce Ricard, Sandy Robertson and JC Van Staden.
The next iteration will be July 9.
Saturday, July 9:
Palo Alto Summer Sevens
Todd Phillips Memorial at For Pete’s Sake
Old boys fifteens, two or three games
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
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
THIS WEEK’S PHOTO
There is a Pelican Building on the UC campus in Berkeley. Who knew?
Here is this year’s Scriptoris Award winner, Eric Rauscher, perched out front.
The building itself has pillars with pelicans making up the design for the capitals.
HAIL, PELICUS!
For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris
