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NATIONALS UPDATE

Saturday, November 7th, 2009

Submitted by Coach

The Pittsburgh Angels Women’s Rugby Team traveled to Houston, TX and are competing in the Division II Women’s Rugby National Championships.

The Angels defeated their first opponent, Charleston (S.C.) by an impressive 51-5 score.

In the second match of the day, Pittsburgh faced the Raleigh Venom - two time Division II national champions (2005 and 2006).  The Venom then competed in Division I for a few seasons before returning to Division II (for reasons of travel costs).

Pittsburgh conceded two first half trys and trailed at halftime, 10-0.  The Angels regrouped and started the second half scoring with a converted try five minutes into the period. Raleigh countered with their own try seven minutes later, but the conversion fell short bringing the score to 15-7 in the Venom’s favor.  The Pittsburgh women pulled within one point (15-14) after finding a gap and converting the try.  With nine minutes remaining, the teams battled with hard rucks and impenetrable defense.  In stoppage time, Pittsburgh was awarded a penalty and successfully kicked from 35 meters out. The Angels had to defend deep in their end for an additional few minutes.  The final whistle blew and the Pittsburgh Angels won 17-15.

With the win, the Angels advance to the National Championship semi-final match vs. Albany.  Kickoff is set for at 9:00 a.m. at the University of Houston.

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Angels on KDKA

Friday, November 6th, 2009

See the link below to see the Angels on KDKA-TV News!

http://kdka.com/video/?id=64878@kdka.dayport.com

Our first match is tomorrow at 1pm. We’ll update the site as soon as we can after the game!

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Countdown…

Thursday, November 5th, 2009

Submitted by Coach

Tonight is the last training session of 2009. Hard to believe.

What am I most proud of? The team articulated a goal and took all possible measures to achieve that goal. The spring was head-and-shoulders better than any previous year. Pre-season fitness started in July – and we had nearly 100% participation. If someone called the sprint workouts as “completely sadistic”… I would say they were being too polite. The workouts were worse. They tested the team’s commitment, physical limits and mental toughness. Hopefully, every player saw the dividends of their efforts through every win this season. Now, the fall season is complete and we are down to ten teams.

Only one will win the championship.

Tuesday’s training was great. We will be traveling with 30 players… 28 players were able to make training. The best part about Tuesday’s training: the whole field was available for us to use. I have told the players on many occasions that we should be proud of what we have accomplished considering the resources (or lack thereof) available. To be specific, the Angels trained all season in an area 30 meters wide x 40 meters long. That’s only 42% of the width of a regulation pitch and 28% of the length (if you include both ingoals). Ridiculous! Let’s make an analogy: it would be similar to the Steelers: “win a championship for the city, but you can only practice on a football field 33 yds long and 23 yds wide.”

Tonight’s challenges:

The first challenge will be keeping the team’s focus. There will be a TV crew from KDKA at training. I believe that they will conduct interviews before we start, then hang around for some footage and head out. Players need to remember: WE are the interesting story – the men with the cameras and microphones are not that interesting – they’re just people on the job – nothing more. We need to do what we do and pay no attention to the television personnel. (THANK YOU, KDKA for your support & coverage!)

Secondly, we need to put the pieces together. We will run through strategy A… then rehearse our contingency plans, strategies B and C.

Third, the team must remember the basics: Good passing/catching, depth and spacing, making proper decisions, possession!, body positioning, tackling the legs, etc.

Finally, I need to control team anxiety. All teams in the tournament have the same desire. Teams that can overcome the “championship jitters” will have an advantage. I’ll need to figure out a way to address this before we depart.

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Brackets: Revised

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

Seeding:

  1. Miami (USA Rugby South)
  2. Pittsburgh (MidWest)
  3. Albany (Northeast)
  4. Raleigh (MidAtlantic)
  5. Providence (Northeast)
  6. Charleston (USA Rugby South)
  7. Maryland Stingers (MidAtlantic)
  8. Minneapolis (MidWest)
  9. Santa Monica (Southern California)
  10. Houston (West)

Pool A: Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Charleston, Houston
Pool B: Miami, Providence, Minneapolis
Pool C: Albany, Maryland, Santa Monica

Saturday

POOL A
Venue: University of Houston

1:00pm – Pittsburgh vs Charleston – Field 1
1:00pm – Raleigh vs Houston – Field 2

3:30pm – 1pm game losers – Field 1
3:30pm – 1 pm game winners – Field 2

POOLS B AND C
Venue: Westland Family YMCA

8:30am – Albany vs Maryland (C)
9:45am – Miami vs Providence (B)
11:00am – Maryland vs Santa Monica (C)

12:45pm – Providence vs Minneapolis (B)
2:00pm – Albany vs Santa Monica (C)
3:15pm – Miami vs Minneapolis (B)

Sunday
Venue: University of Houston

9:00am – Game 11: Pool A #1 vs Pool C #1
9:00am – Game 12: Pool B #1 vs Overall #4
9:00am – Game 13: Overall #9 vs Overall #10

10:30am – Game 14: Overall #7 vs Overall #8
10:30am – Game 15: Overall #5 vs Overall #6

11:30am -Game 16: Loser game 11 vs Loser game 12 (3/4 place)
1:00pm – Game 17: Winner game 11 vs Winner game 12 (Final)


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Brackets…

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

The 2009 DII Women’s Nationals game info has been posted… Here’s what we’re dealing with:

Seeding:

  1. Miami (USA Rugby South)
  2. Pittsburgh (MidWest)
  3. Albany (Northeast)
  4. Raleigh (MidAtlantic)
  5. Providence (Northeast)
  6. Charleston (USA Rugby South)
  7. Maryland Stingers (MidAtlantic)
  8. Minneapolis (MidWest)
  9. Santa Monica (Southern California)
  10. Houston (West)

Pool A: Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Charleston, Houston
Pool B: Miami, Providence, Minneapolis
Pool C: Albany, Maryland, Santa Monica

Saturday

12:15pm – Game 1: Pittsburgh vs Charleston (A)
12:30pm – Game 2: Miami vs Providence (B)
12:30pm – Game 3: Albany vs Maryland Stingers (C)

1:30pm – Game 4: Raleigh vs Houston (A)

2:30pm – Game 5: Maryland Stingers  vs Santa Monica (C)
2:30pm – Game 6: Providence vs Minneapolis (B)
2:45pm – Game 7: Winner game 1 vs game Winner 4 (A)

4:00pm – Game 8: Loser game 1 vs game Loser 4 (A)
4:30pm – Game 9: South #1 vs MidWest #2 (B)
4:30pm – Game 10: Northeast #1 vs SoCal #1 (C)

Sunday
9:00am – Game 11: Pool A #1 vs Pool C #1
9:00am – Game 12: Pool B #1 vs Overall #4
9:00am – Game 13: Overall #9 vs Overall #10

10:30am – Game 14: Overall #7 vs Overall #8
10:30am – Game 15: Overall #5 vs Overall #6

11:30am -Game 16: Loser game 11 vs Loser game 12 (3/4 place)
1:00pm – Game 17: Winner game 11 vs Winner game 12 (Final)

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Achieving Success

Saturday, October 31st, 2009

Submitted by B Wood

By most accounts, the Pittsburgh Angels rugby team is successful.  “Success” can be measured in a number of ways.  Obviously, we can look at outcome measures (i.e., win-loss record, point differentials, etc.) to determine success or effectiveness.  Another means of examining success would be team inputs, such as the acquisition of new talent, sponsors or other resources.  Through-puts, an organization’s internal process of developing player/unit/team talent and utilizing resources, is yet another method that can assess effectiveness or success.

As stated, the above are measures of success, but not necessarily the “tool(s)” to achieving success.  The biggest tool that I have used with the Angels is managing player and team expectations.  In many cases, seemingly unattainable goals have been articulated.  My simple statement: “I know you have the skill, ability and knowledge to do this – show me that you can”.  Amazingly, almost without exception, the team surpasses the goal.  For example, a few years ago the Angels had the goal of allowing less than ten points per game and no more than one converted try against us per game.  That same season, the team had three consecutive shut-outs (overall, five games were shutouts).

The accomplishment of achieving a nearly impossible goal is impressive in and of itself.  But one cannot rest on their laurels and become complacent.  Coaches need to respond: “great work - but you can still do better.  Your next expectation (i.e. goal) is even greater.  I know you can do it – here is how.”  (The “how” and providing direction is just as important, but a topic for another time).

What does any of this have to do with Nationals??  As the Angels coach, I have thrown many expectations my players’ way.  Each and every time the team exceeds my challenges/expectations.  The Angels must now realize that my challenges for the season are done, but we must overcome the challenges from other teams equally as determined to win.  Nine other teams will be competing for the same prize: the national championship.  The ladies of Pittsburgh expect to win it.  So do the players from Albany, Raleigh, Houston, …

ANGELS:  Are you ready to meet the last challenge of the season? Are you willing to grind out four more wins to achieve the goal that YOU established?  I know we can do it … I EXPECT a national championship, so do you.  Let’s go to Houston and earn it.

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Countdown – One week (two training sessions) to go

Friday, October 30th, 2009

Submitted by Coach

Life has been a whirlwind since August when fall training began.  Actually, the team’s fitness regimen started in July.  Things reached a crescendo as we hosted, and won, the Division II Midwest Championships.  Now the team is recuperating mentally and physically while simultaneously preparing for the National Championship Tournament.

Proper preparation for Nationals is presenting a challenge.  The bracketing and tournament schedule has not been posted.  How can Pittsburgh, or any participating team for that matter, develop game strategies without knowing their opponents?    Despite the unknown, the team exudes confidence – more than I have seen in any previous season.  All year the players have heard me preach the need to address issues “within our control” and adapt and overcome issues that are “beyond our control”.  This week’s training focused on the things we can deal with and continue to improve upon: fitness, ball handling, basic rugby tactics (ex.  moving defenders), etc.  Support play and team cohesion were major focuses as well.  The Angels are skilled and flexible enough to implement any number of game plans … that ability will help us deal with the “unknowns”.

This weekend the team has the following assignment:  Rest, RELAX, and recovery.

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WE’RE GOING TO NATIONALS!

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

Greetings friends, family and Angels fans! WE’RE GOING TO NATIONALS!

This blog has been developed to help keep you up-to-date with your Pittsburgh Angels – the women’s rugby team of the Pittsburgh Rugby Club. Over the next several days players, administrators and our coach will provide posts. Topics will vary from reflecting upon the Fall 2009 season, competition preparations, travel, team bonding and so on. This blog will be vague in terms of strategies, strengths/weaknesses, etc. (we can’t reveal those secrets, can we?)

Once we get to Nationals, the team will make every effort to post timely updates and results. Please accept our apologies in advance if they are not immediate or instantaneous – our goal is to focus on winning, and that takes precendent over updating this blog.

Most importantly, thank you! The Angels wouldn’t be where we are without the tremendous support from all of you!

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