August 1999: US Women's Invitational Sevens Tournament, Philadelphia

Colleen Chapin & Emil Signes
Published in Women's Rugby group on web, August 1999
Published in rugby7.com, August 1999
JUNE 21, 2013

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Note of 2013: The following article was included in a note I have on my computer that appears to be a copy of one I sent to Mauricio Sanmartín of rugby7.com back in 1999. It refers to, and includes, an article written by Colleen Chapin for a (now defunct, I believe) Women's Rugby group on the internet in 1999.  When I sent this to Mauricio I interspersed my comments with those of Colleen, so I can't be sure what's whose.  Other than I do comment to Mauricio that 99% of it was written by Colleen.

The overall goal was, now that women's rugby had been introduced into the Hong Kong Sevens (in 1997 and then again starting in 1999), to give it a bigger footprint at home.  This event would eventually spawn both women's national All-Star and club events.

The women's tournament-type was "invitational"; specifically for any group of players - club, select-side, formed for the day - that wanted to play sevens concurrent with the national men's club sevens championship taking place at the same event. Atlantis was one of the invitational teams in this tournament; we can in third after getting smoked by an Eagle-laden Maryland/Berkeley combined side.

This Women's Invitational 7's tournament was held in Philadelphia simultaneously with and in conjunction with the USA National Men's Club 7's tournament. This was great for the tournament, because the women got to play the final matches at the men's club championship venue in front of a large and appreciative crowd, and the women's event provided more spectators for the men's final. It was a nightmare for me, though. As Atlantis "Emperor" and Coach, and the Chair of USA Rugby's Women's Sevens, I had to be at the women's event to at least get everything started.  As the coach of Philly Whitemarsh men, however, I had to be at the men's tournament for them.  Because of the weather (drought conditions closed the planned field down), the women's tournament was moved from a second field in Conshohocken to Philadelphia.  I could have managed the two fields in Conshy, but the trip to Philadelphia was just too far. I didn't have a cell phone back then, but somehow managed to get word back to the Philly guys that I wouldn't be there for their game against Belmont Shore.  Steve Siano sat in for me as sideline coach for the first game; I was there for the other 5.

We not only won that game but the entire national championship. The Philly guys to this day are still making fun of me and noting how they beat Belmont Shore without a coach.  I keep telling them that the coach's job is done after the last practice.

Maryland/Berkeley Wins Women's Invitational Sevens


Final: Maryland/Berkeley vs. West Select A - 33-7.  Maryland/Berkeley didn't start slow in this match.  Diane Schnapp went over first (Mitchell conversion).  From that point, on Maryland's Kim Thompson demonstrated her second speed (she reportedly has two, the other being full stop) and sprinted down the field for two tries (both conversions by Mitchell). Halftime:  21-0

In the second half, the West went on the board early and threatened to make it a match with a long, try-scoring run by Michelle Persica followed by a Laura Cabrera conversion.  But then Maryland/Berkeley got the ball back and Kim Thompson again went to her second speed scoring Maryland's 4th try of the match (Mitchell conversion).  As the match wound down, Berkeley's Jane Mitchell - clearly tired of kicking conversions - decided to add a try of her own.  Ironically, her conversion attempt was unsuccessful.

Maryland/Berkeley - not surprisingly given their roster - was clearly head and shoulder above the rest of the clubs.  This group of veritable 7's All-Stars (many of whom have been or are currently on the National 7's team) notched some 186 points.  West Select A was next up with 89 points.  Despite the last minute field changes (drought conditions in Pennsylvania are forcing groundskeepers to close down fields) and  Saturday's thunderstorm, this was a great event well-run by the Philadelphia women and the Philadelphia-Whitemarsh men.  The men have earned the additional congratulations on winning their half of the tournament and emerging as USA 7's Club Champion.

Participants and Pools

Pool A
Maryland/Berkeley
Atlantis I
Washington
NOVA

Pool B
West Select A
Beantown
Atlantis II
Philadelphia

Pool C
Atlanta
New York
West Select B
Morris

Atlantis

Atlantis entered two teams into this tournament: although there were quite a few Eagles in the tournament, Atlantis had none (though Katrinka Blunt would later play for the Eagle 7s.) In fact, all of the Atlantis players were 1999 Atlantis rookies (LaToya Horton and Jane Halleman had played for Atlantis in July, for the others this was their first Atlantis event). Nine of the Atlantis players are either in college or just graduated.   Our second team won the plate championship (5th); the first team took 3rd place. I'm sorry to say I didn't get team pictures.

Atlantis I probably scored the upset of the tournament with their 7-0 upset of Beantown, this year’s 15-a-side national runners up.  The game was marked by tenacious defense, which was Atlantis’ hallmark all weekend.

Atlantis II was very unlucky that its pool play didn’t get it into the quarterfinals, but went on, led by captain Sandy Saras, to take the Plate Championship.

Atlantis' Roster (Atlantis Number, Name, Club)
Atlantis I
473 Linda Borgeson, Worcester
474 Stacey Davis, Dartmouth
475 Jules Dukat, Colorado
476 Anne Garrison, U Mass
458 Jane Halleman, Maulie Maguires
477 Amy Heroux, Beantown
478 Kam Kelly, Tidewater
479 Dana Kuchta, Tidewater
480 Jen Linker, U Mass

Atlantis II
484 Katrinka Blunt
481 Adrienne Butcher, Austin
482 Pam Frank, Maulie Maguires
483 Lindsay Hawkins, Navy
463 La Toya Horton, At Large
485 Sandy Saras, Maulie Mguires
432 Beth Simmons, Navy
486 Julie Taylor, Princeton
487 Tara Way, Brandywine
488 Christie Winkler, Penn State
Pictures

Because of a) my need Saturday to race back to the men's tournament from the women's, and b) my need Sunday to race from the 3rd place game (won by Atlantis Women) to spend some time with the Philadelphia-Whitemarsh men, I was never able to organize team photos.  The pictures below are the only two pictures with any Atlantis players that I know of in this tournament.
Adrienne Butcher at WIT
Adrienne Butcher of Austin Rugby on the run for Atlantis in Saturday's play
halftime pic
This is Atlantis II at halftime of probably an early Saturday game

Pool Play & Plate Results

Pool A
Maryland/Berkeley vs. Washington - 31-5
Maryland/Berkeley vs. NOVA - 41-5
Maryland/Berkeley vs. Atlantis I - 38-0
Atlantis I vs. Washington - 5-10
Atlantis I vs. NOVA - 24-3
Washington vs. NOVA - 12-15

Pool B
West Select A vs. Beantown - 5-12
West Select A vs. Atlantis II - 44-0
West Select A vs. Philadelphia - 19-5
Beantown vs. Atlantis II - 12-0
Beantown vs. Philadelphia - 24-5
Atlantis II vs. Philadelphia - 17-12

Pool C
Atlanta vs. New York - 5-0
Atlanta vs. West Select B - 24-0
Atlanta vs. Morris - 15-7
New York vs. West Select B - 31-0
New York vs. Morris - 5-5
West Select B vs. Morris - 19-10

Top 2 teams from each pool plus 2 wild cards (based on total points scored) advanced to the Cup Quarterfinals. The remaining 4 teams advanced to the Plate Semifinals.

Plate Semifinal:
Morris (PL1) vs. Atlantis II (PL4) - 12-21
Philly (PL2) vs. West Select B (PL3) - 14-7

Plate Final:
Philly vs. Atlantis II
This match (and other consolation matches) was not played because of an earlier thunderstorm delay and the impending darkness.  Some sort of friendly executive decision was made to fall back to the earlier pool result between these two teams - Atlantis II being the victor.

Quarterfinals

Cup Quarterfinal 1
Maryland/Berkeley (A1) vs. NOVA (WC1) - no score available
This was the last match before Mother Nature decided to take over center stage for a bit.  Big round of applause to the Philly women and some of the Philly-Whitemarsh men for breaking down the tents seconds before the wind decided to take matters into it's own hands.  Rumor has it that up at the Stadium where the men's matches were being played, all the players bolted the area and their matches had to be pushed to 8:00 am Sunday.  The women stuck it out and were at least able to play through the Cup Quarterfinals.  (OK, so there were metal stands up at the Stadium, but you can draw your own conclusions :)

(Note of 2013: I can't believe I wrote the above paragraph, but then it was before 2002 when a death from lightning at a sevens tournament in Annapolis made me *really* realize the dangers.)

After the rain:
 Quarterfinals 2-4:
Atlantis I (A2) vs. Beantown (B1) - 7-0
Atlanta (C1) vs. Washington (WC2) - no score available
New York (C2) vs. West Select A (B2) - 0-20

Sundays Semifinals

Maryland/Berkeley vs. Atlantis I - 43-0
A rather slow start for Maryland/Berkeley with Jane Mitchell (Berkeley) starting the scoring about midway through the first half (try and conversion).  In the remaining minutes, Sue Parker (Mitchell conversion) and Diane Schnapp (Berkeley) scampered into the try zone.  Half:  19-0.  Second half saw Parker score twice quickly (both converted by Mitchell) followed by a second Schnapp try and a match ending try by Krista McFarren.

Atlantis certainly deserves credit for contributing to Maryland/Berkeley's slow start, but oncce Maryland/Berkeley started clicking there was much that could stop them.

Atlanta vs. West Select A - 10-14
A tale of two halves: Atlanta owned the first with half with scrappy play pinning the West in their own half for much of the first period.  Regina Etheridge broke free early for the first try.  Lori Utchel pushed over late in the half for Atlanta's second try.

In the second half, West A began to click.  Kim Turner scampered free for the first score, conversion by Laura Cabrera.  Brandy McDaniel and the slightly raised pitcher's mound shut down a certain try by Atlanta late in the second half.  The West turned it completely around, worked back up the field, and finally freed up Angel Bishop to score the final try of the match (Cabrera conversion) as time expired.

Consolation Final

Atlanta vs. Atlantis I - 5-7
Despite being blown out by the Eagle-studded Maryland/Berkeley team in the semi-finals, Atlantis 1 scored its second upset of the tournament, once again calling upon its defense to shut down a highly rated opponent.  Atlanta took the early lead and held a 5-0 lead until the closing moments.  As the clock wound down, Atlantis' Dana Kuchta (Tidewater)’s kick ahead behind a flat Atlanta defensive line produced a try, and Jules Dukat (Colorado Olde Girls) won the game, 7-5, with her conversion.

Improving Women's Sevens

Women’s Sevens in the US has been around since at least 1975, when the Beatown women won the New York Sevens.  Nevertheless, it was not considered a serious part of the women’s rugby world until efforts by people like Sallie Ahlert of Oklahoma resulted in a national tournament in 1992.  Concurrently, the East held territorial championships for women’s sevens teams, hoping to promote high-level women’s sevens. 

Still, the effort to increase the level of women’s sevens sputtered until the Hong Kong women, prodded by some of us in the US, hosted an invitational women’s tournament in 1996.  This tournament, won by Atlantis, led to the Hong Kong International Women’s Sevens, which this year featured the final match (US vs NZ) in the Hong Kong Stadium during the men’s Hong Kong Sevens.

At home, attempts to increase the level of women’s sevens at the local level are still meeting half-hearted success.  Nevertheless, for the fourth consecutive year, the organizers of the men’s National Club Sevens Championships in Conshohocken, PA have welcomed the participation of women’s sevens.

This participation has taken various forms, with this year’s invitational format the most ambitious.  It certainly has been the most successful in drawing top players: 8 of this year’s Hong Kong Eagles participated for 5 different teams.  Young players also participated in abundance, with Atlantis’ two sides featuring nine players either currently in college, or that graduated within the last year.

USA Rugby has declared that it will actively support women’s sevens, and has given the women’s community the task of deciding where it wants its competition structure to head – to a national club sevens tournament, a national All Star tournament, or an invitational format such as this one.

Regardless of the decision, this tournament represents a major step forward in high-level women’s sevens within the US.
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