Boys

A quick note as we head into a very important practice week.

I truly enjoyed Friday's trip to the Main Line with the team we have assembled this year. This is a great group of guys - which I'm sure you've all noticed - and I'm proud of the way you conducted yourselves. The opposing coaches, both longtime friends of mine, were very complimentary.

However, we all know we are much better than our performance Friday at Malvern Prep.

Having watched the scrimmage video (thanks, Angel!) I am confident that the primary factor limiting our sucess is certainly not lack of talent, or heart. As we discussed on the trip home, it is our fitness that is holding us back, and it will continue to do so until each of us makes a concerted, dedicated effort to work himself into rugby fitness.

That's RUGBY FITNESS, boys - not "I can jog two miles" fitness. To play well, we need to be able to explode through tackles and rucks, spring off the ground and sprint to the next breakdown. And do it again, and again, until we've forced our opponent to succomb. We need to have the capacity to run, tackle and ruck hard for 70 minutes.

This will not just happen because we show up to practice. And it's apparent few of us are doing intense rugby fitness workouts on our own time.

So, going forward, we will be upping the intensity level of training.

Your legs and lungs will burn, and you MUST learn to push through it.

True rugby fitness awaits on the other side of the mountain we will begin climbing tomorrow at training. There will be times when you want to stop - take the easy way out, make an excuse about something being sore. Don't give in to that. Avoiding extreme discomfort will only keep you soft. Stay the course and find out how far you really can push your nerve and sinew. I assure you being fit will make a huge difference in your ability to play the game - and in your enjoyment of it.

I look forward to seeing you at training all three days this week. Sunday we travel to Bear, DE to see how we stack up with Salesianum and West Shore United, both of whom have been to the National Final 16 over the past two years. I think we all know we can match up with anyone - including these two squads - if we attack our fitness goals with vigor this week and come out Sunday playing as a unified team.

15 as 1

Coach Badger

Gentlemen

I've resurrected the Coach's Corner as a way to maintain communications with you, the players - as well as parents and supporters - without having to reduce my messages into the minimal number or characters that I can send in a text. I will still text you with practice updates and other timely news, but there are times when there is more information that needs to be passed along than I can fit easily into a text.

Please subscribe to this blog by clicking the XML button at the bottom of the page and whenever I post here you will be notified.

First and foremost: Practice starts Tuesday, Feb. 1! You will need to give me ALL of your paperwork (including a physical signed by a doctor and your USA Rugby waiver) before you can do anything but watch. You'll also need to go to the Membership tab of www.usarugby.org and register as a player for Jersey Cape Storm. This will require that you use a credit or debit card for the $20 fee.

If you have any issues coming up with the $40 club dues for the season (due before you can play in a match), please contact me directly so we can make arrangements for you to fulfill this club obligation. There are some work duties that, should you be willing to accept the responsibility, could take the place of paying your dues.

Please check the Eligibility page of this site to make sure all of your mandatory paperwork has been received.

Scrimmage Dates: If at all possible, keep Saturday, Feb. 19 open (this is the 4-day President's Day weekend). We are looking into a scrimmage on the turf at Malvern Prep, near Philadelphia.

The following weekend, on Sunday, Feb. 27 we are scheduled take part in a three-team round robin scrimmage with West Shore United and Salesianum in a turf stadium in Delaware.

The next two weekends (March 5-6 and March 12-13 are scrimmage dates, but we are still working on finding opponents and venues.

Suffice to say, there is a lot of rugby to be played this fall, boys. I hope you're excited and ready for the challenge. Judging from how well the new players did this week at their first practices, and the amount of veteran players we have returning, I'd say we have the potential to be very successful this season. How we take advantage of that potential is up to each and every one of you.

It will take some sacrifice - of your time, your pride, your sweat (tal vez un poco de tu sangre) - and making that sacrifice will be one of the most valuable things you ever learn to do.  I can assure you that true success does not come to those who sit idley by and wait for it, and certainly not to those who don't have the humility to look honestly at their own shortcomings and then stoop down to correct them.

Don't be tricked into believing we'll be great simply because we ought to be. That is the path to disappointment. Assume nothing. Come Tuesday ready to work, to learn and to elevate yourself and this club to a higher level.

I look forward to seeing you soon.

Cheers,

Coach Badger

Gentlemen

Congratulations to everyone who participated in our recent Aromalight Candles fundraiser!

Through your efforts the club is well on its way to being able to buy a new set of jerseys (so guys playing in the second match don't have to wear the sweaty jerseys from the first match!)

Selling candles may not seem like it has much to do with rugby, but you'll find in life that the skills it takes to be successful in one arena are the same ones that will make you successful in anything.

The commitment and persistence it takes to hit the pavement and sell a product are key ingredients to success on the pitch. For many of us (me included), approaching others to ask for money puts us out of our comfort zone. But if the cause is one we believe in, we do it - and sometimes we even grow as a result of doing something that wasn't easy for us. Self-sacrifice (of your time, of your personal comfort) for the greater good is vital. You have to ask yourself: If your mate won't go sell a few candles to help his team, can you really count on him to make that tackle or hit that ruck when he's dog tired at the end of a match? If dedication and commitment aren't part of a guy's internal make-up, don't expect them to be his natural reaction in a time of urgency.

The thing is, dedication and commitment aren't traits one just turns on at critical moments. They are constants that define a man's character. Successful people give their best effort in whatever they do because doing their best is who they are, not a switch they flip on and off.

Cape Storm's first fundraiser was a success, thanks to the commitment of our players. With that under our belts we move ahead, stronger for the experience. On the near horizon are our 2010 Season Kickoff Meeting (tentatively scheduled for Monday, Dec. 14) and a Pre-Season Skills Clinic (Sunday, Dec. 20). Our level of commitment to both these events will be a good indicator of what we can expect to accomplish as a team come Spring.

I look forward to seeing all of you soon.

Cheers,

Coach Badger 

 

Gentlemen

I hope this message finds you all well.

Preparations for Cape Storm Rugby's 2010 season are underway. I wanted to give you a preview of what to expect in the coming weeks and months.

First, we will be kicking off our first major fundraiser in early November. Ambitious goals on the pitch necessitate ambitious off-field efforts, including raising the money needed to be a first-class club. Equipment - including new balls, goalpost pads, a set of second-side jerseys and a scrum sled - are among our priorities. Beyond the immediate needs, we hope to be able to offer scholarships to graduating players and possibly take the club on rugby tour overseas in the relatively near future.

Toward those ends, we will be asking all players and coaches to participate in selling Aromalight Candles during the two-week period between Nov. 2 and Nov. 16. We've run this fundraiser before with our previous U-19 Rugby club and had great success. Any woman you know - mother, aunt, grandmother, girlfriend, wife, etc. - is an excellent potential client. These candles are made by a family-run business out of Kentucky using clean-burning, American-produced, soy wax  They will be shipped before Christmas, which makes them great gifts, so use that as a selling point.

Order forms will be here within the next two weeks. LCMR students can come get them from me in Room C-6. Guys from other schools will get them in the mail. Everyone will receive a large envelope to return their order forms and money (please don't mail cash! Call/text/e-mail me to arrange pick-up).

At the same time we will be distributing order forms for the Cape Storm Rugby windbreakers that we discussed last season. Any player who sells a minimum of $150 worth of candles will automatically have his windbreaker paid for. However, please don't just shoot for the bare minimum. The more we raise, the more our club can do. Windbreakers should arrive before the new year - just in time to wear them around and recruit new players as we begin training for the season.

Other club functions are in the planning stages that I am excited to tell you about, so stay tuned. In the meantime, don't neglect your mind or body. Keep them both tuned and ready. This Storm has only just begun to take shape ...

Cheers,
Coach Badger

As players, it had to feel good to control the tempo of Sunday's match and earn a very convincing win over a more experienced Downingtown squad.

As a coach, my greatest satisfaction came from seeing so many individual players trying new things on the pitch - actively pursuing avenues to evolve their games.

That you want to win is a given. Everyone does. Rare is the athlete who strives to lose.

That you're willing to push the limits of what you know and risk failure for the opportunity to become better players is what i find impressive.

I truly believe that the major barrier that holds most people back is the fear of failure. The vast majority see failure as simply, well .. failure, rather than a necessary and undeniable step toward self-betterment.

The greatest kickers in the game have shanked thousands of balls wide of the posts as they've honed their craft. The greatest tacklers have been bowled over, blown past or left grabbing at air countless times along the road to success. The difference between them and the masses is that they were able to step back from their failures, assess them, and use what they learned to make themselves better. Thus, without failure, they would never have known true success.

Each of you has received - or will soon have received - an index card with some personal goals that we, as coaches, feel are key to elevating your current game to the next level. Keep those goals close over the next two weeks. See yourself achieving them in your mind and be prepared to achieve them on the pitch. And know that trying to achieve them likely will , in the short term, result in some small failures - a chip kick that didn't quite go where you'd intended; a dummy pass that didn't fool anyone, a pick-and-go that got snuffed at "pick."

Take those setbacks in stride. Assess them and learn.

Then use what you learn to get better.

You've made incredible progress over the past two months. Anyone who has seen you play is struck by it. But I know you're not done growing yet. Not by a long shot. We have almost two weeks until our next match - an ideal stretch to focus on our individual and collective goals.

Let's take full advantage.

See you at training,

Coach Badger