2013
The season’s game schedule started out tough. Gonzaga from Washington, D.C., one of the top three team’s in the country, proved to be a challenge we were not ready to face just two weeks after the first day of practice. They had a big head start on the season and we had several injuries, illnesses and quite a few players playing a rugby game for the first time. Most of our injured healed, those who were ill became healthy, and the new players developed into standouts on the team. The loss to Gonzaga was a blow to our national standings, and Gonzaga would rub this in our faces when time came for the national tournament. Greenwich, ranked #3 in the Nation at the start of the season, slipped to #6 by the end. Losing to Xavier 19-33 didn’t help matters. Randall’s Island, Xavier’s home field, was the location of this year’s annual battle. Greenwich fought hard and trailed only by one point at the half. The end score definitely did not reflect the equal talent of the two teams.
These being our only losses of the season along with a respectable loss to Brother Rice from Chicago in the finals of the national tournament, left us holding our heads high knowing we earned the respect we knew we deserved from the rest of the national rugby community. We needed to gain this respect to remain in a strong position on the National rankings radar. The first game of the National tournament was easily won 53-14 over La Salette Boys Academy from Illinois. The second game, the boys took care of Brownsburg from Indiana 21-7. Unfortunately, the team went into the finals against Brother Rice with injuries to two key players, the scrum half and fly half. This obviously messed with the boys’ synchronization and their regular fluidity was not there.
The team steam rolled through all their league matches with ease. The league feared us and even tried to alter the playing field for our away game against Simsbury trying to make it more difficult for our forwards to get the ball out wide to the backs. Of course, Coach Kelly was not letting them get away with a stunt like that. What were they thinking? He will protect and defend the boys with everything he has. That goes for each and every one of the coaches. Luke Gawronski, Glenn Fox and Tim Kelly are all dedicated leaders who educate, guide and develop all the Greenwich High School Rugby boys into outstanding players and men who will become outstanding citizens.
We went into the State Playoffs with an undefeated record in the league. Our wins included: New Rochelle (54-10), Fairfield Prep (46-14), Fairfield High (40-7), Fordham Prep Scrimmage (75-0), Simsbury (68-0), and Cheshire (63-3). We also had the opportunity to play the Massachusetts State Champs-St. John’s Prep. This game resulted in another win with a final score of 77-26. Staples High School was our opponent for the semi-finals played on the Cardinal Stadium field. The game ended at 76-14, with Greenwich advancing to the finals against Fairfield Prep again.
Saturday, June 8th Greenwich hosts an Irish touring team, New Park School. The night before, the boys will prepare dinner to serve to the visiting team at Coach Kelly’s house. Then the guests will split up and stay at Greenwich players’ homes for the night. After the game, both teams will enjoy a barbeque together.
The Greenwich High School Rugby Program has truly been ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY this season. The boys all act like siblings with each other, and with Head Coach Joe Kelly’s brother, freshman coach Tim Kelly (coach TK), joining the leadership, the family feeling is stronger than ever. Even the parent volunteers had some great family like bonding experiences, with the fundraising party, nationals, cheering at the games, and while working together on the background operations of the program.
Our captains, Joe Kelly, Jr., Grant Cucchissi and Mateo Gowland passionately pass on their rugby knowledge to their teammates. Senior, Joe and junior, Mateo played previously with the O.G.R.C.C. rugby team. In June of 2012, Joe Kelly was selected for the High School All American team and toured with the team in South America (Chile, Uruguay and Argentina). Joe and Mateo were both invited to the HSAA selection camp in Arizona during the December/January Holiday break of the same year, but Mateo was unable to attend due to an injury suffered while playing soccer. Joe was selected to represent the HSAA in the Las Vegas Sevens and Roslyn Park Sevens in England. Joe and Grant bring successful leadership experience from football and wrestling. The captains assisted the coaches in preparing the players to be properly conditioned and play an open style, champagne rugby. They are clearly in sync with each other and are a pleasure to watch as the teams’ talent is displayed in every game.
The success of the Greenwich Rugby program is shown in the winning record numbers of all the teams: Varsity A (10-3), Varsity B (6-0-1), JV (7-1), Freshmen (6-1). The number of players is also growing every year. This year, the total number of players registered was 115!
On May 29th, we ended the 2013 season, for the sixth time, as Connecticut State Champs, winning with a 33-14 score over Fairfield Prep! Mid-June, our team has been invited as a whole to compete in the New England All-Star Tournament in Massachusetts. We will compete against the All-Star teams of Massachusetts, Vermont and Rhode Island. We anticipate a successful showing in this tournament and look forward with great enthusiasm to the 2014 season.
These being our only losses of the season along with a respectable loss to Brother Rice from Chicago in the finals of the national tournament, left us holding our heads high knowing we earned the respect we knew we deserved from the rest of the national rugby community. We needed to gain this respect to remain in a strong position on the National rankings radar. The first game of the National tournament was easily won 53-14 over La Salette Boys Academy from Illinois. The second game, the boys took care of Brownsburg from Indiana 21-7. Unfortunately, the team went into the finals against Brother Rice with injuries to two key players, the scrum half and fly half. This obviously messed with the boys’ synchronization and their regular fluidity was not there.
The team steam rolled through all their league matches with ease. The league feared us and even tried to alter the playing field for our away game against Simsbury trying to make it more difficult for our forwards to get the ball out wide to the backs. Of course, Coach Kelly was not letting them get away with a stunt like that. What were they thinking? He will protect and defend the boys with everything he has. That goes for each and every one of the coaches. Luke Gawronski, Glenn Fox and Tim Kelly are all dedicated leaders who educate, guide and develop all the Greenwich High School Rugby boys into outstanding players and men who will become outstanding citizens.
We went into the State Playoffs with an undefeated record in the league. Our wins included: New Rochelle (54-10), Fairfield Prep (46-14), Fairfield High (40-7), Fordham Prep Scrimmage (75-0), Simsbury (68-0), and Cheshire (63-3). We also had the opportunity to play the Massachusetts State Champs-St. John’s Prep. This game resulted in another win with a final score of 77-26. Staples High School was our opponent for the semi-finals played on the Cardinal Stadium field. The game ended at 76-14, with Greenwich advancing to the finals against Fairfield Prep again.
Saturday, June 8th Greenwich hosts an Irish touring team, New Park School. The night before, the boys will prepare dinner to serve to the visiting team at Coach Kelly’s house. Then the guests will split up and stay at Greenwich players’ homes for the night. After the game, both teams will enjoy a barbeque together.
The Greenwich High School Rugby Program has truly been ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY this season. The boys all act like siblings with each other, and with Head Coach Joe Kelly’s brother, freshman coach Tim Kelly (coach TK), joining the leadership, the family feeling is stronger than ever. Even the parent volunteers had some great family like bonding experiences, with the fundraising party, nationals, cheering at the games, and while working together on the background operations of the program.
Our captains, Joe Kelly, Jr., Grant Cucchissi and Mateo Gowland passionately pass on their rugby knowledge to their teammates. Senior, Joe and junior, Mateo played previously with the O.G.R.C.C. rugby team. In June of 2012, Joe Kelly was selected for the High School All American team and toured with the team in South America (Chile, Uruguay and Argentina). Joe and Mateo were both invited to the HSAA selection camp in Arizona during the December/January Holiday break of the same year, but Mateo was unable to attend due to an injury suffered while playing soccer. Joe was selected to represent the HSAA in the Las Vegas Sevens and Roslyn Park Sevens in England. Joe and Grant bring successful leadership experience from football and wrestling. The captains assisted the coaches in preparing the players to be properly conditioned and play an open style, champagne rugby. They are clearly in sync with each other and are a pleasure to watch as the teams’ talent is displayed in every game.
The success of the Greenwich Rugby program is shown in the winning record numbers of all the teams: Varsity A (10-3), Varsity B (6-0-1), JV (7-1), Freshmen (6-1). The number of players is also growing every year. This year, the total number of players registered was 115!
On May 29th, we ended the 2013 season, for the sixth time, as Connecticut State Champs, winning with a 33-14 score over Fairfield Prep! Mid-June, our team has been invited as a whole to compete in the New England All-Star Tournament in Massachusetts. We will compete against the All-Star teams of Massachusetts, Vermont and Rhode Island. We anticipate a successful showing in this tournament and look forward with great enthusiasm to the 2014 season.