Rugby Happenings for Week of March 15

Well Nash Bash 2010 is in the books. I just wanted to do a quick recap of the weekend. Saturday started with the bang and a 17-17 tie against national powerhouse Maryville from Ohio. It was the only true “A” side match of the weekend. I wanted to take the other games and use them as an opportunity for rookies and veterans to work together on the field. I wanted all the girls on the team to have the opportunity to attend Nash Bash. Because I made the decision to take both the A and B side I did not want to count this weekend in wins and loses but as an opportunity for the girls to gain valuable experience on the field.  Taking this experience into the season puts us a club head and shoulders over of where we were in previous seasons.

I was very pleased with our sportsmanship on the field and received compliments from several of our opponents about the level of play on the fieald. It makes me proud to see that our girls did not stoop to the dirty tactics of a couple of the teams we played over the weekend.

I want to thank all of the parents who made the trip down. It was great to have so much support in stands and on the sidelines.  I know the girls appreciated the cheers from the sideline. I also want to thank all of the parents that sent food/snacks/drinks. The girls never went thirsty and ate plenty of healthy snacks over the weekend. I think that we learned a lot during this first trip as a club and it was a great start to the season.

We play on Saturday March 20^th starting at 9 a.m. at North Central. We will be scrimmaging North Central and Carmel . The schedule is as follows.

9am – NC A vs Brownsburg A

930 - NC A vs Carmel A

10am - Brownsburg A vs Carmel A

1030 - Brownsburg B vs NC B

11am - Carmel B vs NC B

1130 - Carmel vs Brownsburg B

We will need to be at North Central by 8 a.m. to start warmups. We need to leave Williams Park at 7:15 a.m. As a reminder players are not allowed to drive to away games. We will need parent drivers for Saturday.  I will also need a parent to organize the girls at the park and make sure they are in cars. If you do not plan to drive with the caravan please let me know.

We will be playing at the football stadium and the girls are reminded NOT to put their cleats on until they are on the turf. Cleats are not allowed on the track surrounding the field. The south end of the stadium will be open for players and spectators. It looks like it is going to rain on Saturday. Bring umbrellas, ponchos and extra clothes to change into. While on the sidelines the girls can dress to stay warm/dry. It also might be a good idea to think about long-sleeved shirts that can be worn under the jerseys. No hooded sweatshirts but under amour type shirts can be very helpful.

The field address is:

Address	1801 E. 86th St
City	Indianapolis
State	Indiana

The football stadium is behind the tennis fields.

Just as an FYI will not be practicing or playing games during the week of Spring Break. We will resume the normal schedule the Monday following Spring Break. After spring break is when the season starts getting very busy.

As a final note:

After each game I recognize a player(s) of the match. This weekend was difficult to pick because there was so much positive play on the field.  

Game 1 vs Maryville – Claire Kochmer . Claire’s heads up play on two separate drives led to scores that helped tie the game in the final minutes.  Without this level of experience on the field we would not have been able to take advantage of the Maryville’s miscues in such an effective way.

Game 2 vs Siegel – Lizzie Goetz  and Madisaun Gross. Because of injuries in the first match, the game plan needed to change and Lizzie stepped up into the flyhalf position without hesitation. She directed the line for the first time and didn’t flinch when she was asked to step into a new position on the field.  Madisaun made numerous tackles at the fullback position that stopped Siegel scoring opportunities often taking down girls twice her size without hesitation.

Game 4 vs. White Station – Kristi Crow. Kristi stepped into the scrum half position and led the pack against one of Tennessee’s top teams. The play in the pack was clean and well controlled.

Game 5 vs Brentwood Academy -  Jahnelle Moniquette and Annie Renzi. Jahnelle broke through lines left and right to gain major ground every time she touched the ball.  She was there to chase down every breakaway and gained valuable experience in the scrum. Again an injury forced us to change the game plan at a moments notice. Annie jumped into scrum half and led the team down the field to score. Her leadership on the field was helpful to both veterans and rookies.