December 2-3, 2006: Atlantis Men, Women at
Caribbean Sevens
(Atlantis tournament #119)
Emil Signes
December 14, 2006
JUNE 28, 2013 (rev. July 22, 2013)
Note of July 2013: Article as I wrote it in 2006.
Photos added and intertwined with the text in 2013.
Atlantis and NOVA
represent US at Caribbean Sevens
Atlantis Men and Atlantis Women at Maracas Beach on
Friday December 1, 2006
Emil Signes – Rev 2: 12/14/2006
Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, December 2-3,
2006. The invitational sevens club Atlantis took 3
teams – two women, one men – to the Carib Beer International
Sevens Tournament this year. In addition, the NOVA
women – most likely the most experienced sevens team in the
US – sent two teams, upping the level of the women’s
competition.
In the women’s bracket, Atlantis came in 1st and 3rd and
NOVA 2nd and 4th. In the men’s division, Atlantis –
which has been so close so often – did it again. They
made it to the championship final only to lose on the last
play of the game to the West Indies, a team consisting of
most of the players that will represent the region at the
USA Sevens in San Diego. Atlantis’ men’s squad comprised the
following players:
Rosters (Atlantis Number Name, Club,
Select Side):Atlantis
Men
Atlantis Men:
536 Allen Andrews, Belmont Shore, So Cal
755 John Babb, Lehigh Valley, MARFU
741 Marco Barnard, Kutztown, MARFU, Blue Bulls U-18
715 Al Christian, Fort Worth Elite, West Development
716 Jeff Gatlin, Fort Worth Elite, West
229 Thad Hill, Fort Worth Elite,
West, USA
742 Will Knipscher, Lehigh Valley,
MARFU
717 Alex Nadiak, Buffalo, Midwest
719 Matt Scheemaker, Syracuse, Midwest
756 Josh Stallings, PAC, MARFU
745 Ed Stockunas, Norfolk, MARFU
Atlantis Men, L to R: Jeff
Gatlin, Matt Scheemaker, Alex Nadiak, John Babb, Thadd
Hill, Will Knipscher,
Al Christian, Josh Stallings, Allen Andrews, Ed
Stockunas, Marco Barnard
This was a nice combination of players, and there was no one
that hadn’t played with at least four others. Six of
these players had played together in Trinidad, five had
played together on MARFU, and five in Benidorm. The
oldest and youngest book-ended the leadership: Thad (39) was
our captain and when he left the game Marco (20) took over.
Atlantis Women Teal:
757 Leah Barnes, Atlanta, US U23, South
629 Becca Brafman, New York, NRU, USA A
658 Jess Hammond, DC Furies, West, MARFU, USA
665 Vanesha McGee, New York, US U-23
732 Melissa McKibben, Kansas City Jazz, West, USA B
733 Danielle Nesbitt, Clemson, South
753 Carrie Perdue, U. Virginia, US U-23
754 Paige Sweet, VCU (Virginia Commonwealth)
762 Lauren Waltz, Princeton
730 Alison Worman, Penn State, US U-23
Atlantis
Teal
Top, L to R:
Alison Worman, Rebecca Brafman, Carrie Perdue, Vanesha
McGee, Leah Barnes
Bottom, L to R:
Lauren Waltz, Jessica Hammond, Danielle Nesbitt,
Paige Sweet, Melissa McKibben
I had promised myself, despite the known talent of NOVA, to
split our squad down the middle (i.e. no “A” or “B”
side). Eagle Jess “Ralphie” Hammond was the captain of
this team, which, as did the other side, consisted of a nice
mixture of experience and raw talent. Seven of these players
competed in the ITT 7s in Milwaukee this summer.
Feeling even older. When I first started coaching people as
old as my daughter Carmita I started feeling old. When I
realized that she was now older than all but two players on
the squad I felt even older. But when 20-year old
Paige Sweet joined the tour and I realized that I coached
her father in the first-ever ITT 7s back in 1985 I felt the
oldest ever.
Atlantis Women Black:
758 Kristin Bonomo, Albany, NRU
759 Emilie Bydwell, Brown
734 Trish Curtis, Chicago North Shore
760 Emily Donaldson, Penn State
706 Casey Gallagher, Princeton, US U-23
761 Caitlin Laman, New York
442 Michelle Persica, Austin, West, USA / West 7s Coach
578 Sarah Sall, Brandywine, MARFU
763 Amanda Webb, New York
764 Maura Weikman, New York, NRU
765 Marion Zillhardt, Chicago North Shore, Midwest
Atlantis Black
Top, L to R: Casey
Gallagher, Emilie Bydwell, Trish Curtis, Marion
Zillhardt, Amanda Webb, Sarah Sall
Bottom, L to R:
Michelle Persica, Maura Weikman, Caitlin Laman, Emily
Donaldson, Kristin Bonomo
Despite her advanced age (42), I knew Michelle Persica would
be fitter than everyone else on the squad and chose her both
to come on the tour and also to captain this team. The five
ITT 7s veterans on the team were complemented with great
young talent such as Emilie Bydwell of Brown, Emily
Donaldson of Penn State, and Amanda Webb and Caitlin Laman
of New York (and just out of Yale and Babson, respectively).
My faith in the division of these teams was well-founded as,
in the game they played against each other, both scored two
tries until a last minute try put the game away.
Sadly, Jenna Flateman, speedster supreme and a key member of
New York women’s national championship team, arrived ill and
didn’t recover; she had to leave to return home before the
games started. (She was since told she probably had E-coli.)
Left: Michelle and
Al in Royal Palm lobby // Right: Caitlin & Jenna.
Jenna arrived ill and had to leave on the 2nd day.
Northern Virginia
(NOVA)
This article is written from the Atlantis
perspective. Even NOVA, however, had an Atlantis
presence as all but two of NOVA 1 players have represented
Atlantis, and three – Dana Creager, Kathy (Blanton) Lett and
Kristen Campbell – have represented Atlantis in
Trinidad. NOVA Personnel:
NOVA 1:
Dana Creager (c), MARFU, USA (Atlantis)
Stacy Bennett, MARFU, USA (Atlantis)
Kathy Lett, MARFU (Atlantis)
Kristen Campbell, MARFU (Atlantis)
Liz King, MARFU (Atlantis)
Beth Black, MARFU, USA B (Atlantis)
Megan Billingsley
Rebecca Kigin
NOVA 2
Lauren Hoeck, MARFU
Katie Miller, MARFU Devt.
Kristen Stephens
Katie Schein (c), MARFU Devt.
TJ Hillinger
Monica Dvoranchik,
MARFU
Megan Hanson, MARFU Devt.
NOVA Women at Caribbean Sevens
Atlantis
Given the fact we had
33 players, Atlantis had a tiny managerial presence: I was
coach and Mike May of Furman was manager. Mike, as
Jenna, caught some disabling malady and was confined to his
room for the last 3 days of the tour. Thank God for
significant others: Kim Smith and Brandi Wietscher, both
along as supporters, supported more than they had
anticipated, filming all 20 games we played on the weekend.
Brandi spent a
lot of her weekend filming!
I have written several times about my rugby trips to
Trinidad, whether about Atlantis trips to the Caribbean
Sevens or my own visits to coach in that beautiful country.
Atlantis first traveled to T&T for the tourney in 1995,
and with the exception of 1998 has participated ever
since. Before this year, our men had gotten to the
finals 3 times and the women had won it from 2001 to 2004
after losing in the finals in 2000.
Last year was a down year for Atlantis as we didn’t field a
women’s team and the men got knocked out before the
semifinals. In addition I had to miss the trip for
personal reasons. This year I was determined that none of
those things would happen.
We were able to put together a strong women’s team, despite
the fact that a de facto national team was headed to Dubai
on the same weekend, because women’s ITTs no longer conflict
with the Caribbean Sevens. (Note
of 2013: the ITTs [Inter-Territorial Tournaments], are
now known as NASCs [National All-Star Competitions].)
Even more amazingly, we were able to put together an
excellent men’s team despite the fact that men’s ITTs do
conflict. I reckon it might have been the strongest
men’s team we’ve yet put together. We were so unfortunate
not to take the whole thing.
Venezuela in lower left / Trinidad in middle / Tobago
upper right
Tournament was in Port of Spain (POS) // Maracas
Beach is NE of POS
Pre-tourney
In the shade prior to practice at the
Savannah
Thursday evening we had our traditional team meeting at
poolside (it’s amazing how a 33-player squad can interact in
the manner of smaller, more intimate, sevens teams), where
nicknames were given, fines levied, rookies given an
assignment, a secret murderer installed, etc.
Our Finemasters: Lauren (with
fine list), Al, and Becca
Left: Levying fines vs. tour party
members // Right: the finemasters colluded at
all times, even between games
Friday, following two (separate boys and girls) practices in
the AM, we all headed to Maracas Beach in the afternoon for
an afternoon of relaxation, traditional beach “Shark and
Bake” fare, and for some, a welcome to the power of the
waves.
Left: Purchasing local jewelry en route
to the beach // Right: Purchasing local treat -
Shark & Bake
Left: Emilie, Alison, Emily -
worshiping the coconut // Right: It's a bird, it's a
plane, it's ... (2013: I don't
remember what it
was)
Vanesha, Alison, Carrie enjoying beach
Friday, Dec. 1: Coed touch football
game on Maracas Beach
Melissa McKibben of Kansas City will have more respect for
the ocean after a wave drove her into the ground and left
her face bleeding and banged up, but thankfully able to
play. (It’s not like there weren’t a ton of red flags
all over the beach.) (I guess there's
not too many waves in Kansas City)
Left:
Melissa on bus early in the tour, before her encounter
with the wave
Right:
Melissa after wave encounter (and after tourney in which
she played bravely and well) (and still smiling!)
Friday night we headed to the Veni Mangé restaurant in
downtown Port of Spain where we were welcomed by Roses, the
proprietor, and treated to a traditional Trini Christmas
dinner. Then it was back to the hotel for a final
meeting and an early night.
Left: Sign in front of Veni Mangé //
Right: Roses, the proprietor of Veni Mangé
At Veni Mangé: group at left // Jess, Alex, Jeff on right
Games: Men (6-2)
The men rolled through Saturday’s play with
3 easy victories. As is the custom at this tournament,
the teams were re-seeded into another pool for Sunday, and
this year we faced a brutal Sunday pool, with 2005 winners
West Indies and 2004 winners Scottish Border Reivers as well
as BRUC of Guadaloupe. We defeated the Reivers and BRUC
handily enough, and were leading the defending champs 7-5
with 10 seconds left when Al Christian kicked the ball into
touch. A West Indies fan handed one of their players
another ball, which he threw in. The referee, awarding
enterprise, and not realizing it was a different ball and
had been touched by a fan, allowed the quick throw in.
The West Indies scored and won the game 10-7.
In the end it didn’t matter, as we defeated 2004 and 2005
finalist Caribs 12-0 in the semifinals (in a deluge!) for a
repeat match-up with the West Indies.
Final. We fell behind the West Indies 12-0,
mounted a great comeback, tying the game on a push-over
lineout, only to fall on the last play of the game
12-17. It was an impressive performance against most
of the West Indies’ IRB-Sevens team, and yet a sad ending
and yet another “what might have been.”
By the way, the referee for this match was the US’s Dana
Teagarden, chosen specifically to referee the men’s
final. I don’t even remember how I thought she did,
which I think is the best compliment I can give a referee.
Left: Marco shows
off his kicking form // Right: the girls on sideline
supporting the boys
Scores and Individual
Scoring
In 8 games, the Atlantis men out-scored
their opponents 30 tries to 8. 20-year old Marco
Barnard of Kutztown University was our leading try-scorer
with 9, and Lehigh Valley’s Will Knipscher, with 4 tries and
11 conversions was 2nd in the scoring column.
Atlantis
Men: Game Results
Game
|
Type
|
Opponent
|
Type
|
WLT
|
PF
|
PA
|
1
|
Round Robin 1
|
Aesculapians (UK)
|
Invitational Team
|
W
|
28
|
5
|
2
|
Round Robin 1
|
Saints (St Lucia/Vincent)
|
Combined Team
|
W
|
41
|
0
|
3
|
Round Robin 1
|
Tobago
|
Club
|
W
|
29
|
0
|
4
|
Round Robin 2
|
BRUC
|
Club
|
W
|
24
|
7
|
5
|
Round Robin 2
|
West Indies
|
Super-National
|
L
|
7
|
10
|
6
|
Round Robin 2
|
Border Reivers
|
Invitational Team
|
W
|
29
|
5
|
7
|
Cup SF
|
Carib
|
Club
|
W
|
12
|
0
|
8
|
Cup Final
|
West Indies
|
Super-National
|
L
|
12
|
17
|
|
|
|
Total
|
6-2
|
182
|
44
|
Atlantis Men Individual
Scoring
Name
|
Tries
|
Conv
|
Points
|
Marco Barnard
|
9
|
4
|
53
|
Will Knipscher
|
4
|
11
|
42
|
Ed Stockunas
|
3
|
1
|
17
|
John Babb
|
3
|
0
|
15
|
Thadd Hill
|
3
|
0
|
15
|
Matt Scheemaker
|
3
|
0
|
15
|
Josh Stallings
|
2
|
0
|
10
|
Alex Nadiak
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
Jeff Gatlin
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
Al Christian
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
Total
|
30
|
16
|
182
|
Opponents
|
8
|
2
|
44
|
Women Teal (5-2)
Atlantis Teal drew NOVA 1 first and the lack
of experience showed as NOVA took a 17-5 victory. Teal
continued to improve, however, with a 17-0 victory over a
HUGE Aesculapian (UK) team, and a 19-0 victory over a very
physical combined team from Saint Vincent and Saint Lucia.
By Saturday the championship field had been weeded down to
the top 4: both NOVA teams and both Atlantis teams, who had
to play a round robin followed by a championship
final. Atlantis drew closer to NOVA with a 7-10 loss,
then barely beat Atlantis Black (a last second try made it
21-12 but it was closer) for the right to meet NOVA yet once
more in the final.
Atlantis Teal vs.
Saints (Combined Saint Vincent and Saint Lucia team)
Left: Melissa on the
run // Right: Carrie about to score
Final. An even more improved Teal side plus an
exhausted NOVA team – who lost Eagle Beth Black to injury in
the middle of the first half – combined for a relatively
easy Atlantis win. Wing Vanesha McGee ran wild,
scoring 3 of her 9 tries in this match.
Vanesha shows NOVA
her back in the finals
Atlantis Teal Game Results
Game
|
Type
|
Opponent
|
Type
|
WLT
|
PF
|
PA
|
1
|
Round Robin 1
|
NOVA 1
|
Club
|
L
|
5
|
17
|
2
|
Round Robin 1
|
Aesculapians (UK)
|
Invitational Team
|
W
|
17
|
0
|
3
|
Round Robin 1
|
Saints (Vincent & Lucia)
|
Combined Team
|
W
|
19
|
0
|
4
|
Round Robin 2
|
NOVA 2
|
Club
|
W
|
15
|
0
|
5
|
Round Robin 2
|
NOVA 1
|
Club
|
L
|
7
|
10
|
6
|
Round Robin 2
|
Atlantis Black
|
Invitational Team
|
W
|
21
|
12
|
7
|
Final
|
NOVA 1
|
Club
|
W
|
28
|
5
|
|
|
|
Total
|
5-2
|
112
|
44
|
Atlantis
Teal Individual Scoring
Name
|
Tries
|
Conv
|
Points
|
Vanesha McGee
|
9
|
0
|
45
|
Jess Hammond
|
2
|
10
|
30
|
Leah Barnes
|
2
|
0
|
10
|
Becca Brafman
|
2
|
0
|
10
|
Melissa McKibben
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
Carrie Perdue
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
Alison Worman
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
Total
|
18
|
10
|
110
|
Opponents
|
8
|
2
|
44
|
Women Black (4-1-1)
Atlantis Black had the misfortune to get a
forfeit victory over no-show Guyana on Saturday, thus they
had only two games to figure out how to play with each
other. They won them both handily, but then headed
into Sunday with a first-round match vs. NOVA 1.
After a scoreless first half, Kristin Bonomo put Atlantis
ahead 5-0, but a last-second NOVA effort resulted in a
tie. This meant that the Black squad would have to
defeat the Teal squad to get to the final, but the score was
a disappointing 12-21.
Plate Final (3rd place). The third-place match
was a third contest vs. the NOVA 2 team, won by Atlantis
10-0 with scores by Maura Weikman and Casey Gallagher.
Atlantis
Black Game Results
Game
|
Type
|
Opponent
|
Type
|
WLT
|
PF
|
PA
|
1
|
Round Robin 1
|
NOVA 2
|
Club
|
W
|
17
|
0
|
2
|
Round Robin 1
|
Royalians (T&T)
|
Club
|
W
|
19
|
0
|
3
|
Round Robin 1
|
Guyana
|
National Team
|
W
|
|
|
4
|
Round Robin 2
|
NOVA 1
|
Club
|
T
|
5
|
5
|
5
|
Round Robin 2
|
NOVA 2
|
Club
|
W
|
5
|
0
|
6
|
Round Robin 2
|
Atlantis Teal
|
Club
|
L
|
12
|
21
|
7
|
3rd place match
|
NOVA 2
|
Club
|
W
|
10
|
0
|
Atlantis
Black Individual Scoring
Name
|
Tries
|
Conv
|
Points
|
Maura Weikman
|
5
|
2
|
29
|
Kristin Bonomo
|
3
|
0
|
15
|
Trish Curtis
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
Casey Gallagher
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
Caitlin Laman
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
Michelle Persica
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
Total
|
12
|
4
|
68
|
Opponents
|
4
|
3
|
26
|
NOVA
Faced with 2 ACL tears in the month
leading up the tournament, NOVA, already traveling light,
made the trip with 15 players. Both teams played
very well and in the end, NOVA 1 lost in the final to an
Atlantis team they had already beaten twice. Everyone from
NOVA had a great time and they're already planning to attend
next year. Next year, according to tour leader,
manager, captain, raconteur and woman-about-town Dana
Creager, they might even bring some subs! NOVA ended
up 5-1-1; besides their final loss to Atlantis Teal, they
tied Atlantis Black in pool play.
NOVA 2, besides their forfeit over Guyana, only got to play
one match against a non-American team, which they won. The
rest of their games were losses against both Atlantis sides
and NOVA 1.
NOVA 1
individual scoring
Name
|
Tries
|
Conv
|
Points
|
Creager
|
6
|
0
|
30
|
Billingsley
|
2
|
4
|
18
|
Black
|
3
|
0
|
15
|
Bennett
|
2
|
0
|
10
|
Lett
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
King
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
Total
|
14
|
5
|
80
|
NOVA 2 scoring
Name
|
Tries
|
Conv
|
Points
|
Monica Dvoranchik
|
2
|
0
|
10
|
Lauren Hoeck
|
1
|
1
|
7
|
Katie Miller
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
Total
|
4
|
1
|
22
|
Left: Jess hoists the permanent women's championship
trophy // The men with their finalist trophy
Left: Lehigh Valley Rugby - Emil with Will Knipscher (L) and
John Babb
Right: Emil with Thadd Hill ... many trips together
Local Flavor
The tournament organizers worked hard to
give us some local flavor. Throughout the tournament
there was a steel band playing on the grounds (the steel
drum – or pan –, originally created from oil barrels,
plentiful because of Trinidad’s large oil industry, is the
country’s national instrument). Following the
tournament, the steel band marched, very slowly, from the
field to the site of the tournament party. This was
done to give the participants a sense of the flavor of
Trinidad’s Carnival, which rivals New Orleans’ and
Rio’s. At 4 AM on Monday prior to Mardi Gras, all over
the country, Pan Bands begin this slow march which marks the
beginning of 44 hours of continuous revelry.
Following this, we headed back to our hotel, where the
veterans were entertained by the rookies - one of the better
rookie shows I’ve attended, by the way – prior to abandoning
all formal activities and attending the party.
At the party itself, which went from tourney’s close till
after midnight, Caribbean music was featured and a good time
was had by all.
Left: David Straker, Emil, Ronald Silverthorne
at party.
Both Straker and Silvers had played in Philly the
previous summer
Right: Al dancing
with a group of "masqueraders"
For those willing and able to spend another
day, the traditional beach “lime” was held at Maracas Beach
on Monday from AM till dark. Yet another good time was
had by all.
Finally, for the last Atlantis troopers, there was the
traditional trip to St. James and the Smokey and Bunty
corner, where we partook of roti (and a Carib or two – well,
a couple of the women had “Stag” when they found out it was
advertised as “A Man’s Beer”) (2013:
note to self - should have taken a picture of that).
Comments
Trinidad or Tobago?
Trinidad and Tobago are almost two separate
countries. Trinidad, where more than 90% of the people live,
is mostly an industrial island with only a tiny tourism
trade. Tobago, on the other hand, is all about
tourism. Thus, for 2007, the tournament organizers
envision moving the tourney to Tobago in the hopes of
enticing more teams by bringing them into a vacation-like
environment.
I am not sure I like the proposed change. Tobago may
be touristy, but so are a zillion other places in the
world. Port of Spain and its environs may not be
touristy, but it’s unique. In fact, it’s a little quirky.
I personally love quirky. But then I may be in a tiny
minority. We’ll see how it goes. (Note of 2013: the tournament has been
in Tobago for a couple of years now. Atlantis is
hoping to return soon to check it out.)
Thanks, Ralphie and
Persica!!
Special thanks to Jess “Ralphie” Hammond and
Michelle Persica for agreeing to captain the two women’s
squads when they wanted very much to play together.
Realizing the unique ability each had to bring a squad
together they yielded to my pleas and both did a great job.
Boys and girls
together
Of all the things I’ve done in rugby, I feel
most proud of helping to create an environment where men and
women rugby players get to appreciate each other as athletes
and as human beings. Most notably Atlantis tours,
beginning with a 1992 tour of Spain, have helped accomplish
this. Things were pretty terrible back then, and I
know that even now there’s still lots of room for
improvement, but this tour was a model for interaction
between the sexes. The entire plan was to create one
integrated squad and this, I think I can say with
confidence, was accomplished. It was a wonderful tour
and everyone contributed positively to the experience.
Atlantis Addenda
164 Atlantis squads have now played in 119
tournaments in 25 countries in Atlantis’ first 20 years. 765
players – 499 men and 266 women – have played for us. Of
these, 171 have represented the US. Our overall W-L-T
record, men and women, is 602-232-9, of which our 2006
Trinidad record of 15-5-1 is pretty representative.
Watch out for more Atlantis appearances throughout the
world!
Thanks
Once again, many thanks go to our T&T
hosts – Darryl Woo, Kevin “Chicken” Edwards, Kenny Arneaud,
Tony Loregnard, and … so many more.
