Wednesday, June 27, 2012

EATIN' SEASON

HAIL, PELICUS!

ANNUAL AWARDS BANQUET THIS SATURDAY

This Saturday set you sights on Scott’s in Walnut Creek for drinks at 6:30, dinner at seven. Scrub up nice, bring a date, and prepare to reflect on the season just past and the camaraderie that we share.

Society members eat free of course; others are fifty dollars. Let Bjorn Stumer know if you’d like to join us and what you’ll be eating: prime rib, halibut or vegetarian. bstumer@comcast.net

Kit will be available at the banquet this Saturday so please bring your checkbooks. If you have refereed 5 assigned matches (doesn’t include youth and high school, which don’t pay NCRRS fees), you'll receive the new 'green is the new gold' pelican jersey. Canterbury shorts are $35, socks are $10. We’ll also have ties, polos, pins and older jerseys for sale. Don't leave empty handed! Show your pride and buy Pelican gear!

ALSO THIS SATURDAY: SEVENS

The first iterations of the Palo Alto and SFGG Sevens will take place June 30. Each tournament will run for three Saturdays: Palo Alto every-other and SFGG consecutively.

Work up your appetite for Scott’s fine comestibles by running your buns off.

Palo Alto will feature women’s and high school teams from 8:30 until noon, men’s teams afterwards, on two pitches at the corner of Oregon Expressway and El Camino (same as the last two years). We could use two or three more refs. If you’d like to referee just one portion, AM or PM, that would be fine – just let us know.

SFGG will again be hosting the nationals the first weekend in August, and also the Pacific Coast qualifier July 21. They’ll tune up their teams and their support apparatus by hosting tournaments the next three Saturdays. At the moment we have 3 ½ refs (one for the morning only), so we could use one or two more.

There’s no rugby that we know of on Sunday. Last Sunday’s youth tournament had more than seventy games while this coming Sunday’s youth tournament was canceled because only three teams signed up. It would be nice if these bumps could be smoothed out.

FIRST WEEKEND OF THE SUMMER: GAMES JUNE 23-24

Best of the West Sevens – Joint Forces Base Lewis-McChord, near Tacoma
Report by Phil Akroyd:

Originally, this tournament was supposed to include American Samoa, a Fiji select team, Provo, Glendale, and some SoCal D1 teams. None of these showed up, so after some shuffling around we ended up with ten men’s teams and several U19 teams (Serevi Select, OPSB, Seattle, Pacific Coast, Pacific Rovers, Sturgeons, Military Select, EPA Razorbacks, and a couple others I can’t remember).

The games were played in the Cowan Stadium on a relatively new astro-turf field. Thank god, as it rained and rained hard, then rained some more on the Saturday. The play held up very well given the conditions and the Military came out first with a win over OPSB. Turned out that OPSB really had three teams, with the best playing for the Serevi selects, and the others for Seattle and the Beachdogs.

The refs (me, Zapp, Summers, Khumalo, Day & Maphosa) each got 4 games on Saturday and a semi and a final on the Sunday. I had the privilege of doing the upper tier semi on Sunday between Military (coached by Kevin Swiryn) and Pacific Coast (coached by some guy named Tyler) which PCRFU won well by 21-5.

The sun helped out the play on the final day with some cracking games, but the Serevis (including Daveta, Craigwell, Botitu and the King himself) and Pac Coast were clearly the best teams and played it out in the final. The Serevis took the $10,000 first prize, along with the rifle trophy.

Although in its inaugural year the tournament had its teething problems, but it has the potential to be a highlight of the summer calendar, with great organization, facilities, prizes and hosting by Nic Punimata.

My Day in the Sun
Report by Bruce Carter:

Solstice days mean early risings for those of us tied to the rhythms of the sun. I was up, walked the dogs, ate, did the NY Times Sunday puzzle from the previous week (published in the SF Chronicle on Saturdays) and drove two hours to get to Treasure Island, all in plenty of time for the start of the San Francisco Sevens, hosted by the All Blues.

It was a fine Bay Area day, even out in the middle of the bay. The winds tend to rest in the mornings and the fog must still have been itself asleep. Not so the ruggers: kickoff was promptly as scheduled at nine.

Time allowed me to AR for the first three and I enjoyed seeing Steph Bruce, Lee Salgado and Sam Davis do games. The best teams looked to be the All Blues and the Surfers. They were scheduled to play each other fourth, but I had to leave for my own assignment in Corte Madera.

On such a nice morning I decided to drive through the city, always exciting for me as I spent my late twenties there and met my wife: definitely my salad days. The Presidio isn't the same place by any stretch, the only soldiers those there permanently at rest, but memories linger and are easily evoked by the view of the bay, the aroma of the eucalyptus, or a trick of the light.

Mt. Tam's distinctive profile served as a lighthouse and guided me to Corte Madera's Town Park.

OYSTERFEST

The Olympic Club has been hosting this fund-raising event all this century. It's a touch tournament, a picnic, a recruiting tool and a lot of fun for the everyone involved.

Mike Gadoua and I signed up, having worked it many times. Mike used to live across the street.

Eight teams, fifteen games, two refs – what this meant was that there was a long table serving fajitas and oysters, and we didn't eat a bite. Reffing every-other doesn't allow that: touch has no stoppages, no set pieces, and an awful lot of scoring. The ref still needs to be able to creditably adjudicate forward passes as well as touches, and has to practice good ball-line running. Can't do that having just eaten.

But the families, and friends, and the kids in the bouncy house, they all certainly enjoyed the food.

The team in the tutus beat the team in the grass skirts. The team in the brightly-colored, ruffled, stretchy shirts was pretty good, too. But the boring old refs, they dressed like refs. Maybe next time.

We'll look forward to next year and try to ensure at least one more ref shows up so there's opportunity to enjoy the digestible hospitality.

I had hoped to get home in time to watch the Eagles play Italy, but that was not to be. However, they lost, so I don’t feel nearly as bad as if I’d missed a famous victory.

The good news: my wife still loves me even when I’m gone all day.

Fifteens Friendly:
BAY AREA CHIEFS 44 – Redwood Empire 14 Referee: Sean Peters

Sunday, 24: Youth Sevens in Dixon
75+ games
Report by Eric Rauscher:

I expected it to be boiling hot, but a nice breeze blew all day long, making it almost perfect rugby weather.

If ever you are at a 7s tourney and feel that you are not getting enough games, show up to a youth event. You will get games.

I ended up reffing 8. And youth is sort of a misnomer. My first game of the day was a true youth game, U12 on a mini field, and my last games were an "old boys" game. Old boys is U23, basically college players that graduate from a high school and form up to play at the event.

The number of teams that showed up was around 50, from true youth, boys and girls high school of silver and gold levels, both jv and varsity, with the U23 at the top. Sevens tourneys are always fun and this one was no exception. It is also a great way for younger refs to get experience and get informal coaching from other refs. I encourage anyone interested to contact David Williamson to get involved.

THE WEEKEND BEFORE LAST

6/16: Loaves and Fishes 7s, Santa Rosa
Report by Mike King:

It seemed that the subtraction rather than multiplication was the Word of the day for Loaves and Fishes, with fewer teams braving the heat than anticipated. The temperature at For Pete’s Sake moved towards the century mark, tempered only by a balmy breeze. Participants arrived late and fans probably preferred the coolness of a poolside setting or air conditioned quarters. The rugby was nonetheless spirited and well received by all who came.

6 Matches between Hayward Vipers, East Palo Alto Razorbacks and Sacramento Lions were held on a round robin basis. Since we had fewer matches, all were covered by teams of 3, and the refs were covered under an awning while touch was played by spectators during the breaks between matches. By the last match, each side had run for 4 matches of 14 minutes each, in the blazing heat. All participants were content to end with no final playoff. The Razorbacks won the day on total wins and total points scored.

Tom Zanarini gamely showed for the early matches that were never played. Eric Rauscher, Jordan Bruno, and Chris Curtis were invaluable in reffing and AR to provide assistance to complete this event.

STILL TO COME – SIGN UP NOW!

Saturday, July 7:
Jackpot Sevens in Reno
SF Fog women’s Sevens
SFGG Sevens
Sacramento Lions Sevens

Sunday, July 8:
Youth Sevens in Dixon

Saturday, July 14:
Palo Alto Sevens
Mt. Shasta Sevens
SFGG Sevens

Sunday, July 15:
Youth Sevens, Pleasanton

Saturday, July 21:
SF Fog women’s Sevens
Marin Highlanders high-school Sevens
PCRFU Qualifier Sevens for the nationals, Treasure Island

Saturday, July 28:
Palo Alto Sevens

Sunday, July 29:
Youth Sevens championships, Dixon

Saturday-Sunday, August 4-5:
USA Rugby club sevens championships (men and women) at SFGG

Saturday, August 25:
Fifteens tournament in Reno

THIS WEEK’S PHOTO


Steph Bruce, Sam Davis and Lee Salgado keep the ruggers running on time at Sheeran Field, Saturday, June 23, 2012.

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

SOLSTICE SEVENS

HAIL, PELICUS!

BATTERIES CHARGED

The Senate adjourned to rural central Alabama for a family reunion, a week of board games with the next two generations, skiing and kayaking, and a Sherlock video marathon (the current BBC series updating the sleuth to modern-day London, with Dr. Watson as his blogger).

We returned home on Saturday in order to be able to participate in the youth sevens tournament in Morgan Hill on Sunday. Serendipity reigned: the water park adjacent to the pitches was the site for a double celebration of Father’s Day and our older daughter’s birthday, and this began just as the tournament wound down and the temperature spiraled up.

Ref six games of sevens in hundred-degree heat, then get splashed in a variety of ways right next door.

Driving home was interesting: it was 102° just south of Gilroy and twenty miles later, in Prunedale, it was 59°. Such is the effect to the coastal fog, also noted by those who watched the US (golf) Open from San Francisco and saw the change from one day to the next.

Take a look at a weather map this time of the year – if you were in south Florida, where it was a hundred, you’ve have to drive almost into Arctic Canada to find daytime temperatures forty degrees less.

Such are the climates of Pelicanland.

You’ll also notice the differences between the organization apparent at the tournaments played thus far involving adults on the one hand and youth on the other, when you read the reports. If you want to know when you’ll be starting and when you’ll be finishing, referee one of the many youth events.

SEVENS IN SEASON

SATURDAY, June 9:

Games in Sacramento, XV and VII
Bruce Ricard
The weather forecast announced temperatures around 90 degrees for the weekend, but the very strong wind made the air more breathable and the rugby harder to play.

The EPA team seemed not to be motivated, or lacked of training, but they didn't play the rugby they usually play. And the Islanders won the game pretty easily.

A few 7's games took place after. The Barbarians didn't show up, so we had a lot of B and C-side games from the Lions, who played in almost every game. Very nice tournament, everyone was having a good time.

James Hinkin
TI mini Tournament
Games I refereed:
SFGG 5 – Olympic Club A 31
Olympic Club B 5 – San Mateo 24
Olympic Club A 5 _ Pacific Coast Grizzlies 22
Diablo Gaels 24 - Olympic Club B 17
A gorgeous postcard day at Treasure Island as a few teams got together for some early 7s fun. SFGG, Olympic Club A, Olympic Club B, San Mateo, Diablo Gaels and the Grizzlies all showed up ready to run. SFGG brought a reserve side, Olympic Club brought 2 strong, San Mateo has reloaded again, Diablo Gaels has playmakers but lack depth and the Grizzlies – as they should and arranged to do – cherry picked the top talent from other squads to fill out their roster.

Fast, exciting play with minimal fuss, it was a nice way to start the 7s season. You could see what teams were working on and how they adjusted over the course of the day to game conditions. To be fair, you could also see what the refs were working on and how they adjusted over the course of the day to game conditions. Tim Lew should have the official scores but it looked like the Grizzlies were the best side out there followed by O Club. Great day played in great spirit. That, and we were done early enough that I could pop over to SF and have lunch at Pier 23 and watch the Giants take it to the Rangers. Good times.

Many thanks to Tim Lew for organizing this event.

SUNDAY, June 10:
Youth Sevens in Dixon
No reports received. Lots of games and a handful of refs doing many games each from hearsay.

SATURDAY, June 16:

Loaves and Fishes Sevens at For Pete’s Sake in Santa Rosa
Report by Tom Zanarini
I can happily say that at Saturday's 5 Loaves and 2 Fish Tournament in Santa Rosa I made no mistakes. I arrived at For Pete's Sake field at 9, knowing the tournament would have a 'ish' start time of 9am. Mike King was holding down the fort, the volunteers were in place, concession stand and all. One thing was missing...teams. Eric Rauscher pulled in around 9:30, still no teams. Around 10 it seemed the new Hayward team was filing in. 10:30, they're camped under the shade. 10:45, two players are hanging a banner for the Sacramento Lions team. Just two players. I got kitted up around this time, hoping to see things spring into action as Mike King was trying to wrangle up a match for me. The green jerseys look very nice with the navy shorts, by the way. By 11:00 I had a snow cone to cool down and called my dad to wish him a Happy Father's Day. Just after 11, Jordan Bruno arrived to cover the afternoon. 11:20, time is up. Farewell to For Pete's Sake for the day. I'm told by Mike King that 3 teams ended up showing, and they had a double round robin. In the peak heat of the day. I love summer sevens.

Greg Smith Memorial 7's rugby tourney in Yreka:
Report by Sean Peters:
The following teams were there: Humboldt, Colusa, Southern Oregon, Mendo, Redding, Highwaymen, and the home team put out 2 home teams

The State Of Jefferson R.F.C is an up-coming team; hats off for their loss of a fellow rugger.

Referees: Sean Peters, Bo Burgstrom, Kevin Parks from Medford

SUNDAY, June 17:
Youth Sevens in Morgan Hill
First Inaugural Quicksilver Summer 7s--June 17
Report by David Williamson:

Rugby balls were in play for lots of youth and high school players on Father’s Day. The Santa Clara Youth Club planned and carried out an excellent tournament on two full-sized fields and two mini-fields from 10 am to 2:30 pm. Excellent layout with sideline barriers and field marshals for each field. We were fortunate so many refs were there to manage the 24 middle and high school matches during the Morgan Hill heat: Anthony Nguyen, Bruce Carter, Steve Moore, Alan Lowe, Kevin Kenny, Paul Bretz, and Neil MacDonald. Steve Moore, Dick Crouch, and Kevin Kenny handled the numerous U-10s and U-12s matches.

HS Boys-Gold Winner: Buchanan def. Peninsula Green (15-14)
HS Boys-Silver Winner: Stockton def. Bellarmine (38-7)
MS Boys-Gold Winner: Pleasanton/Danville Barbarians def. Peninsula Green (24-0)
U12 Coed-Winner: Peninsula Seahawks def. Santa Clara (50-5)
U10 Coed-Winner: Santa Clara def. Peninsula Seahawks (25-20)

Cheers,
Dave Williamson

UPCOMING

Saturday, 23:
All Blues Sevens

Sunday, 24: Youth Sevens in Dixon

Saturday, 30:
Palo Alto Sevens
SFGG Sevens
Annual NCRRS awards banquet

July
Sunday, 1:
Youth Sevens in Dublin

Saturday, 7:
Jackpot Sevens in Reno
SF Fog women’s Sevens
SFGG Sevens
Sacramento Lions Sevens

Sunday, 8:
Youth Sevens in Dixon

Saturday, 14:
Palo Alto Sevens
Mt. Shasta Sevens
SFGG Sevens

Sunday, 15:
Youth Sevens, Pleasanton

Saturday, 21:
SF Fog women’s Sevens
Marin Highlanders high-school Sevens
PCRFU Qualifier Sevens for the nationals, Treasure Island

Saturday, 28:
Palo Alto Sevens

Sunday, 29:
Youth Sevens championships, Dixon

August
Saturday-Sunday, 4-5:
USA Rugby club sevens championships (men and women) at SFGG

Saturday, 25: Fifteens tournament in Reno

ANNUAL SOCIETY AWARDS BANQUET

Don’t forget to set aside Saturday evening, June 30th, for the Pelican Refs 2012 annual awards banquet. We’ll be returning to Scott’s in Walnut Creek for the festivities.

RSVP to Bjorn Stumer with your choice of prime rib, halibut or vegetarian: bstumer@comcast.net

HAIL, PELICUS!

For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris

Wednesday, June 06, 2012

SEVENS AND SEVENS

HAIL, PELICUS!
 
FIVE-AND-TWENTY SEVENS TOURNAMENTS
 
In October of 2009 when it was announced that Rugby Sevens would be joining the Olympic family of competitions, some of us knew this would happen.
 
25 Sevens tournaments are scheduled in NorCal over the next two months.
 
Every weekend from now until mid-August features rugby tournaments on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturdays are adult rugby and one high school tournament. Sundays are youth rugby.
 
The Palo Alto tournaments will feature high school and women’s teams playing the first half of the day, men’s teams the second. Each team will get the same number of games but they won’t have to wait around so long between matches.
 
Multiply this by fifty states, and factor in autumn (when colleges will be playing), and you will get an increase over historical tournament levels probably by a factor of Seven.
 
Please have a look at your calendar, and at our calendar. If you want to help with the youth and high school events, let David Williamson know: calrugbyref@sbcglobal.net
 
If you want to run at the Saturday events, reply to this e-mail.
 
NEED REFS JUNE 9 AND 10
 
This Saturday:
SFGG Sevens – six teams, we’ll need two more refs
Several Sevens games in Sacramento involving the Lions and EPA Razorbacks
 
This Sunday:
The NCYRA Sevens series kicks off in Dixon. Need several more refs.
 
RUGBY JUNE 2
 
Pioneer days in Williams
COLUSA 30 – Mendo Whore Side 15 Referee: Sean Peters
 
Santa Rosa lost in the national D2 semi-final to Rocky Gorge.
 
Cal took third place at the college rugby Sevens in Philadelphia. Their narrow lost to Dartmouth in the semi was Dartmouth’s closest game.
 
CALENDAR – HALF A DOZEN TOURNAMENTS ADDED THIS WEEK
 
We now have twenty-five Sevens tournaments scheduled between now and the first weekend in August.
 
June
Saturday, 9:
Games in Sacramento, XV and VII
Sunday, 10:
Youth Sevens in Dixon
 
Saturday, 16:
Loaves and Fishes Sevens at For Pete’s Sake in Santa Rosa
SFGG Sevens
Sunday, 17:
Youth Sevens in Morgan Hill
 
Saturday, 23:
Sacramento Lions Sevens
All Blues Sevens
 
Sunday, 24: Youth Sevens in Dixon
 
Saturday, 30:
Palo Alto Sevens
SFGG Sevens
Annual NCRRS awards banquet
 
July
Sunday, 1:
Youth Sevens in Dublin
 
Saturday, 7:
Jackpot Sevens in Reno
SF Fog women’s Sevens
Sunday, 8:
Youth Sevens in Dixon
 
Saturday, 14:
Palo Alto Sevens
Mt. Shasta Sevens
SFGG Sevens
Sunday, 15:
Youth Sevens, Pleasanton
 
Saturday, 21:
SF Fog women’s Sevens
Marin Highlanders high-school Sevens
PCRFU Qualifier Sevens for the nationals, Treasure Island
 
Saturday, 28:
Palo Alto Sevens
Sunday, 29:
Youth Sevens championships, Dixon
 
August
Saturday-Sunday, 4-5:
USA Rugby club sevens championships (men and women) at SFGG
 
Saturday, 25: Fifteens tournament in Reno
 
ANNUAL SOCIETY AWARDS BANQUET
 
Don’t forget to set aside Saturday evening, June 30th, for the Pelican Refs 2012 annual awards banquet. We’ll be returning to Scott’s in Walnut Creek for the festivities.  
 
RSVP to Bjorn Stumer with your choice of meat, fish or vegetarian: bstumer@comcast.net
 
HAIL, PELICUS!
 
For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris