Dallas Athletic Rugby Club

Timmy's almost there.

2008-06-26T12:12:00.000-07:00

Just got a picture sent to me from Timmy but I couldn't view (sprint says it was already removed). We made Minnesota on Sunday, I thought he might have made the International Falls. But I just got off the phone with him. Flat tire in Big Lake, MN. He's on his way to St. Cloud then Lake Itaska. He and co-DARC Oldboy Magic Rick Majeski are going to try to hook up.

You can keep up with Timmy here (well, at least follow along):
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=3Tzut&doc_id=3744&v=99

Zee "tries"

2008-06-17T15:57:00.000-07:00

Dozer sent word of the latest Zee (Taduzwa Ngwenya) video on youtube. Three missed tries. Heartbreaking.

Here are his tries against Samoa and South Africa. You can tell the French commentators are excited. Maybe that's why he ended up at Biarritz.

July 4th Run

2008-06-11T05:48:00.000-07:00

An idea before you start consuming adult beverages. There is a 5K run in The Colony. For most of us, this is one of the closer runs to get to. It looks like they have quite a lot going on to celebrate the 4th. Sam and I will be there. Anyone intersted, check it out.

http://www.ci.the-colony.tx.us/lbl/5krun.htm

Two wheels and two feet

2008-06-03T05:59:00.000-07:00

In addition to 7's season, some of our guys are doing some other fitness related activities.

Richie Almond is in California doing a bicycle ride from San Francisco to LA to raise money for AIDS research. Hopefully, "Wheel's" balance will be better than it was on the motorcycle last year. You can find information on the ride at http://www.aidslifecycle.org/3024.

Timmy Williams is on a personal journey on his bicycle. For the next two months, Timmy will be riding from New Orleans to Canada. He'll be blogging his journey here http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/Timmy.

Our runners (who have an average age of 40), Sam, Jon, and Greg, are also busy. We'll be doing the 5k Too Hot to Handle on July 19th. Anyone interested look here http://www.runontexas.com/TemporaryPages/TooHot2008/toohotinfo.htm.

Long range, the goal is to run in the Tyler Half Marthon on October 11th. There is also a 5k available. More info http://www.tylerazalea10k.com/half.htm

A Great End of the Season Party

2008-06-01T17:46:00.000-07:00

I'd have to say Saturday night's party at the Tipp was a success. Good attendance with several of the wives and some friends coming out for the night. Bash was in town from D.C. as well as Josh, who closed on his new house in Chicago that morning. But, he's vowed to come in for a game or two next season. I also want to thank several players who were not there, but did let people know they couldn't make it. It's nice when almost everyone was accounted for.

After everyone chowed down on some wings and beer, we did have some awards to give out. It was great to revive the tradition that was, for several reasons, skipped last year. On the whole, Swick gave thanks and appreciation to everyone for turning the team from .500 last year to a 19-7 and being in the TRU hunt up until the last game this year.

As for the individual awards:

Newcomer of the Year - Voss
Most Improved - Sam
Back of the Year - Red
Forward of the Year - Josh
MVP - Drew
Merilee Kirkwood Cup - Richie and Bloo

For those of you who could not attend, Swick has your awards. Also, we have decided that going forward, the MVP will be renamed in honor of Tyler Trovillion.

Thanks to everyone who came out and made the party a success. And, thanks as always to the staff at The Tipp for taking care of us.

Banquet Reminder

2008-05-27T06:08:00.001-07:00

If the clock on the right of the page isn't enough for some of you (Gonzo), our year end banquet is this Saturday at The Tipp. We are asking for $10 a person to help cover the food and drink cost. We open this party to everybody, so feel free to bring along anybody wanting to come out for a night of fun. Timmy Williams will not be there as he is beginning a summer biking tour around the country, so everyone should be safe.

See you Saturday.

Remembering the Fallen

2008-05-26T06:49:00.000-07:00

As everyone enjoys the three day weekend of Memorial Day as a break from work or school and the traditional start of a summer full of barbecues, being outdoors, and (in Dallas) sweating our butts off, the members of the Dallas Athletic Rugby Club wish to pause a moment and remember the fallen.

We are thankful to all US soldiers who, over the 200+ year history of the United States, have sacrificed their lives so that we may enjoy ours. We truly are grateful for their service and the ultimate sacrifice they made.

With deepest pride and admiration, we say thank you to one of our own; Tyler Trovillion, our teammate, our friend, and an outstanding soldier of the United States Marine Corps. A good, young player on the pitch, Tyler was an even better soldier who servered proudly in Iraq. His tour of duty ended on June 15, 2005 when he was killed in action. Every member of DARC thanks you, Tyler, for your unselfish service to this country and we all miss you.

Midland 7s Announced

2008-05-19T12:19:00.001-07:00

The Midland Mad Dogs are kicking off the first TOLA 7s Rugby event with their 3rd annual Los Perros de Mayo 7s tournament, to be held at Hogan Park in Midland, Texas on May 31, 2008.

Registration will be $150 for Men's teams.

Please contact Stan Venable (svenable@t3mid.com) or Ernest Carrasco (ernest@ccdirect.net) with any questions or for registration.

Banquet Update

2008-05-19T05:57:00.000-07:00

We are confirmed with the Tipp for 6 pm on May 31st. We are going to be serving the staple food of the front row; wings and beer. We will also be handing out our awards for this past year.

This party is open to wives, girlfriends, Wunsch’s mom, and anyone else you want to bring. The cost is going to be $10 a person.

So, let’s all come out for a night of fun and friendship. Additionally, this will also be a farewell to Josh who is moving back to Chicago. He’s been a great teammate and friend, so let’s give him a sendoff he won’t remember on Sunday.

Season Award Finalists

2008-05-08T07:21:00.000-07:00

During the banquet on May 31st, we will be presenting our annual awards for outstanding performances during this past season. Those at the AGM last week created the nomination lists and the winners were chosen by the attending board members (Cook, Swick, and Greg). We will, of course, keep the winner's name secret until the banquet. The nominees are:

MVP: Drew, Gonzo, Josh
Forward of the Year: Drew, Gonzo, Jay, Josh
Back of the Year: Mark, Red, Timmy
Most Improved: Greg B, Sam
Newcomer: Everyone who played their first season with DARC (okay, we can't make out all the names that were written for this one)
Merilee Kirkwood Cup (Sportsmanship award): Bear, Bloo, Josh, Ritchie

In addition, we may present a few "unofficial" awards, depending on how the creativity flows in the next few weeks.

Mudfish 2008

2008-05-05T11:55:00.000-07:00

Seven's practice has started and tournaments are coming soon. That means that we need to start thinking about and getting ready for Mudfish. In case you weren't at the AGM this past weekend, and most of you weren't (well most of the team, anyway), Mudfish is our biggest money maker of the year. Unless you would prefer that we double the yearly dues, we need to bring in some cash. What this means to you is that you need to clear the first weekend in August off your schedule and resign yourself that you are going to work.

As a team member, you have certain responsibilities for Mudfish:
#1 Talk it up. When you are out at tournaments or hanging out with your friends, find a way to invite people to either come to play or to watch. We obviously prefer to have as many teams as possible entered (can you say entry fee?), but fans that buys hot dogs or drinks or even a t-shirt also means money for the team. I'll have a flyer put together some time this week and email that out as well.

#2 Tourney prep. I need a couple of volunteers to help get everything set up before hand. The past couple of years, we have used a rented trailer to load everything on Friday night. Ask any of the old guys that remember showing up at 6:30 at KC's warehouse to pick up stuff which is better. I need a couple of people to join me at Swick's place Friday afternoon to load the trailer. Plus, if anyone can land us a free or cheap loaner trailer, we would gladly take it.

#3 Set up/Tear down. This is the day of stuff. Setting up the fields, tents, tables, boards, parking, etc. Kenny has already volunteered to run the boards but I still need a cook, a field supervisor, a collections monitor, and a scale boss. I'm sure there are a few other choice positions I left out as well. If you volunteer early, you can avoid getting the stuck with the grunt work, not that any of it is all that hard. Remember, the point of the tourney is to make money, not for us to enter a team and play.

#4 Sponsorship. We are going to try to bring back the big money maker this year, the program. I'm putting together a price list for the program that will be handed out to everyone but I need you all to go out and find us some buyers. Spots in the program will start as low as $25 so it shouldn't be too hard to land one or two sponsors each. I'll email out the price list as soon as it is ready.

I'm hoping this will be another great Mudfish tourney but I need all your help to make it successful.

AGM Saturday Night - That's Tomorrow

2008-05-02T14:40:00.000-07:00

We'd like to start the meeting at 6, so plan your drive to the Tipp accordingly. If you're behind on dues, bring them along.

See everybody there.

Texas Oklahoma Louisiana 7s Rugby Series

2008-05-02T09:36:00.000-07:00

There's a new 7s rugby competition: The TOLA, 7s Series (Texas, Oklahoma ,Louisiana). It looks pretty interesting. Clubs will be awarded points for winning and placing well, but they can also earn points by "exemplifying the spirit of rugby."

Examples of behavior that will be considerred for these points include travelling a great distance, entering multiple teams, assisting the tournament hosts in some way, playing up a division to fill a bracket, etc. [emphasis added]

And you get 1 point just for entering a tournament, including social tournaments. Might be just the thing Texas-area rugby needs for the summer. It starts out pretty competitively for 4 weeks straight, then mostly social but for one tourney in July and the Championships on August 9. Heck, our old, slow, fat, broken guys could earn 6 points just by showing up to all the socials, even if we pull the Iron Butterfly Maneuver on the pitch!

5/31/08: Los Perros De Mayo, Midland, TX (TOLA Series)
6/7/08: Lone Star Classic, Dallas, TX (TOLA Series)
6/14/08: Jamie Varrano Memorial, Houston, TX (TOLA Series)
6/21/08: Bloodfest, Austin, TX (TOLA Series)
6/28/08: West Qualifier, Dallas, TX (social)
6/28/08: Redfish, Baton Rouge, LA (social)
7/5/08: open
7/12/08: Parrotheads, Tulsa, OK (social)
7/19/08: Tornado Alley, Norman, OK (TOLA Series)
7/19/08: Sevens by the Sea, Corpus Cristi, TX (social)
7/26/08: Zeekers Midnight Sevens, Stillwater, OK (social)
8/2/08: Mudfish, Dallas, TX (social)
8/9/08: Horse Shoe Sevens, Shreveport, LA (TOLA series - Championship)

Congrats to Fort Worth, West DIII Champs

2008-05-02T09:31:00.000-07:00

Congratulations are in order for Fort Worth who won the West for DIII by one point, 20-19 over Northern State of Nebraska. The boys from cowtown go on to the next round on May 17, which will be played...somewhere. I couldn't find the answer at USA Rugby's site.

The eligible list for Saturday's AGM

2008-04-30T06:15:00.001-07:00

Unfortunately, my computer issues have really screwed up my tracking of dues for this season. This is purely my fault and I apologize to everyone.

Having said that, going off an outdated file I could recover and my memory, here is the list of players that I know have paid dues and are eligible to hold and vote for officers. If I have left someone off it is completely unintentional. Please contact me and we will work it out. Honor system on that one, boys. I do have a good memory of many who haven’t paid.

Here are the good guys:

Richie Almond
Greg Beynon
Jesse Cavazos
Marc de Charmoy
Dan Cook
Bloo Daniels
Josh Erickson
Bear Hudson
Matt Jones
Kenny Mayon
Drew Mccure
Greg Necastro
Jay Rooney
Gonzo Ruiz
Russell Sanders
Jason Swick
Philip Wauters
Timmy Williams
Matt Wood
Azeem Zafar

Here are the remaining names who are actively CIPPed with the club:

August Blackburn
Michael Cardell
Tom Cowan
Phillip Erickson
Kyle Harrell
Rashad Harvor
Ryan Helm
Chris Keller
Nick Lock
Tom Morgan
Sam Saife
Jon Savage
Michael Voss
Jason Wilkins
Mark Wunsch

Again, I may have forgotten a couple of people who paid. If I did, talk to me and we’ll sort it out.

Practice at Schimelpfennig

2008-04-22T09:59:00.000-07:00

7s Practice at Schimelpfenig (Shim-El-Fin-Ig).

Get to Independence and Spring Creek Parkway
Go North to Maumelle
Turn Right and follow road
Parking lot on the backside of the school on the right.
Field just beyond that.

Best behavior.

View Larger Map

New practice location (or an old one for those with a good memory)

2008-04-22T09:54:00.000-07:00

We are back to Schimelpfenig. The school is located on Maumelle Dr., which is north of Spring Creek and Independence. Turn east at the Maumelle/Independence intersection and follow the road to the school. The field is on the east side of the school.

Remember, during the summer season, we invite all of our youth players to come out and play touch with us. Keep the talk G rated around our younger players and treat the kids well. They've worked hard in their seasons and we want to encourage them to come and have fun over the summer so they will keep playing. Beware of U11 Carter, he's sneaky.

Okay, one exception. One of my U-15's has been talking some smack to me because he's burned me a few times playing touch. I warned him that when he moves to the U17/U19 next year, he better be prepared to back it up because I practice full contact with the older kids. So, if you see Colby trying to break one wide, a "gentle" reminder earns you a beer from me.

AGM Agenda

2008-04-22T09:17:00.000-07:00

Our Annual General Meeting will be held on May 3rd, 6 P.M. at The Tipperary Inn. We will be electing new officers as well as discussing the future of the club. This is the time for everyone to come out and express their thoughts and opinions. All ideas are welcome and encouraged because the end result will be a better club for everyone.

Here's a short overview of the meeting.

Gather and get some drinks.
Short discussion on the club's present and future status.
Nominations for officers.
Discussion on the candidates.
Vote.
Announcement of the new officer.
Once the elections are done, we will have an open forum to discuss the club and continue the drinking and merriment.

A couple of notes on the election process:

In order to vote or hold office, a person must be current on their dues. This means paid in full for the 2007-2008 season or on an approved payment plan.
There are no restrictions on who can be an officer. It doesn't matter if you just joined the club or you were an original member. What we need are officers with the desire and dedication to the club. Don't be shy. If you think you are the best person for the job, stand up and present yourself.
We usually vote by show of hands, unless there is a strong objection, in which case we will go to secret ballots.
In order to vote, a person must be current on their dues.

I hope you guys noticed a little emphasis on the requirement to vote. You have got to get your money in to me. You can use PayPal or you can call me. 214-558-1634. I will work with you, but you've got to talk to me. This is the number one issue with the club at the moment. Here's a chance to fix it and eliminate it.

We have 4 officer positions for election. Our current officers are:

President - Dave Tanguay

Secretary - Bloo Daniels

Match Secretary - Dan Cook

Treasurer - Greg Necastro

We do appoint people to special committees (Mudfish, social, etc.), but they are not elected.

Any member in good standing can hold an officer position. From the club by-laws, here are the officer descriptions:

5.4.A. President.
The President shall have overall responsibility for the regular administration of the Club’s business affairs, including the following:
i. Serve as primary contact with the USA, Western, and Texas Rugby Union to insure compliance with all Union requirements;
ii. Maintain banking and credit accounts as needed by the Club;
iii. Hold signature authority for the Club bank account (s);
iv. Present disciplinary matters to the Board for determination;
v. Supervise and organize club social activities (both after matches and otherwise);
vi. Appoint additional club officers pursuant to Article 5.4.E
vii. Monitor the performance of other club officers; and
viii Exercise such other powers as are set fourth in these Articles and/or are necessary to the functioning of the Club.

5.4.B. Secretary.
The Secretary shall assist the President in the execution of his duties and, more specifically, shall be responsible for the following:
i. Publication and distribution of the Club newsletter and web site.
ii. Maintenance of Club mailing lists, including Full and Social
Members, potential sponsors, and former Members.
iii. Take and maintain minutes of all general meetings of the Club.
iv. Coordination of recruiting efforts;
v. Maintenance of Club recruiting advertisements and match advertisements in local newspapers; and
vi. Such other duties as may be delegated to the Secretary by the President or Board

5.4.C. Match Secretary.
The match Secretary shall be responsible, in consultation with the Board of Trustees, for the scheduling of matches and tournaments for Club play and for the maintenance of such schedule, including the following:
i. Reservation of playing fields and payment of appropriate fees for such fields;
ii. Coordination with the Texas Society of Rugby Referees for scheduled matches;
iii. Reporting of match results to the Texas Rugby Union and local newspapers;
iv. Attendance at all Texas Rugby Union scheduling meetings;
v. Serve as Sergeant-At-Arms at all Meetings of the Club.

5.4.D. Treasurer.
The Treasure shall assist the President in the maintenance of all Club banking and credit accounts. In addition, he shall be responsible for the following:
i. Collection of dues and assessments, if any, pursuant to the dues schedules established by the Board;
ii. Coordination of all fund-raising activities undertaken by the Club;
iii. Assist the Board in annually establishing dues, payment schedules and budgets; and
iv. Report to the President and Captains when Members are not in good standing as a result of failure to pay dues and assessments.
v. Hold signature authority for all the Club bank accounts.

That's all for now.

Location Change

2008-04-21T07:08:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, the Plano U19 lost in the TRU quarterfinals and have had their 15 season ended. We have been able to practice at High Point this year because of the high school team. However, the City of Plano needs the lighted field to use for soccer games that have been rained out this spring. Therefore, we are not able to use the field at this time.

In all probability, we will hold 7's practice at Schemelfinig, where we practiced last summer. It's an unlit field and generally goes unused. We will post confirmation when we get it.

Fort Worth Win D3 Men's Rugby

2008-04-17T10:54:00.000-07:00

Because you won't see it on the TRU's website, I thought some of you might be curious about what happened in D3 at the TRU playoffs.

Thanks to the Society of Texas Rugby Referees, we have the results:

Semis:

McAllen RFC Men 3 A - 56 vs. Oklahoma Crusaders Men 3 A - 19
Fort Worth RFC Men 3 A - 14 vs. Alamo City RFC Men 3 A - 10 (Detailed write-up from Referee Yusuf Johnson of the Fort Worth v. Alamo City Game)

Final:

Fort Worth RFC Men 1 A - 19 vs. McAllen RFC Men 1 A - 5

Consolation: ?

Cookie has a brief report of the final game, which I've liberated from an email:

Fort Worth won D3 by defeating McAllen 19-5 in a bruising affair. FW made their tackles, and McAllen had no answer for FW's back three speed.

Congratulations to Fort Worth! They're a good team and they showed it.

Fields are closed tonight

2008-04-10T09:15:00.000-07:00

Plano parks has closed High Point tonight.

While 15 season is over, we did have a handful of guys come out on Tuesday and play touch with the Plano U19 players and U11 Carter "The Terror". Plano still has a few weeks left in their season, so you can come out next week and start playing touch or help Plano prepare for the playoffs.

15 Season Ends

2008-04-07T06:48:00.001-07:00

We all knew it was going to take a miracle to make the playoffs. Denton played well against OKC on Saturday, but fell 17-3. So, OKC advances and we stay home this time.

AGM Postponed

2008-04-04T13:42:00.000-07:00

Our Annual General Meeting will be held on May 3rd, 6 PM at The Tipp.

Also, our year end banquet will be on May 31st at The Tipp.

Details to come....

DARC Upsets OKC: 37 - 34, Cookie Retires

2008-03-30T10:42:00.000-07:00

It was a great day for DARC rugby. One of the most challenging matches we've had, but the team was able to come back from an early deficit and win in injury time!

OKC scored very early but bounced the conversion off the post (which happened twice in the game) and then the going got tough for both teams, with DARC finally able to score a try deep into the first half, but OKC came right back with by using their back to exploit a gap in DARC's coverage. Too many players were committed into a ruck on the far side and didn't cover deep as OKC took the ball wide.

OKC again scored right away at the beginning of the half but then DARC fired up and got things work with lots of support and bangers, and good service to our backs let them run against the OKC back line. With that an great drives by the forwards, DARC gained three tries and one conversion.

But the game was by no means over. The Crusader's tall kicking center surprised everyone with a drop goal from about 35 - 40 m out. That motivated them and their backs game on hard with tries from that kicker and "Legs", between the posts - one coming from a simple overload and good passes, the other from speed and DARC's lack of good tackling as their backs ran it in together from midfield.

DARC summoned up the dregs of their reserve energy building on the fitness of the young team and came back with another try (unconverted). [I can't remember if this was Rashaad's run after a pass from Mark, or Kenny's powering in]. Score: DARC 32 - OKC 34 in injury time.

DARC advanced the ball hard, and it came down to hard driving fast rucks and bangers on the near side, which caught OKC offsides repeatedly, eventually with a penalty on the 5 meter line. DARC was excited because they could see victory was in sight, though we weren't there yet. There were screams of "Points! Points!" from off-field and on. But I think several players weren't sure of the exact score, and our kicking had an off day. So DARC took the ball in hand for the penalty....and scored it!

DARC wins: 37 - 34 in what was the single best day of rugby that I've seen the team play in quite a while.

(Having said that: as a team, the tackling was atrocious - it wasn't even tackling in large part - something that must be worked on).

Tries by: Timmy (2), Rashaad, Kenny, Cardell, and Mark (I believe - memory's going).

Cookie, you should give us another write up, especially now that you're "retired".

The Referee's Report.

There is still a mathematically possibility that we might make the playoffs, depending on OKC's game against Denton, so keep your boots clean. Come on, Denton!

DARC was 7-4 in league play this year with 32 league points (5 of which were bonus point). 209 Points For, 227 Points Against. For the year, our record was 17-6, a big increase from last year's .500 ball. It's gotta be the fitness.

Cookie Retires

Veteran DARC player, one of DARC's very first recruits after the merger of Our Gang and the Blues, and long-time Match Secretary Dan "Cookie" Cook, is retiring (potential playoff game excepted). He's played lock, flanker, even fly-half and been a core member of the club, both on the pitch and off. Congratulations to Cook and a great career with DARC.

Of course, Mrs. Cook is very happy.

But we don't think of it as losing a starter, we think of it as gaining an Old Boy! And after the old boys and extras second side game last week against alliance, that Old Boy team is beginning to look very good! They should come around more often.

Golf for a fellow Rugger

2008-03-24T09:21:00.000-07:00

Robert "Red" Brooks, Arlington player and former teammate of Swick, is battling brain cancer. Arlington is holding a golf tournament with proceeds to benefit Red and his family. The tournament will be played on April 10th. If you can make it out, a nice day of golf for a great cause.

Details at www.maverickrugby.com.