Do ya wanna Touch me?

Apparently there was a touch rugby tournament or some games last weekend. I have no other news except this link to some pictures in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

Someone please tell me when and where the touch games are happening.

Hawaii Rugby Youth All-Stars

I should have posted this a long time ago, but it's not to late to send a donation (I sent mine on Saturday). From Kevin Perry of Hawaii Youth Rugby:


Aloha Ruggers,


The Hawaii Youth Rugby All State U17’s & U19’s are actively looking for funds through sponsorship or donation. These funds will allow us to travel & compete in the USA Rugby Regional All Star Tournament in San Francisco, California June 5, 6, 2010.

USA Rugby is officially endorsing this tournament, which will serve as the primary pathway for young players to make the Age Grade National Teams. We hope to take our HYR U17 & U19 All-Star teams to compete and show case our local talent. USA Rugby is partnering with these regional All Star sides to identify and develop the best young talent in the country bringing them together to compete against like opposition.

This is a great opportunity for the youth of Hawaii to participate on a national stage playing the game world renowned for its ability to encourage the development of sportsmanship, leadership, self-discipline and respect for authority in its players.

We would be grateful if you would consider our request for funding to support this epic endeavor. Please look over the budget below and our website at www.hawaiiyouthrugby.com and check out the sponsor’s page where your company’s logo can be displayed.

Making A Splash

Hawaii Rugby has been making the news lately.

The Honolulu Advertiser posted an article and some pictures about the La'ie women's team winning the Las Vegas Invitational 7's tournament last month.

eRugbyNews posted an article about the Islanders on March 10th.

A little late, but here's some information from Ma'afu about the youth tournament going on this week at Kapiolani Park and a Positive Coaching Alliance Clinic:

ALOHA TO ALL RUGGERS!

12 NOON: WEDNESDAY KAPIOLANI PARK on the rugby field during the ALOHA 7's.

The POSITIVE COACHING ALLIANCE CLINIC sponsored by USA Rugby, Hawaii Youth Rugby and Rugby Hawaii Union ..... invites coaches, players, parents and fans to attend.
Please bring your own chair and coaches a pen.

See you all there ! Invite your friends.

SPRINGBREAK YOUTH RUGBY at KAPIOLANI PARK ... get your keikis out!

ALOHA 7'S youth rugby.... Monday 3/15, Tuesday 3/16 and Wednesday 3/17.

Hawaii Youth Rugby Invitational 15's starts 8:30am on Thursday 3/18, Friday 3/19 and Saturday 3/20.

Hawaii Harlequins Rugby Tournamet

Well, I managed to not make it to one single game this weekend. That's two tournaments missed so far this year.

The Hawaii Harlequins hosted a rugby tournament yesterday and today. I haven't heard any news yet, so don't know scores, or even who played. If anybody's got any results, please send them to me so I can post them.

Next up is the International 15's Tournament, November 5-7, 2009. I've got to get down there for some of this! Here's a link for contact info.

Hawaii Youth Rugby Tournament and Awards Banquet

Hawaii Youth Rugby State Championship Tournament this Friday and Saturday at Kapiolani Park on Oahu.

Friday, May 1st - 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Saturday, May 2nd - 9:00 am - 4:30 pm

Sponsored by the Hawaii Army National Guard.


Awards Banquet:

7:00 pm Trophy Award Presentations and the announcement of the HAWAII YOUTH ALL STAR TEAM, RUGBY HAWAII REP SIDE and the WOMAN'S REP SIDE.

Location: 891 Valkenberg Street at the FLEET RESERVE ASSOCIATION BUILDING (off Nimitz Highway Ewa end, fire station and a small church is in the vicinity.)

ADMISSION: $10.00 Adults $5.00 Youth.......pupus and pizzas.

Tickets to be sold at the park or check with your coaches for your team allotment. DONATIONS FOR THE STATE TEAM going to the National All Star tournament at the end of May is also accepted.

Hawaii Youth Rugby

Some Hawaii Youth Rugby players where in the US U18 (under 18) squad that played in San Diego recently. Wow! Congratulations to the players, coaches, teams, and Hawaii Youth Rugby (especially Kevin Perry).

Don't forget the Hawaii Youth Rugby Tournament March 26-28th at Kapiolani Park.

Hawaii Youth Rugby Tournament

Hawaii Youth Rugby is getting noticed. Many thanks to Kevin Perry for all his hard work and vision for youth rugby in Hawaii.



Hawaii Army National Guard & USA Rugby Announce Support of the Hawaii Youth Rugby Invitational Tournament

The Hawaii Army National Guard and the Hawaii Youth Rugby Association is proud to announce the Hawaii Youth Rugby Invitational Tournament, the largest youth rugby venue ever held in the great state of Hawaii. In addition to the local island clubs, teams from US Mainland and Canada will be in attendance. All are invited to join “Hawaii’s Own” and share the “Aloha Spirit” in cheering on fine young athletes and future leaders to victory at Kapi’olani Park March 26, 27, 28, 2009.

USA Rugby and The Hawaii Army National Guard officially announced the extension of its partnership agreement with the Hawaii Youth Rugby Association for the 2009 season. Through the Rugby Kit Campaign, USA Rugby and the Hawaii Army National Guard have provided field equipment and uniforms to several qualified Hawaii rugby clubs. This gesture has afforded much of Hawaii’s youth an opportunity to participate and enjoy the sport of Rugby. More importantly, it has helped to establish the solid infrastructure and stability necessary for rugby to continue to grow throughout the Hawaiian Islands.

The National Guard partnership will build upon the foundation of rugby in the State of Hawaii, allowing players and coaches to become better in their sport and in their communities. This program will continue to create better leaders with the strength of character and mental toughness that embodies the values of the Hawaii Army National Guard, USA Rugby, and the Hawaii Youth Rugby Association.

For more information contact SFC Dana L Mueller dana.mueller@us.army.mil or David Maafu Wendt at hawaiiguide50@hotmail.com

Hawaii Rugby News

There's going to be a rugby game this Saturday. It's a pre-pre-season game between the Islanders and Harlequins. The game will start at 4:00 pm at Kapiolani Park.

It looks like the Harlequin's Rugby Tournament will being going on. October 24th and 25th, also at Kapiolani Park. There will be teams from Canada, Australia, Maui, and they're expecting New Zealand, along with the home teams of the Islanders and Harlequins.

Check out the Islanders Rugby Club's website (link included in the Rugby Related Links list). Nothing fancy, but provides contact info and location of their practices. And best of all, it's free using GooglePages. I put it together for them, and I'll be getting with Lofi to add some pictures, some history of the team, and some other information. Oh, got to update it to put in their practice times of 7:30 - 9:30 pm (under the lights). I should probably include the days too, but need to look that up real quick (Tues/Thur?).

And don't forget to Adopt-A-Rugger and Hug-A-Rugger, where all proceeds are donated to USA Rugby (so the girls - the Women's National Team - don't have to pay their own way to play in games).

I'm still here

Just a quick note to let you know I'm still here. Just been very busy. Whether I'm actually accomplishing anything is another matter. I'm back to work on my next book. I set it aside for awhile while I was doing the webinar series, but I'm back on it. I'm tired of looking at it, so I need to finish. Moving into a new apartment and have some painting to do. I'm looking for a cheap, but good working condition, stacked washer/dryer for my lanai, so if you're in Honolulu and have one, please let me know. A love seat, large area rug, and floor lamp would help too.

Total Flanker has answered the Captaincy question with his usual wit. Check it out. And Wendy is raffling off some t-shirts, so put your name in the hat.

About three months to the Honolulu Marathon, and training is going pretty good. I need to do longer long runs (I'm doing 1 & 1/2 hours on Sundays, but need to bring that up a bit). My goal is twofold; finish in 4-1/2 hours and not be in severe pain.

I haven't heard anything about the Hawaii Harlequins Rugby Tournament that's scheduled for October. Is it still on?

Customer Service, probably the most overlooked, poorly executed part of Business Operations. I'll be ranting again soon.

Aloha for now.

Hawaii Rugby News

Been busy and out of touch recently, but here's some Hawaii rugby news:

Fundraiser

A fundraiser for the upcoming Hawaii State Rugby Union Select Side tour to Utah in July.

Donation: $10
What you get: Pupu & Beer (Pupu, for you non-Hawaii people, means appetizers)
When: Friday, May 30th (today, so hurry and read this), 6:00 pm - midnight
Where: Puerto Rican Hall, 1249 N. School St., in Kalihi (below the Mexican restaurant)


Hawaii Harlequins Rugby Tournament

October 23 - 25, 2008
Kapiolani Park, Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii

This used to be one of the premier rugby tournaments in the country, with a diverse and international group of teams. When I first moved to Hawaii I showed up at the park with my cleats and picked up several games. I believe I played for one team from Australia and a team from Japan (but I could be mistaken, as that was many beers/years ago). I'll post more info as I find out. Definitely put this on your colander, though.


Hawaii State Rugby Union Meeting

November 15, 2008
Let's kick off the new season with even bigger and better things than we accomplished this year!



Kalihi Raiders Rugby Tournament

December 5 - 6, 2008
Kapiolani Park
This was a great little local tournament this past year, so expect the same or better this year. Definitely worth watching, and a great place to meet many of the local rugby crowd. It helped get me turned back on to rugby last year.


Hawaii State Rugby Union - Season Begins

January 24, 2009
Kapiolani Park

What a great season this year turned out to be. Thanks to Ma'afu (David Wendt), Union President, for all his hard work, and for all the hard work and dedication from all the teams, players, coaches, officials, fans, and supporters. Let's build on this year and make next year even better. Woo Hoo!!


Hawaii State Rugby Union


And remember, proceeds from sales of Adopt-A-Rugger and Hug-A-Rugger merchandise will be donated to USA Rugby to help the cause of rugby in the U.S.

Impressive.... Most impressive.... But you are not a Jedi yet

The Hawaii State Rugby Union held a team meeting last night, prior to the season starting. I am very impressed with everyone who is involved. There are a lot of dedicated people working hard to take rugby to the next level here. Here's just a few of the things going on:

The Hawaii State Rugby Union consists of the following teams (adult):

Founding members

UH Rugby Club
Kalihi Raiders
Samoan Warriors
Islanders Rugby Club

New members

Hurricanes Rugby Club (North Shore)
Barbarians
Hawaii Harlequins

The schedule for the season is being developed and will be posted to the Hawaii State Rugby Union website soon. Contact info for all the teams and Union officials will be posted too.

The Referee Society, which installed officers last weekend, will fall under the Union administration umbrella. The newly certified referees will have a chance to get some game time in at this weekends pre-season round-robin tournament (at Kapiolani Park starting at 11:00 am, Saturday).

A Disciplinary Committee for the Union was established, to clarify existing rules, enforce them, and modify them as needed, as well as handle all disciplinary matters.

This Friday we're having a meeting for the Hawaii Youth Rugby. We're all working together towards the same goals. Woo hoo! There's a lot of organizations out there who could take some lessons from what's going on here.

So, things are looking pretty organized, we've got good people in all the key positions, we're good to go.

Hawaii Rugby Tournament Results - Day 2

Boy, what a difference a day makes. The rugby today was drastically different from yesterday, a step up. There was some great ball handling, passing, and ball control today. All the games today (three games) were well played, exciting, and fun to watch. The conditions today were also drastically different. Yesterday was grey and overcast, and not too warm. Today was hot and humid. My burnt body can attest to that. I suddenly realized, after game two, that I was burnt and dehydrated. Luckily there was a break between games, so I hydrated and grabbed my umbrella. I took a few minutes in the shade of a tree too. Ahh!

I also have to commend the refs for the tournament. They did an excellent job of keeping things under control, while keeping play flowing. Good work guys! So here's the results:

Game 1:

Hurricanes - 20 vs. Kalihi Raiders - 3

The Hurricanes scored three tries, converting one, and adding a penalty. The Raiders scored one penalty.


Game 2:

Maui Rugby - 15 vs. Tama Sulu Ie - 10

The best game of the tournament. Well played, well fought, and very close. These teams looked nothing like they did yesterday. They must have slept well. Maui scored two tries, converting one, and added a penalty. Tama Sulu Ie scored one try, converted it, and added a penalty. Great work guys!


Game 3 (Championship Game):

Maui Rugby - 0 vs. Hurricanes - 11

Another good game. I don't know how they did it, after each playing a game earlier and the heat hovering on the field like it was. But they played a well fought match. The Hurricanes won the game and the tournament, though, and I think part of that was due to the extra rest they had from playing earlier in the day. The Hurricanes scored one try and two penalties.

So, keep looking here for updates and information on rugby in Hawaii. Aloha.

Hawaii Rugby Tournament Scores - Day 1

Today was a good day. And a big day for me. I met lots of people and got lots of great information. Seems there is a vibrant and growing rugby community here in Hawaii, but no one knows about it. I'm trying to change that.

There's a rugby tournament going on, today and tomorrow. Below are today's scores, but first some information and commentary. I discovered two more teams today, Maui Rugby, which turns out to be a team as well as an organization organizing and developing youth rugby, both boys and girls. Excellent! And Tama Sule Ie Rugby Club. They're out in Nanakuli, on Oahu, and they practice Mon, Tue, Thur, and Fri from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm, at Nanakuli Beach Park. Maui Rugby practices at a field on Shaw Street in Lahaina, and they have directions and contact info on their website. I also met the new president of the Hawaii State Rugby Union. This Union is news to me, but it looks like there are some people who are serious about getting things organized here. Excellent! I'll put a link to their website, but it seems that there was some technical difficulty putting it up (I was told it was just put up yesterday) and there's nothing there yet. Hopefully it will be fixed by the time you read this.

I'm also told there's going to be a clinic for referees on January 11-12, 2008. I'm also told it's going to be run by the head of referees for USA Rugby. That will be good, not just for training refs and passing on information, but in developing stronger relations with USA Rugby.

Now, almost ready for game results, but I have to make some comments. The tournament is being played by teams that are composed almost entirely of Pacific Islanders; Samoa, Tonga, New Zealand, and I don't know which other islands. There is, or has been, a stereotype of Pacific Islander teams. Whether they were true or not, the stereotype was there. But after watching these games today, any preconceived notions I had are gone, and yours should be too. There was some great rugby played today, and all the games were clean and well controlled. There was definitely some physical play, but it was all conducted at high standards. I wanted to mention that for any naysayers out there. And, in case anybody's interested, I'm haole.

And it goes without saying, rugby people are good people. Everyone I met today, and the past several weeks I've been out gathering information, is just wonderful. The tournament organizers, refs, coaches, players, and the fans. And tomorrow's day 2.

So, the scores:

Teams:

Maui Rugby
Barbarians
Hurricanes
Islanders (withdrew and forfeited games)
Raiders
Tama Sulu Ie

Game 1:

Maui Rugby - 13 vs. Barbarians - 5

Maui Rugby played a man short due to not arriving on time from the flight over, but scored two tries and kicked one penalty to defeat the Barbarians, who scored one try. The first half was very well played by both teams, before getting a little sloppy in the second half. I have to mention that Mark stole one lineout from Maui (his big play of the day, per him). Three cheers for us old guys. I have noticed that fitness is a big issue with all the teams I've seen play the last few weeks. Fitness, tackling (effective tackling, that is), and ball control are the big areas that need work. There is no lack of enthusiasm though. Makes you want to get out there on the field.


Game 2:

Hurricanes win by forfeit over Islanders


Game 3:

Tama Sule Ie - 10 vs. Kalihi Raiders - 5

Tama Sule Ie scored one try, with conversion, and a dropkick. That dropkick was great. Totally unexpected, from about 30 meters out. The Raiders scored one try on an outstanding play that saw great passing and support.


Game 4:

Hurricanes - 26 vs. Barbarians - 0

The Barbarians suffered from their fitness. After playing their morning game, of 20 minute halves, they looked tired and played tired. They've got some potential and some good players, but we'll have to work on that fitness. The Hurricanes scored four tries, and converted three of them.


Game 5:

Kalihi Raiders - 8 vs. Maui Rugby - 8

I was too busy talking to make any worthwhile comments about this game, except to note one player from the Raiders. This guy is good. To look at him you might mistake him for a prop, but he plays, I think, Inside Center (refer back to my talking and not paying attention). He's got wheels, can cut and run, and can run you over.


Game 6:

Tama Sulu Ie won by forfeit over Islanders.


Tomorrow, the games start at 11:00 am (Kapiolani Park). And I'm told there's an after tournament dinner, to be held at the Puerto Rican Hall in Kalihi. I'll have to look up where that is, but it's $10 to get in and you get food and good company.

Now I have to tell you about Jim (not his real name). Actually, that's how he introduced himself, but he's from Japan and I know his real name is not Jim. He wandered over to the park this morning and stayed all day. He's 56 years old and plays Senior Rugby for a team in Kobe, Japan. He used to be a flanker, but now plays out on the wing (there's a story behind that), and gets cold alot standing out there. Another reason to be a forward, no chance to get cold. And Jim's goal is to be the #1 oldest rugby player in the world. But he has to play for another 50 years. Apparently, the oldest rugby player is 103 years old. Hang in there Jim.