Dec. 1-2, 2001: OMBAC Men, Atlantis Women Take
Carib Beer Sevens
(Atlantis tournament # 90)
Emil Signes
JUNE 23, 2013
Atlantis Junior Women:
Believe & Achieve. Prior to tournament, they chose this
spot for their team picture
Mike Raffe, Chris Ryan, Sarah Sall, Helen
Bateup, Kristen Campbell, Sarah Apgar, Val Griffeth, Meredith
Whalen, Kristin Baja, Daniela Mogro, Katrinka Blunt over Amber
Benlian, Beet McKinnon over April Loveland, Emil Signes
Note of July 2013: This is taken from an article I wrote for Rugby
Magazine. The actual article appeared in edited
form.
Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, 1 & 2 December
2001. Perhaps it was fitting, in a tournament
featuring a ceremony to remember the victims of the September 11
terrorist attack and to thank the US teams for participating, that
-- both for the first time -- an American men’s team and an
American women’s team emerged as tournament champions.
The men’s tournament was the ultimate rugby marathon – 10 games
were required to win, including a forbidding seven on
Sunday. With the temperatures hovering in the mid 80s and
humid all weekend, the only mitigating factors were the 11-player
rosters and rolling substitutions.
OMBAC’s roster, laden with Eagles, both regular OMBAC
players from their 2000 and 2001 national championship, and
several guests, was
Dave DiSorbo *
Malakai Delai *
Nelo Lui *
Tony Ongoro [Kenyan National Team]
Alistair Steele
Todd Lutinski
Dave Fee
Don Younger *
John Cox
Jason Raven *
Jovesa Naivalu *
* US National Team
Non-players John “JD” and Ginny Dahlen, and trainer Dennis
Greenhill accompanied the team.
Note of July 2013: 7 of these 11 players
- DiSorbo (Atlantis # 312), Delai (346), Lutinski (578), Fee
(539), Younger (342), Cox (384), Raven (714) - have also
represented Atlantis. Furthermore, David Fee was selected to
the US Eagles in 2002.
The tournament shaped up as a three-way battle from the start with
OMBAC, last year’s finalist Anti-Assassins and “Samurai Ecosse” --
a team that combined last year’s champion Rugby Ecosse with
world-renowned invitational side Samurai -- the only real
contenders.
The battle for the 4th semifinal spot figured to be between
Trinidad and Tobago, Atlantis, and many-time tournament champion
Scottish Border Reivers.
OMBAC cruised through its first nine games with only the
Anti-Assassins giving them a battle.
Pool Round 1
45-0 over USB
61-0 over Amazona
33-7 over Withem’s Elves
Pool Round 2
49-0 over Guadaloupe
21-14 over Anti-Assassins
Pool round 3
45-0 over Atlantis
45-0 over Border Reivers
38-0 over Aesculapians
Semifinals
31-5 over Anti-Assassins
Final. The final began as if it was going to be
another OMBAC walk through the park, when Nelo Lui got in space
from the opening kickoff, sidestepped the sweeper and walked in
for a try. Samurai Ecosse, however, took over the next 9 ½
minutes and went into the interval with a 17-7 lead.
Undaunted, OMBAC came back in the second half with 4 consecutive
tries that were unanswered till the final whistle. They
gained a well-deserved 31-22 title, and took home the ultimate
hardware in their first visit to T&T.
Amazingly, for both teams’ 10th game of the weekend, this was a
high-quality contest.
David Fee – introduced to high-level sevens on an Atlantis tour of
Spain last year - was OMBAC’s leading try scorer with 13, and
Jovesa Naivalu was selected as the tournament’s most exciting male
player.
Atlantis. Although soundly beaten by OMBAC in the 2nd
of three pool rounds, the Atlantis men managed to make it into the
semifinals, where they suffered their second loss, to the other
finalist. These days it’s nearly impossible for
player-funded men’s teams to win tournaments like this, and
Atlantis, the only player-funded team of the semi-finalists, had
nothing to be ashamed of.
The Atlantis men’s squad:
526 Bobby Blunt, Old Blues (CA) *
565 Joe Doucette, New Orleans
527 Adam Drury, Furman University
567 Mike Fair, Belmont Shore
495 Marc Frey, Philadelphia-Whitemarsh
568 Steve Harris, Ft. Lauderdale
569 Jesse Pekkala, Old Blue (NY)
438 Jeff Reuther, Texas A&M
134 Greg Schor, captain, Old Blue (NY)
570 Matt Walier, Old Blue (NY)
521 Kevin Whitcher, co-captain, Denver Barbarians *
* US National Team
Atlantis Men's Results:
Pool Round 1
52-0 over CRUM 2
17-0 over Guadaloupe
35-0 over Rogue Wolves
Pool Round 2
19-12 over Trinidad & Tobago
21-7 over Withem’s Elves
Pool Round 3
0-45 to OMBAC
38-5 over Aesculapians
15-10 over Border Reivers (trailing 0-10 into second half)
Semifinal
7-38 to Samurai Ecosse
Marc Frey was Atlantis’ leading try scorer with nine.
Standing: Chris Ryan, Jesse Pekkala, Matt Walier, Adam
Drury, Joe Doucette, Kevin Whitcher, Greg Schor, Emil Signes
Kneeling: Beet McKinnon, Steve Harris. Marc Frey,
Jeff Reuther, Mike Fair, Bobby Blunt, Mike Raffe
Bottom: Darryl Woo
Women’s Bracket:
Atlantis Junior VII Beats Atlantis Seniors for Championship
A late second-half try by 19-year old Val Griffeth
was all the Atlantis Junior VII needed to defeat their senior
teammates in the championship game of the Caribbean Sevens, but
22-year-old captain Meredith Whalen sealed the tournament on the
last play of the game. Two Kristin Baja conversions made the
final score 14-0.
With one exception, Atlantis split its two squads right down the
age line to create an Atlantis Senior VII and an Atlantis Junior
VII (25-year old Katrinka Blunt and 23-year old Tara Nash were
swapped to give the Juniors a 3rd prop). The junior team
included high school standout Amber Benlian of Haverford (PA) High
School, who will be headed for Penn State next year.
Age and treachery, they say, will defeat youth and athleticism and
so it seemed when the Senior team won the pool game between them,
15-7. Tries by Koma Gandy, captain Dana Creager and Heather
Heaton went unanswered until the final seconds when a Kristin Baja
try and conversion made the final score 15-7.
There comes a time, however, when even the young become
experienced, and over the course of the weekend, the young
Atlanteans gained experience and confidence in each other.
The championship match – both teams’ 6th game of the weekend --
was a fantastic contest. The skill level was high and it was
rare that either defense would bend, let alone break.
Finally, with less than 5 minutes left in the 20-minute final,
Griffeth picked up a loose ball and raced about 40 yards for what
proved to be the only points needed to complement the Juniors’
perfect defense.
Both teams before final. Staff: Emil Signes, Mike Raffe
(L), Chris Ryan (R)
Juniors (top): Kristen Campbell, Val Griffeth, Sarah
Apgar, Amber Benlian, Kristin Baja, Daniela Mogro, Sarah Sall,
Meredith Whalen, Helen Bateup, April Loveland
Seniors (bottom): Tara Nash, Koma Gandy, Dana Creager,
Tanya Pino, Summer, Ellie Karvoski, Jules Dukat, Heather
Heaton, Kat Lavell, Sue Barnak
Heather Moyse, a Canadian U-23 international currently living and
playing in Trinidad, was deservedly voted the women’s tournament’s
most exciting player.
Combined with the Atlantis men’s 7-2 record, the Atlantis women
brought Atlantis’ total W-L to 17-4: not a bad weekend’s work
(especially when the two men’s losses were to the two finalists
and the two women’s losses were to each other).
Atlantis Junior Women’s VII
574 Amber Benlian, 17, Haverford (PA)
556 Val Griffeth, 19, Colorado College
573 Sarah Apgar, 21, Princeton University
504 Kristin Baja, 21, Washington Furies *
575 Kristin Campbell, 22, Northern Virginia
558 Daniela Mogro, 22, Washington Furies
576 April Loveland, 22, UC Santa Barbara
505 Helen Bateup, 22, New York
510 Meredith Whalen, 22, captain, New York *
578 Sarah Sall, 24, Brandywine (PA)
484 Katrinka Blunt, 25, Bay Area She Hawks *
Atlantis Senior Women’s VII
284 Pam Irby, 37, co-captain, Oregon Sports Union *
572 Kat Lavell, 33, Atlanta Harlequins
571 Summer Clayton, 28, Atlanta Harlequins
330 Heather Heaton, 28, At Large
428 Dana Creager, 28, co-captain, Northern Virginia
475 Jules Dukat, 27, Harlequin Olde Girls (CO)
512 Koma Gandy, 27, San Diego Surfers
546 Ellie Karvoski, 26, New York
561 Tanya Pino, 25, Brandywine (PA)
554 Sue Barnak, 24, Maulie Maguires (PA)
577 Tara Nash, 23, Maryland Stingers
* US National Team Players
Atlantis Junior Games
7-15 Atlantis Seniors
53-0 Amazonas (Venezuela)
52-0 CRUM (Venezuela)
37-5 Northern (T&T)
31-0 Cayman Islands
14-0 Atlantis Seniors
Atlantis Senior Games
15-7 Atlantis Juniors
43-0 Cayman Islands
34-5 Northern (T&T)
43-5 CRUM (Venezuela)
48-0 Amazonas (Venezuela)
0-14 Atlantis Juniors
Griffeth was the top try scorer with seven, followed by Kristin
Baja (Jrs) and Tanya Pino (Srs) with six each. The Blunt
family (Bobby with 5 and Katrinka with 4) accounted for nine
Atlantis tries, tying them with Marc Frey.
The Atlantis men’s and women’s teams were well supported by
managers Chris Ryan and Mike Raffe, massage therapist supreme Beet
McKinnon as well as our food magnet DJ Jefferis.
Both Women's Teams after
Final
Koma Gandy got her picture (she's barely
visible) in the T&T papers (in "The Wire") on Tuesday making
a tackle in the Northern game.
This Koma Gandy tackle
vs. Northern made it into the newspaper.
Caribbean Sevens. This is one of my favorite events
of the sevens calendar: the competition is easy at the
beginning, tough at the end, and there are plenty of games
(although 10 borders on the outrageous). There are teams
from all over the place (England, Scotland, Canada, US, Venezuela,
British Virgins, Cayman Islands, Guadaloupe, Martinique, St.
Vincent’s, Guyana, on and on. . . The Sunday night party at the
Pelican brings everyone together, and for those with the endurance
and ability to stay an extra day, the tournament provides free
drink and food for Monday afternoon’s “lime” at Maracas
Beach. A Monday evening tour of the street vendors in St.
James – roti, doubles, jerk pork (and a Carib or two) puts a nice
finishing touch on a marvelous tour.
September 11 Tribute. Brian Stollmeyer and his
crew of Trinidad Enthusiasts always deserve a great round of
thanks from all those that attend. On behalf of all the
Americans that participated this year, I would like to especially
thank Brian for a tribute that was held on behalf of all of us
(OMBAC, Atlantis, and the Rogue Wolves, an invitational team
organized from NY). With all the American teams lined up
along the grandstand goal-line, Brian expressed, on behalf of all
the participants, their solidarity with us in our moment of
tragedy. A full minute of silence was followed by a 12-year
old Trini – Johann -- playing beautiful renditions, first of the
T&T national anthem, and then of the Star Spangled Banner, on
Trinidad & Tobago’s national instrument, the steel drum.
Tears abounded. The ceremony, and the continuing support of
the rugby community, was particularly meaningful to Atlantis’ Matt
Walier, one of seven brothers who lost one of their only two
sisters in the World Trade Center on September 11.
Here is a partial group of participants
standing to show solidarity with the US in mourning September
11th. They were listening to The Star Spangled Banner being
played by a 12-year old boy on the steel drum. Brought
tears to the eyes of most of us.
At the start of the tournament: mourning
September 11 with the US
As the tournament and socializing and Christmas decorations among
the palm trees intermingled in my head with the horrific memories
commemorated by this ceremony, I was reminded of Tiny Tim’s
message: “God Bless Us Every One.”
Postscripts of July
2013
I notice I didn't include
many references to off-the field activities in the report I
submitted to Rugby in December
2001. Off-the-field activities are always, however, a
staple of all rugby trips, especially sevens. The
difficulty, of course, is enjoying the off-the-field stuff
while realizing that we've invested all this time, energy and
money (as well as our teammates' time, energy and money) on
the rugby part of the trip; i.e. the rugby has to be our
priority. Following is a brief description of
some of our off-the-field activities. (From here to the end
was written in July 2013.)
The Royal Palm and Dinner at Veni Mangé. We stayed at the The Royal Palm Suite
Hotel. The weather is warm and beautiful in Trinidad in
December. For those in the northern US at least, arriving
at the hotel and being able to jump in an outdoor pool with
images of Christmas all around is a pleasantly incongruent
sight.
Wednesday: following the tournament's tradition of welcoming the
visiting teams with a beer in the airport parking lot, we went
to the hotel, some jumped in the pool and most got to sleep
early for double practice sessions on Thursday.
The pool was right in the foreground
On Tuesday night we visited Veni Mangé, a
restaurant in downtown Port of Spain that serves great Trini
food and prepared a Christmas menu for us. Here are a few
pictures of the group at the restaurant.
Thursday night dinner at Veni Mangé
From L to R: Marc Frey, Mike Fair, Dana
Creager, Kristen Campbell, Tara Nash, Ellie Karvoski, Matt Walier
Left: April, Koma, Adam // Right:
Sarah, Heather, Greg
Left: Bobby and Katrinka /// Right:
Amber, Val, Daniela
FINE MASTERS!
Helen doesn't look up to the gravity of the task of
fining her peers. Heather looks angry, Kevin cool &
collected
As usual it was hilarious (Well, in 2013 I no longer remember
if it was, but I assume so :)
Maracas Beach on Friday. Typically in Trinidad we have a brief practice
on Friday morning, then spend the afternoon at Maracas Beach,
finishing up with an early evening prior to the start of the
tourney.
After the tourney. Sunday night there was a party for all the
tournament participants. The rookie show took place that
evening as well. (There's always a rookie show, and
they're always hilarious. Here are two pictures from the
2001 rookie show, without comment.)
Excerpts from rookie show
On the way back from the field, I had a chance to admire the
trophy (and Meredith's joy on winning it)
Maracas Beach on Monday.
Monday those that were still around headed
for a tournament party at Maracas beach, where we hung out
with other tourney participants, including OMBAC, also still
around.
Part of the party on the
beach Monday. In foreground, Eagle (& Atlantean)
Don Younger, who played for OMBAC, joins us
Beet, meanwhile, stayed busy on
Monday, massaging anyone who asked nicely.
Beet hard at work on Monday at Maracas
En route home. Those of us
that stayed around for the after-tourney Maracas Beach party,
finally hit the airport for home on Tuesday. I was standing on
line at the airport with several other members of the party when
a guy next to me saw some rugby kit and asked what we were doing
there. I explained and he said that when he had lived in T&T
in the 1970s he had played rugby for the Carib club. I
knew that Terrence Titus, an Eagle 7s player (and Atlantis #42),
and a former T&T national team player as well, had played
for Carib. I had known Terrence for years and spent a lot
of time with him. (Terrence is now in Australia and I believe he
was already there in 2001.)
I asked this gentleman, "Do you know Terrence Titus? I know he
used to play for Carib." "Know him?" he answered. "That's
my brother!" (Actually I remember it as "Dat my brudder, mon!"
At any rate it turns out that Eddison and Terrence hadn't been
in touch for a while, and it was quite an unexpected meeting!
With Eddison Titus at Port of Spain airport
2013: Future Princeton Connections. Four of us continued on to
Philly, and the photo below has taken on additional importance
in 2013. At the time of the photo, Sarah Apgar was a
senior at Princeton University, and neither Heather, Chris nor
I had anything to do with Princeton. Within 5 years,
however, the three of us had become coaches at Princeton.
Tuesday 12/4/2001 PM: Philadelphia airport
Heather Heaton, Chris Ryan, Sarah Apgar, Emil Signes: (then
current) Princeton player and 3 future Princeton
coaches
To quote Kurt
Vonnegut, "and so it goes."
