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
