Portal:2019 Alumni Newsletter

Welcome to the Alumni Newsletter (Reborn!) Enjoy!

Coaches' Corner. Men's Team (Denny Merideth). First, a hearty thanks from the team to Sarah and Harry for making this inaugural newsletter an avenue for keeping in touch with the alumni. Second, a resounding thanks to all alumni for the support of the rugby programs at USAFA. We have a high hopes and an enthusiastic team for the spring season. Over the last two days I have met individually with over 40 players as well as the club leadership team. They are all like a bunch of thoroughbreds at the gate ready to launch into the season. Their enthusiasm is truly amazing and will make for an exciting spring. The team will focus on 7s building upon the strides and success of the 2018 7s season with great showings in both the Las Vegas 7s and at the 7s College Rugby Championships (CRC) in Philadelphia. Only 1 of 15 players who competed at the 2018 CRCs graduated. We have several who will challenge those players for positions on the starting 7s team. Our intent for the spring is threefold. First to focus the top players on 7s with primary tournaments being: Las Vegas 7s on 28 Feb – 2 Mar, Kansas City Heart of America on Mar 29-30, Regional D1A Qualifier Tournament at USAFA on Apr 27, All Academy 7s Tournament at USNA on May 4, D1A National 7s Tournament on May 18 and the CRCs in Philadelphia on Jun 1. The next level of players will also focus on 7s with tournaments on other weekends in locations like Albuquerque, Bozeman, and CSU building their skills in solid competitions. The third area of work will be 3 to 4 matches of 15s for developmental players so that they get playing time against teams along the Front Range. The schedule should be finalized this next week. We welcome any and all who would like to assist at any time. The players truly appreciate interaction with alumni both at home matches and on trips. Please feel free to contact me or any of the other coaches and we can chat about how best to support your team. A sincere thank you again for all your support! Women's Team (Amy Rusert). The spring schedules are still up in the air, but some great information about some of our fall team members: five members of our women's team earned National Honors being selected to the Fall 2018 D1 All Championship Series First team (position as noted): Callen Medeiros (Prop), Veronica Dodds (Prop), Adrienne Yoder (Flanker), Sierra DeHart (8), Sara Cook (center). [Editor: Five out of 15 is a tremendous statement for the quality of coaching our ladies are getting!]

Cadet Recognitions. Nick Waterman received the 2018 Penn Mutual Life of Significance Award. You can read more about his selection here: https://rugby.pennmutual.com/air-force-rugby-player-building-a-lasting-legacy/ Nick was also recognized as one of the Top 10 #8s in the US and, as a 2020 grad, will be back with us next year.

Join the Ruck (JTR) Status. As we hope you all know, the road to intercollegiate (IC) status is clear: the Athletic Department (AD) is ill-equipped to financially support another sports program. The only path forward is for us to support ourselves. To that end, this past summer we kicked off a $10.5M 5-year JTR campaign to build an endowment invested well enough to spin-off income to support the teams and, therefore, getting the AD to confer IC status. We have allies in the AD and a fund raising team assembled to push ourselves to get to the finish line...as soon as possible! The JTR committee did some work over this past summer, to include tapping some of our grads for financial commitments. The results were encouraging and we are now upping the effort. You do not need to wait to be contacted! If you want to contribute, please go to one (or both!) of the following sites and make your tax deductible donation. It is important to note that gifts to either the men's or women's team all count toward our $10.5M target. Vern Francis Perpetual Fund for Men's Rugby https://www2.usafa.org/Give/perpetualrugby Alan Osur Perpetual Fund for Women's Rugby https://ww2.usafa.org/Give/wrugby

Here is their current status: Date 2018 05 2018 11 Vern Francis Invested $ 182,725 $ 610,435 Vern Francis Pledged $ 31,184 $ 289,922 Vern Francis Planned $ 95,141

Alan Osur Invested $ 43,561 $ 100,773 Alan Osur Pledged $ 7,205 $ 38,388 Alan Osur Planned $ 259,141

Total Invested $ 226,286 $ 711,208 Total Pledged $ 38,389 $ 328,310 Total Planned $ - $ 354,282

So we have $711, 208 towards our 10.5 M goal (9.9%). We had a good amount to start with ($226,000) but the JTR committee got another $500,000 before we even kicked off the campaign. We urge you to Join The Ruck and contribute! We will keep you appraised of status as we go along, but rest assured, every penny donated will go to this campaign.

Board Activities. A question came up recently about a 'tax' on donations given to the Endowment. As we know it, the Superintendent made an executive decision for the Endowment to charge a fee on new money coming into operational accounts. It is our understanding this was done to cover the expenses of the Endowment staff as they go about fund raising activities. We debated whether to reconsider them in our fund raising, but decided to stick for several reasons: - This only affects new money going into the operational funds. - There is no fee assessed against funds donated to our perpetual funds, nor against any crowd funding effort we undertake. - The Endowment fund raising staff (which is about 15 persons as we understand) have fundraising as their only job. We have primarily tapped into their expertise for training on how to conduct our campaign and data on whom to start with when we reach out (effectively prioritizing our time and effort for efficiency in return). These services are not directly paid for and yet give us a good leg up. - The Endowment has contacts with many high net worth individuals and can mention rugby when the time is right. These relationship can produce unforeseen benefits (for example, the Army rugby stadium was paid for by a non-rugby grad who was being solicited by their Endowment equivalent). So the board looked upon this 'haircut' as an investment for the professional talents we do not have in raising the money we need for Intercollegiate status.

Staying Connected. Over the years, many of us have struggled to stay informed about our AFA rugby teams. In case you were not aware, a wide variety of sites contain different types of material. To try and help you focus your searches, here are the ones we know about! - If you’re looking for information about our men’s team, a variety of options exist: · Website: http://www.zoomierugby.com/ · Instagram: @zoomierugby · Twitter: @zoomieRugby · YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFuXSkEJxi19pTHxKcP5REQ Additionally, the men’s team booster club has a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ZoomieRugby/. This Facebook page and the men’s team website are maintained by a former team OIC. Our women’s team has two sites available: · Website: http://afclubrugby.wix.com/wzrfc · Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/115971358484614/ If you clicked on the women’s team website hyperlink, you would see that it is not currently maintained and, therefore, not reliable. As for alumni, we have a couple choices available to us: · Website: http://usafarugbyalumni.com/index.php?title=Portal:Main · Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1278288132270630/ We’re in the early stages of using this Facebook group; the website’s main purpose is to preserve the history of our rugby programs. Please visit these pages, share stories and pictures, and extend the invitation to others to do so who may be interested in AFA rugby. As you can see, there are a lot of sites trying to share information about our AFA rugby teams. In fact, over the years, at least three different men’s team sites were created by parents but once their kids graduated, those sites faded away. Maintaining all of these information sources to keep them relevant is a challenge. If you have ideas on how we can better communicate about our teams and our alumni support to them, we’re listening! Please remember that our budget is tiny and our help is just that of volunteers without IT skills

Again, if you see errors or have more information you wish to share, please email us and we will upload it.

Booster Club. Yes, we have a booster club...well, a Men's Booster Club and here is some background. A few years ago, there was an initiative by the men's team leadership to form a 'Booster Club' as a way to collect and distribute funds to the team without the team having to go through the arduous and time consuming process for getting funds from the Endowment (process explained later). The idea generator for this was an active duty member, who would be restricted in a process that included asking for funds. We had two local (civilian grads) who took up the initiative, and began the process of getting it set up as a official tax exempt organization. Our board asked them in to discuss this initiative and came to the conclusion is was complimenting our fund raising, not competing, and made an arrangement where one of their board members would sit on our board, and vice versa to facilitate coordination and information flow. (The Booster Club is mainly focused on the parents for gifting, and the board is mainly focused on alumni). This was a men's team initiative and we realize there needed to be a parallel organization for the women, but the Booster Club wanted to get some experience in the processes and efforts needed for one before launching another. They have been in existence for a little over a year and the board will be looking at how we can/should stand up a similar organization for the women. Here is the website: https://www.zoomierugby.com/.

Letters to the Editors. We'd like to know what you wish to see in these newsletters, so please let us "editors" know: Harry Laws, '69: harryflaws@gmail.com Sarah Emory, '98: sarahlemory@yahoo.com

AFA Alumni Rugby Newsletter

February 2019

Coaches Corner.

Men's Team (Deny Merideth). The team has an amazing level of excitement going into the season and their work ethic is awe-inspiring. We have bounced through a series of practice locations in the last four weeks to prepare for spring matches. We have used the actual pitch on a few days, squeezed into a small portion of the field house, used the lacrosse field (while the lacrosse team practiced inside), Combatives rooms, and the Holaday Athletic Center (HAC). Every Wednesday the players encourage each other in the HPL (High Performance Lab) where they are put through a series of aerobic, anaerobic, and eye-hand coordination stations before reviewing film in the Boxing Room.

Our focus now is on the Las Vegas 7s at the end of February. The competition will be tough, but the team is committed to finishing strong. Key players to watch include team Captain Elliott Higgins, Nick Waterman and Alexander Goirigolzarri. Exciting newcomers with high expectations are Barrett McDonald and Kyle Roshong. The team will be seeking to garner an invitation to the Collegiate Rugby Championships through their play at Las Vegas and at the Heart of America Tournament in Kansas City on March 30th and 31st.

Jeff Burrows (USAFA 81) and Mick Harper (USAFA 92) have been doing a great job coaching the team to a higher level of play. Their dedication to the team is essential to the continued development of the players and greatly appreciated. In February we will be gaining the assistance of two additional coaches who will bring a high degree of inspiration and drive to the team. Thomas Leonard is a 2006 West Point grad with a Harvard MBA and experience as a Ranger with assignments in Iraq and Afghanistan. Shane Sherman served as an NCO in the Special Forces and used the GI Bill to graduate from San Diego State and then earned a master’s from Northeastern. Shane has experience giving leadership and motivational training to teams in the NFL. We welcome their addition to the coaching staff!

The Canterbury team store will be open next week, and we welcome everyone to shop for clothing and accessories. The team gets a percentage in sales for its own use to put towards kit and every little bit helps.

A big thank you to all for their support of the team. Please let us know if you will be at any of our matches so we can connect. Las Vegas, Kansas City, Annapolis and Philadelphia will be great opportunities to see your team play!

The team's schedule is on our alumni Facebook page and website: http://usafarugbyalumni.com/index.php?title=Portal:2019_Spring_Men

Women's Team (Amy Rusert). The women will not begin playing again until April; at that point, we anticipate competing in at least two 7s tournaments before the celebrations of Ring Dance and graduation. The team's schedule has not been finalized as of yet. Prior to that, however, three of our players; Sarah Cook (19), Adrian Yoder (20) and Davon Doyle (20); will join the USAF 7s team at the USA 7s Rugby tournament in Las Vegas, 28 Feb - 2 Mar 2019 (provided Scheduling Committee Approval is granted). [Amy would not say this, but please note that she was recently selected as the 2018 National Collegiate Coach of the Year!].

Join the Ruck (JTR) Status. If you want to contribute, please go to one (or both!) of the following sites and make your tax deductible donation.

It is important to note that gifts to either the men's or women's team all count toward our $10.5M target. Vern Francis Perpetual Fund for Men's Rugby https://www2.usafa.org/Give/perpetualrugby Alan Osur Perpetual Fund for Women's Rugby https://ww2.usafa.org/Give/wrugby

Here is their current status:

We have $711, 208 towards our 10.5 M goal (9.9%). We had a good amount to start with ($226,000) but the JTR committee added another $500,000 before we even kicked off the campaign. We urge you to Join The Ruck and contribute! We will keep you appraised of status as we go along, but rest assured, every penny donated will go to this campaign.

Questions Asked and Answered.

Intercollegiate vs NCAA Status. A question came up recently about the difference between Intercollegiate status and NCAA status. Currently, there are two intercollegiate sports that reside under the Athletic Department (AD) that have Intercollegiate (IC) status but are not NCAA sports: Boxing and Cheerleading. When we say "make men's and women's rugby intercollegiate sports" we are talking about pursing the same path as these two sports. Of note, there is a chance that the women's team could get added as an NCAA sport under the AD because, in 2017, women's rugby was added by the NCAA as a sanctionied sport. There are presently twenty-five women's programs that are NCAA division I, II or III (including Army).

Collegiate Rugby Levels. Our women are the current D1A Collegiate Club national champions--an amazing achievement for our ladies and coaching staff. Our men play in a similar competitive tier for collegiate club rugby. Both teams and coaching staffs earn impressive achievements despite their club status and limited resources. Garnering IC status would ensure both teams receive IC athlete support (e.g., trainers, team meals) and compete at the elite level.

As is, our teams compete at the D1A Collegiate Club level; interestingly enough, an entire collegiate division, D1 Elite, includes IC rugby programs playing at a premier level. Examples of teams in this division are Lindenwood, Life, Quinnipiac, Central Washington, Dartmouth, Penn State, Harvard, Army, and BYU. Just to show the difference, our ladies played BYU in a friendly in the fall, losing 72-5; last year they lost to Army 55-0. This past fall, our men lost to Army 42-0. Our teams are well respected in club rugby circles but do not possess a dominant position in the game. Securing IC status provides our athletes the support they need to compete at this level and a professional coaching staff to prepare them.

Staying Connected. If you’re looking for information about our men’s team, a variety of options exist: · Website: http://www.zoomierugby.com/ · Instagram: @zoomierugby · Twitter: @zoomieRugby · YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFuXSkEJxi19pTHxKcP5REQ

         And the men’s team booster club has a Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/ZoomieRugby/.

Our women’s team has two sites available: · Website: http://afclubrugby.wix.com/wzrfc · Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/115971358484614/ Alumni have a couple choices available as well · Website: http://usafarugbyalumni.com/index.php?title=Portal:Main · Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1278288132270630/

Looking Back. (New Links for February) If you were a member of the team during one of the seasons below, click on the link to see what information we have about that season; please let us know if you have more! This site is the only place where the history of our teams are recorded...and an important resource once we hit intercollegiate status!

Spring 1969: Men - http://usafarugbyalumni.com/index.php?title=Portal:1969_Spring_Men Spring 1979: Men - http://usafarugbyalumni.com/index.php?title=Portal:1979_Spring_Men

                      Women - http://usafarugbyalumni.com/index.php?title=Portal:1979_Spring_Women

Spring 1989: Men - http://usafarugbyalumni.com/index.php?title=Portal:1989_Spring_Men

                      Women - http://usafarugbyalumni.com/index.php?title=Portal:1989_Spring_Women

Spring 1999: Men - http://usafarugbyalumni.com/index.php?title=Portal:1999_Spring_Men

                       Women - http://usafarugbyalumni.com/index.php?title=Portal:1999_Spring_Women

Spring 2009: Men - http://usafarugbyalumni.com/index.php?title=Portal:2009_Spring_Men

                       Women - http://usafarugbyalumni.com/index.php?title=Portal:2009_Spring_Women

Again, if you see errors or have more information you wish to share, please email us and we will upload it.

Letters to the Editors. We'd like to know what you wish to see in these newsletters, so please let us "editors" know: Harry Laws, '69: harryflaws@gmail.comSarah Emory, '98: sarahlemory@yahoo.com

Portal:2019 Alumni Newsletter

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