Let's Try This Again

Once again, I have been MIA in the blog world. When I started this blog, my purpose was to record my rugby experiences, especially those with the National team and other elite level teams. I felt like it would be a lot of fun to do so, and it would be something that could keep my family and friends "in the loop" of my life while on tour or competing (not that I think I'm so important that everyone wants to follow my life).

And then life happened. I got busier and busier with various things and sort-of forgot about all the fun I have posting blogs, especially those that are a little ridiculous. So this is my apology--my apology, mostly to myself, for forgetting all the fun I have posting these blogs. With that said, check out my latest blog in the Fun section of the blog.

WNT Top 50 Camp

The USA Women's National Team is preparing to hold a Top 50 camp in the later part of this month. The camp will be held in Colorado and is the main selection vehicle for the upcoming 2014 World Cup.

After a disappointing showing in the CanAm series, the WNT have been back in the gym and back on the pitch training with their respective clubs and on their own. The players are enthusiastic about the next phase in their training program and are anxious to put that training to use and on display at the camp.

Of course, the camp will also be another opportunity for players and staff to fine tune their offensive and defensive strategies. The progress that the WNT made in just a few days in Canada was demonstrated in their improved performance in the second match of the CanAm Series, and the women hope to improve further in the upcoming weeks and at camp. Good luck to all of those selected and Go Eagles!

CanAm Series Game 2: So Close...

Halftime saw us, the USA Women's National Team, up on Canada 10-0. However, we couldn't add any points in the second half, while Canada tacked on 14. After coming out of the gates so strong, the loss was a big and nasty pill to swallow.

We controlled the pace and tempo of the game most of the time. However, we couldn't quite stay disciplined enough on defense and gave away some points off penalties (9 of their 14 points). We also made some critical offensive mistakes in the second half that broke up some pressing drives, and in the end we couldn't finish.

However, we did good things. We had Canada on their heels for most of the game. We hit them hard, and our defensive line speed was, for the most part, good. Our offensive pattern, at times, flowed very well, and we were able to break Canada's defensive line. The key in all of these "good things" is consistency, and that's what we lacked. But I feel like that will come. Consistency will come. We did more of those "good things" the second time around than we did the first, and we will continue to build from there. 

CanAm Game 1

CanAm Series Game 1. It wasn't pretty. Not for us. I don't really want to get into the details for just that reason--for reasons of pride. I don't want to pretend to be objective and write a "newsy" blog about this game. I could go into what we did wrong, all the little nuances of the game we failed to pick up on, how we didn't play to our strengths or follow our plan. We're doing enough analysis now and I don't want to bog down my blog with any more of it.

The truth is we have a tendency to over-analyze. As competitors, we are very critical, especially of ourselves, and we strive for perfection. This means we lean to the side of nit-picking. While analysis is extremely helpful, there comes a time when it's counter-productive. I don't want it to get to that point--not on my blog, not in my head and not with my team. 

So back to the game. We lost. By a rather large margin. I think, for the most part, the general mood is one of bewildered anger. It seems like we were caught off guard, like Canada hit us with a quick one-two then didn't let us get our guard up. 

One of my old basketball coaches would, when we erred in our offense or made the wrong defensive decision, yell at us, "Figure it out." We are now trying to figure it out--figure out just what went wrong. And what I think we're finding is that we simply weren't ourselves. Not much analysis needed there. On Saturday, in our revenge-game, we need to be our old aggressive, smart, defensively dominant selves, and then things will be better. It's as simple as that.

Updates In The Worlds Of VA and DC Rugby

This season is my first playing for a WPL team (the DC Furies) and so far, it has been a great experience. However, there is a part of me that misses my old team (James River) and teammates, as it should (usually people miss things that were a big part of their lives). Without getting into the personal side of transferring teams, I would like to give a Spring season update.

Through emails and the rugby grapevine, I've heard that James River got off to a decent start. In their first match of the season, they lost a tough one at Norfolk. I would suspect that the match was incredibly physical, as the trend of past matches between Norfolk and James River has been. However, the women from James River responded to that loss positively and beat rival D1 team, Keystone, in their next match. Next, they will be competing in the D1 playoffs this weekend in Northern VA.

The Furies opened the season with Ruggerfest, an annual tournament hosted by the Furies themselves. The D2 side took 2nd place in the competitive division and the WPL side won the premier division, beating Pittsburgh, Philly and North Shore in route to the tournament win. This marked the first year the Furies had won their tournament in quite a few years.

The D2 side has since picked up wins against the Maryland Exiles and Lancaster, while the WPL side beat Monmouth. Both sides are set to play this weekend, the D2 side against Georgetown and the WPL side against New York.

Here's to some great rugby this weekend.

WNT Choses Squad For CanAm Series

The Women's National Team has announced its squad for the CanAm series in April. The WNT will travel to Vancouver, Canada where they will play Canada twice (April 15 & 19) over a 10-day tour. Shawnigan Lake School in Mill Bay, British Columbia, will host the first match, and the second match will be played at Westhills Stadium in Langford, British Columbia.

The WNT are using this series as preparation for the 2014 World Cup in Paris. The roster includes only a couple of new faces, but a lot of younger players and is as follows:

Amanda Kingzett
Amanda Street
Amelia Bizer
Carrie White
Christy Ringgenberg
Libby Berg
Emilie Bydwell
Erica Cavanaugh
Erin Overcash
Hope Rogers
Jacie Vonada
Jennifer Lui
Kate Daley
Kathryn Augustyn
Kimberly Rozier
Lynelle Kugler
Melanie Denham
Molly Kinsella
Phoebe Boone
Naima reddick
Ryan Carlyle
Sadie Anderson
Samantha Pankey
Sarah Chobot
Sarah Wilson
Shaina Turley
Sharon Blaney
Stacey Bridges
Tess Kohanski

Congratulations to the players making the roster, and good luck to them in Canada. Go Eagles!

USA WNT Winter Camp

The US Women's National Rugby Team has assembled in Lakeland, Florida for a few days of training. This camp is the jumping off point for the WNT's 2014 World Cup journey. Check out the Rugby Journal section for my take on camp.