The Bingham Cup Tournament
(scene from the 2012 Tournament Opening Ceremony, Manchester England - click to enlarge)
It is just one week away, the Australia trip. As I mentioned previously, I will be headed there for 2 weeks: the first week to coach the rugby team at a tournament, the second week for recreation and sightseeing. The tournament in 2012 pictured above, featured as many as 40 teams from 17 countries. This year's tourney will feature 27 teams from 13 countries, a bit smaller, as it is a tougher trip to make happen. Especially for the smaller and european clubs.
So what is The Phever? Well, taking a team to Australia is a daunting task, actually a task 2 years in the making. Unfortunately not all the guys on the team can make it. That presents a problem, the guys that CAN make it, won't have enough teammates to field a team.
So we reached out to some of our alumni players both locally and out of state. What we learned is that 4 of our alumni that now reside in Denver, well they were experiencing the same issue with their new Denver club. Not enough guys able to make the trip to the Southern Hemisphere. So....we combined! Together we have enough players and coaches going to the tournament.
But this then presents a problem, do we compete as Phoenix? Do we compete as Denver? How about The Phever!? A combination of the two. (Rocky Mountain Phever was passed over as a potential team name) And so we set about coming up with a team crest. Every rugby team has to have a crest!
A blending of the Phoenix Crest with the Denver crest. No time to get game jerseys featuring the combined crest, so the guys came up with a T-shirt design to wear out and about at the tournament and social events, a shirt that will commemorate their rugby trip to Australia. For matches, we will alternate wearing the Phoenix and Denver jerseys. For the formal team events, the Phoenix men will wear their team ties, and the Denver guys I assume will do the same.
So, as of today, some of the lads are already headed to Sydney. Some by way of New Zealand, some by way of Fiji. For most, their only opportunity to see these countries. I know 1 has already run with the New Zealand team at their practice. The others are about to be shown some Aussie hospitality by guys from the Brisbane club. Rugby does that, brings folks together.
The Social Event calendar begins a week from Sunday. Some highlights that the guys will enjoy are:
- Aug 24 - G'Day Welcome Drinks
- Aug 25 - Sydney Harbour and Opera House Cocktail Reception
- Aug 26 - Bondi Beach Touch Rugby; followed by Bondi Beach Sunset Social BBQ
- Aug 26 - Evening of rugby at the Pub with pints & classic rugby games on the big screen
- Aug 27 - Exclusive clinic for all the players with professional rugby club The Waratahs (see below)
- Aug 27 - Official Team Pub Crawl for all the teams
- Aug 28 - Coaching Clinic
- Aug 28 - All Teams Photo shoot at Sydney Opera House on the Harbour
- Aug 28 - Captain's Tournament Meeting
- Aug 28 - Opening Ceremonies, Dignitaries etc
- Aug 29 - Tournament Play - Round Robin Matches
- Aug 30 - Tournament Play - Round Robin and Quarterfinals
- Aug 30 - Recovery Night Pub event - Super Saturday
- Aug 31 - Tournament Play - Semifinals and Championship Finals
- Aug 31 - Closing Ceremonies - Awards - Party
RUGBY CLINIC WITH PROFESSIONALS
So I mentioned the exclusive players clinic with a professional rugby club. The New South Wales Waratahs are the professional rugby club in Sydney. Every year the top 5 professional franchises in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa compete in one of the toughest professional competitions in the world. It is called Super Rugby. It is a 14 week regular season featuring these 15 power teams, after which a playoff is played with the top 6 teams from the regular season. Just last month, the NSW Waratahs won the championship by beating the Crusaders club from Christchurch New Zealand in front of a raucous crowd in Sydney. The "'Tahs" are holding a player clinic for all participating teams at our tournament. It should be a great chance to learn from the best! Here they are in action:
(Adam Ashley-Cooper scoring a try for the Waratahs in the Super Rugby Final)
(Waratahs celebrate the Super Rugby Championship)
No comments:
Post a Comment