3/29 & 4/5/1987: Atlantis' First International Tour: England March/April 1987

(Atlantis tournaments 5 & 6)
Emil Signes
JUNE 2013

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June 2013: I have no writeup on this tournament, but I found a copy of a letter I sent to the English organizers of our tour; I had, after organizing the tour, become US coach and was in Hong Kong at the time.  No one wrote up the tour itself.  Atlantis got to the semifinals of the Camberley Sevens (3/29/87), and lost in the quarterfinals of the Sevenoaks Sevens (4/5/87), to London Welsh, after a good win over Rosslyn Park.  - Emil Signes.

This is the information I sent the organizers:
Atlantis is an invitational 7s side formed in 1986 to gather together top-quality 7s players to participate as teammates. Originated in the Eastern Rugby Union of the United States (ERU), with this tour Atlantis extends its tentacles to other parts of America as well.  The team that will be participating in the Bromley and Sevenoaks  7s represents three of the four American territories.  In addition, the team has an international flavor in that four of its players originally hail from countries other than the US. 

Atlantis in England April 1987
Atlantis in England April 1987
Top, L to R: Terrence Titus, Richard Green, Chris Schrichte, Carter Mann, Cecil Youngblood, Al Little
Bottom, L to R: Chris Bader, Wayne Lumkong, Salty Thompson, Joe Morrison

The tour party will consist of the following nine players (I wrote, and now add their Atlantis number):

50 Chris Bader.  Age 25.  Height 5'10".  Weight 12 st 7 lb.  Club: OMEX (New York). Eastern Rugby Union 15s: Center; 7s: Scrum Half, Hooker, Fly Half, Center.

Chris is a product of the tiny but productive American high school rugby program, having begun the game at age 13 (very rare in the US).  He was a member of both the ERU North U-23 and ERU 7s squads in 1985. He was rated highly by the national selectors, but injury kept him out of all select side competition in 1986.  Chris is a 15-a-side center who has experience at several 7s positions. He earns his living as a stockbroker.

51 Richard Greed.  Age 24.  Height 6'2".  Weight 13 st 8 lb.  Club: Loughborough University. 15s: Fullback; 7s: Fly Half, Center, Prop.  

After playing with Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Rich has returned to his native England where he is currently playing for Loughborough University.  Prior to his stay in the states, he was fullback at both Loughborough and Bristol. While in the states, he represented the Eastern Pennsylvania select-side, the ERU North U-23s and the ERU 7s.  Rich seems to enjoy his career as perpetual student and summer resident of the US.

48 Wayne Lumkong.  Age 25.  Height 5'11".  Weight 14 st.  Club: Union County (New Jersey).  Eastern Rugby Union.  15s: Prop, #8, Flanker;  7s: Prop, Hooker.  

Wayne has just received his Masters in Business Administration from Rutgers University (New Jersey).  He hails from Trinidad, and has represented the Trinidad national team at prop forward.  He has also competed in many other types of sports, including competitive swimming and cyling.  Wayne is, in American terminology, "your basic hard-nosed competitor."

38 Carter Mann.  Age 24. Height 6'2".  Weight 14 st 4 lb. Club: Buffalo Old Boys (New York).  Eastern Rugby Union. 15s: Wing; 7s: Wing, Center, Prop.  

Carter represented the ERU U-23s in 1986 and also the ERU 7s in the 1986 national territorial 7s championships.  In the ensuing US 7s trials, he was the fastest player timed in the 40-yard dash.  A great natural athlete who can dunk a basketball, Carter attended Colgate University (New York), where he was a standout baseball pitcher and outfielder.  He was a successful wrestler in high school, and is also a low-handicap golfer.

22 Joe Morrison.  Age 28.  Height 6'1".  Weight 13 st 5 lb.  Club: Bethlehem (Pennsylvania).  Eastern Rugby Union. 15s and 7s: Fly Half and Center. 

"Mo" was the captain of the Bethlehem 7s team that finished 3rd in the US in 1985, and was the fly half of the ERU North team that soundly upset the South recently in the ERU's main event, the North/South game.  Although he played midget football and Little League baseball, Mo progressed to British sports by selecting soccer in high school and moving on to rugby after graduation.  Mo is also active in street hockey, a sport that has a surprisingly large following in eastern Pennsylvania.

52 Chris Schrichte.  Age 27. Height 6'2".  Weight 14 st 4 lb.  Club: Sudamericano (Washington, DC). Eastern Rugby Union. 15s: Flanker;  7s: Prop, Hooker.  

Chris was a member of the very first ERU squad selected in 1984, and has represented the Potomac Rugby Union on several occasions.  He began his rugby at the Viginia Military Institute in the late 1970s, after a high-school sports career in which he competed in Nordic ski-jumping. He is a stockbroker and investment banker.

53 Wilbert "Salty" Thompson. Age 30.  Height 5'8.  Weight 11 st 11 lb. Club: Tempe Old Devils (Arizona).  Pacific Rugby Union. 15s: Halfback, Fullback;  7s: All backs.

Salty is an Irishman currently playing in Arizona.  His rugby and athletics credentials are impressive: he attained Ulster U-19 and U-23 honors, and played for both Loughborough University and Nottingham.  He has represented Northern Ireland as a 400-meter sprinter as recently as 1986.  Salty is now a permanent resident of the United States, where he teaches high school and coaches track.

42 Terrence Titus.  Age 31.  Height 6'3".  Weight 14 st 6 lb.  Club: Life Chiropractic College (Georgia).  Eastern Rugby Union. 15s: Flanker;  7s: Prop, Hooker, Wing.  

Terrence played for and captained the Trinidad national team before moving to the US in 1980.  Since then he has represented the ERU several times, in both 15s and 7s, and played for the US in the 1985 Hong Kong 7s and the 1986 Sydney 7s. Terrence is a chemical engineer who is now studying to be a chiropractor.

54 Cecil Youngblood.  Age 33.  Height: 6'4".  Weight: 16 st. Club: Quad Cities Irish (Iowa/Illinois).  Midwest Rugby Union. 15s: Flanker; 7s: Prop.

Cecil was selected the Outstanding Player in the 1985 club 7s championships, in which his club finished 4th.  In 1986, he led Quad Cities to a national club 7s championship and the Midwest to a 2nd place finish in the national territorial 7s championships.  A recent editorial in the major US rugby publication excoriated the US selectors for neglecting to include him on the national 7s side.  Cecil, who briefly played pro football with the Kansas City Chiefs, is now assistant football coach at Augustana College.  Augustana has won four consecutive Division III national championships, during which time they have gone 50 games without a loss, the longest unbeaten streak of any collegiate football team in the country.

Coach: Al Little.  Undetermined age and weight.  Club: Philadelphia/Whitemarsh (Pennsylvania).  Eastern Rugby Union.  Despite being blessed with the natural physical size and shape of a prop, Al spent most of his rugby career as a scrum half.  He played many years for the ERU, and was a reserve for the US team.  Perhaps his most memorable game was the 1976 ERU "almost" victory over France (final score 12-16).  Al was the first American to play with the Public School Wanderers.  The president of the ERU from 1984-86, Al is also the assistant ERU coach in both 15s and 7s. (Staff #3)


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