Remarks from President

All--

I want to personally thank each of you for having your son or daughter play rugby for the Redhawks and for all you do for our organization.  Let me take a moment to wriet a few words about the season and remind everyone of our upcoming events.

The Season.  By almost any standard, our season was a tremendous success.  We had over 75 kids play rugby for the Redhawks, many brand new to us and rugby and many returning veterans.  Our High School and Middle School teams each started the season as Ruggerfest tournament champions, our High School and middle school teams lost only a few games all season and our 5/6 team finished the season with a second place showing in the State Championship!  Unfortunately, our MS team fell short of its quest to win the State but I could not be more proud of how they played all season and how they handled the "agony of defeat."  We had a touch group run by Chris Travis that by all accounts did terrific and everyone, including the parents, seemed to have a great time.  We had 18 players on our 5/6 grade tackle team, we had 27 players on our middle school team and we had 25 players on our high school team.  The quality of the new players added this season was incredible and each and every kid I watched ended the season a much better player then when s/he started the season.  In many ways, that is how we judge our success--whether the kids have fun and whether they improve.  It seems a thunderous success based on those standards. We also had tremendous parent involvement at all levels this year--from organizing car pools, to arranging game day snacks and drinks to organizing our post-game restaurant visits and parties.  Thank you so much for that help and all the support each of you gives the Redhawks!

End of Season Party.  We will have an end of season party for our entire organization on Saturday June 4 at Beaver Dam Park, shelter 28, starting at 3 p.m.  More details to follow.

Practices.  Practices at the JCC are now over for the season. (If the kids seem to suffer withdrawals, I can record my voice yelling "Go" repeatedly for them to run their sprints in the off season!)

Saturday Touch Games.  We will recommence our Saturday morning touch rugby pick-up games at Baileywick Road park after our end of season party.  So no touch games this Saturday or next.  We will let you know when they will recommence in the next week or so.

Our Summer Camp--Please Register.  If your son or daughter is able to, please sign up for our summer camp June 13-17th.  See our website for full details.  There are full and half day options or for that matter, partial week options.  We have changed the camp location to the JCC since it is less costly and more conveniently located for most of our families and since they will also allow us to use the pool a couple of times during the week. The camp is a great way for your child to have a ton of fun and greatly advance his/her rugby skills.  Attending the full week provides 30 plus hours of rugby--the equivalent of almost half a season of practices, all lead by a current Welsh professional player.  The camp is also an important fundraiser for us that helps us keep our season fees as low as possible, allows us to give families that need it cost breaks and helps us to purchase the equipment we need to best teach your children.  If you can, please support us by enrolling your child.

7s Tournaments. We plan to enter U10, U12, U14 and if available HS teams in the following 7s tournaments (and we are looking for others)--

                       Powerade State Games in Clayton on June 11.

                       Queen City 7s in Charlotte on June 25.

Once we finalize the details on these tournaments, we will let everyone know and set the teams with those interested.

College 7s Championship. The college 7s championship of the Nation is being held this year at Wakemed soccer park in Cary over Memorial day weekend.  Andy has circulated emails looking for ball boys/girls to help at the event so contact Andy if you'd like to do that. If you are in town, please go to the event to watch the best college rugby teams in the nation compete for the 7s National championship.  This will also give you a little taste of 7s to get you ready to cheer on the USA at this summer's Olympic games where the US men and women will each compete for a medal in the inaugural rugby 7s event in the Olympics.

Recruitment!!  If your child enjoyed playing rugby with the Redhawks--please spread the word and try to recruit additional players for next season. We do a lot of different recruiting events but nothing is more important than word of mouth.  Please tell everyone how much fun rugby is for the kids, how much it helps their general athleticism and helps make them better in their other sports and please do what you can to help parents understand rugby is not as dangerous as they may think.  Let's see if we can double our player numbers next season! If you need my or any other coaches help with any recruitment efforts--just yell.  Once we start our Saturday touch games--that is a great opportunity to bring out friends that may have an interest.

Get Involved. We always need help to make the Redhawks better for everyone.  We have two standing committees--a recruitment committee and a fund-raising committee.  If you and your child had fun this year, please get involved and help make us better! Join one of those committees or tell us how else you can help.  We need funds to purchase additional rucking and tackle bags, balls and other equipment--so if you can, support us by making a charitable contribution.  We are a 501(c)(3) so your gift is tax deductible!

That's all for now. (Though our middle school team should expect another lengthy Krosner email re the season in the near future!)

I look forward to seeing everyone on June 4th and, again, thanks for being a Redhawk!

Best, Dave Krosner