Xavier plans a weeklong, three-match tour of northern California in April, an aggressive undertaking for the perennial high school contender.
The 2008 quarterfinalist's trip features an April 11 meeting with defending national champ Jesuit of Sacramento. Then comes 2005 runnerup Elsie Allen on the 13th and rising San Francisco Golden Gate Under-19 on the 15th, a pair of regional hopefuls who met last weekend to open the Santa Rosa school's new stadium, in a 15-12 match won by the visitors.
To the extent that they are looking to go beyond their league schedule, many high school teams prefer tournaments to tours because the former offer a lot of games in one venue. Even then, the logistics of traveling high school sides to weekend events can be complicated.
Xavier, a so-called single-school team, benefits both from having a roster all on the schedule (i.e., everyone has spring break at the same time) and from effective school support. The rugby XV also has a history of touring, having previously visited various Californian cities, Seattle, Salt Lake City, and even Hawaii, and of traveling to national title competitions.
The Knights expect to travel 27, according to coach Mike Tolkin, a faculty member who doubles as head coach of the New York Athletic Club. 'If [the trip] matches up to the standards and expectations of that time of the year (fitness, handling, speed of recycling and solid tackling), then we'll be satisfied,' he said in an email.
Including Xavier and Jesuit, seven of last year's single-school quarterfinalists were parochial schools.
there's a match i would love to see.
and since I know Bruce Mclane will see this:
Will the Cal/NYAC match be webcast?
I also suggest you do a blog on blogspot. it would be pretty entertaining.
PSU had like 5 practices and traveled without more than a couple of starters and had no reserves. and played a fresh byu after playing utah the day before. so lets not get crrrrrrazy.
Posted by: Matt | 03 February 2009 at 16:14
Fair enough on PSU, but utah is not fla or california weather wise either and it wasn't like PSU didn't know the trip was coming, they made a choice to prepare as they did. if this is who i think it is, you made no excuses as a player and were a hard as nails AA, no need to make excuses now as a grad.
I am not sure that our game v cal will be webcast, nyac guys are not to switched onto computer stuff and webcasting. if someone is, that would be great, we would be cool with it. the venue in fort lauderdale is quite nice and the U-20's had a nice main event game there last year.
Posted by: bruce mclane | 03 February 2009 at 17:16
Sorry didn't PSU play all Fall? BYU didn't play any in the Fall.
Didn't Ferrell make a big complaint about playing in the Spring and not the Fall?
So after 3 months of PSU rugby under their belts a preseason BYU with about two weeks of rugby under their belt beat them. What's to say about this from PSU standpoint, maybe it's time to shut the cake hole.
Posted by: wow | 03 February 2009 at 18:16
Just trying to put the matches in perspective to help the analysis of who stands where. I think a PSU/BYU rematch is on tap later in the spring before nationals. Lets wait for that verdict before writing off the Mid-Atlantic. No excuses Bruce. Go Mikey P!
Posted by: Matt | 03 February 2009 at 18:42
PSU is overrated and BYU now has an average age of 23, which is getting a little silly considering most teams are looking at having an average age of 20.
Posted by: Hyped | 03 February 2009 at 21:45
Matt,
I will await the rematch, and I hope Mike P does well in his Saracens tryout next week, it would be nice to have 3 Eagles at one club.
Posted by: bruce mclane | 04 February 2009 at 04:32
I am so fed up of this whining about BYU age! If the kids weren't playing rugby for those 2 years they were gone, what bloody difference does their age make? If age is such a big deal (and not skill that comes through actually playing or fitness or whatever) then BYU football would be perennial national champions. Shut up about BYU age!
Posted by: Feldspar | 04 February 2009 at 07:11
So if the average age of the BYU team is 23, doesn't this mean they have a truck load of 25-26 year old's, which are balanced/averaged out by 19 year old's?
In elite sports like football, this is less an advantage. In these sports its 4.4 40 times that wins not 24 year old's. In rugby having this many older than college age players is difficult to overcome. It will be interesting to see if St Mary's and schools like this will be able to overtake BYU with this type of built in advantage.
Posted by: wrt | 04 February 2009 at 08:45
Older is NOT better. Experienced is better. They come back OLDER, and usually fatter from lack of exercise. And they sure haven't played rugby for at least 2 years. They have to spend a year just getting some semblance of fitness back and repairing their lost timing and ball skills. Obviously, you have never met a returned missionary just off his mission. It's just a whiny excuse without merit. BYU is good because they have good coaching and work their players very hard in practice. You just don't know what you're talking about.
Posted by: Feldspar | 04 February 2009 at 10:09
Fair enough Feldspar, when a 22 year old Sophomore comes off mission, he might not be much of a threat.
But once he becomes a 25 year old, 5th year senior, BYU has an important and unfair advantage over the other teams.
Just keeping it real. I don't know why you guys need to lie about the advantages you enjoy over every other team in the competition.
All this talk about guys not playing rugby while on mission and returning out of shape is understood and a unneeded smoke screen. BYU has the advantage of playing older players more in the prime of their athletic lifespan.
Without this advantage BYU wouldn't be in the top 8 universities.
Posted by: Keeping it real | 04 February 2009 at 11:56
Anyone that has been around college rugby players knows they show up when they are 18 like puppies. By the time they start their junior year they are 20 and beginning their athletic peak. Most schools get 2 years of access to these athletes in their peak years (20 to 28). BYU gets athletes for 4 peak years because they show up aged 20 as a freshman. Because the Mormons don't seem to relocate, many of the BYU players are there for 5 years. Given the fact that the cost of tuition is nearly nothing for a Latter Day Saints member (Mormon), why not stay an extra year for a few hundred bucks? There is not any great men's club rugby competition in Salt Lake, so BYU and a run to beat Cal is the best opportunity in town to get recognized for AA or NA4 or Eagles.
Posted by: hyped | 04 February 2009 at 18:10
As a BYU Rugby fan, I'd give my left nut (of course, I'm old, so maybe it's not much of a sacrifice) to be able to keep these guys for four straight years rather than send promising young freshmen off on missions after their first year. It is a huge, royal pain trying to predict who will return, coping with a huge falloff in fitness, etc. BYU is starting about a half dozen 18-19 year olds in the first 15. They all have to be replaced next year as if they were seniors, 'cause they ain't gonna' be here. There are a few seniors, and some are really good. But, physically, some of the very best are freshmen and sophomores. And you can't tell me that yrs 20 and 21 (lost to missions) aren't good years. The kids I've seen just don't show it.
All in all, it's at best a wash and at worst a significant liability.
Posted by: Feldspar | 08 February 2009 at 17:45
Everybody but Cal would trade places with your problem.
Posted by: SoCal | 08 February 2009 at 21:05