May 11, 2002: Atlantis Women Win the Isle of
Mull Sevens:
(The World's Most Sociable Sevens)
(Atlantis tournament #91)
by Emil Signes
May 19, 2002
SEPTEMBER 2, 2013 (rev. Sept 5)
Men & Women Champions: Heriots of
Edinburgh & Atlantis
Atlantis players, L to R: Dana Kuchta &
Heather Heaton, below, Laura McDonald, Joan Norton, Val
Griffeth,
Katrinka Blunt, Brandy McDaniel, Ashley
Farmer, Sue Barnak, Sarah Sall
Isle of Mull, 11 May 2002. A young Atlantis women’s
side traveled to the Isle of Mull to participate in the “Isle of
Mull West Highland and Island Sevens,” where they emerged as
popular champions. In addition, Atlantis co-captain Katrinka
Blunt was selected as the tournament’s Outstanding Player.
Finally, tournament social activities demonstrated why this
tournament bills itself as “The World’s Most Sociable Sevens.”
I’d heard of the Mull Sevens for several years, and finally
tracked down tournament organizer Duncan Swinbanks. Duncan
was very gracious both in inviting us and also in accommodating
our many requests.
Final. Atlantis 33
Kirkcaldy 5.
It was a surprise – a pleasant one – to see numbered among our
opponents in the final one Jody Bender, long-time regular fixture
on the Northeast rugby scene. A former member of Gotham and
Monmouth Rugby Clubs and a solid select-side player, Jody showed
that in her late 30s she still can play the game with anyone.
The weather was typically Scottish – temperatures in the low 50s,
a cold wind blowing from the north, and the sky alternating from
bright sunshine to showers (sometimes both simultaneously!)
Luckily the showers, although occurring throughout the day,
comprised only about 10% of the total time.
Two finalists - Kircaldy, left, and Atlantis,
piped onto field for final.
Jody Bender is the second Kircaldy player from the
left, between our co-captains Katrinka and Heather.
Kirkcaldy (pronounced “Kir-CODD-ee”) scored first in the final –
the only score against Atlantis in the tournament – when
unrelenting pressure in the Atlantis 22 following the opening
kickoff eventually led to a Kirkcaldy try.
Atlantis continued to struggle until the 6 minute mark, when a
Dana Kuchta try and Val Griffeth conversion gave them a 7-5
lead. Then, near the end of the 10-minute half, Brandy
McDaniel took her opponent to the sideline, and with inches to
spare, roared by her for a 60-meter try. Although the half
time score was only 14-5, Brandy’s try was a big moment: that’s
when I felt Kirkcaldy would have no answer.
Two more Kuchta tries in the 2nd half gave her a hat trick and MVP
Blunt added the final try. Val Griffeth had 4
conversions. For their championship effort Atlantis was
awarded the tournament’s “Pink Cup.”
Following final. Heather Heaton holds
championship Pink Cup
Others: Dana, Sue, Laura, Val, Joan, Ashley,
Katrinka, Brandy, Sarah
Atlantis’ Squad
May 11 was potentially a tough weekend to find players. The
national 15s squad was in Spain for the World Cup along with
numerous supporters, the Sweet 16 not only eliminated the
availability of players from those 16 clubs but also all players
that thought their team was in contention to make the Sweet
16. Finally there were numerous college graduations that
weekend. Nevertheless, it is a measure of the depth and
distribution of talent in US women’s rugby that we were still able
to assemble such a capable squad. The team:
Name
|
Age
|
Club
|
Select-Side(s)
|
Sue Barnak
|
25
|
Maulie Maguires
|
MARFU 7s
|
Katrinka Blunt
|
25
|
BASH
|
USA 7s, PCRFU 15s
|
Ashley Farmer
|
20
|
West Chester U.
|
MARFU U23 15s
|
Val Griffeth
|
20
|
Colorado College
|
NRU 7s, West 15s
|
Heather Heaton
|
28
|
Keystone
|
ERU, MARFU 15s
|
Dana Kuchta
|
28
|
Lady Hammerheads
|
MARFU, South, US Dev't 15s
|
Brandy McDaniel
|
22
|
Ozark Ladies
|
West 7s & 15s
|
Laura McDonald
|
22
|
Air Force Academy
|
West, US U-23 15s
|
Joan Norton
|
21
|
Worcester Polytech
|
NRU U-23 15s
|
Sarah Sall
|
24
|
Brandywine
|
MARFU 15s
|
Merri Sellers of Keystone, a member of the original squad, was
sadly injured 2 weeks prior to departure and replaced by
Kuchta. The team average age was a young 23.
Emil Signes was the coach and Beet McKinnon the physio.
Note of 2013: One bitter moment occurred
when, a couple weeks before the event, I had to cancel the
men's team scheduled to come on the tour as well. 5 of
them realized that their club had a chance to be playing in
the D-2 Sweet Sixteen and dropped out. I blocked so much out
that I don't even remember the club; I think it was Doylestown
and I think they ended up getting knocked out before the Sweet
16. It was unfortunate. (Pissed me off too.)
Isle of Mull Sevens
From the tournament program: “The Isle of Mull Sevens
Tournament brings together rugby clubs from all over the West
Highlands and Islands along with guests . . . by doing this we
hope to promote rugby in Scotland’s West Highlands and
Islands. The very social nature of rugby and the fact that
it is a game for all weathers makes it an ideal sport for our
isolated rural areas where long trips and overnight stays are
commonplace. Mull’s geographic position in the centre of
this remote area makes it the perfect setting for a competition of
this nature.”
The men’s tournament began in 1985 and the women’s tournament in
1992. The Mull organizers noted that this was a special
event: the 10th anniversary of the dual tournament combined with
the appearance of the Atlantis women.
Last year, the tournament was cancelled because of the terrible
foot and mouth epidemic that ravaged the British Isles, and that
on top of the wettest winter ever engendered fears that the
momentum of the last decade would be lost. It needn’t have,
as the tournament was a great success.
Advertisement for the Mull Sevens prominently
featuring Atlantis' appearance
The Isle of Mull
Part of the remote region of Scotland known as the “West Highland
and Islands,” the Isle of Mull has 300 miles of coastline yet
supports less than 3,000 residents (compared to more than 10,000
in 1821). The island’s largest community – Tobermory (pop.
< 1000) – consists largely of about a half-mile strip of shops
along the Sound of Mull, and walking the strip and seeing the
number of shops one can see that the island’s main source of
revenue is the tourism industry.
It is a beautiful island, and from both the lounge of our hotel –
the Glenforsa in Salen – and the rugby pitch in Garmony -- we
could look across the Sound of Mull to the Scottish mainland.
From Newark to Mull
Early arrivals at EWR. Left: Ashley, Heather,
Laura, Sarah // Right: Beet & Emil
Beet thrilled to be in Scotland; Val, however, has to report
lost luggage
L to R: Ferry to Mull. Ashley and Joan en route.
We pass a lighthouse
L to R: We pass Duart Castle, ancient home of the Clan
MacLean. Boat near Craignure. Dock at Craignure.
Left: Mull (marked "A") in context of
British Isles // Right: Val Griffeth points out where on Mull
we've landed
The Knife Incident
The tour began inauspiciously with 2 members missing flights from
their points of origin. Brandy McDaniel found the door to
her plane already closed when she arrived at the El Paso airport,
but Dana (“Dagger”) Kuchta’s misadventure was far more
interesting.
Firstly, the passport that had been promised to arrive on Tuesday
morning got to her house on Wednesday morning at 11 AM. She
therefore missed her 1 PM flight from Miami (a 2 hour
drive). Scheduled on a later flight that still would have
got her to NY in time to get to our Newark to Glasgow flight, she
was surprised to see security agents called to gather about her
backpack as it was stopped in the X-Ray device. The bag,
borrowed from a member of the Naples (FL) men’s team, had been
empty to her eyes and she had packed it.
They made several attempts to spot something that had been picked
out by the machine, with no luck. The entire contents of the
bag were removed, and – after a lot more time searching – security
finally found a long hunting knife, unsheathed, sitting in a
crevice of her bag. Dana was, to put it mildly, shocked.
Following several hours of intense interrogation she was released
(“you’re lucky, you’re the first person we’ve caught doing this
since 9/11 that hasn’t been thrown in jail at least
overnight”). Joining up with the team that night had now
become quite impossible.
Luckily both Brandy and Dana met up with us on Friday. For
them, however, an already short trip became literally just a
weekend in Scotland.
Note of 2013: I remember speaking to
someone - perhaps Dana's mother? - from the airport and
getting a very brief summary of Dana's problems. The
thing is, I don't remember how, unless I called home to check
in: it was to be 3 years before I got a cell phone, and I
don't think many of the tour party had cell phones at that
time. A mere 11 years later, the difficulty of getting
incoming phone calls in those days is hard to
remember. As she knew as early as 11 AM that she was
going to miss the first flight, she may have called me before
I left home. Ditto Brandy.
Warming up at field before our first
practice.
I see I'm staring at ground; hopefully
I'm at least thinking
Tobermory
During the day Friday we visited the small (pop. 700) and
beautiful town of Tobermory, where we wandered and did some
souvenir shopping.
Sue, who had brought her bear as a companion, found a shop housing
some of his distant relatives (and a reference to us in the window
as well).
Sue, her bear, and on the other side of the glass,
relatives ... and an announcement of our coming
The beautiful main street of Tobermory
We gather (still minus 2) for a team
picture in Tobermory
L to R: Sarah, Beet, Joan, Sue, Laura, Heather,
Val, Katrinka, Ashley, Emil
Note of 2013: Many people who have been on Atlantis tours
(and US Women Sevens' tours) will know "the murder
game." The US women, on tour of New Zealand in 2001, had
a practice in Mount Manganui with NZ coach Gordon
Tietjens. He told us of a game the NZ men played - a
murderer was chosen (secretly and by lot), who then had to
murder everyone (by telling them individually how they were to
die) before he was caught. It caught on with us, and I
remember us playing it on this tour. I remember because
I ended up being the murderer and successfully murdered
everyone before our bus left Tobermory. :)
Left: Heading from Tobermory to get our
teammates (we're on one-lane road; that car facing us had to
back up)
Our bus driver Robert can be seen in the rear-view mirror
Right: Finally Dana and Brandy arrive on the
incoming boat
Three practice sessions were
followed by a Friday evening co-ed game of flag rugby with
Atlantis mixed in with members of Mull’s men’s team (“we’re
trying to tire you out” was the explanation, and it was
believable).
We also got to watch a mini-rugby tournament with some very
talented youngsters. A couple of them got to be big fans
of ours, and youngsters Angus MacCallum (age 8) and Jamie
MacLean even warmed up with the team preceding the tournament
final.
With some of our supporters on
game day
Unfortunately I don't remember
if our friends Angus MacCallum and/or Jamie MacLean were
among them
Tournament Day
When we got to the grounds we ran into a gentleman called Norman,
dressed in Scottish Highlander number ones. Beet - William
McKinnon - proud of his Scots heritage, insisted on a
picture. When Dana saw us - perhaps intoxicated from her
earlier experience - she immediately reached for Norman's dagger.
Left: Beet, Norman and Emil // Right:
Dana goes for Norman's dagger
On game day we were finally able to take a full team picture!
We're all together now
Standing: Beet, Dana ("Dagger"), Joan,
Heather, Ashley, Brandy, Katrinka, Emil
Kneeling: Sarah, Sue, Val, Laura
When the sun was shining, which it did most of
the day, it was a beautiful day for rugby
When it rained, however - we had a few short
spells during the day - it got a bit dreary
And after the rain comes the rainbow ...
This is Atlantis kit on the field, but it is Inverness, who
borrowed our jerseys due to a color conflict, playing
This was the team hangout, as long as it wasn't rainingc
Atlantis began its day with a convincing 38-0 victory over Glasgow
Southern followed by a 27-0 victory, featuring a Brandy McDaniel
hat trick, over a tough Inverness side. Perhaps our best
performance of all was the semifinal, where we scored 10 tries in
a 52-0 victory over Watsonians of Edinburgh.
Both men’s semifinals (Stirling over Glasgow Hawks and Heriots
over an invitational side featuring many good players including
former Scotland captain Rob Wainwright) and the final (a victory
by Heriots over Stirling) were excellent games and very
high-quality sevens.
Awards were also given for the best West Highland teams (M &
W) and these were won by Mull and Inverness, respectively.
In the women’s bracket, Atlantis was the class of the tourney, and
we were repeatedly praised for the quality of our players and
their play. Tournament organizers felt this would result in
more Scottish women’s teams taking on the challenges of serious
sevens and that the level across the board would be elevated.
Awards for Outstanding Male and Female Player
There was some grumbling among the Scottish women players that we
“took sevens too seriously.” I’ve been hearing those
comments for more than 20 years. With the advent of the
World Series of Sevens, however, this attitude is changing.
This year there has been consistently good sevens play coming from
England, including an amazing and historic Hong Kong championship
this year.
It’s tough – but rewarding – being a missionary.
Atlantis
Scores
PF
|
Opponent
|
PA
|
38
|
Glasgow Southern
|
0
|
27
|
Inverness
|
0
|
52
|
Watsonians
|
0
|
33
|
Kircaldy
|
5
|
150
|
Total
|
5
|
Atlantis Individual Scoring
Summary
Name
|
Tries
|
Conv.
|
Points
|
Griffeth
|
2
|
15
|
40
|
Kuchta
|
6
|
0
|
30
|
McDaniel
|
6
|
0
|
30
|
Blunt
|
4
|
0
|
20
|
McDonald
|
3
|
0
|
15
|
Farmer
|
2
|
0
|
10
|
Barnak
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
Total
|
24
|
15
|
150
|
Opposition
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
The World’s Most Sociable
Sevens
The Mull Sevens is proud to refer to itself as “the world’s most
sociable sevens,” and it certainly is doing its part to earn the
title.
Friday evening (after our second practice and flag rugby –
certainly not a typical Atlantis “day before the tournament”!)
there was a ceilidh (pronounced “KAY-lee”) at the clubhouse, where
traditional Scottish music was played and the tourists were
encouraged to join in traditional Scottish dances with the locals
(and accepted). On top of too much running, we went to a Friday
night party - unheard of! But then this was the first time
we'd been to the world's most sociable sevens.
Left: part of the Céilidh band
on Friday night
Center: a still photo does a disservice
to Katrinka; she was actually dancing
Right: two local girls dancing
Saturday following the tournament both
the clubhouse and a big tent outside the clubhouse were the scene
of large gatherings of participants celebrating the tournament
until late in the evening: 2 AM for those of us that had to take
the last bus back to our hotel, later for those teams camping out
on the rugby club’s grounds.
The tournament party had a theme – Stetsons and Sporrans – and we
did our part. The Sporran part of the outfit comprised
sequined stars-and-stripes fanny packs (well, “bum bags”: one
can’t say “fanny pack” in the UK without eliciting a shocked
look).
Team at party in tournament theme:
"Stetsons & Sporrans"
Left: party on, there's no games tomorrow! //
Right: on the overcrowded last bus
The Passport Incident
Even the return trip was not without incident. It was on the
ferry from Mull to Oban that Ashley Farmer received a phone call
from the hotel informing her that she had left her passport in her
room. Panicked for a moment, she was then told that the pilot of a
private plane parked on a dirt landing strip behind the Glenforsa
was having tea at the hotel, and was told of her situation.
He flew the passport to Oban and we were on our way. All's well
that ends well.
The plane that brought Ashley's passport from
Mull
Left: Ashley with her savior and her folder // Right:
With passport, now Ashley can continue home
Our bus driver Robert took us for a scenic drive, stopping at Loch
Lomond, and to our hotel in Glasgow. After a final evening
exploring downtown Glasgow night spots, we were – too early in the
morning – on the way to the airport and a return to the real
world.
When I was a lad, one of my mother's favorite
songs included the line "by the bonnie bonnie banks of Loch
Lomond"
So I made sure we made a
quick stop. A nice farewell to Scotland
(2013: Beet's chicken appears in many
pictures on this tour, and I think was involved in several
rituals, though I don't remember the details. Here is
one picture, and a threatening note that appeared after the
chicken went missing.)
Left: The chicken on the bus's steering wheel.
After the finebook disappears, the chicken does too.
Right: Ransom note
Another Atlantis tour is over; bring on the next one!