If There Is a Problem, Yo I'll Solve It

Sorry for the lull in posts - the Midwest "polar vortex" claimed my laptop AC cable as a victim and replacing it took significantly longer than it should - thanks alleged 2 day shipping. Yet now the problem is solved - as have many other Stars problems that have recently arisen:

*We lost 4 or 5 players this week due to finances, injuries, and one to a family emergency. Within the last 2 weeks there have been about 8 roster changes. Not only is this a huge headache and financial drain as kit, hotels, tickets, bus passes etc have already been booked, it is also changing our game and practice plans.

Thankfully the rugby gods have been smiling on us and we've filled most of the empty slots with new players (and one hotel bed with a ref friend!). There are still 2 spots, maybe 3 open, as of today. I have 4 players interested so we'll see what comes through. My spreadsheets are getting a full workout (though gym time was affected today because of this).

*We'd been waiting on game schedules to finalize logistics and USA Sevens sent them out this week! There is still the possibility of changes as the Australian team our sisters were originally playing for (and that isn't entering a side any longer) is still listed in the Open bracket and in the same pool as our Stars! More on schedules and pools to come in a future post.

*We're still waiting on reserving practice fields/time slots. The team has a scrimmage session set for Wednesday night with the Dog River Howlers our of Canada and our elite side is working on an additional scrimmage with Japan for Thursday morning. Elites will also have a training session Thursday afternoon with a special guest coach.

*Our kit supplier shocked the team with unexpected costs on hoodies and t-shirts - nearly double the quoted price - so we quick changed vendors and got an instant mock-up and quote in that ends up saving us a few dollars (mock ups and t-shirt ordering info to come in a future post)

*The Stars are in demand (I know, tough problem to have) and were invited to tour Costa Rica to play against their 7s team and national sides. Not that this is really a big problem - just something else to add to our list and planning for when Vegas is done.

*Heard back from Rugby Ontario regarding 2 of our players inbound permission to tour and still have some issues/questions about insurance coverage since this isn't a full Toronto club side traveling, just 2 members of a club.

*Other to-dos include scheduling meeting rooms, video review, pool time, team dinners, arranging the jersey presentation ceremony, our team talent show, pairing Shooting Stars (mentors/mentee partners), and putting this all together into a massive travel packet with daily timelines of who/what/when/where.

*Plus this blogger happens to be a single mom and her 4 year old was diagnosed with strep throat this week.

And I recently accepted a new job in Chicago and leaves Monday morning for a week of training in Vegas (which normally would be great but has me worried about physical training/gym time/diet), only to return Saturday night, start work in Chicago while commuting from Milwaukee (making the daily drive for 2 weeks until the move happens), then fly out to Vegas again Wednesday for rugby! This week also included the -50 windchills, packing for the move, transporting loads to Goodwill and to store at my mom's house near Chicago, and touring daycare options for the little guy.

I'm beat (it really is 1:08am) but the promise of a great Stars tour looms and is keeping me going! Many, many more posts to come to make up for the quiet week.

PS - It's never too late to donate. All these personnel changes are leaving the team eating some costs especially if spots remain unfilled: www.gofundme.com/starsrugby7s

Our First Pair of Aussie Sisters: The Gemmells

As is often the case rugby, there has been a lot of fluidity with this team and roster changes galore. In the last few hours two players have had to drop out due to injuries but the rugby community (and rugby gods) saved the day. A week ago one of my former Chicago North Shore buddies contacted me about 2 of her Boston Belles teammates looking for a side JUST after a different North Shore teammate mentioned that I should get in touch with her. THEN it turns out one of the Belles was the lovely British Anne Venner - one of my Beavers teammates from 2 years ago.

(note - all these roster/logistics changes, a massive cold/cough, and a new job/pending move to Chicago have kept me from posting as frequently as I'd like. Stay tuned when I have a moment to breathe and write more! Dealing with 4 national unions to clear all our players permission to tour has been quite the effort.)

The same sort of network came into play 2 weeks ago when the LVI director, Jon Hinkin, contacted me to let me know he had 4 representational side Australians looking for a team to play with. I quickly got on email with their club contacts and, because we had some other Stars whom were initially interested but failed to pay deposts/respond to emails, had spaces open for them. The next day a New Zealander from Texas contacted me via the amazing Wendy Young of Your Scrumhalf Connection (whom I've played against when she was with the Austin Valkyries and also had as an amazing ref. She coaches University of Texas and one of our current Stars, Kristen Karsten, plays) emailed me about the very same players. It's definite rugby karma and the bonus of this magical network that's been cultivated over the years!

The Stars are please to have 2 sets of sisters from Australia join our rosters - the first are Krystle and Liz Gemmell who are taking a big tour of the US hitting up New York and Los Angeles prior to joining us in Las Vegas:

My name is Liz Gemmell and my sister is Krystle Gemmell; we live in Australia however we are proud natives of New Zealand.  We come from a sporty family who love to watch and play rugby. We started playing rugby at a young age.  

We wanted to play at the Vegas Sevens for the experience and enjoyment of the game.  We originally were coming over with our own team, but since our team is no longer able to play we were fortunate enough to be introduced to Liz E.  Liz has welcomed us into the Stars Rugby Team.   We are now even more excited that we will be experiencing this awesome event with a bunch of American/Canadian ladies.  We are super excited and can’t wait to meet the team. BRING ON LAS VEGAS 7s!

Happy Holidays!

Did you have a STAR atop of your tree?

Thanks for bearing with a bit of a holiday break. Merry Christmas to all our rugby family that celebrates, and a bonus Happy Boxing Day (Is that right? Or should it be Merry Boxing Day?) to our friends in Canada and the UK. If anyone can tell us what Boxing Day really is in the comments, we'd appreciate the info!

Also things are getting REAL! Our tournament entry is confirmed for both the Open and Elite brackets, all the hotel rooms are reserved, so now it's up to all our players to submit their 2nd payments so we can cover the invoices for kit and all the ground logisitics in Vegas. One month from now we're hoping the Elite team will be playing in the Sunday championship match inside of Sam Boyd Stadium and both sides will hit the strip to celebrate an amazing week of rugby!

Cheers to 2014!

A Day in the Life

Today was another in a string of whirlwind days for Stars 7s; we may soon have to change our name to the Supernovas given how the size and scope of this team has grown! With a global roster of players from Australia, Ireland, and across many timezones of Canada and the US it has a round-the-clock barrage of emails/texts/facebook messaging to coordinate and organize the team and learn more about our players to start formulating our lineups, game plans, and positions. The enthusiasm of all involved has kept me inspired and moving & shaking as fast as I can to bring it all together.

To give you a glimpse of what's been happening - at the moment I'm simultaneously both texting and facebook chatting with coach Eyal about lineups and strategy, have another chat with one of our Canadian players, Tamisha Touissant, and a 3rd chat with one of our Australians, Saxon Campbell. I'm on a Twitter Direct Message chain with JP and *just* closed talks with one of the best college coaches in the US, Dan Payne of Life University. Add in few emails and chats with sponsors and texts regarding kit with LegendBorne.... and this just in the course of the last hour. A normal day includes hundreds of interactions over the span of 16 hours adding in more sponsors, contact with the tournament directors, talking with opposing teams and coaches, more recruiting and follow-ups, logistics, and hundred of Tweets. Twitter has been an amazing tool of non-stop community building and rugby interactions and I can't say enough about the great outpouring support of rugby connections & media outlets that has grown in the last week. Rugby is a global game and it's no more evident the promotion/interaction/information shared by a large crew of rugby fanatics in social media spheres..

I planned to write more but after fitting in a quick hour at the gym (#workforit), spending some quality time with the most important 4 year old future rugger in the world (my son), and logging a few more planning hours, this blogger/rugger/mom is simply beat. Cheers to tomorrow and more Star sightings!