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.
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Friday, November 30, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
A Steve-O Manifest-O
Nobody asked for my opinion, but that’s never stopped me before. So here goes. I’ll teach you a little bit about a fundamental and powerful, yet under-utilized and often poorly used, business process, and hopefully raise the status of rugby in the United States. Hold onto your hats…
To be successful, an organization must be integrated, from top to bottom. The entire organization must move in the same direction, towards the same goals. This can be done, and is being done in many successful organizations. An organization that is disjointed will not only under-utilize its resources, weakening itself, it will pull itself in different directions, maybe even pull itself apart. Business or rugby, for-profit or non-profit, to be successful you must be integrated. So how to do that?
Strategic Planning. I work with organizations to develop effective strategic planning process, and I write and give presentations on the topic. Just the words, strategic planning, cause many eyes to roll, but that’s because the process has a bad reputation. Much like rugby used to have a bad reputation, but we’ve overcome that, for the most part, and so can strategic planning. What I’m talking about is an effective process to set goals, and then achieve them.
First, the simple basics of this process, then a plan for United States rugby. Rugby in the United States is disjointed, and it needs to be integrated. It can be done, and here’s a method to do it. An effective strategic plan consists of four elements:
1) Products & Services
2) Markets
3) Financial
4) Structure
It is also backed up with an Action Plan and an effective Performance Measurement System. And this is a process, and ongoing process, not something that’s performed once a year resulting in a piece of paper that sits in a drawer. The plan must be infused throughout the organization, from the top executive to the lowest level individual.
Now, no matter what you think, USA Rugby is a good organization. My thoughts are to enhance the organization, integrate the entire rugby community, and raise the level and awareness of rugby throughout the country. You can also use this same methodology in your business, and should.
With each of the four dimensions, specific goals or objectives must be identified. They have to be specific and measurable, and they have to be realistic, though they should be stretch goals. USA Rugby offers a variety of products and services. The various teams that are supported, including the Men’s and Women’s National Teams, the training camps, coaching programs, player registrations, are all products and services. For strategic goals, the organization must identify products and services that it will offer in the future, either new ones or modifications of existing ones. For an organization of this size and maturity, five years out at a minimum should be looked at, with some 10 or 20 year goals included. What products and services will USA Rugby be offering five years from now? That should be spelled out in the plan.
For markets, you’re looking at different segments. These can be geographic segments, age and gender segments, or anything else that makes sense. This also includes the fan segments. Right now, rugby in the U.S. primarily consists of players and former players. The market has to expand beyond that, to the general public, but specific market segments must be identified and targeted over a specific time horizon.
Financial causes problems for some people, because it refers to more than just a budget. It consists of defined targets for revenue, costs, and profit margins. I have no idea what the budget for USA Rugby is, but let’s say it’s $10 million a year in revenue. The strategic plan might include a goal of $20 million in revenue five years from now, or sponsorship contracts will total $10 million, or administrative costs will decrease to 5% of revenue. Whatever they are, they are specific targets, not vague or fuzzy numbers.
Structure is another area that causes some confusion. Structure includes things like specific positions, operating divisions, and departments. What will your organization look like five years from now? What will the reporting system look like, how will the operating divisions relate. Again, these goals have to be specific. The structure of a $20 million organization may look quite a bit different than that of a $10 million organization. But maybe not. Either way, you have to define it.
After you defined the goals in these four dimensions, the Action Plan integrates them. You might not offer all your products and services in all your markets, so you need to define which products in which markets, and the revenue provided by each product in each market. This is also where you come up with a more detailed timeline, and the prerequisites for tasks. To get to $20 million in revenue five years from now, what will the revenue be in four years? In three, two, and one year from now? And if you’re going to offer a particular service five years from now, what will have to be done in three years, and what has to be done today? The thing to remember with the Action Plan is that it is still a high level plan. The individual divisions, units, and people will have far more detailed plans, task lists, and to-do lists. But they all flow down from the strategic plan and they all support that plan.
If you want to actually achieve all these goals and plans, you have to measure your performance. A performance measurement system is not the annual review that everyone loathes and that accomplishes nothing. An effective performance measurement system ties the whole organization together and gets it moving in the same direction, to achieve those goals defined in the strategic plan. A performance measurement system is not a punishment system. Performance measurements have two purposes; 1) measure progress, and 2) influence behavior. You have to measure the progress you’re making towards your goals, to keep on track and make any adjustments that need to be made, and you have to guide everyone’s behavior towards achieving your goals.
Everyone involved with rugby needs to working towards the same goals; an active, robust, popular, and respected sport, enjoyed by millions of players and fans. The whole rugby universe needs to be financially stable, from the smallest local club to the governing body, USA Rugby. Every game that is played, every tournament held, every training camp, must help to move the organization towards its defined goals. Measurement like the number of new players recruited, the number of players retained each year, the increase in revenue or budget of a club or territorial union, will help to measure progress and influence behavior. Again, this is not punishment, but if a club knows that they’re being reviewed and measured on financial stability and player retention, they’ll work towards meeting their goals. And by meeting their goals, they’ll be helping the organization meet its higher level goals. All the way up and down throughout the entire organization.
It won’t be easy, and there will be some resistance, but if everyone is moving in the same direction, everyone involved with rugby will benefit. If you’re used to playing in front of 20 old or injured buddies today, wouldn’t you be thrilled to play in front of 100 cheering fans tomorrow? You can still have a beer afterwards.
And you can do your part today; Adopt-A-Rugger and Hug-A-Rugger
To be successful, an organization must be integrated, from top to bottom. The entire organization must move in the same direction, towards the same goals. This can be done, and is being done in many successful organizations. An organization that is disjointed will not only under-utilize its resources, weakening itself, it will pull itself in different directions, maybe even pull itself apart. Business or rugby, for-profit or non-profit, to be successful you must be integrated. So how to do that?
Strategic Planning. I work with organizations to develop effective strategic planning process, and I write and give presentations on the topic. Just the words, strategic planning, cause many eyes to roll, but that’s because the process has a bad reputation. Much like rugby used to have a bad reputation, but we’ve overcome that, for the most part, and so can strategic planning. What I’m talking about is an effective process to set goals, and then achieve them.
First, the simple basics of this process, then a plan for United States rugby. Rugby in the United States is disjointed, and it needs to be integrated. It can be done, and here’s a method to do it. An effective strategic plan consists of four elements:
1) Products & Services
2) Markets
3) Financial
4) Structure
It is also backed up with an Action Plan and an effective Performance Measurement System. And this is a process, and ongoing process, not something that’s performed once a year resulting in a piece of paper that sits in a drawer. The plan must be infused throughout the organization, from the top executive to the lowest level individual.
Now, no matter what you think, USA Rugby is a good organization. My thoughts are to enhance the organization, integrate the entire rugby community, and raise the level and awareness of rugby throughout the country. You can also use this same methodology in your business, and should.
With each of the four dimensions, specific goals or objectives must be identified. They have to be specific and measurable, and they have to be realistic, though they should be stretch goals. USA Rugby offers a variety of products and services. The various teams that are supported, including the Men’s and Women’s National Teams, the training camps, coaching programs, player registrations, are all products and services. For strategic goals, the organization must identify products and services that it will offer in the future, either new ones or modifications of existing ones. For an organization of this size and maturity, five years out at a minimum should be looked at, with some 10 or 20 year goals included. What products and services will USA Rugby be offering five years from now? That should be spelled out in the plan.
For markets, you’re looking at different segments. These can be geographic segments, age and gender segments, or anything else that makes sense. This also includes the fan segments. Right now, rugby in the U.S. primarily consists of players and former players. The market has to expand beyond that, to the general public, but specific market segments must be identified and targeted over a specific time horizon.
Financial causes problems for some people, because it refers to more than just a budget. It consists of defined targets for revenue, costs, and profit margins. I have no idea what the budget for USA Rugby is, but let’s say it’s $10 million a year in revenue. The strategic plan might include a goal of $20 million in revenue five years from now, or sponsorship contracts will total $10 million, or administrative costs will decrease to 5% of revenue. Whatever they are, they are specific targets, not vague or fuzzy numbers.
Structure is another area that causes some confusion. Structure includes things like specific positions, operating divisions, and departments. What will your organization look like five years from now? What will the reporting system look like, how will the operating divisions relate. Again, these goals have to be specific. The structure of a $20 million organization may look quite a bit different than that of a $10 million organization. But maybe not. Either way, you have to define it.
After you defined the goals in these four dimensions, the Action Plan integrates them. You might not offer all your products and services in all your markets, so you need to define which products in which markets, and the revenue provided by each product in each market. This is also where you come up with a more detailed timeline, and the prerequisites for tasks. To get to $20 million in revenue five years from now, what will the revenue be in four years? In three, two, and one year from now? And if you’re going to offer a particular service five years from now, what will have to be done in three years, and what has to be done today? The thing to remember with the Action Plan is that it is still a high level plan. The individual divisions, units, and people will have far more detailed plans, task lists, and to-do lists. But they all flow down from the strategic plan and they all support that plan.
If you want to actually achieve all these goals and plans, you have to measure your performance. A performance measurement system is not the annual review that everyone loathes and that accomplishes nothing. An effective performance measurement system ties the whole organization together and gets it moving in the same direction, to achieve those goals defined in the strategic plan. A performance measurement system is not a punishment system. Performance measurements have two purposes; 1) measure progress, and 2) influence behavior. You have to measure the progress you’re making towards your goals, to keep on track and make any adjustments that need to be made, and you have to guide everyone’s behavior towards achieving your goals.
Everyone involved with rugby needs to working towards the same goals; an active, robust, popular, and respected sport, enjoyed by millions of players and fans. The whole rugby universe needs to be financially stable, from the smallest local club to the governing body, USA Rugby. Every game that is played, every tournament held, every training camp, must help to move the organization towards its defined goals. Measurement like the number of new players recruited, the number of players retained each year, the increase in revenue or budget of a club or territorial union, will help to measure progress and influence behavior. Again, this is not punishment, but if a club knows that they’re being reviewed and measured on financial stability and player retention, they’ll work towards meeting their goals. And by meeting their goals, they’ll be helping the organization meet its higher level goals. All the way up and down throughout the entire organization.
It won’t be easy, and there will be some resistance, but if everyone is moving in the same direction, everyone involved with rugby will benefit. If you’re used to playing in front of 20 old or injured buddies today, wouldn’t you be thrilled to play in front of 100 cheering fans tomorrow? You can still have a beer afterwards.
And you can do your part today; Adopt-A-Rugger and Hug-A-Rugger
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Sports Management & Manufacturing: What's the Difference?
I added a new link to Your Scrumhalf Connection. While I was looking at her site I noticed a post she made about the official sponsor for the Women's National Team tour of England (taking place soon, or now, I forget). The sponsor is First Sports International. They're a software company providing products for sports teams and event management. Interesting, I never really thought about that side of things. I'm used to software for manufacturing, warehousing, inventory management, and the associated accounting and customer management, and all. Which brings me to my point (oh, and thanks to First Sports for their sponsorship), what's the difference between manufacturing and sports management? Not as much as you think.
The core of both industries is managing resources. The resources are different, but the management of them is not that different. And when it comes to software to help run your business, the differences are even less. The first thing to remember is that software is a tool. When the right tool is used, and used correctly, it is a big help. If the wrong tool is used, or if the right tool is used incorrectly, it hurts more than it helps. Technology will not solve your problems. It can help you run your operations more effectively, or it can send you quickly into a downward spiral. The choice is yours.
The choice is yours because before you look to a technology solution to solve your problems, do some analysis of your business first. Look at how you do things, what works, what's causing you trouble. Then work to improve your basic processes and look for ways to improve the entire organization. If technology can help you improve, along with or after you've got all your processes working well, then use it. And remember that you can't just buy some software, install it, and expect everything to be all hunky-dory. A software implementation is a huge undertaking, especially if it's and enterprise wide system. Besides all the training, pre-, during, and post-installation, it's a huge cultural shift for the organization. Even if you've already got an existing system, switching to a new one is just as big a deal.
So, sports management and manufacturing. Not much of a difference after all.
The core of both industries is managing resources. The resources are different, but the management of them is not that different. And when it comes to software to help run your business, the differences are even less. The first thing to remember is that software is a tool. When the right tool is used, and used correctly, it is a big help. If the wrong tool is used, or if the right tool is used incorrectly, it hurts more than it helps. Technology will not solve your problems. It can help you run your operations more effectively, or it can send you quickly into a downward spiral. The choice is yours.
The choice is yours because before you look to a technology solution to solve your problems, do some analysis of your business first. Look at how you do things, what works, what's causing you trouble. Then work to improve your basic processes and look for ways to improve the entire organization. If technology can help you improve, along with or after you've got all your processes working well, then use it. And remember that you can't just buy some software, install it, and expect everything to be all hunky-dory. A software implementation is a huge undertaking, especially if it's and enterprise wide system. Besides all the training, pre-, during, and post-installation, it's a huge cultural shift for the organization. Even if you've already got an existing system, switching to a new one is just as big a deal.
So, sports management and manufacturing. Not much of a difference after all.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Am I out of the loop?
I guess I've been out the rugby loop for a long time and haven't been paying much attention to the whole wide world of rugby. Of course, it could be I'm just clueless and never knew what was going on, but we won't go there. I "found" eRugbyNews so I can get some news there, when I remember to look. I need to subscribe to Rugby News, since I'm a hold something in my hand kind of guy and it just comes to my house without me having to think about it. And there's Saturday's a Rugby Day for women's rugby news. But here's a couple of things I found that I did not know about and find very interesting.
Did you know there's a non-profit foundation with the sole purpose of promoting rugby? They primarily support youth rugby, from the really small fry through high school, but also offer support for coaches and some other things? Well, I didn't. The United States Rugby Football Foundation. They were founded in 1963. How come I've never heard of them? And another question, why aren't they associated with USA Rugby? They are separate organizations, but they're too separate. They can remain separate but still be sister organizations. The missions overlap to a great extent, and I think the Foundation would gain a lot more exposure (and therefore, money) if they were officially associated with USA Rugby. I've been involved with plenty of organizations that have a non-profit arm that acts as a support mechanism and funnels donations into a variety of programs. Something to think about. But check them out, or if you know more about them, let me know. I signed up for their newsletter, so maybe I'll find out more.
And here's something I found quite interesting. Did you know you can take a course in Rugby Management? Now you do. Maybe you can even get college credit for it. This company, Sports Management Worldwide offers and 8-week online course in managing professional or amateur rugby teams. Now, since I just found this I can't vouch for them, I just think it's pretty darn interesting. When you visit their site, read the article from the Portland Business Journal (on their home page) to get a better perspective on the company. When I'm done with my MBA (which I'm finishing up, ugh!) I might look into this just because it sounds cool. Whether you could ever get a job in managing a rugby team after taking this course is another matter, but since that's not what I'm interested in, it doesn't matter to me. If I do take the course I'll let you know what I think about it. If you've taken it, please share your thoughts.
That leads me into a whole other line of thought, but that's for another post.
I'm adding a link to the Quad Rugby site over in the links, because I think it's so cool. I saw the movie Murder Ball a couple of years ago and was very impressed. Not too much similarity to rugby as a game, but very much so in attitude.
Did you know there's a non-profit foundation with the sole purpose of promoting rugby? They primarily support youth rugby, from the really small fry through high school, but also offer support for coaches and some other things? Well, I didn't. The United States Rugby Football Foundation. They were founded in 1963. How come I've never heard of them? And another question, why aren't they associated with USA Rugby? They are separate organizations, but they're too separate. They can remain separate but still be sister organizations. The missions overlap to a great extent, and I think the Foundation would gain a lot more exposure (and therefore, money) if they were officially associated with USA Rugby. I've been involved with plenty of organizations that have a non-profit arm that acts as a support mechanism and funnels donations into a variety of programs. Something to think about. But check them out, or if you know more about them, let me know. I signed up for their newsletter, so maybe I'll find out more.
And here's something I found quite interesting. Did you know you can take a course in Rugby Management? Now you do. Maybe you can even get college credit for it. This company, Sports Management Worldwide offers and 8-week online course in managing professional or amateur rugby teams. Now, since I just found this I can't vouch for them, I just think it's pretty darn interesting. When you visit their site, read the article from the Portland Business Journal (on their home page) to get a better perspective on the company. When I'm done with my MBA (which I'm finishing up, ugh!) I might look into this just because it sounds cool. Whether you could ever get a job in managing a rugby team after taking this course is another matter, but since that's not what I'm interested in, it doesn't matter to me. If I do take the course I'll let you know what I think about it. If you've taken it, please share your thoughts.
That leads me into a whole other line of thought, but that's for another post.
I'm adding a link to the Quad Rugby site over in the links, because I think it's so cool. I saw the movie Murder Ball a couple of years ago and was very impressed. Not too much similarity to rugby as a game, but very much so in attitude.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Hawaii Rugby News
First, yesterday's game. The Hawaii Harlequins played Briars Rugby Club from New South Wales, Australia. Looking at their website, it seems they're on an end-of-season tour. Somebody told me they were heading to California. Cool. The score was 19-Harlequins : Briars 24. Briars scored four tries with two conversions. Two tries with conversions in the first half, and two unconverted tries in the second half. Harlequins scored three tries with two conversions. On unconverted try in the first half, then two tries with conversions in the second half. Since I arrived late, not knowing if there was a game and just showing up at the park, I only saw the second half. It was good though. As I said in a previous post, there's nothing like watching rugby up close and personal, even if it isn't the best rugby you've seen. What I saw of the game was pretty sloppy. A few good runs, but lots of bad passes, taking the ball while standing still, poor tackling, and the like. Still fun to watch though, so who's complaining.
What I did find at the game was some good information. Here's what I found, and what I found out last time I found a game.
There's a tournament next week, November 30 - December 1, at Kapiolani Park. That's the big park at the Diamond Head end of Waikiki, on Oahu, if you're not familiar with Hawaii. Should be fun. I'll be there. I don't know who all will be playing, but I now it's being hosted and organized by the Kalihi Raiders Rugby Club, and that the Islanders Rugby Club and the Barbarians (all from Oahu) will be participating. It's supposed to start at 11:00 am on Friday, the 30th.
Here's some information on clubs and their practices:
Hawaii Harlequins, practice Tues/Thur at 7:00 pm at Kapoalono Park in Kaimuki (near KCC, sort of). Their website is not too up to date, but there's some contact info.
Barbarians, practice Mon-Fri (so they say) at 5:30 pm at Paki Park, across from the Honolulu Zoo. No website and I don't have any contact info yet.
Kalihi Raiders Rugby Club, practice Mon-Thur at 6:30 pm at Kalakaua Field behind Farrington High School. No website and I don't have contact info yet.
Islanders Rugby Club, practice Tue/Thur at 5:30 pm at Kam Field (Kamehameha Field for those of you who don't like to see Kamehameha abbreviated like that), off of Likelike Highway mauka of H-1. I have a phone number for Lofi if you want to contact him.
I also spoke with someone who's involved with the Hawaii Youth Rugby League. They sound like they've got a good organization. Sounds like they just added a third team (U19, or Under 19 year olds) on the Big Island, which is really cool. There's supposed to be teams on Oahu and Maui, and then the three on the Big Island. I'll have to find out more about them and find out when and where they play. They have a website.
I also understand there's a team, the Hurricanes, on the North Shore (Oahu), so I'll have to find out about them too. They have a website.
I'll put links to the teams and organizations who have websites over on my links list, and when I find out more I'll post it here.
And don't forget to Adopt-A-Rugger and Hug-A-Rugger.
What I did find at the game was some good information. Here's what I found, and what I found out last time I found a game.
There's a tournament next week, November 30 - December 1, at Kapiolani Park. That's the big park at the Diamond Head end of Waikiki, on Oahu, if you're not familiar with Hawaii. Should be fun. I'll be there. I don't know who all will be playing, but I now it's being hosted and organized by the Kalihi Raiders Rugby Club, and that the Islanders Rugby Club and the Barbarians (all from Oahu) will be participating. It's supposed to start at 11:00 am on Friday, the 30th.
Here's some information on clubs and their practices:
Hawaii Harlequins, practice Tues/Thur at 7:00 pm at Kapoalono Park in Kaimuki (near KCC, sort of). Their website is not too up to date, but there's some contact info.
Barbarians, practice Mon-Fri (so they say) at 5:30 pm at Paki Park, across from the Honolulu Zoo. No website and I don't have any contact info yet.
Kalihi Raiders Rugby Club, practice Mon-Thur at 6:30 pm at Kalakaua Field behind Farrington High School. No website and I don't have contact info yet.
Islanders Rugby Club, practice Tue/Thur at 5:30 pm at Kam Field (Kamehameha Field for those of you who don't like to see Kamehameha abbreviated like that), off of Likelike Highway mauka of H-1. I have a phone number for Lofi if you want to contact him.
I also spoke with someone who's involved with the Hawaii Youth Rugby League. They sound like they've got a good organization. Sounds like they just added a third team (U19, or Under 19 year olds) on the Big Island, which is really cool. There's supposed to be teams on Oahu and Maui, and then the three on the Big Island. I'll have to find out more about them and find out when and where they play. They have a website.
I also understand there's a team, the Hurricanes, on the North Shore (Oahu), so I'll have to find out about them too. They have a website.
I'll put links to the teams and organizations who have websites over on my links list, and when I find out more I'll post it here.
And don't forget to Adopt-A-Rugger and Hug-A-Rugger.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Some Hawaii Rugby News
I got to watch half a rugby game today. That's one reason I'm out in search of rugby news here in the islands, so I don't only see half a game. Without much information to go on, I just show up at the park looking for games. They started on time today (though I didn't even know what on time was), so I arrived at half time. Oh,well. Watched a good second half and met some people who gave me loads of information.
But, since it's past my bedtime and I'm in the middle of upteen projects, you'll have to wait for morning for my second half recap, score, and all the info I got. Sorry, but I'm old. Need my beauty sleep. Have to get up and run in the morning. Since I'll probably be up before you, you should see something when you get up and log on.
But, since it's past my bedtime and I'm in the middle of upteen projects, you'll have to wait for morning for my second half recap, score, and all the info I got. Sorry, but I'm old. Need my beauty sleep. Have to get up and run in the morning. Since I'll probably be up before you, you should see something when you get up and log on.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
A bright spot
You don’t often hear world class athletes saying things of great intelligence, but sometimes you do. Martin Johnson, captain of the 2003 World Cup winning England England
Now look at your business. How do you go about promoting people into management positions? It’s usually somebody who’s very good at what they do. Meaning they have very good technical skills in their field. They don’t have management experience, they have specialized technical experience. Is that the best criteria? Probably not. There are very different skill sets required for management. People should be selected for promotion to management based on those skills. You have to look out for those skills within your workforce. Keep your eyes and ears open. Then start developing those skills and send people out for management skills training. You shouldn’t just throw people into the role without training and expect them to sink or swim. It’s just not good business, not a good investment in time and resources.
And remember, Adopt-A-Rugger and Hug-A-Rugger.
Now look at your business. How do you go about promoting people into management positions? It’s usually somebody who’s very good at what they do. Meaning they have very good technical skills in their field. They don’t have management experience, they have specialized technical experience. Is that the best criteria? Probably not. There are very different skill sets required for management. People should be selected for promotion to management based on those skills. You have to look out for those skills within your workforce. Keep your eyes and ears open. Then start developing those skills and send people out for management skills training. You shouldn’t just throw people into the role without training and expect them to sink or swim. It’s just not good business, not a good investment in time and resources.
And remember, Adopt-A-Rugger and Hug-A-Rugger.
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