Tentative Chapters for US Women's 7s within the overall "History
of US National Sevens Rugby Teams"
Chapter 4. 1997 to 2002 (this article),
first-ever world women's 7s in 1997 to 2002, when announcement
made (at 1992 Hong Kong Women's tournament) - that due to the US
driving international women's 7s, the IRB is working on a women's
Rugby World Cup Sevens with Olympics in sight
Chapter 6. 2003 to 2009, to IOC's announcement
on Oct. 9, 2009's that men's and women's rugby sevens has been
accepted into the Olympic Games
9?. 2010 to 2015 (if time) - Women's World
Series to Cary, NC
10?. hopefully 2 chapters of men and women
together: a) Bahamas 2008 and RWC 2009 and b) Qualifying in Cary,
NC
Hong Kong was treated to two special events within two weeks: the
men's Rugby World Cup Sevens, and the weekend before that, the
first-ever international women's sevens tournament. Here's the
program(me) cover from that first tournament. Click on the picture
for excerpts from the program.
1997 HKIWRS
Programme-1500w.jpg Program for the first-ever
International Women's Sevens
This was the first Women's Sevens Tournaments to feature
international teams click on the image for excerpts
from the program
The women's tournament was a very personal achievement for me, as
I'd been working on this for several years (I was named Chair of
USA Rugby's Sevens Committee in 1988 and part of my charge was to
promote women's sevens). Without going into the details
here, I have explained this in a long version in this link:
" ... although the first Women's international rugby
union 15-a-side test match took place in 1982, it was not until
1997 before the first Women's
International Rugby Union Sevens tournaments were
played, when the Hong Kong Sevens included a women's tournament
for the first time under chairwoman Maria Allen and at the
urging of USA 7s coach, Emil Signes. Over the next decade
the number of tournaments grew, with almost every region
developing regular championship. This reached its zenith with
the first Women's Sevens World Cup in 2009, shortly followed by
the announcement that women's rugby sevens will be included in
the Olympics from 2016."
_____________
Perhaps the most important team in the leading chapter of this
story is not an Eagles team, but the invitational US Atlantis team
that participated in a
tiny tournament in Hong Kong in March of 1996, because from
this tournament, true international women's sevens became a
reality. The BBC's Ian Robertson, who attended, raved about
Atlantis' performance to the Hong Kong Rugby Union, who the
following year organized the 1997 Hong Kong Invitation
Women's Rugby Sevens (and referenced Ian's praise). This 1996
tournament, incidentally, was organized only after a meeting at
the Dubai airport following the 1995 Dubai Sevens, where I met
with Anne Marie O'Dohoghue and Ruth Mitchell of the Hong Kong
Rugby Union and proselytized them about the need to establish a
women's division at "the Sevens."
US Atlantis at Hong Kong Women's Club Sevens (March
29, 1996)
1996-03-HK-women.JPG Atlantis Women in Hong Kong
Women's Sevens March 1996
Top: Emil Signes (coach), Pam Irby,
Nancy Fitz, MJ Mohl, Sallie Ahlert, Amy Westerman
Bottom: Janet Marshall (manager),
Tray Moens, Candi Orsini, Patty Jervey, Kim Cyganik, jos
Bergmann, Suzanne Cobarruvias (manager) 8 of these
players were Eagles; Patty Jervey (lower middle) is in the
World Rugby Hall of Fame (2015)
On April 30/May 1 1996 the Hong Kong
Eastern Express published two articles in which they announced
that Hong Kong would be holding an international tournament
and that both the Dubai meeting and the Hong Kong club
tournament were key factors. The April 30 piece was
titled "HK to host women's world sevens." The excerpt
below (see highlighted boxes) is from the May 1 article
entitled "Sevens with a woman's touch."
1996-0501
excerpt-Eastern Express.jpg May
1, 1996 article in Hong Kong Eastern Express that
explains the genesis of the yet-to-be 1997 tournament The "United States team ... were asking us ..." was
me, Emil Signes, in Dubai with the Atlantis men The "man from the BBC" was Ian
Robertson and he was raving about Atlantis women's play
For details, see Boys
and Girls Together: Olympics and Me
In mid-summer the US was officially invited to participate in the
first-ever Hong Kong international sevens tournament. I was
named Head Coach and organized the
first-ever National Women's Sevens Camp.
The 4-day camp was held on
August 15-18 in Conshohocken, a suburb of Philadelphia. Emil
Signes was Head Camp Coach, and the Assistant Coaches were
Al Caravelli, Drew Fautley, Bill Russell, Steve Siano and Pete
Steinberg.
The management staff, headed by Janet Marshall of Little Rock, and
also consisting of Sallie Ahlert of Oklahoma, Dawn White, Alissa
Wykes, Vicky Crosier and Elaine Recchiuti of Philadelphia and Barb
Lerch of NOVA did a great job. The event took part
coincidentally with the men's national sevens championship, and
women's All-Star trial games were interspersed with the men's
tournament. John Flamish, head of the men's tournament
enthusiastically provided all the help needed to make it a
success.
First-Ever US
National Women's Sevens Camp, August 15-18, 1996
1996-08 National Women 7s Camp
Philly-1500w-18x9.jpg Participants in First-Ever
National Women's Sevens Camp
Back, L to R: Sallie Ahlert, El Pfefferman, Jen Lucas, Janice
Granger, Erina Queen, Claudia Moose, Tess Napili, Alison Lutz,
Inés Rodríguez-Redondo, Nancy Fitz, Deb Petersen, Krista
McFarren
2nd: Tasha Maninno, Annie Collier, Alissa Wykes, Mona Rayside,
Michelle Persica, Mary Beth Spirk, Kim Cyganik, Ronnie
Petzinger, Tracy Smith, Diana Henderson, Lisa Rowe
3rd: Brenda Lee, Tracey Hayes, Jules McCoy, Heather Heaton,
Theresa Pazdral, Terese Taylor, Joyce Weeg, Maureen Henry,
Brandi Outwin, Julie Williams, Candi Orsini
Front: Keirsten Lawton, Dana Schneider, Margo Machen, Maggie
Whitney, Sheri Hunt, Tracy Moens, Moira Redcorn, Justine
Sleezer, Michele Friel.
March 15-16, 1997: the Hong Kong Invitation Women's
Rugby Sevens.
This tournament, a full
international event, took place a week prior to the men's Hong
Kong Sevens, which also happened to be the 2nd Rugby World Cup
Sevens [only men, of course].
1997-03 US Women in Hong
Kong.JPG First-Ever Women's Eagle Sevens
Team
Standing, L to R: Anita Pease,
Sheri Hunt, Janine Cochran, Tracy Moens, Lisa Rowe, Sue Parker,
Keirsten Lawton, Jen Lucas, Krista McFarren, Nancy Fitz
Emil Signes was the coach, and Al Caravelli the manager, for this
first Women's Eagle Sevens team. The players were
Janine Cochran, UCLA
Nancy Fitz, Washington Furies
Sheri Hunt, UCLA
Keirsten Lawton, Beantown
Jennifer Lucas, Washington Furies
Krista McFarren, Maryland Stingers
Tracy Moens, New Orleans Halfmoons
Sue Parker, Maryland Stingers
Anita Pease, New Orleans Halfmooms
Lisa Rowe, Maryland Stingers
The tournament was played over two days, and required 7 games to
win (2 pools of 6 plus semifinals and finals).
US Results at Hong
Kong Invitation Women's Rugby Sevens (W6 L1)
Results, First Day:
US 26 Scotland 5. The US began strongly with a Lisa
Rowe try in the first minute and continued its pressure on
Scotland throughout the game. Tries were by Lisa Rowe (2),
Sue Parker and Nancy Fitz, while Keirsten Lawton added three
conversions.
US 10 Hong Kong 7. The US had two tries called back,
which would have made the score a least 20-0, but Hong Kong's try
in the last minute made this game tight. The US scores were
by Janine Cochran and Krista McFarren.
US 43 Arabian Gulf 0. The US finally played to its
potential against an Arabian Gulf team that had looked good in its
first two outings. Janine Cochran and Keirsten Lawton each
scored two tries, with one each by Rose, McFarren and Jennifer
Lucas. Lawton converted 4 of the 7 tries.
US 53 Singapore 0. The main task for the US in this
game was not to injure the Singapore girls, whose "big girl" was
130 pounds. Cochran and Sheri Hunt each scored a hat trick,
and Anita Pease, Keirsten Lawton and Parker scored one each.
Lawton had 4 conversions.
Results, Second Day:
US 29 Fiji 0. McFarren, Lawton, Parker, Pease and Moens
scored tries and Lawton had 2 conversion.
US 17 England 5 (Cup Semifinal). This was a huge game for
the US; two of our players - Hunt and McFarren - had played in the
World Cup 15s final loss to England in 1994. And of course the
rest of the team was also aware that this was the team - with
several of the same players - that had beaten us in our last
international tournament final.
The US drew first blood when Lisa Rowe covered a McFarren kick
inches from the dead ball line. Lisa also scored the second try on
a run following a McFarren assist, for a 10-0 lead. England rucked
& rolled their way to a try to make it 10-5 with several
minutes to play. Sue Parker followed, however, with a 95-m try
converted by Lawton that made the score 17-5, and the US played
great defense throughout the rest of the game.
US 0 New Zealand 43 (Championship Final).
Nine minutes into the 20-minute game we were only down by one try,
but New Zealand scored on the last play of the half, and then had
their way in the second half to finish with a convincing win.
(As I recall, we had a yellow card in the second half and then
during the card, an injury, and the coaches were trying to figure
out what was going on, and we had at least a minute with 5 on the
field, and ... well you don't play with 5 against New Zealand
without bad things happening.)
Everyone on the US team was disappointed with the big loss, but
overall it was a great success, not only for the US, but for
International Women's Sevens. And with Women's International
Sevens established, could the Olympics be that far away?
1997 HK program signed by
US.jpg 1997 Hong Kong Women's Program
Signed by Eagle Players Must be Worth Millions
;)
As a side note, New Zealand called their team the "New Zealand
Wild Ducks." The NZ Rugby Union was as yet unwilling to call
them an official national side, but as well as the NZ national
team coach Darryl Suasua, seven of the players - Monique
Hirovaana, Dianne Apiti (later Kahura), Suzy Shortland, Louisa
Wall, Tasha Williams, Anna Richards and Annaleah Rush -
represented New Zealand when they won the World Championship at
the 1998 Women's Rugby World Cup. And - as another side
note, this from my research - Louisa Wall is now (2016) a Member
of Parliament! A complete aside, I realize, but - to those that
played against her in this time period - possibly of interest.
In fact, looking at this article, one realizes that - with the
exception of a couple of tournaments in the Caribbean which were
sevens because there weren't enough women playing rugby to have
international 15s there - the US women attended every known
international women's sevens tournament in the world until
regional sevens tournaments began with a European Sevens (limited
to European nations) in May 2003. (There were a couple of
Asian tournaments before that but they were all played as a
division within the Hong Kong Sevens that we attended.
US at 1998
Magnificent Sevens - Ontario (July 18-19, Toronto)
Following the immense popularity and
promise of the 1997 tournament the 1998 tournament was very
anticipated. It was, however, canceled with very little time left
- it had to do with team cancellations blamed on the 1998 15s
World Cup. The US had already had its camp and selected a
team. We needed an event in which to participate. With so
little time left the US selected the best women's event in North
America - the Magnificent Sevens in Toronto, where 102 teams
participate. The US won the tournament easily, but the important
thing was that the selected players got to play together.
In the end, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise because
I was able to go to the 1998 Hong Kong Sevens as a journalist -
and schmoozer - and had a long meeting with representatives of
the Hong Kong RFU. As a result of agreements reached at
this meeting, for 1999 the Hong Kong organizers decided to hold
the women's event on one day - Friday - of "the" Hong Kong
Sevens, and to hold the final in Hong Kong Stadium following the
men's play Friday evening. It was a wonderful decision:
the resulting final game was spectacular!
1998-07 US women win
ONT-1200w.jpg US Women Win 1998 Magnificent
Sevens, Toronto
Back, L to R: Dawn White (Manager),
Mary Beth Spirk (Coach), Al Caravelli (Coach), Julie McCoy,
Anita Pease, Jen Lucas, Kerry McCabe, Emil Signes (Coach), John
Tyler (Coach)
Front, L to R: TJ Eckert, Sue
Parker, Meg Madden, Nancy Fitz, Shelley Wilson, Ines Rodriguez
and Dee Jones (trainer)
Dawn White was the manager, Dee Jones the trainer, and Emil Signes
the Head Coach. The coaching staff, responsible for both
this team and an Atlantis College Men's team playing in the senior
men's division, comprised 4 coaches: the others were Mary Beth
Spirk, Al Caravelli, and John Tyler. The players, who had
originally been selected for Hong Kong, were
TJ Eckert, Berkeley
Nancy Fitz, Washington Furies
Jen Lucas, Berkeley
Meg Madden, Washington Furies
Kerry McCabe, Beantown
Julie McCoy, Ozark Ladies
Sue Parker, Maryland Stingers
Anita Pease, Maryland Stingers
Inés Rodriguez-Redondo,
Philadelphia
Shelley Wilson, Southeast
Michele Friel of Beantown had been selected to the original squad
but could not play here because of injury.
Results, US Women
at 1998 Magnificent Sevens, Toronto
As was to be expected, we won the
tournament relatively easily, but given the circumstances, the
fact that we were able to be together and compete together was a
positive end to a difficult story. The scores, and a scoring
summary, follow:
US 52 Ottawa Irish II 0. US 41 Crusaders 0. US 57 Niagara Wasps 0. US 33 Ajax Wanderers 0. US 33 Guelph 0 (Semifinal). No description
exists of any game except the final.
US 31 Ottawa Irish I (Final) 0. The final was
actually a lot closer for a lot longer than we would have liked.
The Ottawa Irish shut down the US for the first 5 1/2 minutes
before Sue Parker stormed in for her 9th try of the tournament. It
was only when Sue scored again on the last play of the 10-minute
half that the outcome seemed clear, and a suffocating defense kept
the Irish away from the US goal. One of the highlights of
the final was seeing the Eagles preserve their shut-out streak by
stopping a virtually certain Irish try on Julie McCoy's goal-line
tackle. Jules' tackle forced a knock-on and the ensuing advantage
play resulted in a 170-m Meg Madden try (she started out from the
back of her own in-goal to the left of the posts, ran to the right
touchline, sprinted the length of the field, and centered the try
as her weary chaser fell on top of her).
US at 1999 Women's Hong Kong
Sevens (March 26, 1999)
Following the
cancellation of the 1998 event I was able to meet with Dick
Airth and Karen Robertson of the Hong Kong Rugby Football
Union, and urged that there be some sort of nexus between the
two tournaments, with at least the final of the women's
tournament held during the men's event. They listened, and in
1999 did just that.
In fact, Dick Airth, during his speech at the banquet that
followed our tournament, in a moment that deeply touched me,
was to mention that conversation as a key factor in the
decision to do just that.
When we got to
the field, in front of 20,000 spectators, the team was greeted
by their names splashed on the Big Screen.
1999-0326 - 5 Lineups on Stadium scoreboard-ed The Big Screen at Hong Kong Stadium Prior to the Final
1999-03 Women Eagles after final
in HK stadium.jpg March 26, 1999: Eagle Women
following the final in Hong Kong Stadium
Standing: Al Caravelli (coach),
Ines Rodriguez, Jane Mitchell, Erina Queen, Nancy Fitz, Diane
Schnapp, Anita Pease, Emil Signes (coach)
Kneeling: Kim Cyganik, Michele
Mullen, Laura Cabrera, Lisa Rowe
Front: Kristina Caravelli (mascot)
Tracy Moens was the manager, and Emil Signes and Al Caravelli the
coaches. Al's daughter Kristina was our mascot, and the players
were
Laura Cabrera, Ozark Ladies
Kim Cyganik, Maryland Stingers
Nancy Fitz, Washington Furies (co-captain)
Michele Friel, Beantown
Jane Mitchell, Berkeley All Blues
Anita Pease, Maryland Stingers (co-captain)
Erina Queen, Emerald City Mudhens (WA)
Inés Rodriguez-Redondo, Philadelphia
Lisa Rowe, Maryland Stingers
Diane Schnapp, Berkeley All Blues
US Results at 1999 Hong Kong
Women's Sevens:
Trying to shoe-horn the tournament into one day, teams got too few
games. In fact, in the US' bracket, Fiji dropped out at the
last minute, meaning the US had only one actual pool game to play
- a 62-0 win over a fledgling China team - to get to the
semi-final. Fortunately for our credibility, that game was
against powerhouse England, so a win would justtify our being in
the final. A loss was unthinkable.
US 62 China 0. Both Kim Cyganik and Michele Friel scored
hat tricks in this game.
US 24 England 5. The "must win" game against England
started out with one of the most brilliant tries of the
tournament.Laura
Cabrera, who played very well throughout, tackled the England
wing, poached the ball and cleared it to space.A few passes later,
Anita Pease put in a cross-field grub kick that Laura fielded on
the run, took to the 5-meter line, and while being tackled, passed
it back to Anita for the centered try. That try set the tone for the game, and
was followed by tries by Lisa Rowe, Rodríguez and another by
Pease, resulting in a 24-5 Eagle win.
Trivia note: this may well have been the first - and probably
still the only - international rugby game in which identical twins
– Jane and Emma Mitchell – competed against each other.
US 0 New Zealand 29. New Zealand, which played as the
"New Zealand Wild Ducks," was a full New Zealand selection.
The US women trailed 0-5 at half time of the 20 minute game and
spent an extended period within 10 minutes of the US goal. The
defense played very well; the most notable play being Laura
Cabrera's tackle of Dianne [Apiti] Kahura, who had scored 4 tries
against us in 1997, with a legal version of a WWF body slam that
had the crowd roaring.
New Zealand scored from the opening second half kickoff, however,
and despite decent defense the game ended at 29-0.
When we left the stadium we mingled with many of the fans.
Our players were
recognized, and complimented, by dozens of fans, who raved about
the entire game.Furthermore,
during
the course of the next two days, several coaches, players,
committee members and members of the media spoke to me with great
admiration for the standard of play.Even commentator (and former Australian
wing) David Campese, who two years earlier had told me women
shouldn’t be playing rugby, spoke very positively of the game, and
talking with him made it obvious he had watched the whole thing.
At the women's banquet, Dick Airth of the Hong Kong Rugby Football
Union gave a very touching speech at the banquet in which, among
other things, he mentioned my meeting with him and Karen Robertson
of the HKRFU in 1998 in which I had lobbied that "the" [men's]
Sevens incorporate a women's competition, if only to include the
final in the Stadium during the tournament (i.e. what was done
this year). Dick referred to that conversation as part of the
driving force behind the format of the 1999 tournament.
It was after this tournament that it was clear that international
women's rugby would be here to stay. It was at this point that
people interested in rugby being part of the Olympics noted the
success of this event, and realized the necessity of the presence
of women in getting a new sport admitted to the Olympic Games. The
Hong Kong RFU was shortly to initiate steps to make this happen;
we (the international women's community) would hear about them in
2002.
US at 2000 Women's
Hong Kong Sevens (March 23-24, 2000)
2000-03 US Women in
HK.jpg Eagle Women in Hong Kong - March
2000
Top, L to R: Emil Signes (coach),
Greg Schor (coach), Kerry McCabe, Yancy Graf, Anita Pease, Erina
Queen, Ines Rodriguez, Al Caravelli (coach)
Bottom: Tracy Moens (manager), Lisa
Rowe, Sue Parker, Kyle Caravelli, Kristina Caravelli, Jane
Mitchell, Diane Schnapp, Laura Cabrera
Tracy Moens was the manager, and Emil Signes, Al Caravelli and
Greg Schor were coaches. The players were
Laura Cabrera, Ozark Ladies
Yancy Graf, Kansas City Jazz
Kerry McCabe, Beantown
Jane Mitchell, Berkeley All Blues
Sue Parker, Maryland Stingers
Anita Pease, Maryland Stingers
Erina Queen, Emerald City Mudhens
Ines Rodriguez, At Large
Lisa Rowe, Maryland Stingers
Diane Schnapp, Berkeley All Blues
There were 2 brackets of 6 teams and 2 days of pool play; the top
two teams in Pool A were New Zealand (playing as the Wild Ducks)
and Samoa; in Pool B it was the US and Australia.
US Results at 2000 Hong Kong
Women's Sevens
Unfortunately descriptions of half
our games are missing.
US 7 Australia 7. We took a 7-0 lead against
Australia. In the key play of the game, and perhaps the
tournament, we had a second try called back which would have given
us a 2-try lead. Instead, Australia scored and the game finished
7-7. Assuming both teams would win their remaining games it
became question of who would score the most tries. Both
teams struggled against Kazakhstan and then Australia scored 8
tries vs. the Netherlands, way too many against such a good team.
US
35 Japan 0. no description
US 50 Singapore 0. no description
US
14 Kazakhstan 0. no description
US 29 Netherlands 0. In day
two's final pool games, Australia crushed Singapore 56-0, and
the US needed 7 tries against the Netherlands to win its
pool. Sadly, early in this game, the US' leading creator
Ines Rodriguez broke her femur. On top of the seriousness
of this injury per se, the Hong Kong ambulance crew was poorly
prepared and play stopped for more than half an hour. When it
resumed, the US could only get 5 tries across, which meant
they'd be second in the pool and have to play New Zealand in the
semifinal.
US 10 NZ 17 SF. For the US, this was the game
that might have been. Erina Queen cut in between two defenders to
score first 5-0. New Zealand scored before half, 5-5. It was
Erina Queen again who gave the US a 10-point lead.With 2 minutes
to go, the US kicked a PK to touch for the lineout. The
throw was contested by NZ who forced a US knock-on. From the
resulting scrum, the NZ center beat the defense and scored in the
corner. They made the conversion to lead 12-10. On the ensuing
kickoff, the ball was knocked into the hands of Annaleah Rush, who
scored to win the game. It was a bitter pill to swallow.
New Zealand crushed Australia 36-10 in the Hong Kong Stadium
final.
US at Wellington
Women's Sevens (February 7-8, 2001)
2001-02 US men &
women in NZL.jpg US Men and Women at Wellington Sevens
The Men Defeated Fiji for the First Time Ever; the Women played
NZ close
Based on the numbers on the picture below, they are
#1 Kyle Caravelli on Ben Trautwein's (#5) shoulders
Microsoft Word - Article - Wellington and Whangerei- rev
2.doc
The US Women took part in New Zealand tournaments in both
Wellington and Whangarei (a town near the top of North Island).
The Head Coach for both tours was Emil Signes and Physio “Doc Sue”
Bercuk also served for the duration. The first leg of the tour was
managed by Greg Schor with Jules McCoy as Assistant Coach. Al
Caravelli joined the tour for the second week as Manager and
Assistant Coach. The players were
US
15 World Invitation VII 0. This
team comprised players from New Zealand, Samoa, Hong
Kong, as well as the four US players that were being
saved for Whangarei: Jo Anne Ward, Meredith Whalen,
Katrinka Blunt and Emily Carlson. It wasn't a very
exciting game; US tries were by Tyshawn Henry, Anita
Pease and Laura Cabrera.
US
5 NZ Development 28. This
pretty much needed to be a win to get the US into
Westpac Stadium to play the final, surely against New
Zealand. Diane Schnapp scored the US's only try.
US
19 Samoa 0. This game was about the US
defense. Tries were by Diane Schnapp, Anita
Pease and Emil Juocys; Schnapp had two conversions.
US
64 Hong Kong 0. The US took out their
frustration on Hong Kong. Laura Cabrera led with a hat
trick, Erina Queen and Tyshawn Henry had two each, and
Emilia Juocys, Yancy Graf and Anita Pease had one
each. Cabrera made 7 conversions.
US
5 New Zealand 19. The US nearly got
itself back into the mix for the final, staying at 5-7
through nearly the end of the game. They drove the
length of the field through lots of phases, patiently,
before being tackled in the process of (nearly)
scoring a try. New Zealand took the ball 100-m
to make the game 5-12 and then scored again after the
final hooter.
US
5 New Zealand Development 12 (Semifinal).
Because New Zealand had crushed New Zealand
Development and we had played New Zealand close, we
were given an opportunity to play ourselves into the
final with a second chance against NZ Development.
Again it was a 99-m turnover that did the US in.
Erina Queen batted down a New Zealand lineout throw a
meter from the NZ goal; unfortunately, instead of
bouncing toward Krista McFarren, it bounced to New
Zealand who took it the length of the field to pull
off a 12-5 win. There was some pressure from the men's
tournament to have a US-NZ game to feature 2 different
countries, but it didn't happen.
In the final at Westpac Stadium, just before the men's final, New
Zealand easily defeated NZ Development 39-5. The US women
did, however, get to join all the other women's teams by marching
with the men during the men's NZ tournament (in which the US men
had upset Fiji).
US Women at
Whangarei Sevens (February 7-8, 2001)
214C Outside 7's cafe.JPG Eagles en route to Whangarei
stop at Gordon Tietjen's Cafe 7's
Following a training session with
Titch in Rotorua, we we stopped at his restaurant.
In front left,
Katrinka Blunt and Pam Irby. Leaning on sandwich board is
Meredith Whalen, On the right in front are Jo Anne Ward and Kyle
Caravelli.
Back, L to R: Emilia Juocys, Sarah
Schooler, Laura Cabrera, Tyshawn Henry, Emil Signes, Al
Caravelli, Diane Schnapp, Emily Carlson, Krista McFarren
En route to Whangarei, the Eagles spent two days in a Maori Marae
in Rotorua, and en route to Rotorua most of the team went bungy
jumping in Lake Taupo.
2001-02 Bungy jumping
platform.jpg / 2001-02Bungy Jumpers at Taupo.jpg Left: Bungy jumping platform at
Taupo. Right: The Bungy jumpers following their jump
At
Whangarei (pronounced FONG' -uh-ray), Emil Signes was the coach,
Al Caravelli assistant coach and manager, and the players were
as noted above.
The women's division
comprised both club and international sides.
US Women Results
at 2001 Whangarei Sevens (W4 L1 T1)
US 24 Hikurangi 5. The
US performed abysmally for a half before settling down for a 24-5
win. Pam Irby, Yancy Graf, Diane Schnapp and Jo Anne Ward score
tries; two were converted by Schnapp.
US 31 Hora Hora 0. Our attack was fluid in this game,
despite facing a very physical defense. Laura Cabrera led
the scoring with 2 tries and 3 conversions; Tyshawn Henry, Emilia
Juocys and Meredith Whalen also scored tries.
US 31 New Zealand "B" 5. What a difference a week
makes! Playing against many of the same players that had beaten us
twice the week before, our swarming defense made a big difference.
Cabrera repeated her 2 try 3 conversion performance and Yancy
Graf, Emilia Juocys and Diane Schnapp added tries.
Saturday 2 new pools were created; we were in one with New Zealand
and Tong, the other pool being Aotearoa Maori, New Zealand B and
Samoa.
US 0 New Zealand 0. This game was 14 minutes of
brutal defensive plays, one after another. Despite the lack of
scoring, many spectators told us it was one of the most exciting
sevens games they'd ever seen. It was the first 0-0 game I
could recall being involved in. As it turned out, it was the first
time New Zealand had been shut out in 10 years, with Krista
McFarren also a member of the first team to do that (in 15s, in
1991, at the first Women's Rugby World Cup semi-final).
If the US could score 8 tries in their game vs. Tonga, they could
force New Zealand to play Aotearoa Maori (probably their equal) in
the semifinal. On a tear, they scored 11 tries for a 71-0
win. Meredith Whalen had a hat trick, which also featured 2 tries
by Katrinka Blunt and crowd favorite "Hurricane" Henry. Emilia
Juocys, Jo Anne Ward, Pam Irby and Yancy Graf also scored tries.
Diane Schnapp had 6 conversions and Jo Anne Ward 2.
US 17 New Zealand B 5. This was not as convincing as
the first game, but a win is what mattered. Pam Irby, Yancy Graf
and Meredith Whalen scored tries, and Diane Schnapp kicked a
conversion.
Aotearoa Maori defeated New Zealand, in what was not really an
upset, defeated New Zealand 26-10 in the other semifinal.
US 0 Aotearoa Maori many. (I didn't document the score in
the contemporary report; I think it was 41). Both from what I
wrote in 2001 and my memory, not highlight match.
During our trip from Wellington to Whangarei we'd had the benefit
of a coaching session with NZ men's coach Gordon Tietjens; on our
way to the Auckland airport we had another great session, with
fellow Kiwi John McKittrick, at the time the US Sevens Coach.
Great finish to a great tour.
At the end of this tour, per my write-up, the US Eagles were
28-7-1; against non-New Zealand national teams we were 26-0-1,
with the tie being with Australia.
March-April 2001:
Eagle Women in Hong Kong and Yokohama
This team, as did the one that
represented the US in New Zealand, was selected from a January
camp in Tempe, AZ.
Emil Signes was the coach for both
Hong Kong and Japan, and manager for Japan; Al Caravelli was
manager and assistant coach for Hong Kong; Sue Bercuk was physio
and chiropractor for both tours. The players were
Name
Club
HK
J.
Laura Cabrera
Berkeley All Blues
x
Yancy Graf
Kansas City Jazz
x
x
Tyshawn Henry
Berkeley All Blues
x
Pam Irby
Oregon Sports Union
x
x
Emilia Juocys
Chicago
x
x
Kerry McCabe
Philadelphia
x
x
Krista McFarren
Maryland Stingers
x
x
Chris Miskec
Twin Cities Amazons
x
Pat Neder
Atlanta
x
Anita Pease (capt)
Maryland Stingers
x
x
Erina Queen
Emerald City
Mudhens
x
Lisa Rowe
Maryland Stingers
x
Diane Schnapp
(capt)
Berkeley All Blues
x
Meredith Whalen
Arizona State
x
Miskec and Neder joined the team
for the first time, and Lisa Rowe returned after
representing the USA in Hong Kong in 1997, 1999 and 2000.
US
Women at 2001
Hong Kong Women's Sevens (March 29-30)
2001-0328 Team at
HK team reception.jpg Eagles at 2001 Hong Kong Sevens
Reception
Back Row, L to R: Emil Signes
(coach), Sue Bercuk (physio), Yancy Graf, Kerry McCabe, Anita
Pease, Tyshawn Henry, Erina Queen, Chris Miskec
Second Row, L to T: Meredith
Whalen, Lisa Row, Diane Schnapp, Al Caravelli (manager, coach),
Emilia Juocys, Pat Neder, Pam Irby
Front: Laura Cabrera, Kristina
Caravelli (mascot), Krista McFarren
US Results at 2001 Hong Kong
Sevens (W5 L1)
US 26 Netherlands
0.Playing
the Netherlands’ game rather than their own, the US scored
only four tries against a team that fared much more poorly
against both Australia and England.Laura Cabrera
scored two tries and kicked three conversions, and Erina
Queen and Krista McFarren each scored a try. US 10 England 0.The
second match featured two hard defensive teams, with the US
coming out on top of a very strong England team with a 10-0
shutout.The
US’s first try, by Emilia Juocys, was from a play designed
that week to counter the defensive pattern that England ran
(one of the great – and sometimes surprising -- pleasures of
coaching is to see plays actually work).Lisa Rowe scored
the second US try.England’s
excellent
performance throughout the weekend underscored the
importance of this win. Regardless, a win against England is
always a success. US 33 Hong Kong 0. An unexciting match in a nonetheless
convincing win. Laura Cabrera had two tries, and Yancy Graf,
Emilia Juocys and Lisa Rowe each one.Diane Schnapp made
four conversions. US 17 Australia 0. On the second day of the
tournament, the US defense again carried it in the match it
needed to win its pool.A late first half try by Lisa Rowe, beating former
Eastern Rugby Union representative Bronnie Mackintosh to the
corner, ended up being all the US needed, but Erina Queen
and Diane Schnapp both scored second half tries to seal the
win.
US 10 Samoa 0. Once again the US fell into the trap of getting into
its opponent’s machismo mode, and struggled against the
mostly New Zealand-based Samoa team.In the end,
however, tries by Diane Schnapp and Laura Cabrera – and an
incredible defensive chase by Cabrera – won the game for
the US.
US 0 New Zealand 22. This was a brilliantly played match in
which New Zealand made the US pay for every mistake and made
very few of its own. Despite several US
opportunities early in the game, New Zealand scored four tries
scattered throughout the match. Nevertheless, it was a moment to
be proud of for both New Zealand and the US, and for supporters
of women’s rugby everywhere. New Zealand’s Tamaku Paul was
the tournament MVP, and inside sources tell me that Laura
Cabrera finished second in the coaches’ balloting (we were not
allowed to vote for our own players so these were all external
votes).
US at 2001 First
Annual Yokohama International Women's Rugby Invitational Sevens
(April 7, 2001)
2001-0407 US &
Japanese tms in Yokohama.jpg USA and Japan in Yokohama:
it's Cherry Blossom time
Eagles, top, L to R: Krista
McFarren, Chris Miskec, Kerry McCabe, Pat Neder, Pam Irby, Yancy
Graf
Bottom: Sue Bercuk (physio),
Tyshawn Henry, Emilia Juocys, Anita Pease, Meredith Whalen
US Results at 2001 Yohohama
Women's Sevens (W2 L1)
US 37 Japan 0.
Pat Neder scored 4 tries, with one each for Tyshawn Henry, Pam
Irby and Yancy Graf. Chris Miskec made one conversion.
US 53 Nippon Sports Science U. 0. Tyshawn Henry and
Emilia Joucys each had 3 tries; Miskec, Irby, Krista McFarren,
Meredith Whalen and Kerry McCabe each had one. Miskec and Juocys
each had two conversions.
US 7 New Zealand 24. We trailed 0-12 at half and when
Hong Kong scored a couple of times in the second half the US
emptied its bench. The replacements played very well and the
final was 7-24. Our try was by Emilia Juocys, converted by
Chris Miskec.
February-March
2002: Eagle Women in Whangarei and Hong Kong
US National Sevens
Camp, Fort Lauderdale January 11-13, 2002
2002-0113 USW camp-photo.jpg Photo - National Women's Camp 1/13/2002 Prior to Scrimmages -
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Standing:
Beet McKinnon (physio), Emil Signes (coach), Sue Bercuk
(physio), Greg Schor (coach), Tasha Mannino, Amanda Micheli
(partly hidden), Erin Sowers, Shalanda Baker, Melody Peterson,
Jacki Carlson, Katrinka Blunt, Pam Irby, Kat Lavell, Tracy
Moens (coach), Ellie Karvoski (below Tracy), Kate Turpin,
Helen Bateup (above Kate), Sarah Schooler, Karima White,
Kristin Baja, Heather Heaton, Kelly McMahon, Elisabeth
deFontenay, Donna Thomas, Sue Barnak, Michelle Carrone, Bucky
Walker, Kerry McCabe, Chris Franz (manager)
Kneeling:
Bill Russell (coach), Daniela Mogro, Jen Sinkler, Angel
Bishop, Lisa Rowe, Val Griffeth, Jules Dukat, Laura McDonald,
Meredith Whalen, Katie Stewart, Sarah Apgar, Summer Clayton,
JoAnne Ward, Pam Kosanke, Al Caravelli (coach), Anita Pease
(coach), Sue Parker (coach), Krista McFarren (coach)
Seated: Jess
Olive, Dana Creager, Sue Scholl, Lindsay Davison, Mary
Williams, Liz King, Kari Herzog, Tyshawn Henry, Emilia Juocys,
Brandy McDaniel, Pat Neder, April Loveland
The US again held a national camp in Fort Lauderdale from January
11 to 13. The camp was attended by 47 players and 10 staff. Based
on these camps two teams were represented to represent the US at
the Whangarei (NZ) and Hong Kong Sevens.
US Women at 2002
Whangarei Sevens (February 16-17, 2002)
2002-0216 US Women on
beach near Whangarei.jpg US Women on beach near
Whangarei, Feb. 16, 2002
L to R: Tyshawn Henry, Pam Irby,
Meredith Whalen, Karima White, Shalanda Baker, Daniela Mogro,
Kristin Baja, Pam Kosanke, Melody Peterson, Ellie Karvoski
Staff was Emil Signes (coach), Chris Ryan (manager and assistant
coach), Beet McKinnon (massage therapist and trainer), and the
players were
Player
Home Town
Club
Ht
ft'in
Wt
lbs
Age
yrs
Kristin Baja
Northville, MI
Washington
Furies
5'8
160
22
Shalanda Baker
Austin TX
Berkeley All
Blues
5'5
143
25
Tyshawn Henry
Brooklyn, NY
At Large
5'6
170
26
Pam Irby
Redmond, OR
Oregon Sports
Union
5'5
135
37
Ellie Karvoski
Norwalk, CT
New York
5'8
157
26
Pam Kosanke
St. Louis, MO
Chicago North
Shore
5'6
152
24
Daniela Mogro
Tucson, AZ
Washington
Furies
5'2
115
22
Melody
Peterson
Monrovia, CA
At Large
5'9
168
23
Meredith
Whalen
Grand Rapids,
MI
New York
5'3
135
23
Karima White
Chicago, IL
New Mexico
State U
5'8
140
22
US Results at 2002 Whangarei Sevens (W3
L1 T1)
US 14 United Kawakawa
12. Pam Irby scored the winning try.
US 28 City RFC 0. no description US 7 Aotearoa Maori 41. no description
US 0 North Harbour 0. North Harbour had upset
Aotearoa Maori, so we felt pretty good about our defense.
US 5 Aotearoa Maori A 0. The US salvaged some pride
by coming back to defeat Aotearoa Maori in this game. The try
scorer was not recorded.
US Individual Scoring, 2002
Whangarei Sevens
Player
Tries
Conv
PK
Kristin Baja
3
6
27
Tyshawn
Henry
2
0
10
Meredith
Whalen
2
0
10
Pam Kosanke
1
2
9
Pam Irby
1
0
5
Ellie
Karvoski
1
0
5
Melody
Peterson
1
0
5
Total
11
8
71
Opposition
11
4
63
One of the (very) many great things about playing rugby in New
Zealand is that it's their number one sport, and if you're a
visiting national team, people know you're there. While we
were in Whangarei, we were on a radio interview show, and visited
a number of schools including Kamo Intermediate School just next
door to Whangarei.
These girls were happy to be able to get a picture with some US
national team players (and as can be seen in the photo, they had
pen and paper ready for autographs:): The perks of being
famous :).
2002-02 Eagles at Kamo
School.jpg Eagles visit Kamo Intermediate
School
Ellie, Meredith, Pam, Tyshawn
The students are ready for autographs
While in Northland, we traveled up to Waitangi, cradle of New
Zealand, and stayed together in the Lower Waitangi Marae, and
played some touch with the local boys. We also got to visit
the famous Hundertwasser toilets in Kawakawa (look it up).
2002-02 Bedroom in
Waitangi Marae-1500w.jpg Communal Sleeping Area in the
Waitangi Marae There is a large Marae
in Waitangi celebrating the history of New Zealand. This
is the other one (the ones the locals use).
US at Hong Kong
Women's Sevens (March 27-28, 2002)
2002-0321
US Women at Hong Kong-1200w.jpg Eagles at Hong Kong Women's Sevens 2002
Top, L to R: Chris Ryan (manager), Al Caravelli (coach), Ellie
Karvoski, Pam Irby, Melody Peterson, Kerry McCabe, Tyshawn
Henry, Emil Signes (coach), Beet McKinnon (trainer, massage
therapist)
Bottom, L to R: Daniela Mogro, Jen Sinkler, Lindsay Davison,
Kristin Baja, Meredith Whalen, Pam Kosanke
Chris Ryan was the Manager, Emil Signes the Head Coach, Al
Caravelli Assistant Coach, and Beet McKinnon (trainer &
massage therapist), and the players were
Name
Club
Ht
ft'in
Wt
lbs
Age
yrs
Kristin Baja
Washington
Furies
5'8
160
22
Lindsay
Davison
Beantown
5'5
143
25
Tyshawn Henry
At Large
5'6
170
26
Pam Irby
Oregon Sports
Union
5'5
135
37
Ellie Karvoski
New York
5'8
157
26
Pam Kosanke
Chicago North
Shore
5'6
152
24
Kerry McCabe
Beantown
5'8
145
34
Daniela Mogro
Washington
Furies
5'2
115
22
Melody
Peterson
At Large
5'9
168
23
Jen Sinkler
[MN] Valkyries
5'6
150
23
Meredith
Whalen
New York
63
135
23
US Results at 2002 Hong Kong Women's
Sevens (W3 L1 T1)
US win over China.
US win over Japan. Both this game and the
previous one were easy wins, but I can't find any documentation or
any scores, team or individual.
US 15 Hong Kong 0. Hong Kong played well and made
the US work for this win.
US 12 Kazakhstan 10. Kazakhtan was an
excellent team in the early/mid 2000s and they took a lead late
into the game. It took a last-second power try by Tyshawn Henry to
pull the game out for the US.
US 7 New Zealand (represented by Aotearoa Maori) 14.
Aotearoa is the Maori name for New Zealand, and this team, mainly
but not entirely comprised of Maori players, was basically a New
Zealand national team.
In this summary of the US National Sevens teams on these pages I
have been shortening game reports to a couple of sentences. In my
report on the 2002 Hong Kong tour I wrote a very long game
report. Untypically I have decided to leave it as I wrote it
- a very proud moment and well as tinged with a sadness and a
little bitterness. Hong Kong never again scheduled the
women's final as the FIRST game of the men's tournament.
Here is my report on the championship game of the 2002 Hong Kong
Women's Sevens:
The final
game, for the 4th consecutive year, was held in the
Hong Kong stadium, site of THE [men’s] Hong Kong Sevens.As opposed to the
previous 3 years, however, when it was held at the conclusion
of Friday’s play, this year it was the first game of the day,
thus resulting in a smaller crowd – and a shortened game (see
below).Nevertheless,
it’s
always a thrill to earn the right to play in Hong Kong
Stadium!
The final game
was marked by constant threats from both sides, and also by
excellent defense. A spectacular run down and tackle by
sweeper Meredith Whalen saved a try: Meredith grabbed the back
of both of the ball carrier’s shoulders as she was stretching
out to put the ball down, and hauled her in, causing the
touchdown to be about 9 inches short of the line. Finally, in
the 9th minute of the first half, a long New
Zealand run down the blindside from a lineout setup a penalty
5 meters from the US line.A defensive miscue resulted in a try by 20-year old
Rachel Wikeepa and a Kellie Kiwi conversion made it 7-0 to the
Kiwis.
Another
penalty and another defensive error led to another try by
another 20-year old, Honey Hireme.Another conversion by Kiwi, and the US
was facing a 14-0 deficit.Finally, from a scrum in front of the New Zealand goal,
tight-head prop Ellie Karvoski looped all the way to the left
side of the field to receive a pass from wing Lindsay Davison
and barreled over for the try at the touchline.Kristin Baja, who
had been only 3 for 15 for conversions to that point, slotted
an incredible touchline conversion (on a full-width field!) to
keep the US in the game 14-7 with nearly 2 minutes to go.
With what we
felt was plenty of time left, and our 2nd and 3rd
reserves about to enter the game, we thought we could make a
run at tying the match.Although the clock crossed 10 minutes just after
Karvoski scored, there had been a nearly 3-minute injury
following a concussion to Melody Peterson.It was now slightly
after 4:55 PM, and the men’s New Zealand – Singapore game was
scheduled to kick off at 5:00.Although she confirmed later she knew there was time
left, referee Carmel Seeto heard a voice in her earpiece that
said “We are on live TV and we have not counted on extra time.Don’t let them kick
off.”End of
game.End of our
2002 Hong Kong hopes.
We were of
course disappointed, but philosophical.We had had our
chances in the first 18 minutes and were found wanting.Still . . . the
sound of “what if” never goes away.
In the end,
though, transforming a 7-41 score into 7-14 is to be something
to be proud of.
Part of the
credit goes to the players that joined us for Hong Kong --
co-captain Kerry McCabe, Lindsay Davison and Jen Sinkler – but
the core of players that moved on from New Zealand to Hong
Kong really stepped up their game.
Following the Women's tournament, at
the traditional Banquet, Jamie Scott, IRB Executive Council
Representative, Asia, made a very exciting announcement. Thanks to
the US*, he stated "in a significant step forward for global
women's rugby, the Board agreed that the staging, in 2005**, of a
Women's Rugby World Cup Sevens would greatly assist in the
development of the Women's Game and was in line with the Board's
stated aim of including both Men's and Women's rugby as a
competition sport in the Olympic Games.
* "thanks to the US": the US's contribution: the
1995 meeting that was the inspiration for the 1996 women's club,
and therefore 1997 women's international, tournament, and the 1998
discussion - Emil Signes with Dick Airth and Karen Robertson -
that got the 1999 women's tournament into the stadium and
therefore seen by a multitude ... See Boys
and Girls Together: Olympics and Me
** "in 2005": It actually took till
2009 for the Rugby World Cup to take place, but just a few short
months later, on October 9, 2009, the IOC announced that Rugby
Sevens would be introduced to the Olympics in 2016.
2002 HKW Jamie Scott pgm-900w.jpg From the 2002 Hong Kong Women's International Tournament
Program
