Tobago 2013: Players on Game Day
January 3, 2014
(Rev. January 4, 2014)
December 7-8, 2013. We were blessed to have a number of people
take action photos: Physio Sarah Sall - in the middle of all her
other services - took the most. Manager Adam Dick took a
lot. I also used some from Judy Teasdale, a professional
photographer there with the Canadian teams. Not all the
players got in these photos equally, but I have endeavored to find
at least one of each player during the weekend's games.
Meganne
Atkins
Meganne is one in a long list of NOVA players to represent
Atlantis. As a team that has always taken sevens seriously -
and whose current sevens coach Dana Creager is a many times
Atlantis player (and a sevens Eagle) - NOVA produces players that
know what the game of sevens is all about.
AT-07
Meganne v Beavers-9142ed-900w-SS.jpg
AT-08 Meganne v M-Leafs-9651ed-900w-SS.jpg
Left: Meganne protecting ball vs. Beavers (photo by Sarah Sall)
Right: Meganne
protecting ball vs. Maple Leafs (photo by Sarah Sall)
Phil Bolton
Cleveland Rover
Phil Bolton has played multiple times for Atlantis and besides
being one of the leaders on the field is also one of the
explorers off it - get to see what's around our playing venue
besides rugby... and the non-rugby stuff is certainly one of
the reasons we go on these tours.
BO-08-Phil
vs Rainbow-9354ed-900w-SS.jpg
BO-07-thumbsup-9016-800h-SS.jpg
Left: Phil makes ball available vs. Rainbow (photo by Sarah
Sall)
Right: Phil gives thumbs-up vs. Invictus (photo by Sarah Sall)
Ida
Bernstein
One of the most exciting players in US rugby (and a national class
bobsledder to boot), Ida won a car on a nationally televised
high-heel race on 5th Avenue in NYC (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNa3XGwxM_Y).
She can - and does - score from anywhere.
BE-08-Ida v
Ecosse Rosie shouts-6388ed-900s-AD.jpg
BE-08 Ida beats Ecosse-6399ed-900s-AD.jpg
Left: Ida runs vs. Ecosse; Rosalie, as is her wont, shouts
orders (photo by Adam Dick)
Right: Ida beats Ecosse for try (photo by Adam Dick)
Walt Elder
A former D-1 wide receiver and excellent athlete who now plays for
the KC Blues, Walt does a great job winning ball in the air,
always a great asset in sevens. He was also one of the tour's
great characters and our Christmas caroling leader.
EL-08-Walt
wins ball in air v Esher-900w-AD.jpg
Walt wins ball in air vs. Esher (photo by Adam Dick)
EL-07-Walt
thru Royalian D-900s-JT.jpg
EL-08-Walt braided-900s-SS.jpg
Left: Walt breaks through Royalian line (photo by Judy Teasdale)
Right: Walt has his hair braided on the sidelines
Ashley
Clancy
Flicka (Beantown & Boston Belles) is one of our "fast
girls" and plays great defense as well as finding the goal line.
CL-08 Flicka
runs v Cayman-700s JT.jpg
CL-08 Flicka fights off Maple Leaf-9683ed-900s-SS.jpg
Left: Flicka runs by Cayman Islands' defender (photo by Judy
Teasdale)
Right: Flicka fights off Maple Leafs' defender (photo by Sarah
Sall)
Jake Feury
Jake, who now
plays his rugby for Middlebury College (VT) is part of a
rugby-playing family and scored a couple of exciting tries.
JF-07
Jake vs Caribs-900s.jpg
JF-07 Jake heads for line-900s.jpg
Jake about to break Carib tackle (photo by Judy Teasdale
Jake heads to Invictus line (photo by Sarah Sall)
Amy Daniels
It was a great honor to have Amy, an Eagle in both sevens and
fifteens, on this tour. Amy, who plays for Beantown and the Boston
Belles, is such a physical player that she earned the tour
nickname "Wrecking Ball."
DA-08-Amy D
points-900w-SS.jpg
DA-08-Amy D tackle-600h-SS.jpg
Left: Amy Daniels pointing out instructions vs Maple Leafs
(photo by Sarah Sall)
Right: Amy finishes off a tackle vs. Ecosse (photo by Adam Dick)
Matt Hughston
Matt, who plays for Charlotte, was only able to participate on the
first day of the tournament, but scored two great tries in the
process.,
HU-07 Matt
heads for line v Carib-800w-Vid.jpg
HU-2013-12-07 Matt H scores v Carib-1-JT-900s.jpg
Matt Hughston heads to goal line in the rain (Still taken from
video)
Matt finishes off his try (Photo by Judy Teasdale)
Farrah Douglas
One of the most-capped Eagle front-row players in history in
fifteens, Farrah, who plays sevens for the Scion Sirens, showed
she is a great ball-winner in sevens as well.
DO-07 Farrah
to pass v Beavers-TIG_9151-SS-900s.jpg
DO-TIG_9106-Farrah gets ball from Amy N-900s-SS.jpg
Left: Farrah looking to pass (Photo by Sarah Sall)
Right: Farrah gets ball from Amy Naber at tackle (Photo by Sarah
Sall)
Chris Mattina
A rugby alumnus of my alma mater, Xavier HS of NYC, Chris, now at
Delaware, was our leading try scorer and great defender as well.
MA-TIG_8958ed-Chris
gets through Invictus D-SS-900w.jpg
MA-TIG_9539ed-Chris tackle-900s-SS.jpg
Left: Chris attacks Invictus defense (Photo by Sarah Sall)
Right: Chris tackles Howler ball carrier (Photo by Sarah Sall)
Ariel Johnson
A West Chester rugby alumna, Ariel is now a member of the
perennial sevens powerhouse NOVA team. Athletic and versatile, she
played mostly hooker for us.
JO-TIG_9266ed-Ariel
at hooker-SS-900w.jpg
JO-07or08- Ariel passing-JT-800h.jpg
Left: Ariel at hooker in scrum vs. Beavers (Photo by Sarah Sall)
Right: Ariel passing ball (Photo by Judy Teasdale)
Special honorable mention to Ariel for the intimidating and
immobilizing 3-finger press shown in the figure below.
JO-TIG_9714ed-Ariel
hand on head-SS-800w.jpg
Ariel surreptitiously applies the secret 3-finger press (Photo
by Sarah Sall)
Tim Moxness
I had a chance to coach Tim on two previous occasions, as a member
of a Collegiate All-Star team I coached in 2008 at the All-Star
Sevens in Pittsburgh and then as a member of the University of
Arizona team that participated in the first-ever CRC Sevens in
Columbus in 2010 and it was fun to get to work with him again.
Rosalie
MacGowan
Rosalie (who plays for the NY Rugby Club and coaches the NYRC
Boys' team) was the subject of many fascinating photos. Here's one
example - a tackle vs. Maple Leafs. I went back and watched the
video to make sure Rosalie completed the tackle and she did.
Oddly, from watching the video, I realized there were two tackles
she made on the same player in the same game, one each half, that
were virtually identical.
MAc-TIG_9667-Rosalie
makes tackle-SS.jpg
At sweeper,
Rosalie makes this tackle vs. Maple Leafs (Photo by Sarah Sall)
Rosalie was an attacking threat and also found herself playing a
lot of cover defense.
MAc-07-TIG_9118-run
past Beavers-SS-900w.jpg
MAc-08-TIG_9639-Rosalie tracking BC down-SS-900w.jpg
Left: Rosalie runs by Beavers; nice hairdo (Photo by Sarah Sall)
Right: Rosalie covers across the field (Photo by Sarah Sall)
It was just
impossible for me not to include these "attitude" pictures of
our captain.
MAc-TIG_9191ed-Rosalie attitude shot-SS-900s.jpg
MAc-TIG_9231ed-Rosalie attitude shot-SS-900s.jpg
Rosalie expressing herself on the field (Photos by Sarah Sall)
Matt Radzavich
Matt (Austin Huns) has great finishing speed and scored a couple
of very long tries.
RA-TIG_8989ed-Rad
on break-SS-800h.jpg
RA-IMG_6358ed-Rad attacks Esher sideline-AD-900w.jpg
Left: Rad shows off running form (Photo by Sarah Sall)
Right: Rad attacks Esher sideline (Photo by Adam Dick)
Amy Naber
Amy (U. of Arizona, San Diego Surfers) has a great mixture of
speed and physicality and was one of our best attackers. Half
Fijian, it's in her DNA.
NA-TIG_9138-Amy
N-SS-900w.jpg
NA-IMG_6398-Amy passes v Esher-AD-900s.jpg
Left: Amy passes to Meganne in tackle vs. Samurai Beavers (Photo
by Sarah Sall)
Right: Amy looks for offload in semifinal game vs. Esher (Photo
by Adam Dick)
NA-TIG_9604ed-Amy
pushes off Kish-SS-900w.jpg
Amy Naber pushing off Maple Leafs' Jen Kish; Kish, one of the
best players in the world, puts a leg in (Photo by Sarah Sall)
Marcus Respes
Marcus, one of the great Atlantis tourists. powered through
tackles regularly, then following the tournament announced his
retirement (as a player, anyway).
REs-IMG_6368-Marcus
breaks tackle-1-AD-900s.jpg
REs-IMG_6369-Marcus breaks tackle-2-AD-900s.jpg
Marcus breaks tackle vs. Esher in semifinal. Jerry Mirro watches
in background.
Marcus occasionally shows a little attitude as well.
REs-TIG_8910-Marcus reacts-SS-800w.jpg
Marcus seems to be unhappy about something after being tackled
vs. Invictus (Photo by Sarah Sall)
Tiffany Person
Tiffany, at 17, is one of the youngest players to have played for
Atlantis. At home she plays football as a wide receiver for the
boys' team at TC Williams ("Remember the Titans") HS.
PE-IMG_6454ed-Tiffany
gets tackled-AD-900s.jpg
PE-IMG_6455ed-Tiff supports after tackle-AD-900s.jpg
Tiffany tackled in final vs. Maple Leafs. She gets ball to Amy
(with ball, R) and gets up in time to support Amy (Photos by
Adam Dick)
Jeff Reuther
Jeff, who plays for New Orleans and who first played for Atlantis
when he was 17 (he's now 30+), was a great captain. Like
Rosalie, there are a lot of pictures of Jeff with his mouth wide
open; do I maybe pick my captains this way?
REu-TIG_8947-Jeff
KO-SS-900h.jpg
REu-TIG_9392-Jeff passes-SS-900h.jpg
Left: Jeff kicks off in the shadow of real beer (Photo by Sarah
Sall)
Right: Jeff passes ball under pressure (Photo by Sarah Sall)
Lauren Rhode
I coached Lauren,
who now plays for the DC Furies, for 5 years at Princeton. A
great leader and midfield playmaker, she was our first-choice
kicker.
RH-TIG_9725-run
v MLeafs-SS-900w.jpg
RH-IMG_6384ed-Lauren plants to pass-AD-900h.jpg
Left: Lauren prepares to keep the ball ours after the tackle
(Photo by Sarah Sall)
Right: Lauren plants to pass (Photo by Adam Dick)
Kenny Scott
Kenny, who plays
with the KC Blues, is a solid and versatile player with speed
enough for the wing and leaping ability in the forwards.
SC-TIG_9071-Kenny
run v Invictus-SS-900h.jpg
SC-TIG_9395-Kenny pases-SS-900w.jpg
Left: Kenny on a break vs. Invictus (Photo by Sarah Sall)
Right: Kenny finds himself in a hostile Rainbow Sea (Photo by
Sarah Sall)
Gina Steffano
Gina, from HARC (Houston), did not get to play for us on the tour,
and also managed for the most part to stay out of the
photo-snapping limelight even off the field. But she was a
great addition to the team both at practices and in general
all-around tour activities. And we do have one nice photo.
STe-IMG_0503ed-Gina-900h.jpg
Gina ready for a team function
Zack
Stryffeler
Zack plays sevens for 1823 (OH) and is an all-around excellent
attacking and defensive player.
STr-Zack
kicks-JT-900h.jpg
STr-Zack makes tackle-TIG_8950-SS-900w.jpg
Zack kicks in the rain vs. Caribs (Photo by Judy Teasdale)
Zack tackle vs. Invictus (Photo by Sarah Sall)
Eli White
Eli, who plays for the DC Furies, is one of the best scrappers for
the ball I know, and never concedes anything on the field.
WH-08-TIG_9718ed-Eli-SS-900w.jpg
WH-08-Eli v MLeafs1-TI_9679ed-SS-900w.jpg
Left: Eli communicates to teammates (Photo by Sarah Sall)
Right: Eli passes vs. Maple Leafs (Photo by Sarah Sall)
Glen Thommes
Glen, from the University of Delaware, is a powerful player that,
like his teammate Chris Mattina, can probably play just about any
sevens position effectively.
TH-TIG_8970-Glen
with ball-SS-900w.jpg
TH-TIG_8917ed-Glen supports Chris-SS-900w.jpg
Left: Glen prepared to take on opponent (Photo by Sarah Sall)
Right: Glen supports Chris (Photo by Sarah Sall)
Josie Ziluca
It was nice to finally see Josie, one of 3 NOVA players on the
team, get to actually play for Atlantis; she was injured when she
came on our tour of Laos in January.
ZI-Josie on
the run-TIG_9302-SS-900s.jpg
ZI-Josie lines up a tackle-TIG_9227-SS-900s.jpg
Left: Josie on the run (Photo by Sarah Sall)
Right: Josie lines up a tackle (Photos by Sarah Sall)
