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About Rugby

FREE Opportunity for Chicago Educators

Sessions being offered:

- RUGBY IN GYM CLASS: Using Rugby as a Health and Physical Education Option in Chicago Public Schools. Saturday, February 18th, 9:00am to 10:30pm (1.5 CPDUs)

- COMPETITIVE RUGBY AS A CULTURE BUILDER: How to Start and Sustain a Rugby Team in Your School. Saturday, February 18th, 11:00am to 12:30pm (1.5 CPDUs)

Location: Rowe-Clark Math & Science Academy The Exelon Campus of Noble Street Charter School. 3645 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL.

Interested Educators must RSVP no later than February 3rd to reserve their spot. RSVP to development@iyra.org. Include your name, school, and any dietary restrictions. Click here for a flyer.

How Rugby Makes Better Football Players

By Alex Goff
Freelance writer in Olympia, Washington
Source: Goff on Rugby

Your High School season is over. Your players are already making plans to play other sports during the winter and spring. What should they play? In the spring, especially, football coaches find themselves at odds with their players' choices. But what if your players could play a sport that not only keeps them in shape for football, but actually makes them become better football players? The sport is out there, its called rugby, and strangely enough some football coaches won't let their athletes play the game. Read more »

Future Home for Illinois Youth Rugby

The Illinois Youth Rugby State Championships are held annually at the Chicago Blaze Rugby Club's facility in Lemont. To better serve rugby in general and youth rugby in particular the Chicago Blaze are embarking on an expansion program that will include additional field space and a new 6,000 square foot two storey clubhouse that will be available to the Illinois Youth Rugby Association and their member Clubs to hold meetings, conferences and coaching/referee clinics. The Chicago Blaze are currently embarking on a fundraising program to finance this project and will be selling $200 shares that will pay a 3% annual divident from the income generated by the two cell phone towers currently on the property. For more information, click here for the Share memorandum.

VanBiljon Announces First Signing for 2011-12 D1 Rugby

DAVINPORT UNIVERSITY, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Division I Rugby coach Kruger VanBiljon is pleased to announce the signing of the first student-athlete for the 2011-12 squad.  Sheamus Deering from Chicago, Ill. becomes the newest member of the now defending national champions. Sheamus comes from Mt. Carmel High School. Pictured from left, Mt. Carmel's Coach Philip "Thabu" Eloff, Coach Paddy Conway, Mr. Deering, Coach Jack Cushing, Mrs. Deering and Sheamus Derring (sitting). full story

iYRA Fundraiser

Chicago Rush Rugby Exhibition Fundraiser was held on Friday, March 25. The Chicago Rush Brass organization loved what we were able to accomplish. 187 tickets sold, and one great Halftime Show. A few Rush Executives mentioned that it was the best Halftime show in years. All teams were welcomed to participate, but only three teams sent kids, the St. Charles Predators, Arlington Stallions, and a few from the Glen Ellyn Ducks. It was a great success on both our participation and raising money for Illinois Youth Rugby.  Thank you to those who purchased tickets and spending the evening watching some great football and most importantly Illinois Youth Rugby. iYRA may be asked to participate in future games to raise Funds and Awareness about this great sport we are involved with.

YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmvinhocFek
YouTube link of halftime: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6eMl-nNXJk

Partnership with eBay

eBayYou can support Illinois Youth Rugby Association when you buy or sell on eBay, with the eBay Giving Works program. Illinois Youth Rugby Association is part of the eBay Giving Works program. So, you can support our mission when you buy and sell on eBay.

iYRA Fundraiser - Chicago Rush Football 2011

On March 25th all High School Boy Rugby Players have a chance to play in an Exhibition Match during halftime of The Chicago Rush vs. San Jose SabresCats Arena Football game at All State Arena. This is also a Fundraiser for teams/IYRA and the top 15 sellers of tickets to the event will get to participate.  Person that sells the most (25+) will win an autographed Rush Jersey by owner Mike Ditka.
Contact Norm Smyth at (708) 308-8997iyraevents@gmail.com.

Download Flyer for more in formation.

Rugby Inspiration

If you didn't get a chance to watch Good Morning America on August 23, click on the link below. This is a great story. Congratulations to Lisa Lake and Annie Collier for the great job they are doing to inspire America to fall in love with rugby

Video

Tornados 2010 UK tour (July 21 - Aug 8)

UPDATE from Coach Nolan Day: Tornados lost to Windsor in the last minute 34-28 and beat Consett 19-14 with a nice try by Kevin Lydon with 4 minutes left.


Slideshow of Porthcawl v. Tornadoes
Video of Bangor 36 v. Tornadoes 27

Sports Parenting Tip of the Month

As a National Council of Youth Sports (NCYS) clubs can now add a “Sports Parenting Tip of the Month” free video player to your web page as an embedded image at absolutely no cost to you! And here’s the real beauty…thanks to PlaySportsTV you add this educational tool to your web page just one time and the video player will automatically be updated on your website each and every month with a new sports parenting tip!

The title of the first Sports Parenting Tip of the Month is "Sports Parenting: Supporting Your Athlete" and the description is "Praise, praise and more praise. Young athletes need positive reinforcement from youth sports coaches and parents. This video tells you how." Take a look at the NCYS website home page to see a sample for yourself: www.ncys.org

NCYS is providing this “Sports Parenting Tip of the Month” as a new member benefit and service making it simple and easy for you to pay it forward with sports parenting tips for the parents and families in your network.

National Council of Youth Sports

Rugby Camp for at-risk Youth

The Springfield Celts Rugby Club, in conjunction with the Illinois Inter-Agency Athletic Association, recently held a Rugby Skills Camp for at-risk youth. Children from six children's homes from across Central Illinois met at Kennedy Park in Springfield to participate in rugby for the first time.
The camp was organized by James Carlberg, the Celts coach, with the help of Celts players. The Celts players went out of their way to welcome, support, teach and encourage the sixty plus youth in attendance. All participants were given a history of rugby. From there the youth went in teams to various stations to practice different skills. Passing, kicking, and tackling were the order for the day as the youth learned segments of the game. The finale of the day was a game of keep away geared to teaching the youth the art of passing the ball in order to make a touch down.

Amenities were abundant as the Celts provided each participant with a shirt, each team a rugby ball and rugby DVD. Lunch was provided and cooked by the Celts. Local radio station 93.9 ABE FM provided inspirational music, like the Rocky Theme, while the youth played and practiced.

Iyra Alum Makes National Maccabiah Team


Dan Pammer, a member of the 2007 Tornados team that traveled to England and Wales, won a Bronze medal as a member of the USA National Team for the 2009 Maccabiah games held in Israel. Dan was a reserve hooker on the team. Dan is one of the youngest players to ever play for the National Maccabiah Rugby Team.

Dan, Lincoln Way Alumni (’07), attends Northern Illinois University and plays for the NIU Huskies RFU. Congratulations Dan!

Pictured above, Dan is second from the right, front row.

http://erugbynews.com/article.php?sec=116&a=5167

National High School Rugby Newsletter

Rugby Magazine's new newsletter called High School Rugger, which is a free, is an oversized 8-page newsletter for American teenage rugby players. The magazine has mailed more than 15,000 copies of High School Rugger to more than 650 rugby coaches and athletic directors covering more than 700 teams. Each coach will receive about 20 newsletters per team to distribute to their players at not cost.

The colorful launch issue of High School Rugger features service pieces on nutrition, skills, team fundraising tips and how playing football can help your rugby game (and vice versa). There are also advice columns from University of California Coach Jack Clark (for prospective college freshmen ruggers) and Women's National Team star Phaidra Knight (for young women ruggers). Hanks says the magazine plans to publish two issues of HSR per year.

If you are a high school rugby coach who does not receive copies of HSR by March 13, 2009 or you need more copies for your team, send an email with your contact information to jfinlan@rugbymag.com.

UPromise Rewards with college savings

Upromise is the free service that rewards members with college savings just for doing what they normally do: shopping, eating out, filling the gas tank, taking trips, buying groceries and more.

So far, Upromise has helped more than 8 million members save for college. How? By partnering with thousands of contributing retailers, grocery chains, and restaurants who share our desire to help make college affordable. And who reward our members for using their products and services.

Jake Rosner Selected to USA U-18

Congratulations to Jake Rosner for being selected to the USA Rugby's U18 National Team player pool. Jake plays for St. Ignatius High School, lives in Lemont and has a 3.8 grade point average.

USA Rugby High Performance manager Matt Sherman announced that Jake had been seleted for the USA Under-18 Boy's National Team to train February 12-16 at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. and that assembly will include a match against the British Columbia U18s.

“Over the course of the week we'll work on skill development, strength and conditioning testing, coaching, nutrition, plus team and individual film study,” Sherman said. “They will work on setting and achieving individual goals throughout this four-day camp, in addition to taking a bit of time out on Saturday, between sessions, to get a behind the scenes look at the USA Sevens event in San Diego. The players will get the opportunity to see some of the best rugby in world up close and personal.”
The game against the British Columbia U18s is set for Sunday at the Olympic Training Center.

SCRUM PUNCH: Football Players Use Rugby as Competitive Offseason Training

By WES HUETT of the Journal Star Posted Sep 25, 2008 @ 10:22 PM

Never thought the words would spill from the mouth of a football player.

"It’s a lot like soccer," East Peoria junior linebacker and fullback Nate Joseph said. "In how you pursue the ball and fight for the ball ..."

Only with full-on tackling, full use of your hands and scrums that leave bodies bruised and beaton - yet rarely seriously injured.

And bloody noses.

"Those are not fun," Metamora senior Tim Thannum said.

Welcome to rugby, a punishing multi-sport hybrid where a handful of area football players spend a small part of their spring and summers busting their butts and busting heads. Read the full story...

Photo: Courtesy of Joe Goett
Chas Bruess of Metamora leads a charge during a game last spring for the Metamors All Reds. Behind him, left to right, are Randy Bertelson of Washington, Nate Joseph of E. Peoria, Bryan Swords of Metamora, E.Peoria's Josh Dunn and tim Thannum of Metamora.Bruess, Bertleson, Joseph and Thannum play football for their respective schools.

iYRA boys all state team back from tour (2009)

The boys All State Tornados are back from their UK Tour and were able to see a few historic sights before their first game against Windsor on July 27. A fantastic match and a defensive battle. Windsor is a U-18 team that had only lost 3 matches as a group since playing together at the U-13 level.
Scores for tour:
Windsor Rugby 5
Tornados 3

Tornados 16
Porthcawl RFC 10

Tornados 59
Supermarine Rugby 0

Gorseinon RFC 22
Tornados 10

As most of these young men head off to college, they have experiences that will last a lifetime and proud memories they will share. Gratitude goes out to all the coaches, parents and expecially the players for making this a successful trip. Photo Album.

Read the full story...

iYRA Tornados 2008 Midwest Champions

Congratulations to the iYRA HS Boys Select Side (The Tornados), who won their first Midwest High School All-Star Championship. The Tornados beat Indiana North 45-7 and Indiana North B 30-3. Ohio tied Indiana South 5-5 and as a result, the Tornados won by forfeit of Indiana South. Winger Sam Polzin of New Trier and Vidal Martinez of Plainfield drew interest from the USA National team coaching staff. U-19 Eagle Prop Bobby Mulvaney of St. Ignatius struck 5 of the 6 in conversions in the final match versus Indiana North.

Rugby in the News

The following article about the Glen Ellyn Ducks Rugby Club was in their local newspaper. The Ducks are coached by Dan Wiseheart.

Read the full story...

Photo by Bill Ackerman of the My Suburban Life publications.

Area Youth Selected for National U-19 team

St. Ignatius 2007 alumni JACK BRENNAN and St. Ignatius Senior BOBBY MULVANEY were selected to play for the USA National U-19 Team against Canada at the Freedom Cup which was held in February over President's week-end. Jack and Bobby played for the Illinois All State Tornados in 2007. Jack is a Freshman at Dayton University.

Jack Brennan
Bobby Mulvaney

Click here for more information on the National U-19 team.

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