Coach

...now browsing by tag

 
aggression agression Angels anger issues ball carrier bam! big hit Boo Casey catch up championship chores Coach commitment dedication demands determination expectations fear fitness gift goal grateful Jenny O Joeylyn off-field on-field opportunity overcome perseverance Pittsburgh Rugby Club Pub Rikki sacrifice satisfaction success Sulli support tackle tackling thank you Trapp trust try victory
 

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.

Posted in Nationals | No Responses »
Tags: ,

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.

Posted in Nationals | No Responses »
Tags: , , ,

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.

Posted in Nationals | No Responses »
Tags: , , , ,