With the NSCRO Championship over and St. John’s University claiming the top spot in the small college rugby world.

   Stephen Cohen has come out with his final top 30 National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO) rankings. 
Last year, in our first year of competition, not only did we win a Texas Rugby Union state Championship and competed in the final leg of the Elite 8 competition in our first year, a very good showing by the lads.  We managed to finish the season ranked 16th in the nation.

   This year the preseason rankings came out and had us ranked 18th in the nation.  While we had a very strong Texas season, winning our second championship, we played the University of Denver hard, but came up short.  Our forfeit win over Angelo St. University helped little, for us to finish with an NSCRO overall record of 1 – 3. We play every club hard and the lads don’t give up, they have something to prove to anyone wanting to take us on.

   The final rankings for the 2012-2013 season, still has UT Dallas ranked in the top 25.  In fact we are ranked 25th in the nation out of 211 small colleges competing in NSCRO.  Not too bad for a small university with no football team and even better for us.  Most of the guys that play rugby had never played before and have picked up the game, to play as great as they have played this year to continue their unbeaten streak, to 10 – 0 this year and 17 wins without a loss in Texas in league play.

   The lads will have yet another bulls eye on their backs next fall and spring, but it will be up to them to recruit and rise to the occasion against sometimes bigger opponents. Their continued goal is to make the NSCRO National Championships and maybe one day bring home that trophy to the University of Texas at Dallas.

   You can view the complete list on our web site.  Click on More, then scroll down to National Small College Rankings.

   This coming Saturday evening, the University of Texas at Dallas Rugby Club will have our Spring Awards Dinner at Sonny Bryan's Barbeque: 1251 W Campbell Rd Ste 240,  Richardson, TX 75080, it will be from 4:00 to 7:00pm. 
   We will have a lot to celebrate and discuss, the creation of our Women's Rugby Club, the continued success with our Men's Club and a brief look at the future of our programs.
   Since this is a very informal awards dinner, we ask everyone to come celebrate with us.  The dinner is set up so that you order your food before you come into the Mustang Room.  When you hear your name, you'll get your food and return to your seat.  It's so much easier to do this as opposed to setting up a buffet line, but in the near future we might go to that since our clubs are growing and will continue to have the success with both the Men and Women's club.
   I will have Cowboy Cup t-shirts for sale ($10.00 each) at the awards dinner for anyone wanting to purchase them.
   Thank you everyone for supporting your sons and daughters as they compete in this great game and I'm looking forward to seeing all of you at the

   Saturday, March 23rd both the men and women’s rugby clubs were in action.

   Beginning with the women, they played a match in which they were paired off against each other in the first of  two 7’s matches.  Playing for UT Dallas in the first match was:
1. Ellen, 2. Gisselle, 3. Tiara, 4. Alyssa, 5. Sarah, 6. Marie, 7. Andrea
   In this match these 7 ladies showed all the skills they have been taught, scoring 4 Trys and 2 conversions.  Scoring Trys were Tiara (2), Ellen (1) and Andrea – scoring her first ever try in a scrimmage/game.  Alyssa converted 2 of those Trys all while this side gave up one Try to their opponents. The final score 24 to 5

   In the second match, the line up was:
1.  Ariel, 2. Amber, 3. Saskia, 4. Stephanie, 5. Lauren, 6. Aimi, 7. Rebeka, with Lisa coming in for Ariel and Alyssa replacing Lauren.

   In this match, like the first, the ladies showed all of their skills that they have learned playing rugby, but the result’s wasn’t like the first match.  The UT Dallas women were only able to put one Try on the board and that was a first for Lisa, who recently began practicing with the club.  This also was a first for the ladies, Lauren who’s been practicing hard and learning the game at scrumhalf was either attempting a tackle or was being tackled when she fell on her shoulder and found out later that she had broken her clavicle (more on her later).  The final score was 5 to 17.

   I’m extremely proud of how these young ladies have taken this game and have learned some tricky aspects of
it.  Including running with the ball, tackling, rucking and basically all parts of this game, it has proven somewhat difficult for them, but they have embraced it and have become a really good team.  The future is brighter with these ladies representing UT Dallas Women’s Rugby Club. Now our recruiting must continue, to bring in more ladies willing to step up and play this fun, but strenuous game.

  About Lauren, she came out to the club with the thought of writing an article for the school newspaper, to get a
firsthand knowledge of what it takes to play and all the preparations as well as playing in a game.  Saturday, she
was either in the attempt of making a tackle or being tackled when they got crunched.  She was replaced and her
mother who came out to watch her daughter play for the first time had to take Lauren to the emergency room for x-rays.  Lauren found out early in the week that her break was a bit more serious than originally thought and surgery was performed Thursday.  I’m happy to say that she came out very well from it and it hasn’t dampened her spirits of wanting to get back out on the rugby pitch.  

Now the Men’s recap:
Saturday, the men prepared for their first of two matches for the weekend, their opponents, the University of Denver (DU).
The lineup was:
1. Erbold, 2. AJ, 3. Nate, 4. John, 5. Weston, 6. Ben, 7. Jimmy, 8. Sunshine, 9. Cameron, 10. Vince, 11. Justin, 12. Dominic, 13. Luke, 14. Alejandro, 15. Brian.
Replacements – Mohammad in for Jimmy who was injured but was fine after (10 minutes into the first half), Jonathan a tactical move for Nate (10 minutes into the second half), Chad another tactical move for Luke (10 minutes into the second half).

   The first half kicked off on schedule and was fierce; our lads defended all over the pitch and when we had the ball.  Our attacks were concise and direct and a couple of times we almost managed to cross the goal line. but the DU defense was as stingy as our defense was.  The only difference in this half was that DU was able to capitalize on a couple of mental errors we made and scored two Trys with only one conversion in this half.  The end of the first half score – UT Dallas 0, DU 12.

   The second half began, which looked like things would change.  Our attack line was better focused and we were able to move the ball down the field, ending with a Try by Wing Justin Thompson and Vince Dutton made the conversion.  But that would be all the scoring for UT Dallas as the bigger, stronger and not necessarily faster UD
managed to put on 3 Trys, one conversion and one penalty kick to end the game 30 to  UT Dallas’ 7.

   Sunday, we were to play the loser of the Angelo St./Colorado School of Mines.  The loser of that match was Angelo St and this was to be a rematch of the Lonestar Conference Championship, but Angelo St. notified me that their players were banged up (like ours were, but the difference was we still wanted to play) and they had decided not to play and forfeit 3rd place to UT Dallas.  While these conversations were going on between myself, Brad (ASU’s
coach), Stephen Cohen (NSCRO’s President) and Shayne Roberson (Lonestar Conference Commissioner) there was nothing we could do to persuade ASU to stay and play the match.  So, our UT Dallas Rugby players donned on some spare jerseys and divided them into 2 sides and played 7’s rugby while the two teams playing for the Cowboy Cup Championship warmed up.

   I have to say that this club, is so special to me and have become as special to Bear (my Assistant Head Coach)
because in most every game they’ve gone into.  They are clearly the underdog in size, but they learn and adapt to everything they’ve been coached and like last year, came away with another undefeated season.  This year they were 10 – 0 and haven’t lost a league match in 2 seasons, their combined record is 17 – 0 for the 2 years and two Texas Rugby Union state Championships to prove it.

   As far as both the Men and Women’s rugby club’s go, I’m proud of every single one of these players.  Many
of whom had never played team sports before joining this club.  The women started out with one girl wanting to continue with what she had learned while in high school, recruited girls and now we have 15 registered women on this club.  The men, we’ll continue what the previous 2 years have brought us and will work on 3peating next year.

   There are a number of people I need to thank and in my next blog in a couple of days will name off all those people who have helped these fine lads and lasses of the UT Dallas Men and Women’s Rugby Club, because without your
help and support, we couldn’t have done what we did.

   It’s been 2 weeks since the ladies and men of the rugby team’s have last played.  We had a spring break thrown in for good measure and now we have 1 week (3 practices) remaining.  It’s back to work on everything that has gotten us this far.
            
    Next Saturday (3/23/13) at 12:15 and approx. 2:35pm, the ladies rugby takes the field in their first home appearance ever.  They’ll be playing UT San Antonio in two 7’s matches, similar to what they did in San Antonio, 2 weeks ago.  We’re excited about this, because while we may have started out later than most other clubs, we have been fortunate to get matches like we have and this upcoming matches were made possible, not only by the two coaches of the teams involved but the President of the National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO) Stephen Cohen.  He has graciously agreed to allow the ladies to play their games before both NSCRO men’s events.

   If you remember, 2 weeks ago, we split wins with UTSA.  Each winning one match each, while this is very important for both clubs, the great part of this is that both clubs are getting games in front of people who will ultimately make the decision to admit these 2 clubs into the Texas Rugby Union Women’s Collegiate  Conference, which is still in the works of being tweaked and restructured.  But it will happen and we’ll know more about that in time.

   A brief description of how the “Cowboy Cup” came into place.  Last year the Stephen Cohen came up with an idea, with 210 small college and universities competing for a national championship.  There would be a qualifying match between the top 2 college rugby clubs from Texas and Colorado with the winner of this competition to advance to the
final piece of the elite 8 to determine the final spot for the final 4 for the national championship.   After many emails and discussions, the name of the event was determined, “Cowboy Cup Qualifier”.  The next step was to determine who would host this inaugural event and after discussions with our Rec Sports Director Chris McAlpine, and club officers; we decided that we would place a bid to host.  I found out that not only had UT Dallas placed a bid but 2 other schools had placed bids as well, but that didn’t matter, UT Dallas was awarded the bid to host the “Cowboy Cup” in March of 2013.  

   A lot of work had been put forth by not only the coaches, Rec Sports Director, parents and club officers.  The first was securing hotels for the teams coming to Richardson for this, the next was to create and debut our brand new scoreboard (which was created by David Shaffer).  Most of the other things that needed to be taken care of, are items no one sees, but are required and that thanks to Chris McAlpine who has been instrumental in every step of the way in helping this club put things together for the Cowboy Cup.  Next weekend will be the players turn to take care of all the work for the Cowboy Cup. Manning the scoreboard, selling t-shirts, setting up and tearing down the field before and after all the matches have been played. 

   After the ladies play the first of their 2 matches, the men will take the field in the first of 2 men’s semi final matches to determine the winner of this inaugural “Cowboy Cup”.  With UT Dallas having the #1 seed from Texas we’ll play the #2 seed from the Eastern Rockies Rugby Football Union, against the University of Denver.  In the second men’s match on the day, #2 Texas - Angelo St. University will play #1 Colorado School of Mines.

The times for all Saturday matches:
12:15 – UT Dallas Women vs UTSA Women
1:00 – UT Dallas vs University of Denver
2:35 – UT Dallas Women vs UTSA Women
3:00 – Colorado School of Mines vs Angelo St. University

Times for Sunday matches:
12noon – 3rd place match
2:00 – Championship Match
2:50 – NSCRO Trophy presentation by Stephen Cohen

   In the first match, the Univ. of Denver will be a worthy opponent.  They earned this spot in the competition but not much is known of these guys, but that won’t matter to our UT Dallas Rugby Club players.  It’s just another hurdle and like a good hurdler, we have to clear each piece on the way to the finish line.  Sometimes you hit the hurdle, but you don’t dwell on that, you look at the next one.  We have a solid club and are playing really good ball right now, but we can’t sit back and think we’ll win just because we’re at home and wear Green & Orange jerseys. We will have to go out and execute and play as good a game as we know we can play.  This should be a cracker of a match.  The second match will be Colorado School of Mines vs Angelo St.  The winners of both matches will play for the championship at 2:00pm on Sunday.  The 2 teams that lose on Saturday will play for 3rd place at Noon, Sunday.

   All the players and coaches at UT Dallas are really excited for this upcoming event and look forward to playing our best in front of their parents, friends, classmates and visitors to this great university.  Thanks in advance for your support and hopefully, after the weekend is said and done with, we’ll be making plans for
Denver.

   On March 2nd and 3rd both the Men and Women’s Rugby teams were in action in San Antonio.  The Women were playing 2 – 14 minute 7’s matches against UTSA and the Men were playing the first of their semi final match hopefully leading to the championship match, more on that later.

   Saturday evening the ladies took the field for the second time.  The lineup for this match was 1. Saskia, 2. Amber, 3. Ellen, 4. Alyssa, 5. Sarah, 6. Stephanie, 7. Maria.  With each half lasting only 7 minutes, it can seem like an eternity if you happen to be on the wrong end of scores.  But this is exactly what the ladies of UTD did.  They went
out and scored 3 Trys in this first half and converting 2 of them. The second half was a bit more of a controlled half with the ladies doing what they had been coached.  They tackled well against UTSA and clearly they’re learning when and how to attack.  The second half only one Try was scored and the match ended with UTD on top 24 to 0. 
Scores in this match was by Marie (2), Stephanie (1), Alyssa (1 Try & 2 conversions)
   The second match of the evening was played, with a new lineup, 1. Ellen, 2. Saskia, 3. Aimi, 4. Gisselle, 5. Lauren, 6.  Ariel, 7. Andrea.  This time it was a slightly more experienced side they were playing, but the ladies rose to the occasion and played great.  While they were undersized a bit and the speed UTSA brought to this match was somewhat lopsided, but the girls didn’t care.  They went out and took care of business.  UTSA was spotted 22 points for the first half of play, in which they found gaps in our defense and exploited them.  The second half a few
substitutions were made to try and reel back in UTSA, but it was a little too much to overcome such a huge score. 
They bright side of this was that Marie ran in another Try on the day.  The final score UTD 5, UTSA 27,   I can’t say how proud I am of the ladies, they traveled very well, they supported each other and they’re learning a game that is easy yet difficult.  With time I see them playing even better than they are now.  In my opinion my lady of the match would go to Marie Imperial for scoring 3 Trys on the day.  Honorable mentions to Sarah, Saskia, Stephanie, Ellen, Alyssa who are leading these ladies at practice and in their games.  Other noteworthy mentions goes out to Amber and Gisselle who both are learning the rugby position of Hooker and are playing very well.  Ariel who recently came to practice and played in her first game. Andrea, Aimi, and Lauren who are all learning and building their confidence daily at practice and in their matches.  It’s not an easy thing for anyone who has never played a sport that involves running with a ball, tackling and basic pushing people around, but they are all learning to do this and I see their confidence growing.  Coach Sharpie is doing a great job with them in my time away, when I’m working with the men.

   Saturday evening, the first of two men’s semi final matches, your UT Dallas Rugby club playing against LeTourneau University (LU) for the third time this season.  LU earned the 4th seed into this playoff/championship by knocking out UD, MSU and SMU.  As reported in an earlier posting, this match has all the markings of what will be a close fought match.  And it was for the first 20 minutes of the match, LU managed to score a penalty kick and an unconverted Try to take an early lead, but that was about all UTD needed to wake up.  They then went on a 5 Try, 5 Conversion scoring streak to close the first half, UTD 35 to LU’s 11.
The lineup: 1. Erbold, 2. AJ, 3. Nate, 4. John, 5. Weston, 6. Ben,.7. Mohammad, 8. Sunshine, 9. Cameron, 10. Vince, 11. Justin, 12. Dominic, 13. Luke, 14. Alejandro, 15. Brian.
Replacements in the second half: Jimmy in for 7, Jonathan in for 3, Chad in for 13, Brandon in for 12, Joe in for 10 (Brian moved to Flyhalf, Joe played Fullback), Matt in for 8 (Ben moved to # 8 and Matt played Flanker)
   The second half was exactly like the first half except LU didn’t have any opportunities to score.  UT Dallas put up another 6 Trys with 3 Conversions.  This match was entirely all UT Dallas, their defense was on and they attacked and used the field very well.
Players scoring Trys in this match – Anthony (AJ) Paradowski (3), Vince (3 Trys, 6 conversions), Justin Thompson (2), Dominic Prestia (2), Alejandro Chinchilla (1).

   With that victory, this put us into the Championships against the winner of the UTSA and Angelo St (ASU) match. 
This match was eventually won by ASU 14 to 10.

   Sunday came around the lads were rested and things began to fall into place.  The lads were warming up and there was an air of confidence around them.  The match began at noon and the lineup was: 1. Erbold, 2. AJ, 3.Nate, 4. John, 5. Weston, 6. Ben, 7. Jimmy, 8. Sunshine, 9. Cameron, 10. Vince, 11. Justin, 12. Dominic, 13. Chad, 14.
Alejandro, 15. Brian.
Replacements in the second half: Luke in for 13, Jonathan in for 3, Alex in for 1

   This was a very tough match, ASU clearly had size on us but that was about all they had on us.  The match was played between the 22 meter lines and occasionally ASU would manage to get into our Red Zone but were turned away. But in this half it was UTD, they scored 4 Trys in this half, but the more amazing part of those 4 Trys was that 3
of them were scored by one player.  Justin Thompson found the gift end of kicks from ASU and he turned the corner each time and ran them into goal.  At one point an ASU forward told his Flyhalf to quit kicking it to the
fastest player.  The end of the first half had UTD 24, ASU 12.
   The second half began and this was an exciting half of rugby. Both sides were pumped up after ASU scored a Try and awaiting the restart, they were yelling ASU and your Comets were jogging back to the half way line yelling back UTD.  Supporters from both schools were also yelling their schools and both teams were jumping up and down with pure adrenalin.  At one point ASU got to within 10 points of UTD, and they knew they could score those and maybe force an overtime match.  ASU took the restart and managed to get back into striking distance.  5 meters from our goal line, your UTD rugby players defended that goal like I’ve seen them do time and time again, but an unfortunate thing happened.  ASU was penalized and with about 3 minutes left in the match.  Both coaches were thinking, kick for touch, take the lineout and march down field or at least play possession ball.  But the players had another idea; Vince tapped the ball and fed Dominic who ran like a man possessed.  Dominic got to the half way line where we won a quick ruck and moved to the ASU 22 meter line, another quick ruck won, we got to their goal line were Cameron found a gap and scored the sealing Try.  The match ended shortly after that with the final scores UT Dallas 41, ASU 24.  
Trys were scored by Cameron Broussard (1), Vince (2 Trys, 3 conversions), Justin Thompson (3), Alejandro Chinchilla (1).
 
   With this win, it brought the lads to a perfect 10 – 0 for the season and combined with last year’s record,  UT Dallas is 17– 0 perfect in league, playoff and championships on Texas soil.

   Our next match will be March 23rd and 24th in the Cowboy Cup, where we will be the number 1 seed going into this playoff.  More info to come soon. 

   Thank you to everyone that came to one or both matches to support the either the ladies or men or both.  I also would like to thank my coaches, Bear and Sharpie because without their help none of this would have been possible. 
It’s too much for one person and while the lads and lasses are all eager to learn, it really helps to have another set of
eyes.

   Last thank you to everyone (Heather Ball and John Bradshaw) for supplying the birthday cake and everyone for singing, it was a great gift.   

   Only 2 days remaining until both University of Texas at Dallas Rugby members take the same field (not against each other) on the same day. 
    Last week, Rick Martinez showed up at our practice bearing gifts.  He went out and purchased warm up t-shirts for all the rugby players at UT Dallas.  With that I send a HUGE Thank you to the Martinez family for their gifts to the players.  As Rick put it, when he saw MSU show up with their club t-shirts on. There was no way we were ever going to look bad before the game.  So far we haven’t looked bad on the field either and we don’t want to start this weekend.     
    Your UT Dallas Women play UTSA, Saturday at 4:45pm and again about 6:50pm.  They’ll be playing 7’s meaning there’s only 7 players on the regulation pitch and they play two 7 minute halves.  This is exciting and a brand new era, the ladies have been practicing even harder than before.  Especially now, that they have a match under their belts and ready to do it all again.  UTSA like us is a new club and their ladies haven’t had too many opportunities to play and speaking with their coach.  They’re as excited as we are.  This will be a true battle of new forces, and a look at the future of Women’s College Rugby.
   After the ladies play, UT Dallas Men’s Rugby Club will take the field against LeTourneau University.  Remarkably (and I’m not surprised) LeTourneau finished fourth in the Lonestar Conference and earned this spot in the playoffs. 
The match kicks off about 5:15pm.
   We have played LeTourneau twice and beat them both times, the first time we played them.  The final score was 53 to 10, but the match was a lot closer than the score indicated.  Our next match with them was a much closer game.  They held us scoreless in the first half and we were able to beat them 17 to 3.  So the gap between them and us is shrinking and need to remember, on any given Saturday any club can be beaten.  We must respect the ability and skills that LeTourneau brings.  They are the only club that has kept us from earning a bonus point for scoring at least 4 Trys in a match.  They bring everything to the table and we have to be prepared to dish it out.   
    Last year, we were the new kids on the block and no one took us serious, but we came out and played.  This is what we’ve been stressing in practice all week and I think the lads are ready.  I know for a fact that they wish today was Saturday and the match was beginning now, but they have to wait.  We all have to wait.
   After the UT Dallas/LeTourneau match, the women take the pitch again for their second round match against UTSA in another 15 minute match.          
    If we win on Saturday, we come back to UTSA to play the winner of the UT San Antonio v Angelo State match.  UTSA holds a slight edge on ASU, they tied 24 all in their first meeting and UTSA beat ASU 34 to 5 the second time.  We’ll have to wait and see which two teams meet for the Lonestar Conference Championship.  The championship match will take place at noon on Sunday, March 3rd.
   I realize it’s a late start for two playoff matches, but we’ve been assured quality referees and assistant referees for these playoffs and because of the late start, we’re pretty much guaranteed good people in the middle and touch lines.
   The coaches, Bear, Sharpie and I are excited about this upcoming weekend and like the guys and girls playing, we’re all looking forward to having you come out and cheer us on to 3 wins on Saturday and one on Sunday. 
I’ve posted the address and directions to UTSA on the web site, but if
anyone has any questions or comments, please feel free to contact
me.

            
    It was a beautiful day in Huntsville, 13 out of the 14 ladies who have been practicing showed up ready to take the pitch of their first rugby match as an official club.  I’d also like to take this time to thank all the family members that came out to our first match to watch their daughter’s play this great game.

   These ladies (some have been working since last October) have been chomping at the bit to get a game and see and show what they have.  Everyone made it to Pritchett Field and began warming up.  Coach Sharpie and I discussed the players and made the selection as to would take the field in our first game.
 The Lineup for this match: 1. Saskia Versteeg, 2. Amber Khan, 3. Stephanie Marek, 4. Alyssa Gelman, 5. Andrea Moreno, 6. Sarah Colliflower, 7. Rebeka Hull
Replacement - Tiara Littleton

   The first match kicked off and there were a lot of nervous people surrounding the field and on it.  The ladies did exactly as they had been coached and got exactly as they had been told.  Sam Houston St. (SHSU) while being an established club, they’re struggling with numbers to field a 15’s side, but they have played in a good number of 7’s. Hence the experience level they brought to the game.  SHSU had one player in particular who seemed to be clearly the on field leader and it was her running skills that made the difference.  The ladies were playing catch up most of this first half.  SHSU put up 4 Trys for 26 points in the first 7 minutes (all by KC the more skilled runner for SHSU).  At
the half the ladies were told they were playing well and be a little more aggressive in scrums and back line defense or attack.  There were a few moments when we got ball in hand, but the SHSU defense was good and they were able to poach the ball away from our ladies and counter attack. The second half was a little better; we were able to keep SHSU to only 3 Trys in this half.  The only scary moment in this half was watching Sarah come up to make a tackle and go down to the ground with a shoulder injury.  She was replaced by Tiara Littleton and after getting Sarah to the bench, she informed me that her shoulder often pops out and it was no big deal. By that time her shoulder was back in and she was ready to play more. She’s one tough cookie, the final score of that first match SHSU 45, UT Dallas 0.

   After a few minutes the second match began and the Line up for that: 1. Lauren Featherstone, 2. Gisselle Hoover, 3. Ellen Nguyen, 4. Marie Imperial, 5. Alyssa Gelman, 6. Aimi Nguyen, 7. Tiara Littleton.
Replacement: Sarah Colliflower
            
    These ladies watched the first match and were determined not to make any of the same mistakes they saw in the first match.  They came up and pressured SHSU backs but again it was KC’s running skills that made the difference. 
UT Dallas ladies held SHSU to only 3 Trys this half, score at the half SHSU 21, UTD 0. The second half began and the UTD ladies were now spreading the field in defense and making every attempt to put bodies on any SHSU ball carrier.    
    In this second half when Sarah came in, the team began to show some imagination, one time deep in their half.  The ladies got the ball to Sarah and all of a sudden, a pop kick deep to the SHSU Fullback, with Sarah leading the charge, they went down field. This was a thing of beauty, but SHSU found supporting players to pass to for scoring
opportunities.  
    We just weren’t quick enough to cover everyone all the time.  But heck this was the team’s second match, but each of these ladies it was their first match.  Like the first half we limited SHSU to 3 more trys in this half as well, the final score SHSU 38, UT Dallas 0.
  
    The third and final match of the day was about to begin the line up for this match: 1. Saskia Versteeg, 2. Amber Khan, 3. Tiara Littleton, 4. Alyssa Gelman, 5. Ellen Nguyen, 6. Marie Imperial, 7. Stephanie Marek.
Replacements in the second half: Lauren Featherstone, Andrea Moreno, Sarah Colliflower, Aimi Nguyen, Rebeka Hull, Gisselle Hoover.
    
    This was the match for everything, Sam Houston had clearly dominated us in the first two matches, but like the guys, these girls didn’t give up.  UT Dallas opened the first half with Marie finding room on the side lines and she ran in the FIRST Try for the UT Dallas Women’s Rugby Club and for the first time, we held the lead.  But we weren’t done by a long shot.  Other girls scoring a Try in this final match were Tiara Littleton, Sarah Colliflower.  Stephanie Marek in this game was a true force; she scored 2 Trys in this match.  One of her Trys was on a run about 40 yards into goal, in which she side stepped and out ran her opponents.  Her second Try came from about 5 yards away from goal, this time she twisted and turned and powered her way into goal to dot the Try for her second of the day.  SHSU was able to score 2 times in this half, but it was all UT Dallas in this match. The final score UTD 27, SHSU 10.

   I realize this is going on forever, but there is so much to talk about.  These ladies came out to play and play they did.  12 of them had never played any kind of sport that involved tackling or running with ball in hand and to watch the transformation that they experienced on this particular afternoon was GREAT.  Kudos goes out to all the ladies Saskia who has a soccer background showed good skills in the scrums and getting around the field. Tiara has played
flag football started to show how keen she is on the tackle and running the ball.  Amber and Gisselle both showed good skills in their first time in the middle of a scrum, they’ll be much better the next time around. Ellen who has been picking up various skills around the pitch and becoming another leader on the field, she’s going to scoring some
trys of her own soon. Stephanie is a good a player and her attacks and defense will only get better. Aimi, Lauren and Rebeka watching them build confidence and believing in their own skills and the skills of their team-mates is great to
watch – they are improving daily.  Alyssa, the little general, she got this whole thing started, her play on the field is becoming infectious to all the other ladies on her team and it’s great watching her.  Andrea’s confidence is growing more from each practice and now games, I know she will become as good a defender and attacker and she’ll be scoring Trys herself.  My unofficial honorable mentions go to Sarah and Marie. Sarah who’s learning more and more about the game each week and she did come up with the pop kick in the half, showing good imagination and also going back on the pitch after her shoulder popped out.  Marie who was tenacious all over the field, tackling everyone with the ball and when she had ball in hand she was looking for space or dishing off to her team-mates. The Sam Houston Women’s Rugby Club had a lot of good things to say about the UTD Women and how well they played, and those comments made Sharpie and I feel real good about where we are and where this club will be going. Great game ladies, all of you.
      
    Next week the ladies will play UTSA in two 14 minute games.  The first one will be at 4:45pm on Saturday March 2nd and the second match will be immediately following the UT Dallas Men’s semi final against LeTourneau University in the first semi final match of the day.  
         
   The directions and location of the field is posted on the web site under Venue Directions.  More about next
week’s games will be posted on Tuesday.

   This Saturday marks a new day in UT Dallas history, it was in October of 2011 that the UT Dallas Rugby Club played their very first round robin tournament in Austin.  Since that long, hot afternoon they haven’t looked back.

   Well this Saturday, the UT Dallas Women’s Rugby Club will take the field for the very first time. They will be playing in a round robin tournament, competing with clubs like Sam Houston St. and TCU.  They should get 2 or 3 games on the day.

   The biggest difference will be the total time a game is each match will be no longer than 15 minutes (2 – 7 minute halves).  

    This is a very exciting time for all of us. Monday evening at practice, we had 15 ladies attend and we really had some fun.  We worked with them on some of the basics and then split them into 2 sides and played a spirited match.  It was great watching them put forth the efforts and do the things they’ve learned over the past months and weeks we’ve been at this.

   The tournament starts at noon and the address to the games Saturday is:  1302 19th Street, Huntsville, TX 77340 -
this will bring you to the corner of 19th St and Ave O. Turn left on Ave O and you'll see a football/rugby field on the right. This is where we'll be playing. 
NOTE: The address and directions will also be posted in the directions to venue on the web site.

   One of the parents (John and Heather Bradshaw) will be attending the match.  He’s the photographer who posts all the great men’s game photos.  He’s coming to take pictures of the ladies matches and will post them on the web site and like the men, I’ll write the details and results of each match.  So if you can’t get there, you can read all about it.

   This blog is totally for the ladies, they’ve worked hard and they’re pumped up to finally get out there and play the game. So in my next blog, I’ll give out details regarding the men’s upcoming playoff/championship in San Antonio.

   Just in from the Commissioner of the Lonestar Rugby Conference, UT Dallas is the number 1 seed going into the playoff/championship weekend March 2nd and 3rd.
   Officially here are the seeds:
1. UT Dallas (UTD)
2. Angelo St. University (ASU)
3. UT San Antonio (UTSA)
4. LeTourneau University (LTU)
   On Saturday (3/2) UT Dallas will play LeTourneau and UTSA will play ASU both clubs for the third time this season.  While UT Dallas has gone 2 - 0 against LeTourneau, they have been playing better each week and they will be a force to contend with.  In the other match between UTSA and ASU, this will be a cracker of a match.  UTSA and ASU tied the first time they played (24 all) and then UTSA beat ASU (34 - 5).
   Times of the matches still need to be worked out and as soon as I have that info, I'll pass it on the everyone.  But it looks like the first match may start about 5:15pm (Men's first semi final match).  The first Women's match UT Dallas v UTSA will take place maybe about 4:30pm and again, we'll need to sit back and wait for the final info to come out from the commissioner.

   Since last fall, we’ve had a number of women coming out to practice along side of the men.  It has always been something that Alyssa Gelman and I had envisioned, to start up a women’s rugby team to play against other college clubs just like the men have done for the past 2 seasons.
  
   Well that day has finally come, just last week the new UT Dallas Women’s Rugby Club was approved by the Recreation Sports Department.  A lot of work, time and effort have been put into this, not only are the lasses practicing at the same time as the lads albeit not together. They have been putting in time to recruit new players, working with the coaches Sharpie and I to learn so much of this game in the time they have.  And they are really coming together, like the lads last year, every practice I see improvement from them.  It’s going to become real exciting in the next couple of weeks.

   There are some people who I need to thank, first Alyssa for having the guts and fortitude to move on this as quickly has she has, in respect to putting the documentation together, recruiting and just about everything else concerning
the women.  Chris McAlpine who has again proven to be a champion for not only the men’s program but now the women’s program.  Coach Sharpie for coming out and working with the lasses, her commitment to the game is
as passionate as mine is.  Thanks goes out to Nathan Sohadaseni and Dominic Prestia for helping Alyssa with
documentation and learning the tricks of fund raising for this new club.  To Coach Bear, who has taken on a little more of the duties, while I’ve been working with Sharpie and the ladies at practice.  But the real thanks goes out to all the ladies who have never played this great game, and want to learn it, just like the lads did in the fall of 2011.

   The ladies have their very first game Saturday (2/23) in Huntsville against Sam Houston St. Women's Rugby Club.  Kick off is set for 12 noon. Directions to the field will be posted soon.  

   Then on March 2nd, they will play rugby against UT San Antonio Women's Rugby Club in San Antonio.  
 
   This is very important for UT Dallas, because on that same day, the lads will be playing their semi final match against a team to be named shortly.  On Saturday, 3/2, at the UT San Antonio field there will be 4 men’s clubs playing 2 semi final matches with the winners of those matches playing on Sunday to determine the Lonestar Conference Champion.  The ladies will play one match before the first men’s semi final and then again before the second semi final match.

   Currently UT Dallas Men will be the number 1 seed in the upcoming playoff/championship, if and when they win on Saturday.  They will play in the championship on Sunday.  Directions and times of the matches at UT San Antonio will be posted on the web site soon.

   But back to the ladies, with this being their first half season of rugby, because they started out late, not too many matches will be played.  I’ve had some success in finding clubs to play against and this will only help strengthen the ladies resolve and bring about more ladies interested in playing come next fall.  
 
    The ladies will, like the guys did last year be wearing either Red or Blue jerseys while playing until they can raise the money to order their own set of jerseys.  In the mean time if you aren’t doing anything and would like to come out and support this new group of hard core ladies wanting to prove that anything the guys can do, girls can do it also.  There will be pictures posted on the web site after our match with Sam Houston and the UTSA match.  See stay tuned for all the rugby you can handle.

   Just a side note to all that has happened with the men's club, I promised that I would get a Mohawk and do the same with my beard if the lads went undefeated this season and they have 8 wins 0 losses and combined with last years record.  They are 15 wins, 0 losses with one championship and working to hopefully repeat and go farther in the NSCRO playoffs.  Being true to my word, I did get a Mohawk and I did do something to my beard.  I will keep it until after the Lonestar Championship, so if you see me and you want to see what an old man looks like with a Mohawk (besides Mr. T) ask me and I'll remove my hat for you.