We are proud to report the Sacramento Valley Rugby Foundation’s 32nd Annual Kick Off Tournament went very well this past weekend (January 30/31, 2016). The “KOT” greatly benefited from dry weather on the weekend, after weeks of several rain cycles helped our extensive field improvements settle into place.
In addition to the improved fields at Cordova High, lots of prior planning, including the recruitment of volunteers, teams and referees, helped 86 matches Saturday, and 60 matches Sunday, go off with hardly a hitch. All matches began and ended on time! Three matches each day had to be abandoned due to low numbers from one side or another, otherwise the schedule was ‘tight as a drum.’
Though everyone takes the opportunity to compete seriously, results from our pre-season event matters little. Rather than winners or losers, we want to report that most every side got placed into competitive matches, totaling 90 minutes per day, per side. In all, there were 4 levels of Boys Varsity play (2 each day), Girls Varsity (12 sides!), Boys JV and Middle School each day, Girls Middle School for our first time ever, U12s and U10s Open Saturday and again Sunday, with Light divisions of Middle School, U12 and U10 added Sunday. Plus U8s Sunday, which were a ton of fun!
Though Jesuit High was clearly the strongest Varsity side on Saturday, the focus was on squad development for all teams throughout the weekend.
Jesuit (of Carmichael) entered 4 sides, while Solo (a newly combined Solano-Yolo Counties club), Sierra Foothills (Rocklin area) and Mother Lode (El Dorado Hills area) each entered 6 or more sides featuring boys and girls and all age groups. Land Park Motley, Elk Grove, SacPD PAL and Gridley & Chico (both an hour or more to the north) each entered 5 or more sides, and are more youth oriented, at least this present time.
Several teams traveled up from the Bay Area, most with two sides (including Alameda, Oakland Warthogs, Bishop O’Dowd, Peninsula Green, Razorhawks, Los Gatos Lions, Berkeley Rhinos, Danville Oaks, Pleasanton Cavaliers and Lamorinda). Valley Panthers joined us from McMinnville, OR, Santa Monica Dolphins brought up two strong Boy’s Varsity sides, and Liberty, WA, brought 3 sides, Varsity through Middle School.
A crucial aspect related to the pre-season development nature of the event, over 50 referees worked alongside each other, and under 12 referee coaches, over three days, to develop their skills as well. We started with a free day of referee education Friday at Sac St. While top referees visited from as far away as Edmonton, Boston and Durban, many local refs handled their first very games ever.
Becoming a skillful rugby referee is extremely challenging, as only one ref handles a full 70-minute high school match, with just a short halftime break. The shorter pre-season games offered at the KOT, and with ages ranging from U8s up to U19, and at many competitive levels, can prove to be the perfect primer for the season ahead.
We hope to make results and photos from the weekend available soon at the Kick Off Tournament website.
