Note: All previous match wrap-ups and announcements are housed permanently on the team blog.

So, our playing season is at an end, with only the picnic this Sunday left to do.

Tournament

Fort Hunt fielded two full teams this year--with no extra players from any other team. This is an important improvement over last year, in which we fielded only a touch side, and no tackle sides at all.

Our program continues to make steady progress, and I expect that next year we should be able to continue with fielding a U-11 touch side, and two or three tackle sides, ideally all four of our teams playing--and being competitive--in the tournament.

U-11s:

Saturday was hot, but our youngsters did great, with fantastic attitudes all day long.

Coach Dave Hughes reports: 1st match, vs. Chantilly. The match swayed back and forth with both teams playing pretty evenly. We played well as a team, and worked the ball down the line nicely. Scoring was spread out between Alex, James W, Andrei, and Connor, each scoring once with Simon converting one of our scores. Alex L even took some shots at a drop goal in open play, none of which went through, though. We won 27-24. 2nd match, vs. Vienna: We played this match on the large pitch and really made great use of the size of the field. We ran around the ends and extended our lines to use our speed. Smart passes and some good kickoffs that we ran down added to offense. The kids were the best team they could be. They did not play a better game all season. Andrei led the scoring with three tries, followed by Connor with two tries and a conversion, Jimmy with one try and Simon with one conversion, to finish at 34-15. 3rd match, vs. Fairfax Police Youth Club: We waited nearly three hours to play our semi final match, and it showed in the first two quarters of the match. Poor passing and sluggish play on our part gave our opponent a lead of 24-0 at the half. Our guys woke up in the second half and played well, outscoring FPYC 15-10, but it was not enough. Scoring for Ft. Hunt came from Connor with two tries and Simon with one.

All in all, the kids played great and showed that they had learned a lot this season. I know if we had not had the long wait before the semi game, they would have won. Everyone who made it out deserves a standing ovation...

U-15s:

Sunday was wet and cloudy all day long, with rain off and on. This made the ground soft--and muddy. The U-15s opened the day with a victory over Vienna, 14-0, on scores from Chris B and Colin G, and conversions from Chris B. Colin had another try that didn't count as the referee couldn't keep track of where the try line was. The next match was against our rival, SYC. They chose to pressure us with a kicking attack, and our lack of experience in positioning for and fielding kicks--and some unlucky boounces--led to a number of SYC scores, with the final score something like 29-5 (our try from Colin G as time expired). That loss finished our tournament play, but we managed to put together a friendly with our buddies from Braddock Road, and we played a few more periods of friendly ball in the mudpit so everyone could go home filthy.

Picnic

The end of season picnic will be this Sunday at 3:00 pm in Area E of Fort Hunt Park. A map of the Park is at: http://www.geocities.com/drottlodge/Picnic-Map.htm

The club will supply burgers, dogs, buns, water/soda, plates and flatware (and lots of leftover chips and bottled water).

Families should bring a potluck something extra (side/appetizer/dessert/fruit/whatever), along with a serving utensil.

There is no match fee for this event.

All families, please RSVP with your number attending by Saturday morning. It's fine to bring brothers, sisters, cousins, grandparents, relatives, and friends along. Bring a buddy or two who might want to be a rugby player next summer.

We will hand out end of season individual and team awards at the picnic. All players new to our program will get a certificate.

All players and coaches, please wear your jersey so we can take our official club photo, a copy of which we will be giving to both Rooga's and Primo's.

We will have the stickers, patches, balls and jerseys for sale, so bring cash or your checkbook. The more stuff we sell, the more money comes in to the club.

Looking Ahead--We Might Just Go On Tour

Coach Dale Roach has mentioned that our mates from last year, the Strawbridges, have brought up the possibility of hosting a Fort Hunt U-16 team in Ottawa, Canada next summer. So, we will explore the possibility of taking Fort Hunt Rugby on tour next summer.

It likely would be late July/early August, and probably would take the form of an eight-day Saturday-to-Sunday trip, with a social match with a US side on the way up and on the way back (somewhere like Syracuse, NY), something like 4 or 5 matches in 8 days, possibly with a one-day tournament in there, too.

We would be traveling in family cars, not by coach (too expensive). The club would spring for tour kit bags, custom tour jerseys and tour patches (all keepers for touring players), and all other costs would be borne by individuals. We would look to our hosting teams putting us up, so we'd save on lodging. We have no projected costs at this time, but we are thinking of trying to keep it to less than $500/player. This would mean rugby club car washes and other fundraisers next spring and early summer to help the club gain funds. Also, the more Fort Hunt Rugby gear we sell, the more money the club collects.

There is a lot of work to do to arrange this, and it's not a definite event, yet. Please think about it, and talk with your players about it, and we will collect more info to keep everyone informed.

See you on Sunday afternoon.

Match Schedule

Okay, it’s here. Feast your eyes on a summer’s worth of youth rugby.

Check out our scoring stats to see who is racking up points, and who are men/ladies of the match are:

Our Various Teams

Parents must realize that although we are a single Rugby Football Club, we have several constituent teams within it, namely the U-11s, U-13s, U-15s, and U-17s.

As such, there is no guarantee that all of our teams will be playing in the same location on game day. In fact, it is most likely they will be in separate locations. Usually, the touch team will go somewhere different than the tackle teams (U-13, U-15, U-17). Usually, the tackle teams will tend to play at the same location, so there will be opportunities for playes to play up.