All-Time American List: Ray Lehner
Ray Lehner was the first in a long line of players who played for Jesuit of Sacramento, Cal, and the USA.
It wasn't a varsity Jesuit team when Lehner suited up, but he remains the trailblazer. A gruff, broad-shouldered prop who was described in the 2002 Sports Illustrated profile of Cal Head Coach Jack Clark as the team "loudmouth." It was intended as a compliment, and certainly Lehner was a powerful personality on the field.
A physical prop who embraced the scrum like few others, Lehner helped lead Cal to national D1 championships in 1991, 1992, and 1993, eventually captaining the Golden Bears. He was an All American and then after his time at Cal he moved on to attend Oxford University, where he studied and earned four Oxford Blues from 1997 to 2001.
Massive Response For Come And Take It Tournament
The first big youth and high school tournament of this confused spring rugby season kicks off Saturday in Texas.
The Woodlands Rugby Club is hosting the Come and Take It tournament this weekend and about 600 rugby athletes are expected.
The Woodlands itself will field 14 teams, with split squads starting at 1st and 2nd Grade. But there are other programs, too. The Katy Barbarians will field a HG Boys team, a 5th-6th-Grade team, and two in 3rd-4th. Spartans Rugby will field eight, and North Texas will run in with four.
Teams have jumped at the chance to play, and with eight brackets in play, from Minis to 1st-2nd grade 7s, 3rd-4th grade 10s, 5th-6th grade 15s, Junioir High Girls 7s, Junior High Boys 15s, HS Boys JV 15s, HS Girls 15s, and HS Boys Varsity 15s.
North Carolina Youth, HS 7s Season A Massive Success
Over 60 youth, middle school, and high school 7s teams just completed a winter season in North Carolina, showing that you can get kids on the field, competing and having fun, and follow COVID precautions at the same time.
The season was played during the winter period, which is normally when North Carolina single-school teams play their 15s schedule. But this isn't "normally" and organizers within North Carolina's youth and high school rugby community tried to make do—they were enormously successful.
"Turnout was fantastic," said Erik Saxson of Charlotte Junior Rugby, who helped run the whole thing. "We accepted whatever teams wanted to enter, we took a lot of precautions, and we accomplished completing a season."
"Hodgepodge" Charlotte Spartans Surprise In NC
Asked to help get some kids a chance to play some rugby, Demond Burwell ended up with a motley group of rugby players, and formed them into a winning unit.
North Carolina's hybrid Youth & HS 7s season this winter needed one more team. Organizer Erik Saxon had a list of players who wanted to play, but didn't have a team to play for, so he formed them into a group—what Saxon called "a hodgepodge"—and dubbed them the Charlotte Spartans. He asked Burwell, who is the forwards coach for the Charlotte Tigers to take care of them.
This was Burwell's first Head Coach task and he took to it well. The players understood that they were perhaps a group of players with no home, and played with a chip on their shoulder all season.
All-Time American List: Scott LaValla
Scott LaValla's high school team once finished 7th at the national championships only to see LaValla be named the tournament MVP.
That happened partly because LaValla's high school team, the Budd Bay Barbarians out of the Olympia, Wash. area, had lost two games on penalty kick tiebreakers before winning the 7th-8th game. LaValla and his mates were just a bit unlucky. The lock-flanker-No. 8 went on to captain the USA U19s and U20s, and then looked to be on track to be lost to college football. That's when he took the path less traveled. With a chance to play gridiron in college, he chose instead to attend Dublin University in Ireland and play for their rugby team, Trinity.
All-Time American List: Mike Te'o
Our series of All-Time Americans continues with a player who, it seems, needs to prove himself every time there's a new national team cycle.
Mike Te'o is something of a unique player, and as such sometimes difficult to categorize—and you know how coaches like to categorize.
What is true is that rugby teams Mike Te'o played for won games, and continue to win games. Not especially tall, and shaped in a way that makes you think he's a front row player, Te'o is in fact an enormously elusive and speedy athlete with an outstanding vertical leap, an understanding of how to attack, and a nose for tryline.
All-Time American List: Lou Stanfill
A direct and honest rugby player and person, Lou Stanfill was a bruising lock, flanker, and No. 8 who played over 50 times for the USA.
Stanfill was one of the many players who followed the pathway from Jesuit of Sacramento to Cal to the USA. Jesuit was a perennial national title contender while Stanfill was there, and Cal won national championships every year he was at Berkeley. NYAC won a Super League title his one year with them and Seattle was a top club when he moved west.
Boys HS Nationals Shifts To June, Moves to KC
The 2021 Boys Rugby National Championships will be held June 17-18-19, at Swope Soccer Village - Sporting Fields + Athletics in Kansas City, Mo.
The event has been moved from its traditional May date because of obstacles and complications created by the COVID-19 pandemic. After surveying the teams who had competed at the Nationals in the past few years, it became clear that more teams would be ready and able to compete in June than in May this year. Salt Lake City was slated to host the 2021 Nationals, but because of the date change and conflicts within the facility and with COVID-19 adjustments, the local organizers could not find an appropriate venue for the event.
Op-Ed: The Science Says Kids Should Be Allowed To Play
My name is Jeff McIntyre, Assistant Coach and Team Manager at Red Mountain Youth Rugby in Mesa, Arizona and also the Boys High School Commissioner at Rugby Arizona. These views are my own and not necessarily the position of Red Mountain Youth Rugby or Rugby Arizona.
Over the period of the coronavirus pandemic, I have spent time studying statistics, trends and studies with a view to resuming Youth and High School rugby as safely as possible. I am believer of following the science rather than media selective reporting aimed at clicks and ratings.
I know COVID-19 can be dangerous for the elderly and for those with compromised immune systems and other health issues. Just today I viewed the funeral service of a healthy 47-year-old cousin lost to COVID related complications so I am not in denial about this virus.
High School Programs Inch Their Way Back
High School rugby may be returning in the field this spring, at least in some areas.
Of course states are varied in how they have dealt with high school sports, and with some football or soccer seasons being bumped to the spring, other sports, such as rugby, have had to adjust.
Just about every team or league we've spoken to is delaying the start of the season, and shortening the season. It looks like Texas will be able to play, and it's probably we'll see some games in Florida, as well as the Midwest. Tennessee might play (Germantown seems optimistic) and the Arkansas Junior Stormers have a schedule planned.
And Idaho? Well they, like Utah, ran a season last fall, with their girls playing a pretty full fall of 7s tournaments. We'd expect them to be able to do the same this spring, right?
Maybe.
Space Still Open For Come And Take It Youth/HS Tournament
The Woodlands Youth Rugby Club will be holding its annual Come and Take It Tournament this year after having to cancel it last spring due to the COVID shutdowns.
The tournament will be held on February 13 at The Woodlands Township’s Gosling Sports Fields in The Woodlands, Texas.
This is the third year for the Come and Take It Tournament and Woodlands Rugby will be welcoming teams from all over the state of Texas as well as surrounding states. For almost all of these teams this will be the first opportunity to play rugby against an opponent in about 11 months.
Big Changes Coming To GRR Recruiting Data Base
Big news is coming for Goff Rugby Report's Recruiting Data Base.
The current format for the Data Base remains the same and you can input your player profile here>> It's free and it's for both Girls HS players and Boys HS players. College transfers can also use it.
However, soon, this is going to change. Any information input in the current data base will be moved to the new system, and the new system will be way cooler, with more functionality for both players and coaches.
Coaches who are interested in accessing the data base can email GRR here>>
Tropical 7s Targets New-Look Event In Early April
The Tropical 7s will return for 2021 after having to cancel last year because of the COVID pandemic.
Like pretty much every rugby event slated for any time after March 15, 2020 being called off, events and teams are slowly stepping back onto the field.
With the Tropical 7s being in Orlando, Fla., in a state that has been less stringent in shutdowns throughout the COVID time. Florida’s pandemic stats put the Sunshine State squarely in the middle of the list of the country’s states.
Still, the Tropical 7s has had to adjust. Tournament Director John Siner has announced that the Tropical 7s will be a week of rugby training, scrimmages, and, most likely, competition.
Teems are welcome in Orlando from Monday, March 29 to Sunday, April 4. If they want to just get on the field and train in their own bubble, they can do that.
All-Time American List: Mike Petri
Mike Petri has been at the top of the game since he started playing at Xavier HS.
Captain of a very strong Xavier HS team, Petri went on to captain the USA U19s, Penn State, and the Collegiate All Americans. A smooth passer and an expert defender among scrumhalves, Petri was a winner at every level he played at.
He spent just a short time at the Belmont Shore rugby club, but Shore won a Super League title in 2007 while he was there. he want back to help NYAC win four Super League titles, with Petri becoming captain of that club.
Latest ON Boys HS Nationals Applications
High School rugby teams looking to apply for the 2021 HS National Championships may have noticed that the application isn’t live yet—there’s a reason for that.
With COVID causing changes in the planning of any number of events, the Boys HS Rugby National Championships organizers are taking a little extra time to nail down the details.
Venue and timing questions are being answered and the application will be available a little later this month—probably mid-January.
Check back with Goff Rugby Report for information on how to apply when the tournament details and application process are finalized.
