Congrats to all the wonderful highlights for 2011.  The Valks give a special shout out to Pam Kosanke, Fall Brook High School Rugby, Megan Pinson, Amanda "Worm" Kingzett, & Leah Berard.  We are proud of our Midwest and Minnesota stand-outs!

2011 RUGBYMag Awards!

Written by Alex Goff   
Sunday, 01 January 2012

RUGBYMag.com and RUGBY Magazine has unveiled its award winners for 2011.  We will be publishing a digital magazine about all these award winners in about a week.

But here is our list. Look for the Year in Review digital magazines in the next several days: Part 1 will focus on champions, and Part 2 will focus on award winners.

2011 RUGBYMag.com Awards:

Men’s Player of the Year: Todd Clever
Todd Clever combined outstanding play with a new level of leadership. He was excellent for his club and for his country.

Women’s Player of the Year: Pam Kosanke
Pam Kosanke returned to international play and reminded us both there and with her club why she's a special player.

Exciting Times Ahead In 2012

From: nmdirect.blogspot.com
12/27/2011

I hope you are looking forward to the year as much as we are at USA Rugby, and we hope that 2012 brings for you everything that you wish for you and your family....

I hope you have had chance to spend time with your family, I certainly enjoyed having all the family in Boulder for the Holidays, it always helps put life in perspective!
Thanks to all who read my blog throughout the year, 2011 was a busy year, and taking a few days off over the holiday period has not exactly been a time for reflection, more a time to make sure we keep the momentum going in 2012. Even the blog will be changing in 2012 - someone bought me a camera for Christmas (will post pics when I work out how!)

Scrumqueens 2011 team of the year

From Scrumqueens.com
29 December 2011

Inevitably there will be some deserving players missing out given how tough it is to follow the game intently with the lack of TV and online coverage (it is particularly difficult in Asia) but we have done our best!

It's been another superb year of growth for women's rugby.

As the year draws to a close we've looked back at the games of 2011 and chosen our top players in our Team of the Year. The Scrumqueens team have watched as much footage of the 54 test games and many 7s competitions this year and also consulted a number of players and coaches before coming up with the final team!

Inevitably there will be some deserving players missing out given how tough it is to follow the game intently with the lack of TV and online coverage (it is particularly difficult in Asia) but we have done our best!  Join in the debate over on our Facebook page.

We've also picked our Team of the Year, 15s, 7s and Young Player of the Year and Coach of the Year, see BELOW for those picks!

Canada win first IRB Women's Sevens Cup

HSBC Sevens World Series was the first IRB-sanctioned women's Sevens event and has been heralded a key landmark in the evolution of the women's game en route to the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

From IRB.COM
Saturday 3 December 2011

Canada were the only unbeaten team in the IRB Women's Sevens Challenge Cup
Photo: IRB/Martin Seras Lima

Canada's women produced a display full of pace, power and commitment to beat England 26-7 and claim the first IRB Women's Sevens Challenge Cup in Dubai.

The eight-team tournament, played alongside the men's at the second round of the HSBC Sevens World Series, was the first IRB-sanctioned women's Sevens event and has been heralded a key landmark in the evolution of the women's game en route to the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

The Canadians were far too strong for their neighbours and great rivals USA, cruising to a 36-0 win in their semi final, and then withstood England's early pressure before posting a convincing victory. 

England had won a close-fought battle with Australia in their semi final, although the Wallaroos did recover to claim a 22-5 victory in the third-fourth play-off match against USA. The reigning World Champions' blend of pace and skill was too much for USA as they claimed Bronze.

The tournament represents a key delivery of the IRB Women’s Rugby Plan which was announced this week and makes a commitment to staging a world class Women’s Sevens event at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Spain claim Plate title

Spain followed up victory against China with a fine display to beat a highliy competitive South African side 28-0 and win the Plate. Earlier China edged Brazil 17-15 to finish in seventh place overall.

'Helping Hand' named Photo of the Year 2011

From IRB.COM
Tuesday 13 December 2011

Andrew Cornaga's winning image

"The inherent camaraderie and respect in Rugby is often highlighted but rarely does an image capture those unique qualities, particularly on the world’s greatest Rugby stage,” said IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset.

A picture of Brad Thorn extending a hand of consolidation to Santiago Fernández after a thrilling Rugby World Cup 2011 quarter-final between New Zealand and Argentina has won the coveted IRB/Emirates Airline Rugby Photograph of the Year 2011 competition.

The winning image, taken by Andrew Cornaga (Photosport) and entitled ‘Helping Hand’, was selected from more than 300 entries by the judges who felt that it fitted the award criteria of Rugby’s values perfectly.

From Scrumqueens.com
Wednesday, 30 November 2011

USA Rugby has announced that it will offer fulltime professional 7s contracts to eight women’s rugby players from January 2012.

The players will live near and have fulltime access to the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California alongside 15 fulltime male athletes.

The chosen USA players will follow in the footsteps of Holland who recently began a fulltime programme for its leadng female 7s athletes.

The move is a partnership with the US Olympic Committee and USA Rugby says it is a “crucial step on rugby's journey to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro” in which rugby 7s, including the women’s game, will be included for the first time.

“As we prepare as a nation for Rio 2016, making our men’s and women’s sevens teams fulltime is a crucial step for our sport,” said USA Rugby CEO, Nigel Melville.

“There are so many advantages to living and training in a high-performance environment year round - fulltime coaches, trainers, dieticians, sports psychologists, and so on – it really is necessary if the USA are to be on the rugby podium in 2016.”

The USA women’s 7s teams will also take part in more international competitions including the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, where women’s rugby will make its debut.

Raptors Replace Valks in '12 WPL

It’s official – Glendale will play in the 2012 Women’s Premier League. In the only challenge match contested, the Raptors upended the Minnesota Valkyries 53-5, making their addition to next year’s WPL an irrefutable one.

From: usarugby.org
12/07/2011

’91 World Cup-winning Eagles:
Rugby Perfection and No Regrets

Raptors prevail - Valks move forward to D1

“It was a tough season, but 'what doesn't kill us makes us stronger', and that is where I see this team going... but right now, I think a lot of us are just focusing on allowing our bodies to recover from this season,” noted Berg.

Austin, TX – It was a cold rainy day on Sunday and the outcome of the match wasn’t much warmer for your beloved Minnesota Valkyries, not to be confused with the hometown Austin Valkyries.  Per the guidelines of the WPL agreement, teams finishing in either 7^th or 8^th place are subject to challenge for promotion/relegation by Division 1 championships teams.  Although it was the Chicago North Shore team who took the D1 Championship home, they deferred their challenge instead choosing to remain in D1 for 2012.  It was the Glendale Raptors who choose to challenge, leaving the 8^th placed Minnesota Valkyries to fight for their place in the 2012 WPL.

“As with many of the women's clubs this year, there were a lot of changes for us...." added Laura Gill, Valkyries co-captain

Valkyries Chobot scores within the first 5 minutes of play.