News and Events

[brookly...@gmail.com]

Hi all, I've been getting quite a bit of feedback, and I thank you for
that, we really want to make this your team and your experience, so
please keep the suggestions coming.

First of all, we have 32 kids registered this season, I want to thank
you all for joining and giving us the opportunity to bring rugby to
the kids, we're having a great time doing this and I hope they're all
having a blast too.

Being Welsh and therefore pretty much raised on rugby I tend to forget
just how foreign a sport it still is the States. To that end, I want
briefly explain the kit.

I chose a harlequin jersey instead of a hooped jersey to represent the
different boroughs of NY, four colours was too much money so I went
with what I know: red. I'm Welsh, I get to pick.

In rugby (and many other sports where we have the decency to play
other countries ;o), we have a regular kit and a change kit. This is
also a home and away kit. We need one light and one dark, so I'll be
alternating orders between the bright red and the maroon. In addition,
as we have 20-30 kids on the field, it'll start helping us split the
groups into teams once we have a good number of kids in kit. Neither
kit should be considered primary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wales_national_rugby_union_team
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France_national_rugby_union_team

I'm working hard on setting up games with other local youth teams, so
please be aware of the calendar on the Web site ( http://www.brooklyndragons.org
) and let us know if you can make the two Saturday away days.

Also, several of you are taking a bunch of photos, if you're uploading
them anywhere please let me know so I can pass on the URL.

In addition, I will start adding a link to each weekly E-mail to bring
a little of the rugby tradition to all you uninitiated folk on the
list. Rugby is as much a part of life off the field as it is on, and
has a long and noble history of sportsmanship, fellowship, family and
community. In rugby we honour our opponents and associate with them
after the game. This is practically law. Without the competition, we
cannot play. We have no enemies, only fellow rugby players.

It is the second most popular sport in the world, played in over 100
countries competitively, and yet we have no riots, no phalanxes of
police guards, no shocking news headlines. If you've never seen a
rugby match, you've never experienced the eerie hush that falls over a
crowd of 80,000 fans as the kicker lines up for a place kick. 80,000
screaming fans become a muted murmur, and the kicker takes his mark.

So in that vein, I give you two kicks, it might not sound silent but
contrast the sound level before the kick and then after:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ph_qG5NYbUc
http://youtube.com/watch?v=p7YjAfBETjc

In addition, there are few longstanding rivalries as bitterly fought
as the Welsh/English match-up, but have a look at this video where
Wales - after 20 long years - finally beat England at their home
ground. Despite the overwhelming joy of not only beating England but
beating them at home, the team lines up to honour the tradition of
tunnelling the team off; at the end of every game we shake hands with
our opponents and, age-permitting, we go have a drink and something to
eat with them:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=AILI4KEvNgw

That's Rugby 101 for this week. Please feel free to talk to me or John
or any of the coaches at half-time or after the game to learn more
about our sport, we love it and we hope you will too.

Iechyd da!

Jaz