STATE CHAMPIONS 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 & 2009

| HOME | Brother Rice Rugby Spiritwear | ANNOUNCEMENTS | SCHEDULE | PICTURES |

ANNOUNCEMENTS

If you need to get a hold of the Coach, you could contact him at Coach@BrotherRiceRugby.com...

Film tonight 6 pm Theology Center

2010-03-10 08:46:19    We will watch film tonight in the Theology Center at 6 pm. See you then. Practice Thursday at 4 pm at Mt. Greenwood Park. Game Saturday starting at noon. Trying to find a 3rd team to play. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480 / 312-751-0996

Film night Wed / Tonight at Mt Greenwood

2010-03-09 09:13:33    See you tonight at Mt Greenwood Park at 4 pm. Count on a two-hour practice. If the start time is an issue, let me know. On Wednesday night, we will watch film in the Theology Center at 6 pm. We have film on each game. Lots of great stuff, but there are also areas that need work. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480 (cell) / 312-751-0996 (home office)

Practice Tuesday, 3/9 at Mt Greenwood 4 pm

2010-03-08 17:16:54    Should be a good venue. We worked at MGP last year. See you at 4 pm. I've watched the tapes a couple of times now from Saturday, and you should be pleased with the win, but not satisfied. We have some kinks to work out. It could rain this week, so we will adjust accordingly. See you Tuesday at 4 pm. I need an injury report, too. Let me know of any aches and pains. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996 / 312-810-3480 (cell)

Notre Dame LaSalette games

2010-03-07 11:04:16    Great work on Saturday against Notre Dame LaSalette. We are way ahead of our pace from last year, which is comforting. We play the Tier II champs this week from the last three years - Waubonsie Valley - and I am trying to get a 3rd match. We may only play 2 games since we will be a guest of the South Side Irish at the Whiskey 10's at Dan Ryan Woods, thus our field time will be limited. However, I'll try and work something out this week. Expect at least two games, hope for 3, and i'll keep you posted. All-in-all, Saturday was a great day, and i have two separate tapes of the Tier I game, which should prove interesting. (Thanks to Brian McMahon and Rick Estabrook for filming the game. Brian McMahon, Derek's Dad, filmed all 3 games from above the press box, thus it should be a great vantage point to watch our movement around the field.) Tuesday, and Thursday, we'll have a 4 pm practice at Mt. Greenwood, and Wednesday night is film night in the Theology Center (if it can be reserved). A special shout-out to a number of guys playing their first game on the Tier III side. The link between Derek and Conor Long was quite good, and the forwards played well, although they were dragging their scrum half into every ruck. Ricky Morales and Billy Villegas anchored a pretty decent 3rd side pack. I'm telling you, we have a very good team this year, with good depth in just about all positions. It is up to you guys where you want to take this team this year. If you cant make practice this week at 4 pm, i need to hear about it. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480 (cell) 312-751-0996 (home office)

Preseason game, March 6th at Brother Rice

2010-03-05 11:40:39    Good work this week. With most games, there is always a feeling that you could be better prepared or maybe prepared differently, but I feel ok as we head into our first pre-season match. We've covered a lot of ground, and you guys have responded well. Coach Sully and Coach Clements may or may not be available tomorrow for pre-game so here are our A-side selections: Front row: Hendren, Franchetti, Yanz; 2nd row: McGrail, Martin; 3rd row: Weyforth, Venkus, Clements; Scrumhalf: Busking, Flyhalf: Dempster, Centers: Sullivan, Healy, Wings: Harrington, Houston, Fullback: Stalionis. Assume that everyone playing Tier II is a sub for the Tier I game, but likely subs for the Tier I game tomorrow are Lyons, Waddell, Seebs, Stouffer, and Lynch for the backs. Alex, Artie, Zach, Kevin Stepanek, Ian, Minella and Spengel in the forwards. We have three games on Saturday, so EVERYONE will play, but the first shot will go to guys that have attended practice on a regular basis. There might be some hurt feelings, but talk to me first. We have 3 games this weekend, 3 games next weekend, 2 - 3 games on March 20th, and then a whole weekend of rugby at Penn the last weekend of March (at least three games for EACH Rice team over a 2 day period). As a head coach, i will play some guys more than you expect, and some guys less, and in different positions, just to get a feel for combinations and how guys "fit" together. If i left off a name above, let me know. Whatever you do, dont get discouraged: you will play plenty of rugby this year. I'd like the A-side to be at Rice tomorrow by 12 pm. Let's do a white-board review of offense, defense and potential adjustments for the game. Let's go into the game with some priorities and goals. The Tier I is a very talented side this year, with good depth on Tier II. I'll try and corral a corner of the caf for the Tier I side with subs to talk tomorrow. I expect EVERYONE else there by 12:30 pm. Get a good night's sleep tonight and HYDRATE before the game. Be sure and tale a snack around 13:30 - 11 am on Saturday morning. You've worked hard for 3 months. It will be another good year for Brother Rice Rugby. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996 / 312-810-3480. Voltaire: "dont let perfect be the enemy of the good".

Mt. Greenwood next week

2010-03-04 15:11:39    Practice will be at Mt. Greenwood next week. We'll talk about it tonight and Saturday, (someone remind me please). Don't walk out onto the field tonight, until i show up. Thanks, Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996 / 312-810-3480 (cell)

Practice, Thurs 3/4, 4 pm

2010-03-04 07:11:28    Under no circumstances are any players to go out onto the football field for any reason prior to my arrival today. Congregate outside the gate that leads to the field and wait for my arrival. DO NOT walk out onto the field without my presence this afternoon. We have some good weather the next few days, including Saturday. Get CIPP'ed at school today, if you arent already. See you at 4 pm. Coach Gilmartin 312-751-0996 / 312-810-3480

Practice, Thursday March 4 at 4 pm

2010-03-03 10:53:42    Fellas, nice job last night in tough conditions. The weather will gradually warm during the week, so Thursday should be warmer and Saturday should be down-right balmy. We are going to try and get a formal selection process going this year, with players and coaches. I will likely name co-captains for Tier I, and some captains for Tier II. In addition, we will ask some players to serve on the selection committee. The Tier II team wants to make a run for state this year - very good to hear. The talent is definitely there. Last year, not having Danny Lyons available for the Tier II playoffs definitely hurt. One last thing - NO CIPP, NO PLAY on Saturday, and that is USA Rugby law. Every player that takes the field Saturday, MUST be CIPP'ed and on Brother Rice Rugby's roster on the USA Rugby website, or you'll be forced to sit, and we'll play a CIPP'ed player in your spot. I have no flexibility in this at all. You are either are CIPP'ed or you dont play. Very cut and dry. See you Thursday with everybody CIPP'ed and dues checks, data sheets, and medical forms, in hand. Let's get this stuff turned in and put behind us. (Finally, i am working on a field for next week, and for March. Not that easy.) Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480 / 312-751-0996

CIPP update

2010-03-01 17:03:01    We currently have 35 players CIPP'ed. The names we dont have CIPP'ed yet are basically our A-side pack, (Yanz, Hendren, McGreal, Venkus, Weyforth, Clements, and the two other St. Laurence kids, besides Jason). In addition Waddell, Seebek, Paul Stouffer, Tony Puentes, the Cimaglia Brothers, Shane O'Donnell, Adam Marlin, Neill Ruane and no doubt a host of others arent cipped either. See you at 4 pm tomorrow on the field. We'll work it out this week. No CIPP, no play. It is the USA Rugby law. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996 / 312-810-3480

Practice Tues 3/2 on the football field

2010-03-01 16:20:28    We had a wrench thrown into the plans on Monday morning, March 1st when the school told me that the gyms and football field are off-limits for practice at least until baseball tryouts are over, and maybe longer. That is at least next week, and maybe longer. We do have the football field this week at 4 pm on Tuesday and Thursday, for 90 minutes, so even with the snow we have to make use of it. I will try and find a field for next week. Be there by 4 pm on Tuesday, and we'll likely walk through what we learned over the weekend, even if the field is pretty bad. However we still need to get CIPP'ed so Pat Sully or Connor Yanz, see if the computer lab will be open late Tuesday afternoon, and if not, see who can open it in the event we need it. Maybe we'll knock off a few minutes early and try to get everyone CIPP'ed, or we'll use the lab in stages (first backs, then forwards) to try and get CIPP'ed. You cant play on Saturday if you are not CIPP'ed. We need dues, the data sheets, medical forms, and fundraising money (for the jerseys) or you cant play Saturday (unless you notify or talk to me via e-mail first). EVERYONE MUSTY BE CIPP'ED to play on Saturday. No exceptions. Coach Gilmartin 312-810-3480 / 312-751-0996.

Preseason starts Saturday, March 6th

2010-02-28 19:25:25    We have three home games next Saturday, March 6th on the new football field on the Brother Rice campus. The first game starts at 2 pm, and then the Tier II match follows and then the third side. We have a lot to do this week. EVERYONE that wants to play next Saturday, must get their dues paid, their jersey fee paid (the orange fundraising cards) and be CIPP'ed by Friday afternoon. The dues are $150, the transport fee is $100, and the fundraising card is $100 (for the new jerseys). Get this paid and you are all set for the season. Great work over the weekend. We will try and simplify some of the concepts Salty and Like reviewed on Tuesday and Thursday so that by Saturday, players should have some comfort with where they need to be, and when they need to be there. This weekend's work looked very good. The two USA coaches were very impressed. we'll talk more about what they saw as strengths and weaknesses on Tuesday and Thursday. We'll probably be outside on the field this week. For those who have Kairos, please send me an e-mail. For those players that wont be around during Easter break, (the week of April 2nd through 11th, i need to know.) Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996 / 312-810-3480

Sunday, 2/28 9 am in the gym

2010-02-27 23:44:45    See you Sunday 9 am either in the gym or the Theo Center. Cant scrimmage on the field. we'll be inside all day. Coach Gilmartin 312-810-3480. We'll be done by noon and in plenty of time for the hockey game.

Time schedule this weekend, 2/27 and 2/28

2010-02-27 09:45:47    Be in the Theology Center by 2 pm today, Saturday, 2/27. We will have a two-hour chalkboard session with Salty and Luke Gross and then 2 hours in the gym (maybe a little longer). Tomorrow morning, we'll start at 9 or 10 am, and be done by noon, in order to get the guys back on a plane. You will be home in plenty of time tomorrow to watch gold medal Olympic hockey game. This is a big weekend, particularly for the forwards. Lineout jumpers, bring your leg wraps for both sessions. We may scrimmage a little tomorrow. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480

USA coaches in this weekend

2010-02-26 11:17:20    We go from 2 to 4 pm in the Theology Center on Saturday, Feb 27th, '10, with Will Thompson and Luke Gross working on bigger picture stuff like movement around the field, and then we go from 4 to 6 pm in the gym. It is EXTREMELY important that the forwards make both days of practice, since the lineout sessions will be critical. Luke Gross is going to work on basic lineout strategy and mechanics, and then he'll show you how to perfect a rolling maul and a peel movement. (Both will add a different dimension to our lineout play.) Will Thompson will work on open field defense, including the forwards, so we'll have "role identification" just as Eddie O'Sullivan did for the defense and rucking drills on Thursday night. Salty will also review the decoy maneuver for the backline. All of this material will be just as good as what we saw Thursday, but it will be 6 - 7 hours in length versus 90 minutes. Get fired up, and be prepared. Forwards bring your leg binds if you are a lineout jumper. Dress in Brother Rice gear and I'll see you at school in the Theology Center at 2 pm Saturday. In the course of 72 - 96 hours this week, you will see better coaches and learn and gain more insights about the game than 99% of the rugby players in America (at any level). Take advantage of it - get everyone out Saturday and Sunday. No excuses (except if you are sick). Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996 / 312-810-3480.

Practice on Tuesday - nice work

2010-02-25 10:48:59    In the previous post, i neglected to mention the nice work everybody on Tuesday in tough conditions. If you can run and pass in snow like that, with a slippery ball, "normal conditions" become easy conditions. Hopefully everyone got the concepts that were bing explained. We'll do more of this type of training during March. Our first game is just a week away, weather permitting. Saturday March 6th we kick off the pre-season. Wear Brother Rice Rugby shorts tonight, and a shirt, if you have them. Be on time and ready to work at 5 pm. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996 / 312-810-3480.

Practice Thurs 2/25 - 5 pm

2010-02-24 15:11:15    See everyone (regardless of level or experience) in the North Gym at 5 pm on Thursday, 2/25. Eddie O'Sullivan and Nigel Melville will be coaching. Dress appropriately (a Brother Rice rugby short and rugby shorts if you have them), and get there early. We will need the ruck shields, and possibly a wrestling mat. We will work for 90 minutes, and then prepare for dinner, so bring a change of clothes for dinner. Nigel will be working with scrumhalfs and flyhalfs. Eddie might be doing some forward and defense work. 2nd rows / jumpers, wear your leg bands. Let's look sharp and be prepared. You will have one of the world's premier rugby coaches taking you through important aspects of the game. Be early (definitely dont be late) and be prepared to rep the demo's. Should be fun for all involved. Remember, you will be representing Brother Rice in front of IYRA coaches and USA Rugby. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996 / 312-810-3480

Practice 4 pm Tuesday 2/23

2010-02-22 23:04:32    See you on the football field at 4 pm. Flyhalfs and scrumhalfs get there early. Flyhalfs work on kicking for touch in terms of accuracy. Hookers warm up with lineout tosses. See at 4 pm Tuesday on the football field. We should be able to have some fun. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996 / 312-810-3480

Practice Tuesday 2/23 outside ? Basketball game

2010-02-22 10:37:13    It looks like there is a home basketball game on Tuesday night, February 23rd, so i have asked the Athletic Department for a 4 to 6 pm slot on the football field if no one is using it. Let's work on some team defense from the scrum and lineouts and also 22 dropouts and kick-off alignments. We need to review penalties too. The point is we'll work on a number of "bigger picture issues" and move around the field as two separate A & B sides. It should be an easy practice with some cardio. Bring checks for dues, transporation fees, and fundraising (jersey money), as well as data sheets. We NEED the data sheets and medical history forms, fellas. Also, e-mail Anne Minella with your headcount for Thursday's dinner with Eddie O'Sullivan (aem68@aol.com), or e-mail me personally and i'll e-mail it on to Anne and Rick Minella. Both Eddie O'Sullivan and this weekend's session with the USA coaches at Rice will cover defense in more detail, so id rather you hear it from Eddie O and Salty than me, which is why i've delayed teaching it. Keep checking the website and once the Athletic Director confims the field, i'll put it here. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996 / 312-810-3480

Tuesday, Feb 23 7 pm

2010-02-21 19:24:01    Decent work on Sunday. Tough field and tough ball-handling conditions. We need to hear from players and parents about Thursday night dinner with Eddie O'Sullivan. Ann Minella has only heard from 60 - 65 people. That is about half the team. The Athletic Director's Office is also asking for a roster and since people arent showing up for practice regularly, perhaps we just cancel the Tier II schedule and simply play the Tier I games. This is ridiculous - only 30 players (not counting parents) are planning on hearing one of the top coaches in the rugby world ? Only half the dues have been paid ? At some point we need to face reality and just cut the team to one Tier and play the guys that practice. E-mail Anne and Rick Minella (aem68@aol.com) and let her know who you plan on bringing to the Eddie O'Sullivan dinner. If it is just you planning on coming to dinner, then the cost is what you would spend at McDonald's - about $7. This is a big week for Brother Rice Rugby - we have two USA Rugby coaches coming in next weekend to run a seminar on Saturday and Sunday. We need everyone at both practices this week, and next weekend. The forwards should particularly benefit from Luke Gross's instruction next weekend. Both Thursday and next weekend we'll cover defensive schemes, which is why i havent spent much time on it so far this year. This is good stuff for the program. Get to practice Tuesday and we'll have more for you. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996 / 312-280-832

Sunday practice

2010-02-20 08:19:15    Be sure and watch USA 7's on ABC (Channel 7) Saturday afternoon at 4 pm. ABC is showing the USA 7's tournament held in Las Vegas this past weekend. The USA team did pretty well. Some of the Rice guys could be playing for the USA 7's team in the 2016 Olympics. (Dont laugh - it is a distinct possibility.)See you Sunday at 10 am on the football field. Coach Gilmartin

Scrimmage Sunday 2/19

2010-02-19 14:55:01    Nolan Day, the Illinois Tornado's select side coach will be out at practice Sunday at 10 am, conducting a tackling session, and then we'll scrimmage. Brother Rice has a number of players that are capable of playing select side rugby, but the enthusiasm falls after Memorial Day when foootball starts so i'll bring Nolan in now and maybe later in the season to have a look at our Tier I / Tier II sides. Bring two jerseys on Sunday (light and dark), with mouthpieces. and be prepared to play a half of rugby (maybe more). See you on the football field Sunday morning. The temp is expected to be in the low 30's with cloud cover. So far two players have said they cant make it. If you cant be there, please let me know. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996 / 312-810-3480.

Practice Sunday 2/21 at 10 am

2010-02-19 08:58:44    We'll be on the football field at 10 am Sunday. Nolan Day, the Illinois Tornado's select side coach, may attend, and will demonstrate tackling methodology. In addition, your team captain Pat Sullivan thinks we should scrimmage, so scrimmage we will. Plan on a 30 - 45 minute contact scrimmage, with a referee. (Bring two jerseys to practice: a light and dark jersey each. If you have last year's jersey even better.) We will have a lot to cover on Sunday. A lot depends on who shows, in terms of the structure of practice. We need to work on penalties and some team defensive patterns. Get there early and warm-up and be ready to work. Good practice on Thursday, but not as enthusiastic as Tuesday. Still, we are on a good pace for the season. Get everybody out on Sunday, and have data sheets, checks, etc. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) (312-751-0996, home / office, 312-810-3480 cell phone. ) Perseverence: "when you get into a tight place and everything goes against you till it seems you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up, for it is just the place and time that the tide will turn." That is a quote from Harriet Beecher Stowe on perseverance or staying the course. For new players, dont sweat it. You are improving, you just dont know it.

Practice, Thurs 2/18 7 pm

2010-02-18 17:19:17    See you tonight at 7 pm. Dont forget your forms, and checks. We need this stuff fellas. The school wants a full roster, etc. Coach

Practice Thursday, 2/18 at 7 pm

2010-02-17 17:50:53    We'll be inside on Thursday and outside on Sunday on the football field. Nice work Tuesday night. The enthusiasm is great. Love the hard work and effort. These drills matter - by going through them repeatedly you learn good habits, and good technique. See you Thursday night. Hookers, scrumhalfs and flyhalfs get to practice a little early and go through your cycles. (Hookers, work on lineout throws, scrumhalfs work on left-handed passes, flyhalfs work on the left-handed pass and pooch kick.) Still need dues, and paperwork. The school is after me for a team roster. We need the data sheets and dues checks to compile this info. GET THIS STUFF BACK TO ME, PLEASE. If you can't make practice i want an e-mail. We've got a lot of guys showing up once every two weeks. It won't cut it. You're going to be 3rd side regardless of your athletic ability. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996 / 312-810-3480 (cell). "The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus" - Bruce Lee. (Get to practice and work on the basics. Stay focused. It helps your confidence and your technque. Everyone is improving, you just dont know it.)

Practice Tuesday, Feb 16 7 pm.

2010-02-15 18:36:38    See you at 7 pm. We'll work the forwards and backs together in a drill we did last year. Get there early since we will need all the mats, and the tackle suits. We are still missing dues, ($150 + a $100 transportation fee if you didnt pay it through another sport, and it must be separate checks), data sheets and medical history questionnaires. We also need you to start paying your fundraising card money. We only have 5 regular practices until our first home game. We need all this information returned by that week, no later than March 2nd. The fundraising cards (orange cards) are designed to fully cover the cost of the kit this year, which is about $90 and includes your own personal jersey to keep. See you Tuesday night at 7 pm. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996 / 312-810-3480. (If you cant make practice, i expect to hear from you.)

Practice, Tuesday 2/16 at 7 pm

2010-02-13 10:58:16    We never heard from the Athletic Department on gym availability for Monday night (which is fine) so let's have a full-team practice on Tuesday 2/16 at 7 pm. Coach Sean Sullivan has a work engagement so i've invited Caoch Matt Kelly in to practice just so line-out jumpers and 3rd row players can get some position-specific thoughts. Matt is the starting 8-man for the Chicago Lions and a outstanding rugby player who is still able to play consistently at a high level. We'll work mainly on offensive lineouts and defensive movements off the lineouts and scrums. (This is assuming Matt can make it. I wont know until Tuesday. The Lion's leave for a pre-season trip to Life College next week, so he may not be available.) Thursday night's practice was the best this year. Great enthusiasm, and the team's work ethic is / was exceptional. Scrumhalfs and hookers get to practice early on Tuesday and work on your cycles. When Nigel Melville and Eddie O'Sullivan are here on Feb 25th for the coaching session in the gym, i'll expect all players to attend the coaching session. Nigel is going to do part of his coaching tutorial session on developing power and accuracy in the scrumhalf pass, so i want all of our scrumhalfs there. After talking it over with a parent, current Rice Rugby players will only be charged $7 for the buffett dinner on Feb 25. We're on a good pace in terms of spring-training development, but we still need to tie everything together and work on a few specific areas. We have to have guys at practice. There really isnt a whole lot of gym time between now and pre-season so we need to use it well. Keep up the great work. Coach Gilmartin (312-751-0996 Home office) and 312-810-3480 (cell phone). Mark Twain: "Courage is the resistance to fear, or mastery of fear, not absence of fear." When the new guys (and even some vets) play their first game this year, you will feel the tension and anxiety in the pit of your stomach. That is ok - that is nature, preparing you for battle. We'll talk more about it as pre-season approaches.

Dues, forms, and Eddie O'Sullivan

2010-02-11 12:07:05    We need all dues in by March 6th, or you dont play against Notre Dame. We have 3 games scheduled that day on the football field. Also, i need the forms returned, i.e. the data sheets and medical history. (Give me the dues checks and forms, and talk to me personally if you have an issue with club dues payment.) Send me an e-mail with the number of parents attending dinner for the Eddie O'Sullivan / Nigel Melville panel discussion. Club dues are $150 + a $100 transportation fee. Ann Hayes tells me we need separate checks for the transport fee. I need you to start getting it together fellas. Get your dues, forms and information into me personally. I'm getting tired of constantly beating on you for this information.

Practice, Thurs Feb 11 at 7 pm

2010-02-10 16:50:21    We'll be in the gym Thursday night. Be there on time with scrumhalfs, hookers and flyhalfs getting there early and working on your cycles. Forwards, and in particular line-out jumpers, does anyone know what happened to the industrial scissors and clear tubing we used for lineout supports last night ? Did anyone pick that up from the floor ? Good numbers last night, thanks for fighting through the weather and making it to practice. The first game is now less than 4 weeks away. We will start working both forwards and backs together in the gym and start moving from individual and unit skills, to team preparation. See you Thursday night. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480 / 312-751-0996 (PS - dont forget your data sheets, medical forms and DUES checks. We've only collected dues from about half the players. If you want to play the first March weekend game against Notre Dame LaSalette (3 games on Rice's campus) on the football fields, you need to be paid up in dues. (If there is an issue, talk to me personally.) "Nothing in the world can take the plce of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common in the world than unsuccessful talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. Calvin Coolidge (The message: keep working. persistence will win out, particularly for the new players. You're getting better even though you dont feel that way.)

Practice still on tonight

2010-02-09 13:26:07    Practice is still on for tonight, despite the snow. This happened in January too, where the school called a snow day, but we still had practice. Allow plenty of time for the commute. The Parent's meeting is still on for 6:30 pm in the Theology Center tonight. Thanks for understanding. Dont mean to be difficult, but we need the work, and we need to prepare for the 2/25 fundraiser. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996 (home office) 312-810-3480 (cell).

Practice Tuesday 2/9 - be there

2010-02-08 14:08:11    The forecast is for a lot of snow on Tuesday, but we are still planning on holding practice. There is a parent's meeting before practice that we have to get through, so no excuses. We need the gym time. Hope to see a lot of faces Tuesday night at 7 pm. Thanks for understanding. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996. (Keep checking the website anyway.) PS - when is the school's next day off. Any one interested in going back to McCook again for a 2 - 3 hour workout ? That was the indoor facility we hit last February.

Practice Tuesday, 2/9 at 7 pm

2010-02-05 18:44:44    Practice Tuesday night, Feb 9th at 7 pm, hopefully in the big gym. There will be a parents meeting Tuesday night at 6:30 pm in the Theology Center, (The coaches might be a little late to practice) so be on time and get started stretching by 7 pm. Scrumhalfs and hookers get there early and work on your passing. The fundraiser is coming up on 2/25 - we need to start hearing how many of the players will be there with parents, for dinner. This is a big evening for Brother Rice Rugby. Eddie O'Sullivan was the coach of Ireland's World Cup rugby team in 2003, so for Eddie and Nigel Melville to come to Chicago (on their dime) and spend an hour or two with the Brother Rice players and parents, is HUGE !!! We need a good turnout. The goal is 150 - 200 in the Rice cafeteria. We need the new players to be at every practice in February. It is critical the new guys not miss a chance to work on your skill sets for the next month. The first game is March 6th, against Notre Dame LaSalette, a team that has been to the national championships. It will be a good litmus test for what could be the best Brother Rice team in the last five years. See you Tuesday night in the gym, be ready to work. Bring your data sheets, medical history questionnaires, and dues checks. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996 home / office, and 312-810-3480 (cell phone). Abraham Lincoln: "Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one one thing." For new players, be patient. Many of you became frustrated with outside passing drills, but to develop the muscle memory and comfort with passing outside in cold and wet conditions isnt easy. You make progress just by showing up. Progress will come - give it time. Work on technique in the gym. Commit to success and you will achieve it.

Practice, Feb 4 4 pm on football field

2010-02-03 16:38:52    Coach Cahill gave us the football field at 4 pm on Thursday, Feb 4. For guys who get there early stay out of the way of the track team. The temp will be in the high 30's and hopefully very little wind. Dress warm, but dress to run around, too. Need flyhalfs, scrumhalfs, fullbacks and hookers to get there early and run through your practice kicks and throws. Like martial arts - it is all about repetition. Sine labore nihil - nothing without work, says the old Latin saying. Dont forget data sheets, medical history questionnaires, and check for dues. It is Super Bowl Sunday this week, so we wont meet again until Tuesday. Be on time on Thursday, and be ready to go by 4 pm. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480 (cell) 312-751-0996 (home office)

Practice, Tuesday, Feb 2 7 pm

2010-01-31 20:30:03    Fellas, we need checks, data sheets and questionnaires. We are still missing a lot of this info. It is critical to have, too. We'll have some guest coaches in Tuesday night to review some specific drills with the backs. We'll explain more on Tuesday. We'll vote on jerseys on Tuesday night, and i will also need to know who wont be around for Spring break, which is April 2 - April 11. (We have a Tier I, Tier II and frosh-soph game during that period.) February has started: this is a huge month for Brother Rice rugby, with Eddie O'Sullivan and Nigel Melville as well as the two USA U-22 coaches coming in the last weekend of Fenruary. We need scrumhalfs, flyhalfs and hookers out to practice a little early to work on mechanics. We need guys who want to play regularly, to start showing up regularly. Crunch time is nigh... Our first game is four weeks away. "Sine labore nihil" is an old Latin saying that means "nothing without work" which is perfectly applicable to high school rugby. Start attending practice regularly. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996 / 312-810-3480 (cell)

Practice, Thurs 1/28 at 7 pm

2010-01-28 12:45:52    I sent a jersey e-mail around to a lot of the seniors on possible designs for eth new kit. Take a look before practice tonight and give me your thoughts. Also bring your data, sheets, questionnaires and checks. Before practice tonight, ask your folks about Spring break this year: Easter Sunday is April 4th. we have a frosh-soph game on April 10th and New Trier wants to schedule a game that weekend. How many players wont be around the week after Easter ? the coaches need to know. See you tonight. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996 / 312-810-3480 (cell)

Practice Thurs Jan 28 7 pm

2010-01-27 17:29:45    Practice Thursday night, hopefully in the big gym. Get the guys out. We need to work on mechanics and technique. Tuesday's practice went pretty well. Thanks for the turnout, however doing drills shows us where we still lack good understanding and mechanics, and we need to continue to work on some things. You can see the advantage to working outside on the field i.e lots of space and the ability to move the ball. Any day where the temp is over 35 - 40 and no wind and we'll try to get outside. See you Thursday at 7 pm. We will split up between forwards and backs after warm-up and then finish up with unified drills. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996 / 312-810-3480. (Neil Ruane, i need to talk to you.) Everybody, bring in your checks and data sheets, questionnares together. We need to get this stuff done.

Practice, Tuesday Jan 26 4 pm

2010-01-26 00:22:02    We'll be outside on the football field Tuesday at 4 pm. It could be breezy - dress warm. We'll move around the field and do some "bigger picture" stuff, then get you out in time for the basketball game. We need EVERYONE at practice starting Thursday, including scrumhalfs, flyhalfs, and front row / hooker positions. Next week starts February, and that leaves just 4 weeks left until our first game on March 6th, versus a team that plays in the national championship's regularly, Notre Dame LaSalette. We are getting towards crunch time fellas, both in terms of skills and fitness. We need the forwards packing down, working lineouts, and the backs need to be running, making sure their timing on the passes (and plays) is correct, and that means SCRUMHALFS. The scrumhalf - flyhalf link is the most important connection on the field. All players need to focus on teh common skills, i.e. rucking tackling, passing, etc. We need it to work, and work well every time. See you Thursday at 4 pm, and then next week, we take it up a notch. Bring your checks, data sheets and questionnaires. If you dont have these forms, we will provide copies on Tuesday. Club dues are $150 this year, plus a $100 transportation fee if you didnt pay it in another sport. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996 / 312-810-3480 (cell) Winston Churchill quote: "we make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give". All i'll say is that you guys will find that what you accomplish in your life is directly proportional to the effort you give. If you want to show up at half the practices, you'll be half the player you could be. If you want to show up at practice, be cool, and give a 50% effort, you'll be a 50% player, and lose to 100% players. It is your choice. If you want to pay attention for half the class, you'll learn 50% as much as you could have. Attitude and effort are everything (per one famous coach.) We have another great team this year - the new guys out look incredible - stay focused.

Practice Tuesday 1/26 at 4 pm

2010-01-24 19:49:08    Ralph Waldo Emerson: what lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. Emerson's point it that it is your character and your ability to push yourself that could ultimately define your life. (First year guys, dont sweat it if a lot of our practice drills dont make sense. The game will make more sense as we unfold the layers.) Great job on Sunday out on the field. You guys pretty much went full out for two hours and had enough left at the end to do 35 minutes of heavy cardio. The newer guys need to get up to speed in terms of fitness as some of the guys that have been working a few months. There is definite a division on the team in terms of who can work at a high rate, and who struggles when we push the envelope in terms of cardio. Tuesday it will be 23 degrees. Dress warmly - let's work for 60 minutes and get you done in time for the basketball game. Ballhandling drills might be tough - we'll work on team drills and moving around the field together as a team. (It is getting trying not having scrumhalfs at practice. Someone tell Chuck Busking to start making practice and taking this season seriously, or we will fund another scrumhalf. Where is Mark Morrissey ? ) Tuesday outside and then Thursday inside. Dont forget your checks, data sheets and medical history questionnaires. See you Tuesday for a quick workout. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996 / 312-810-3480.

Practice, Sunday, Jan 24 at noon

2010-01-23 22:10:24    Let's go at noon on Sunday. The temp is supposed to be 43 degrees, Might be a little wet, but we can handle it. The football field was pretty clear when i walked on it Saturday morning. We'll put in a good 90 - 120 minutes and get home for the football game. We need a good turnout. We'll touch a lot of bases Sunday, so we need everybody there. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480 / 312-751-0996

Practice Sunday, outside ?

2010-01-23 08:36:16    Thinking about having practice on the field, Sunday, outside around noon, and be done in time for the football games. Supposed to be mid 40's with south wind. Keep checking the website. Coach Gilmartin

Practice Sunday, Jan 24, 4 pm

2010-01-22 16:08:54    We'll practice Sunday, Jan 24 at 4 pm. Let's get in and out quickly. We lost a night with basketball in the gym on Tuesday, so we need a little extra work. I think it was Tolstoy who once said the two greatest warriors are time and patience, so the new guys need to give yourselves time to build muscle memory and good technique, while the cagey vets need to be patient and use gym time to work on mechanics and fitness. We'll do more unit work on Sunday and break up between forwards and backs again, as well as walk through some specifics like rucking (offensive and defensive rucking) and fitness. Thursday night was a great night of work. Very pleased with numbers, great attitude and work ethic. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480 (cell phone).

Practice Thursday, Jan 21 7 pm

2010-01-20 16:37:09    See everyone Thursday night. Be a little early or on time, Dont be late. We need a good turnout, at all levels. We need to start putting the pack and backlines together and running through set pieces (scrums and lineouts) and having the backs start to run their cycles. Every practice becomes critical from now until the season starts. Thanks for the guys who showed up for film Tuesday night. I watched the original game on Monday night, between South Africa and New Zealand, and it was not as interesting as i remembered. All the points were scored from kicking. No tries and a lot of penalties. See you Thursday night. Be on time. Bring your checks. I have data sheets and medical history questionnaire's, which need to be completed. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480.

Tuesday, Jan 19th - Film Night

2010-01-18 19:46:40    Check the website during the day on Tuesday, Jan 19th, but we are tentatively scheduled to watch the 1995 World Cup Final between South Africa and New Zealand in the Theology Center at 6 pm. This the World Cup Final on which eth movie "Invictus" is based, and the actual game is far better than the movie scenes. We should be done in time to get you out for the Brother Rice - St. Rita basketball game. New players should make it a point of being at the film session. This will be a good chance to watch rucking, lineouts and back movement in "real time" and at a high level. This was one of the best World Cup Final's ever - the game was great from start to finish. I need Marius or one of the seniors to make sure the T/C system can take the old VHS tapes. This was a 1995 game that has yet to be converted to DVD. Someone shoot me an e-mail during the day to confirm that the T/C system can play a tape. Thanks, and the younger guys wont regret seeing this very good game. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480 (cell).

Tuesday, Jan 19 ?

2010-01-18 02:45:45    On the basketball schedule, there is now a basketball game scheduled versus St. Rita Tuesday night, which means we wont have access to either gym for the evening. I have a VHS version of the 1995 World Cup Final between South Africa and New Zealand on which the movie "Invictus" is based if you guys want to watch it in the Theology Center. It was a great game. One of the best World Cup finals ever. Shoot me an e-mail at brianglm@trinityasset.com if you want to watch the tape of the game Tuesday night. Thanks to the 21 guys who showed up on Sunday night. We need numbers fella's - we need 16 forwards to get in a decent forwards practice and we need the backlines to start running plays. 21 players at practice wont cut it. Has Chuck Busking retired or moved to Wyoming ? We have an exceptionally good back line this year - almost any capable scrumhalf should be able to get the guys the ball this year. Our scrumhalfs seem to have taken early retirement. The skill positions like hooker, 8-man, scrumhalf, flyhalf and fullback need to be at every practice. Jason Venckus is back !!!! It was great to see him Sunday night. Jason is a solid player, both fundamentally and from a physical perspective. The skills are improving every week, but we need this gym time for sure. Let me know if you liked the "live fire" rucking drill we did Sunday night. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480 (cell)

Practice, Sunday Jan 17, 5 pm

2010-01-17 15:16:04    Wear some warmer clothes: if it is still above 40 degrees and mild at 5 pm, we'll try and get some work in on the field for an hour or so. However, have gym wear in the event we can't get outside. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480

Practice, Sunday, Jan 17 @ 5 pm

2010-01-15 14:31:28    The school and Coach Cahill gave us the big gym at 5 pm Sunday, Jan 17th, so let's work for a couple hours on some basic stuff and get home. The practice on Thursday night was the best so far this year. Enthusiasm was high, and the effort was great. You guys were fired up and ready to rock-and-roll. It was great to see. The forwards looked to get some quality lineout and scrum work in, and the backs learned timing and depth on 2-on-2 and 3-on-2 drills. Sunday we'll mix it up with a little unit work, and then work on some team drills. Hopefully we can get the wrestling mats out. Remember, bring your checks WITH the data sheets and medical history questionnaires TOGETHER. Dues are $150 this year, and the school needs an additional $100 for those who havent paid a transporation fee via another sport. The new guys are doing great. Dont sweat it if you are struggling or you think you're behind the rest of the team. It is perfectly natural. Ultimately, it is about having fun. See you Sunday night at 5 pm in the big gym. Coach Gilmartin (312-751-0996 / 312-810-3480 cell) brianglm@trinityasset.com

Practice, Thurs, Jan 14 '10

2010-01-14 09:06:31    See you tonight in the gym at 7 pm. We need to work, both the forwards and the backs. Some guys will be missing due to Kyros, but we need to put in the time tonight to hone the skills. Dont forget dues checks: $150 for the season, plus a $100 transportation fee if you didnt pay it htrough another sport. Data and medical history questionnaire forms will be available fir players tonight. There is aParent's meeting at 6:3 pm in the Theology Center. See you tonight. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996 / 312-810-3480.

Practice cancelled Tuesday Jan 12

2010-01-11 20:54:53    There is a basketball game on Tuesday night, which shuts down both gyms for our use, so we'll practice Thursday night, 7 pm in the gym. The temperature could get above 40 degrees Thursday, which might let us get outside on the field for a bit. Keep checking the website for info. There is a Rice Rugby parent's meeting Thursday night at 6:30 pm, in the Theology Center. Tuesday's cancellation officially puts us behind schedule, particularly with the forwards. We need to keep pushing. It still seems like we are missing guys. The longer guys wait to come out, the harder it will be for them to crack the starting sides. The first preseason game is just 6 weeks away. That isnt a lot of time. I'll have all the forms and data sheets for players Thursday night. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996

Practice Tues 12th, 7 pm

2010-01-08 01:43:47    Good work tonight. Thanks for fighting through the cold and the snow to get to practice. I'm sure most guys would rather have been home watching the game, however to the guys that showed up and went through the beep test, nice job. We'll talk about it again on Tuesday, but that test is as much about mental toughness as it is physical conditioning. Joe Sebek had the best time. Congrats to Seeb's. The rookie Derek McMahon scored well too, as did Christian. The new guys are looking pretty good. Eddie O'Sullivan and Nigel Melville on February 25th and then the weekend of Feb 27 and Feb 28 with Will Thompson and Luke Gross, the two USA under-22's coaches will be a time for the guys of Brother Rice rugby to show their stuff. You guys will be front and center with two USA level coaches, to get on their radar screen. Lets make the most of your opportunity. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996 / 312-810-3480. See you Tuesday, and let's have a great week of work.

Practice on for tonight

2010-01-07 13:16:28    I'm driving 55 miles round trip, so you guys can slog a few miles on the Southwest side to get to practice. You're rugby guys - you can handle this weather. We need this time. I know the BCS championship is on, but get in early, get warmed up, and we'll get out early. We'll have mats tonight, and the forwards need the 3-on-3 and lineout work. We need to spend time on this technique. More good news today. We'll talk about it tonight. Need your checks and data sheets/ medical history questionnaire. Give me the checks personally. (Coach Gilmartin brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480.

Practice, Thurs Jan 7 at 7 pm

2010-01-06 20:30:27    Practice Thursday night at 7 pm. Get there early and we'll get out early for the football game. We scheduled our first frosh-soph game today against the Arlington Stallions, Saturday, April 10th. We will be the opener for one of the Chicago Lion's Super League matches. We need to use the time in the gym this winter to perfect technique. This time is important. See you Thursday. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480.

Practice, Tuesday, Jan 5, 2010

2010-01-03 21:28:47    Practice on Tuesday and Thursday nights will always start at 7 pm. Great work tonight (i.e. Sunday night) with our first formal night of practice. Tonight was really designed to get out the ring-rust in terms of ball-handling and mechanics. Everybody looked good. Forwards need to work 3-on-3 every night, and work on line-out mechanics. The backs have their own work to do. We need to use the indoor work under good conditions to perfect technique and then once we move outside we'll expand the menu. Dues this year are $150, plus a $100 transportation fee if you didnt pay it via another sport. We'll shortly have an equipment site up and running to order shirts, socks, mouthpieces, and headgear, etc. Lots of good things happening this year, if everything works out, and it should. Remember, have fun, but we need to work hard. See you Tuesday, Jan 5 at 7 pm. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com).

Practice Sunday 1/3/10 at 3 pm

2009-12-31 10:34:23    This will be our first mandatory, full-team practice. Everyone needs to be there, and we will get in and out in 90 minutes, from 3 to 4:30 pm. We have the north gym at 3 pm, and if the big gym opens up we will slide over. It is imperative that we get off to a good start this year. Last year, the coaching staff was thrown together after Coach Rowan resigned, since practice started almost immediately following his departure. This year we will be a little more systematic about our gym work. We need the gym time to develop good technique until we move outside in early March. Get there a little early on Sunday and stretch / warm-up and we will get right into working off the winter rust. The new guys have a good fundamental base now. There is some definite talent amongst the new guys playing their first year of rugby. One early goal of Coach Sullivan is to find a solid hooker this year. Vanbo was thrown into the position last year and we had problems all year, most of which werent his fault. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996 / 312-810-3480 (cell) See you Sunday, and lets have some fun.

Practice, Tuesday, 12/29 at 7 pm

2009-12-28 15:22:44    Practice is at 7 pm on Tuesday, 12/29 in the gym. Be on time and ready to go. This will conclude our December practice schedule for newer players. Bring water and a mouthpiece. See you Tuesday night. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996.

Next Practice, Tuesday, 12/29

2009-12-25 17:05:57    Lets pass on practice Sunday, and next meet Tuesday night, 12/29 in the gym. Players still need to get CIPPed. Not that many guys have gotten themselves CIPPed for the current year. Tuesday will finish our new player practices, and we will have our first mandatory, full-team practice on Sunday, January 3rd, 2010. Time will be announced. Have a wonderful Christmas and see you Tuesday night. (Be sure and call the Judge and wish him a Merry Christmas for all that he does for you.) Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com).

Practice, 12/22 and 12/27

2009-12-20 10:33:06    Thanks for coming out to the basketball ceremoney last night, and thanks to Mark Morrissey and a couple of other guys for showing up for the Crusader Clash on Friday night. Tuesday, 12/22 I have two tickets to the Hawks game, so Judge and Coach Sullivan will be running practice. Keep checking the website for updates. I am trying to get one of the gyms for Sunday, 12/27. We will have regular practice on Tuesday, 12/29. Our first full team, mandatory, all-out practice will be Sunday, January 3rd. If it is nice enough we will go outside. Good luck on finals and have a safe and restful Christmas. Be sure and wish the Judge a Merry Christmas this week. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996 (Home / office)

Practice Thurs 12/17 and weekend

2009-12-16 16:17:08    We have practice Thursday night December 17th at 7:00 pm in the gym. We also need a couple of volunteers for the Crusader Clash Friday night at 5 pm in the gyms. Saturday night we have the halftime ceremony by Alderman Gingert Rugai honoring the 2009 State Championship rugby team. Be at teh game by jump ball at 7:30 pm and the haltime ceremony will be around 8:15 - 8:30 pm. Spread the word. We could use more freshman and sophomores out for the club. See you Thursday night. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996.

Halftime ceremony 12/19 b-ball game

2009-12-14 23:51:36    Remember, the halftime of the Saturday night 12/19 Brother Rice basketball game will honor the 2009 State Championship rugby squad. Tell the guys from last year including Vambo who needs to be there with his trophy, but i would like to see all the players there from last year, and all the new guys from this year. The game starts at 7:30 pm, so halftime will be around 8:15 - 8:30 or so. We need everyone in the gym for this event. Tuesday and Thursday practice this week at 7 pm. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com)

Practice 12/15

2009-12-14 15:16:21    Get CIPPed - need it to happen now ! See you at practice Tuesday night at 7:00 pm. we will work on passing and tackling and introduce the ruck and maul to new players. See you Tuesday night at 7:00 pm in one of the gyms. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996

Practice 12/10 and Hope Hospital

2009-12-09 17:39:05    Good work on Tuesday night. The new guys picked up stuff in a hurry and it was good having some of the vets out to run drills along side the new players. The new players look talented. The vets are going to be challenged this year. See you Thursday night at 7:00 pm. We will further develop some of Tuesdays drills and introduce some new drills. The fitness needs some work. Your coaches only pushed you for 20 minutes or so - that is 1/4 of a game. You guys were way too gassed. Hope Hospital Christmas Party at Marist Friday night. Starts at 5 pm. 5 service hours. We need more guys. Remember to get CIPPed on the www.usarugby.org website. You shouldnt be practicing without being CIPPed. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996

Practice this week - get CIPPed

2009-12-08 16:24:39    Practice this week on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 7 to about 9 pm. Start getting CIPPed. CIPP instructions were handed out at the mandatory meeting. Still need one or two more guys for the Hope Hospital Christmas Party on Friday night, December 11th. 5 service hours to volunteer. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996

Start getting CIPPed

2009-12-06 11:20:15    We still have very few players CIPPed. Only 5 new guys and Dave Spengel of the vets. Start logging on to www.usarugby.org and start getting CIPPed. I dont want to have happen, what happened last year. Coacj Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996

PracticeTuesday 12/8 at 7 pm

2009-12-05 11:05:20    Practice starts Tuesday night 7 pm in the gym. Vets are welcome but the drills will primarily be geared towards developing skills for the new players. Brother Rice will have an entry in the new frosh-soph vision within the IYRA this year. We will need at least 20 - 25 true frosh-soph players to make a go of it. Vets, spread the word with the under-classmen to build some enthusiasm. Still need guys for Hope Hospital Christmas Party Friday night, Dec 11 at Marist. December 19 is the halftime ceremony for the 2009 State Champions. Need everyone at the game. Brother Rice should have another very successful year. Remember, it is all about having fun. See you Tuesday night at 7 pm and talk it up with the new guys. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996 / 312-810-3480 (cell)

December schedule

2009-11-30 19:37:38    Good to see both the new guys and the veterans at todays meeting. Really glad to see everyone fired up about the year. we will have another very good team. Dont forget about the Hope Hospital Christmas party on December 11, and the 2009 City Hall Proclamation on December 19th at halftime of the basketball game. We need volunteers for the Hope Hospital Christmas Party. Vets: talk up the game to the younger guys. First Practice is Tuesday, 12/8/09 at 7:00 pm. Everyone is welcome but the focus will be on core skills. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996

Mandatory meeting 11/30/09 at 3 pm

2009-11-29 10:17:03    There is a mandatory meeting at 3 pm in the Theology Center on Monday, November 30th at school. It will last about 30 minutes. Practice for new players starts Tuesday, December 8th in the gym. Veterans can participate but i would like to get a few weeks work in with just new players. Please volunteer for the Hope Hopsital Chriastmas Party on Friday, December 11. We need guys from 5 to 10 pm. 5 service hours can be earned. We are on the cusp of a brand new season, and we will be better than last year. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996

Fundraiser and CIPP - get registered

2009-11-10 16:38:21    Brother RIce High School RFC is now CIPPed on the USA Rugby website. Get online and start CIPPing yourself at www.usarugby.org. The top of the lefthand column says REGISTER HERE. Register as a player under the Brother Rice High School RFC team mantle. Start now and get it done. It costs $20 so before you sit down at the PC, borrow a credit card from one of your parents. The Fundraiser is Thursday night. Still havent heard from Busking, Waddell, Sebek, Dempster, Cimaglia, Franchetti and a host of others. Come and spend $15 on dinner - it shouldnt break the bank. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com)

Fundraiser - need a headcount

2009-11-04 20:24:13    I need a headcount for the fundraiser at ORourkes Office. 111th and Western. I need all players with one or two parents in tow to come and hear some very good international level players talk about their high school rugby experience. Shhot me an e-mail and tell me that you are going to be there. (brianglm@trinityasset.com) The goal of the evening is to have a little fun first and second, raise a little dough. Coach Gilmartin

US Eagles at Rice Rugby fundraiser

2009-11-01 23:16:23    We will have at least two US Eagles at the Rice Fundraiser on November 12th. Starts at 6:30 pm at Gilhooleys. Bears game kickoff at 7:30 pm. Get to the Brad Leshinski workout, Tuesday at 7:00 pm at Evergreen Park Bath & Tennis. We still have guys missing that should be there. The school is asking for a green "physical" card for your workouts. There is another volunteer service opportunity coming up for Hope Hospital in December. December 11th is the date. We will do a toy drive and help at the Christmas Party from 6 - 9 pm on the 11th of December. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com).

Volunteer opportunity - Hope Hospital

2009-10-26 21:10:32    There is a volunteer opportunity for service hours Wednesday night, October 28th at the Palos Rec Center, 6601 West 127th Street. There is a Halloween Party for the Hope Hospital kids (pediatric cancer) and they need some help setting up and breaking down for the party. If guys can commit from 3:00 to 8:00 pm on Wednesday, that would be great. Ill be there, but a little late. Email me if you can make it: brianglm@trinityasset.com. Work out Tuesday night at 7:00 pm at Evergreen Bath & Tennis, with Brad Leshinski. See everyone then. Thanks, Coach Gilmartin

Fall workout starts Tuesday

2009-10-25 18:52:29    We will meet at Brad Leshinmskis place, Athletic Edge, which is in the Evergreen Park Bath & Tennis building at 2700 West 91st Street, Tuesday night, October 27th at 7:00 pm. Shoot me an e-mail if you plan on attending. We should have at least 10 guys for Tuesday night. Spread the word around school. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com)

Fall workouts are on !

2009-10-16 16:09:10    We have at least 10 guys for the workouts at Brad Leshinskis place. The cost is reasonable - $10 for as many as we want to do, so spread the word. I heard back from enough guys to give us the required minimum. As soon as i hear back from Brad on dates / times, you will be notified. Thanks, Coach Gilmartin

Rugby added to Olympics - fall workouts

2009-10-10 10:51:24    The IOC added rugby 7s to the 2016 Olympic games. Too bad it wont be in Chicago. Maybe we can put a Brother Rice grad on the Olympic team by 2016. Let me know about fall workouts with Doc McGreal and Brad Lishinki. This is a good way to start getting fit and getting an "edge" to your game. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480

Rice rugby - fall workout opportunity

2009-10-09 09:28:17    Brad Leshinski, who is an athletic trainer used by some of the football guys, and about whom the Rice rugby coaching staff has heard good things, and Dr. McGreal the strength coach for the football team, have agreed to put together a fall training program for the non-football playing rugby guys. The cost is $10 per person, and Brad needs at least 6 guys to make it viable for his time and effort. A few guys have committed already, like Marius Stalionis, Mark Morrissey and Tony Franchetti. Shoot me an e-mail if you are interested and spread the word to freshmen and other potentially new players. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480

Fall workout for rugby

2009-10-07 16:55:59    For the non-football playing rugby guys, the coaching staff is thinking of doing a weight room night with Doc McGreal and maybe some speed / flexibility with Brad Leshinski. Who would be interested ? Get back to me at brianglm@trinityasset.com. Thanks - Coach Gilmartin

Rice Rugby Parents meeting

2009-09-07 14:34:28    We are having a Rice Rugby Parents meeting on 10/22, at 6:30 pm, probably at the school. I will get a meeting location closer to the date. Tell your folks. We will need some help next year. Coach Gilmartin (312-751-0996) brianglm@trinityasset.com

Post - testing

2009-09-06 21:21:30    Test, test.

The rings are in...

2009-08-11 22:35:45    Call the Judge at home after noon on Wednesday, Augsut 12th. The rings are in - arrange to pick them up. Cost is $175 (i think).

2009 Awards Night redux

2009-07-20 16:33:04    62 attended. Great stuff ! A couple guys that were going to get awards didnt show so, maybe next year. Hats off to Michael Vambo for the 2009 Brother Rice Rugby RFC MVP, Ryan Downes, for the first annual "Best and Fairest" Award winner for the best attitude and leadership on and off the field in 2009, Conor Piper for the "Best Newcomer" Award along with Michael Houston, Marius Stalionis won the 2009 7's MVP, and to Michael Igoe for being a significant contributor to the 2009 season. Congrats to one and all. Other players who would have gotten awards had they shown up were Dan Lyons, Conor Boyd, Tim Keffer and Matt Knight. We need to get the Parent's Club going to help with some admin duties for next year. The first meeting will probably be in early September. E-mails will be headed out shortly. Congrats to one and all for a tremendous 2009. It was a pleasure being your head coach this year. Brian Gilmartin 312-810-3480. brianglm@trinityasset.com

Practice, July 16th (cancelled tonight)

2009-07-15 17:11:58    It looks like a bunch of guys can't make Wednesday, July 15th. Let's do Thursday night at 6:30 pm at St. Walters. Coach Gilmartin

Practice, Wed July 15 at St. Walts ?

2009-07-14 17:04:01    Lets meet at 6:30 pm and play some touch. Vambo and Al need to get used to the 7s rhythm. Shoot me an e-mail if you want to get together Wednesday night. Alumni are welcome and needed to fill out the side. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) PS - you can do this on your own, and without me of you want. It is up to you guys. bg

Grand Rapids 7s - July 18, '09

2009-07-14 11:32:04    Some of the Young Guns want to play, so we are taking a team to Grand Rapids on Saturday if guys want to go. Cost is $200 per team, and we can pay on Saturday. We should probably practice one night just to eliminate the rust. Shoot me an e-mail if you want to play. We need to confirm a headcount. This is a U-19 tournament, so college freshmen can play as well. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com). 312-810-3480.

Awards Banquet, Sunday night, 7/19 at 7 pm

2009-07-13 11:25:26    The Awards Banquet is scheduled for Sunday night, July 19th at Barraco's at 7:00 pm. Judge and i will firm it up early this week. There should have been money left over from the season to cover the cost of the banquet, but that too needs to be resolved this week. We might have to charge a small cover for the banquet, which is pretty cheesy (no pun intended) but it is what it is. This weekend i was at the Cal - Berkeley high school coaches clinic in Berkeley, California, led by Jack Clark of Cal - Berkeley. Some truly great stuff was gleaned over the intensive 2-day period. We saw the incoming Cal rugby freshmen, and the 1st year players run live drill demonstrations, and (seriously) the Rice players werent that far behind developmentally. We'll go through some of this at the banquet as we talk about the 2010 season. The banquet should be a big deal: it will likely be the last time the 2009 Championship team is together as a unit. Haven't heard from Conor Yanz, Pat Sullivan, Conor Healy, Scott Dempster, Dan Harrington, and a whole host of guys. Get back to the Judge or me this week. Coach Gilmartin (312-810-3480) brianglm@trinityasset.com.

BR Rugby 2009 Awards Banquet, 7/19

2009-07-05 10:54:56    The Brother Rice HS Rugby Awards Banquet will be Sunday, July 19th at 7:00 pm probably at Barraco's. Judge is making all the arrangements. Be sure and RSVP to me and / or Judge as soon as you know you and your folks can attend, and be sure and spread the word. Parents are not only welcome but encouraged to attend. This will be the last gathering for the senior class of 2009, thus get the word out and get everybody involved. Coach Gilmartin (312-810-3480) brianglm@trinityasset.com.

Michael Houston and the Tornados, July 4th

2009-07-04 08:48:45    Mike Houston and the Illinois Tornados take on the Windsor, England side in Lemont at 2:00 pm today, with the U-19 game immediately following. Have a safe and happy 4th of July. Don't forget the Brother Rice Rugby Awards Banquet on Sunday, July 19th at 7:00 pm probably at Barraco's. Be sure and RSVP to Judge or myself and let me know if you are attending. Parents are encouraged to attend. Coach Gilmartin 312-810-3480 (brianglm@trinityasset.com)

Michael Houston and '09 Awards Banquet

2009-06-30 20:02:56    Michael Houston is playing for the Tornado's this weekend in Lemont on Saturday, July 4th in the U-17's game. The Tornado's will take on Windsor, England at 2:00 pm at the Blaze fields in Lemont, to be immediately followed by the U-19 game. The Brother Rice Rugby 2009 Awards Banquet will be held Sunday, July 19th at either Barraco's or Palermo's. Figure around 7:00 pm. I need to know who is coming so shoot me an e-mail and RSVP to brianglm@trinityasset.com. Coach 312-810-3480.

Practice Thurs, 6/25 at St. Walts

2009-06-25 10:44:19    We'll practice tonight at 6:30 pm. Please be on time. I'll be there between 6:00 - 6:30 pm. Let's work for an hour and get out of there. Bring plenty of water. We'll keep the workout light and strategic, and keep exertion to a minimum. Both teams have a good shot at making the playoffs this weekend. Should be fun, and probably a bit cooler, since the fields sit right on Lake Michigan in Milwaukee. Directions for parents or friends: the games will be held at Veteran's Park located at 1450 Memorial Drive, Milwaukee, Wi. 53202. (use the address for Mapquest). Take 2-94 North to I-94 straight north to Milwaukee. As you approach city limits, look for 7-94 East towards the lake, or look for signs for Summerfest. Memorial Drive is just like Chicago's Lake Shore Drive, in that it runs right along the lake. From 7-94, exit at Memorial Drive (turn left or north) and travel 2 - 3 blocks north to Veteran's Park. If you get lost, get off I-94 at Downtwon Milwaukee and drive straight east towards the lake, and you'll hit Memorial Drive. Veteran's Park sits just east of downtown Milwaukee on Memorial Drive. There will be 3 - 4 fields and a boat harbor so the fields should be easy to see from Memorial Drive. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-34480

Practice Wed, 6/24 and the game on July 5th

2009-06-24 12:53:14    Matt Lydon and the alumni will be running around at St. Walt's tonight at 6:30 pm. i can't make it, but if you want to move the ball around feel free to join the alumni. bring plenty of water and dont push it with this heat. Dont run longer than 45 minutes, or if you feel stressed. Save it for Thursday night. Mike Houston can't play this weekend. We need another player or even two. I'm assuming that everybody who played Saturday in Lemont is going to Milwaukee. Everyone should get at least 3 - 4 games, minimum. (see below for a note on Thursday night.) The Chicago Red Stars want Rice for July 5th - I need to know who wants to play. Priority will be given to those who play 7's this summer. Should be a full 15 minute 7s game on a very good field in front of a good crowd. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480

Practice Thursday, June 25th

2009-06-24 11:22:58    We'll meet at St. Walter's between 6:00 - 6:30 pm, Thursday night. We need a good practice with EVERYONE present to prepare properly for Milwaukee. We need to work on identifying overloads, and avoiding getting the ball tied up. Total cost for the jerseys is $900 (i have the invoice) and the entry fee for the tournament was $300, so $1,200 divided by 25 guys is roughly $50 per person. That is a little saltier than i expected, but it roughly translates to $35 per jersey and $15 per person for the tournament entry fee. (Make checks payable to Brian Gilmartin. I paid for everything either via check or credit card.) See you Thursday night at St. Walts. We have a good shot at getting both teams into the playoffs Saturday. Coach Gilmartin 312-810-3480 brianglm@trinityasset.com.

Practice/run cancelled for Tues night

2009-06-23 18:05:28    Only heard from TMart and Mike Houston so let's cancel the run for tonight, for the Young Guns. ARO sent me an invoice for the jersey's today: it comes to $36.10 per person, and the Milwaukee entry fee was $300 for one team. Since last year's seniors were cheated a little since we had to combine with another squad in '08, so what i thought was we'd divide the $300 tournament entry fee evenly between the two Rice teams this year, which would come to $15 per person for Summerfest 7's, thus the total for the jersey and the tournament fee is $50 per person. The jerseys should look pretty cool and are yours to keep. I paid the entry fee to Summerfest 7's personally and will put the jerseys on my credit card, so make any checks payable to Brian Gilmartin. See everyone Thursday night at St. Walters. I should be there by 6:00 pm. We need a two-hour practice WITH EVERYONE, so let's get started on time, or even a little early. If you have any question or issues, give a shout. The Tornado's U-19 and U-17 sides will play July 4th in Lemont. Michael Houston should play and i'm trying to get a few more guys on the squad. If you want to try-out, give me a shout. We should get some guys together to go out and watch Michael play that day. The Chicago Red Stars (womens pro soccer team) are playing July 5th at IBC and Rice 7s has been invited to put on a rugby demo during halftime. The game will be in Naperville at Illinois Benedictine College. We are working out the details now. I'd like the Young Guns to play if you are up for it. Should be a decent crowd. Brian Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480

Practice Thursday, 6/25 at St. Walts

2009-06-23 12:57:43    If the Young Guns want to run Tuesday night at St. Walt's for about an hour, to work on positioning and some plays, let me know. I can shoot down and meet you at St. Walters between 6:00 - 6:30 pm. Judge has dinner planned at Barraco's at 7:00 pm. I have an Illinois Youth Rugby Executive Committee meeting on Wednesday night, so the next practice wont be until Thursday night at 6:30 pm. Let me know. So far i've heard that Michael Houston is in. Coach Gilmartin 312-810-3480. We need at least one good night of work to prepare for Milwaukee. You guys have a good shot of making the semi's or final's in Milwaukee this weekend. You only lost to Naperville by 2 points, the eventual Firehouse champs, and we would have beaten Naperville if the ball hadn't gotten punched out of Frank's hands in-goal on Saturday. (Frank did nothing wrong - it was a smart play by Naperville.) Keep the faith - the Young Guns team play is coming along nicely. We have room for one or two more guys on the roster, but any new players will have to work with us. Priority will be given to those who are attending practice and played at Firehouse. Coach Gilmartin 312-810-3480

Practice - week of 6/22

2009-06-22 10:17:55    We'll work Monday night at 6:30 at St. Walters, and Tuesday and Thursday nights as well, but Wednesday i have an Illinois Youth Rugby meeting in Arlington Heights, so i can't make practice. Both sides played pretty well, but we'll work on cleaning up a few things which shouldnt take that long, and then you guys can play some touch 7's for the remainder of the night. Dan Hendrin, Tim Martin, Frank Renardo, Bobby Waddell and Michael Houston acquitted themselves pretty well in the first competitive 7s outing. The wily vets liek Joe Cimiaglia, Pat Cimaglia, Ben Savory and Marius played pretty well too. This weekend, the Young Guns should make it into the playoffs. See you this week at 6:30 pm at St. Walter's. Coach Gilmartin 312-810-3480.

Practice, Friday, June 19th 4:30 pm

2009-06-18 22:47:40    See everyone at St. Walters on Friday at 4:30 pm. We will work for 90 minutes and get out of there. The first game Saturday is an 8:30 am kickoff for the college team, and then the Young Guns play immediatly following at 8:50. The playoff round starts around 1:00 pm. BOTH teams have a good shot at advancing this weekend. We are playing in Lemont so everyone should know how to get there. Bring coolers with ice and bring something to snack on during the day like energy bars, banana's and fruit. I'll try and bring a couple cases of water. Be at Lemont in your kit by 8:00 am, Saturday. We want to break a light sweat and hit the pads with some light tackling before each game. See you Friday night at 4:30 pm at St Walters. Coach Gilmartin (312-810-3480) brianglm@trinityasset.com

Michael Houston shines for Tornados

2009-06-16 20:50:57    Both Illinois Tornado coaches raved about Michael Houstons play this weekend at the Midwest LAU (local area union) tournament in Elkhart. Michael played for the Illinois U-17's against Indiana and Ohio and represented very well. The three other guys that were asked to try out never showed, including Danny Lyons (football), Anthony Minnella (football) and Tony Franchetti. The Tornado's is a good gig and i highly recommend players try out, if you have interested. The next South Side try-out will be on July 1 at Memorial Park for the Cody Cup game in late July. Good luck to Michael Houston the rest of the season. Michael will be playing 7s for Brother Rice this summer so he will have a lot more field and a lot more space to show his moves. See you Wednesday night at 6:30 pm at St. Walters. Coach

Practice Wed, June 17th at St. Walt's 6:30 pm

2009-06-16 18:46:47    The jerseys have officially been ordered. We wont have them for Firehouse but for Milwaukee Summerfest 7s, on the 27th. The alum's ordered white with "South Side 7's" over the logo. The Brother Rice team will be getting maroon/crimson jerseys with the Rice logo and Celtic Cross. I'll keep you posted. See you Wednesday, June 17th at St. Walter's at 6:30 pm. The Rice players looked pretty good on Monday night. We need to get everyone out on the same night to work together. The Brother Rice team shouldnt get frustrated: the alumni were where you are this year, last year when they were learning the game. The game will make more sense after the first few games on Saturday. I ordered 12 student jerseys. Mark Morrissey is playing and we may get an extra player or two out before the summer is up. If there is an extra jersey, i'll buy it. Coach Gilmartin 312-810-3480, brianglm@trinityasset.com.

7s practice - week of June 14th

2009-06-14 15:58:52    The Sunday night practice is officially cancelled but Matt Lydon and a few others will be at St. Walters throwing the ball around Sunday evening at 5:00 pm. We will need at least three nights of work this week to prepare for the Firehouse 7's. Brother Rice will have two teams, the Young Guns and the alumni. The next practice is Monday night, June 15th at 6:30 pm at St. Walters. Be there on time and prepared to run for two hours. What happened to the Franchetti's, Frank Renardo, Joe Sebek, and Pat Cimaglia for the Young Guns ? Dan Hendrin and Tim Martin make for a solid forward base. We can be competitive at the high school level with the backs we have, but we need to have a few more guys. See you Monday night at 6:30 pm. Coach Gilmartin 312-810-3480.

7s - jerseys

2009-06-12 09:23:01    ARO is offering Rice and Rice alumni a $30 UnderArmour jersey in maroon/red, and they could get it to us in time for the Firehouse 7s. Let me know on Sunday. I may be a little late to practice on Sunday night. Matt Lydon, give me a call this weekend before Sunday, please. Coach Gilmartin (312-810-3480, brianglm@trinityasset.com).

7s practice Sunday, June 14th

2009-06-11 18:55:16    We will practice 7s Sunday evening at 5:00 pm at St. Walters. The Rice Young Guns need players. We are getting just 6 - 7 guys out to practice, while the alumni have 14 - 15 guys out each night. We will have one week or three more nights to prepare for the Firehouse 7's in Lemont on June 20th. Get some guys out. See you Sunday night - I might be a little late. Coach Gilmartin 312-810-3480. (brianglm@trinityasset.com)

Rice 7s - fees and dates

2009-06-10 17:01:46    The cost for the Firehouse 7s for each side is $150, and the high school side will be a U-19 side, which means anyone under the age of 20 can qualify. It is likely that the Rice alums will have at least one, maybe two sides, while Brother Rice Young Gun's will have one side, depending on who shows. If we roster 12 guys a side, then that means it will cost each player $12.50 a piece to play in the game. For Milwaukee or Summerfest 7's, the Rice Young Guns will get in free, given the snafu left from last year, but the Rice alum's will get put into the Collegiate side for $250 per team, so they should be competitive at both the Firehouse 7's and the Summerfest 7's. We could buy jerseys this year, but it would cost $40 a head, for a decent set of Dri-Fit jerseys (I'll check with ARO and see what they can do for us.) Let me know what you guys want to do. See you tonight (Wednesday, June 10th) at St. Walter's at 6:30 pm. I will be there at 6:00 pm if anyone wants to get there early and work on some technical stuff. Coach Gilmartin 312-810-3480 (brianglm@trinityasset.com)

Rice 7s - some detail

2009-06-09 19:01:20   

Rice young guns and alumni

2009-06-09 13:50:18    The Firehouse 7's is using an "under-20" cutoff for the U-19 division on June 20th, so the Rice alumni should be able to play in the U-19 category. However, we need to make sure everybody is CIPP'ed and eligible for play on June 20th. Rice young guns: the play is improving and don't get discouraged. Last year, Matt Lydon and a few other Rice players were just learning how to play and scrimmaging against the Irish, and not feeling good about it. Don't worry about your play. You ill be competing against high school-aged players on June 20th, and June 28th, so you should do just fine. The Rice Young guns will have a very good team, and will compete against other high schools, so dont sweat it or get discouraged. Practice will be Wednesday, June 10th at St. Walter's. We need to work on some game strategy and use the end of practice for some scrimmaging. The Rice alumni have a lot of talent, but we need to work on a few issues. See you Wednesday night at 6:30 pm, and TRY to be on time. We are starting 10 minutes late, and losing 10 minutes every practice. Coach Gilmartin (312-810-3480) brianglm@trinityasset.com

Monday, June 8 7's practice

2009-06-07 20:53:51    We're going to meet at 6:30 pm on Monday, June 8th at St. Walter's. We'll start to practice in earnest for the first 7s tournament, the Firehouse 7s, on June 20th in Lemont. At the coaches conference in Chicago this weekend, a coach from Charlotte, NOrth Carolina told me that there will be a National high school 7s championship in Charlotte on July 11th and 12th. This will be a "high-school-only" tournament, not a U-19 tournament if you guys are interested. According to the coach, if we are interested in participating, we could enter a team. If we get 20 guys out for practice, and with two tournaments to prepare, and with the right guys, we could make a run at the National title. Rice Alumni, we'll work on some strategy Monday night, as well as fitness. The ball-handling is great, but we need to take it a step further this week. Brian Gilmartin 312-810-3480 (brianglm@trinityasset.com)

Usa - Wales halftime parade

2009-06-05 10:40:20    The Brother Rice players participating in the halftime parade at the USA v. Wales game will assemble at Section 114, at least 10 minutes prior to the end of halftime on Saturday, Jnune 6th. The game starts at 1:00 pm, so we need to be at Section 114 no later than 1:30 pm, to get ready to march onto the field. The National Guard has given Rice for 4 free tickets for Saturday's game, which are already spoken for. I'm trying to get my hands on some other tickets. We need bodies for the parade. I have heard from very few Tier I players about attending. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480.

7s practice - Monday, June 8th

2009-06-04 11:44:48    The first 7s tournament is in Lemont on June 20th, i.e the Firehouse 7's thus the next two weeks of practice are critical to get players in the right positions. 7s is designed to be fun, so come out and throw the ball around, and enjoy the two tournaments we will play in. For both teh Firehouse 7's and the MilwaukeeFest 7s, each team will play in at least 3 games each day, with the halves 7 minutes in length. The game is fast, intense and a ton of fun. The Rice alumni are fielding a very good team. There is definitely some talent there. With the Rice players practicing against Rice alums, they are learning the game quickly. Meet Monday night, June 8th at St. Walter's at 6:30 pm for an 1.5 hour practice. (Matt Lydon, shoot me an e-mail. We will work on lineouts, scrums and penalties next week, just to introduce a little strategy to the set pieces.) Coach Gilmartin (brainglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480. Hopefully, we'll catch up at the USA v. Wales game.

7s practice Wednesday night at St. Walters

2009-06-03 11:09:22    7s practice will be tonight and tomorrow night at St. Walter's at 6:30 pm. The Firehouse 7s tournament which i thought was Sunday, after the USA v. Wales game, is June 20th at the Blaze fields, so we have a few weeks to prepare. The following weekend, June 27th is the MilwaukeeFest rugby 7s tournament, which is the best tournament of the summer. The National Guard has offered us 4 free tickets to the USA v. Wales match. Who wants 'em ? We need players for the parade on Saturday. I haven't herad from too many guys. we should have at least 15 players for the half-time parade. Coach Gilmartin (312-810-3480) brianglm@trinityasset.com

Usa - Wales halftime parade

2009-06-01 20:54:52    Rice needs to have players at the USA v Wales halftime show at Saturday's game since we are teh Tier I champion, and it would look bad if the Tier I champion didnt attend. How many of the starting 15 - 20 can make the game ? Everybody is welcome, but i need a head count. See you Wednesday at St. Walter's for 7s, at 6:30 pm. Coach Gilmartin 312-810-3480 (brianglm@trinityasset.com).

Practice cancelled

2009-06-01 17:50:13    Tonoght's 7's practice is cancelled. I have something planned for Tuesday night, so our next practice will be Wednesday, June 3rd at St. Walter's at 6:30 pm. Coach Gilmartin 312-810-3480 (brianglm@trinityasset.com).

Halftime parade at USA - Wales game

2009-06-01 15:35:15    Brother Rice will be featured at the USA v Wales game on Saturday as the Tier I Champion within the IYRA, and there will be some kind of parade or ceremony at halftime of the game. We will have to buy tickets to get into the game, though. I don't yet know all the details. As soon as i know, you will know. Coach Gilmartin (312-810-3480) brianglm@trinityasset.com

Monday, June 1, 7's practice

2009-06-01 13:01:11    Meet at St. Walter's at 6:00 pm. Some of the seniors have to leave for a ring fitting. The Rice team needs players. We only had 7 show up last Thursday. Where is Ryan Downes, Al, Marius, etc ? Coach Gilmartin

Brother Rice 7's - practice Monday night

2009-05-29 09:40:25    We'll practice Monday night, June 1st, at St. Walter's at 6:30 pm. The Rice alumni team looks pretty good. There is a lot of talent there. The Rice high school team needs a few more players. Where is Marius and Alvaro ? I thought the recent Rice team would send out a few more players. See you Monday at 6:30 pm at St. Walters. Brian Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480

7's, skills camp's, Tornado's, etc.

2009-05-27 14:00:21    The first 7's practice is Thursday night, May 28th at St. Walter's, at 7:00 pm. There is interest in having an alumni team, as well as a Brother Rice team, and i think we can do both. Last year was our first shot at 7's and we lost all three games in the first CARFU tournament, made the semifinals in the Milwaukee 7's (which is really the premier 7's tournament of the summer) but the dayw as cancelled due to a thunderstorm, and made it to the Championship game in the Great Lake 7's in Lemont before losing in overtime to St. Charles. If you guys want to learn the core skills of the game, 7's is it. If you like running with the ball, with a lot more room than 15s, 7s will be your game. Eric McShane and Mike O'Grady, both pretty good 15's players on last years Brother Rice squad came out for 7's and really lit the field up. Frank Renardo, Marius, and even a big forward (like Al or Vambo) can have a big impact in a 7s game, given the amount of room on the field. ANYONE and EVERYONE is welcome to play. The USA v. Wales game will be Saturday, June 7th at Toyota Park. We have no team function planned, but USA Rugby may honor the IYRA champs at halftime on the field. Stay tuned. We may need to show as a team. (I'll get more datails.) USA Rugby is featuring a skills camp in late July in Barrington for all high school rugby players. It will feature about 10 - 12 Eagles of various era's and positions. Cost will be $150 and enrollment will be limited to 80 players and 10 coaches. The weekend will be "holistic" in nature coverng core forward and back skills, as well as how to juggle multiple sports. A brochure will be available and can be downloaded at www.iyra.org or email questions to Paul Bergman at ptbergman@comcast.net. I will have brochures at 7's practices if you want to take a look at the agenda. Premium Preps covered the IYRA State finals in Lemont. Go to www.premiumpreps.com and read the write-up on the Championship game. The Tornado's are holding try-outs Thursday night in St. Charles. If you want to play give me a heads up and we'll save you a place in 7's. Just let me know if you are going so I can give Nolan Day a heads up and blow smoke up his backside about your exploits and talent. Rice needs a better presence on the Illinois select-side teams. See you Thursday for some 7's fun. I guarantee you'll love the game. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480.

State Champs - 2009 !!!!

2009-05-26 18:21:20    Congratulations to all 2009 Brother Rice rugby players, regardless of your Tier or athletic ability. This was a team win, and includes all 65 guys. Everyone truly deserves it. Be sure and thank Sean Sullivan and Judge Marty Berry for everything they have done for you this year. It was a great year, and I'm proud to have gotten to know all of you, and to be associated with Brother Rice High School. The team overcame a ton of adversity in 2009: we lost Matt Black and Scott Dempster early on, you had a brand new coaching staff, no permanent practice facility (we used four different practice locations this year ), a home field that acts like they dont want us most of the time, etc. etc. And yet you still won. You went out on the field and still WON ! Unbeaten, untied, and state champs ! Keep reading the website daily. There will be more news forthcoming, on 7's, select side, USA v. Wales, etc. etc., but for now enjoy your 2009 IYRA State Championship. Coach Gilmartin 312-810-3480 (brianglm@trinityasset.com)

State Championship, Monday at 4:00 pm

2009-05-24 18:58:10    Be at the front gate at the Blaze fields in Lemont on Monday, May 25th, NO LATER than 2:00 pm. We'll collect at the south gate and enter the field after our CIPP's are checked. EVERYONE THAT IS PLAYING WILL NEED A PHOTO ID. Driver's license, Brother Rice or other school Id, etc. NO EXCEPTIONS. Bring plenty of water. Get a good night's sleep tonight and eat a big breakfast, and then snack before coming to Lemont. Monday, May 25th, 2009 at 4:00 pm is YOUR time, as a member of the Brother Rice rugby club. Choose to win. If there are any problems, call me on Monday. I'll be at the fields by 9:00 am. cell 312-810-3480. Directions from Brother Rice: Pulaski to 95th West to 2-94 North to I-55 South to 3-55 South, and exit at 127th Street. Turn right or west go 2 - 3 blocks to Smith Road, turn left or south and travel 2 - 3 blocks to the field. If there isn't parking in the lots, drive a few blocks south to the park, and walk or shuttle back to the fields. TELL YOUR FOLKS and FANS TO ALLOW PLENTY OF TIME to get a good parking space. The game will start promptly at 4:00 pm. PLAYERS: get there PLENTY early and allow for snafu's. I want us kitted up and watered up, and ready for a 30 - 40 walk through before we gather for our last comments. Coach Gilmartin 312-810-3480.

Tier I Championship, Monday, May 25th at 4:00 pm

2009-05-23 17:23:02    The Brother Rice Tier I squad will be playing Naperville for the Tier I IYRA State Championship on Monday, May 25th in Lemont. Kickoff is 4:00 pm. We need EVERYBODY out there to support the boys, and that includes Matt Black, Scott Dempster, Joe Sebek, and anyone / everyone associated with the rugby club this year. Get your parents, Brother Rice staff, fellow students, and get them out to the game. It should be a great day. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com). We have a walk-through Sunday at noon at Rice. See the note below.

Rice Rugby in Tier I final

2009-05-23 17:17:43    We'll do a walk-through at Brother Rice on Sunday, May 24th at 12:00 pm noon on the track facility south of the football field. Bobby Waddell, Lyons, Mike Houston, Joe Cimaglia, Dan Hendrin, Vinnie Franchetti, Pete Weyforth, Pat Cimaglia are needed at the walk-through as well. Anyone else that wants to run some opposition, we'd love to have you out there. See you on Sunday, and be ready to work at noon for about an hour. Coach Gilmartin (312-810-3480) brianglm@trinityasset.com

Alternates for Tier I semi-final vs Downers Grove

2009-05-22 11:03:26    It would be great to get all 60 guys out to lemont tonight, but in the event we don't these are the players thaht will alternates for the Tier I A-side match versus Downers Grove. Be in Lemont no later than 4:00 pm tonight: Forwards: Dan Hendren, Vinnie Franchetti, Pete Weyforth, Jason Venckus, Pat Cimaglia. Backs: Danny Lyons (if available), Josh Venckus, Joe Cimaglia, Michael Houston, Gomez, Paul Stoufer, Michael K. Either way, win or lose tonight, we'll play Monday, so ALL seniors need to get out too. Tim Martin is working tonight, but we'd like to get Ryan Martin and Ryan Downes and any senior into tonight's or Monday's game if possible. This is the playoff's fellas, so we have to be less democratic and more focused on playing the top 15 or 20, so i hope everyone understands. Get Matt Black, Joe Sebek, Joe Kelly, Paul Hansen, and anyone who has played with this season out either tonight or Monday as well. Like the Chicgao Blackhawk's, right now we are all about "one team, one goal". Coach Gilmartin 312-810-3480.

No b-game Friday night

2009-05-21 22:35:39    Downers Grove only has about 22 total players. They wanted Rice to supply half of their B-side for the B-game. I told their coach we'd rather not play our own guys against each other, and they agreed. See you Friday afternoon in Lemont. (bring your Elkhart checks.) Bg

Tier I playoff Fri, May 22 in Lemont

2009-05-21 19:27:07    Kickoff is 5:30 pm on Friday night. All players need to be at Rice at 3:00 pm to car-pool out to Lemont. The game is being held at the Chicago Blaze facilities, 127th and Smith Road. The easiest directions are 95th St West to 294 North to I-55 South, to 355 South to 127th Street. Exit west (right) two - three blocks to Smith Road, turn south two blocks, where the fields will be on your left. Park in the parking lots, NOT on Smith Road. Many thanks to all of the non-Tier I guys who made it to practice last night, like Joe Cimaglia, Pat Bailey, Anthony Minnella, Dave Spengel, Tim Martin, etc. etc. Your true colors showed last night. Hopefully we get a good turnout for the Friday night game. There is nothing better than a decent turnout to support the Tier I club. The winner of Friday night's game plays for the Tier I championship on Monday, Memorial Day in Lemont at 4:00 pm. Win or lose, the Tier I team has a game on Monday. Let's be in the final. We need ALL players at lemont on Friday night, to support the team. If there are any issues, call or e-mail me at 312-810-3480. We will NEED plenty of Water for Friday night. It could be a hot, muggy night. Also, does someone have a small air pump for the balls ? Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com).

Congrats to graduating seniors

2009-05-21 09:31:54    On behalf of the coaching staff of Brother Rice rugby, I would like to congratulate all of the seniors that will graduate tonight, and move on to bigger and better things, as you enter a new phase in your lives. We wish you all the best in future endeavors, and given the heart and commitment you've shown around the Rice rugby program, we know you'll be successful in whatever you do in life. Warmest regards from Judge Marty Berry, Coach Sean Sullivan, and Coach Brian Gilmartin.

Elkhart checks - this is getting old

2009-05-20 15:57:21    Guys who haven't paid: Yanz, Weysforth, Harrington, the Cimaglia's, Colin Heff, Chuck Busking, Jason Venckus, Ryan Martin, Alex Gomez, Bobby Waddell. (Now i know how Brother Rice feels. ) Coach

Tier I semifinal - Friday night in Lemont

2009-05-20 10:33:06    The Tier I semifinal will be Friday night, May 22nd in Lemont and it will feaute Brother Rice Tier I versus Downers Grove. Kickoff will be around 5:30 pm. The winner moves on to Sunday's State Championship final at 4:00 pm. This is our year, fellas. We'll talk about the Mt. Carmel - Downers Grove game tonight, which i watched Monday night. Coach Gilmartin

Practice 4:30 St. Walters - last practice of '09

2009-05-20 10:29:11    Practice tonight at St. Walters at 4:30 pm. We'll primarily work as a group of 15 on some forward and back movements, after we do some unit work. Matt Kelly will try and join us, as well as Matt Lydon. I'm also going to try and get Teva from the Irish out to work with the backs, and i'll move from unit to unit. We need ALL players out tonight to prepare for Friday's b-game, as well as to make for a better practice. We win and lose as one team. All players have done a GREAT job this year. This is our last 15's practice for '09, and our last week of rugby together as the Brother Rice 2009 Rugby Club. Get out to St. Walter's tonight, help out in practice, help prepare for Friday's and Monday's game. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480

Practice Wednesday at St. Walter's

2009-05-19 22:39:18    Let's meet at St. Walter's at 4:30 pm. we'll work for a few hours on some specific issues and get out of there. The Tier I semi-final is Friday night in Lemont, with kick-off around 5:30 pm. There will be two games on Friday night. The Montini loss was entirely on me. Tier II could have played better, but the venue was the first problem, and rushing you on to the field was the 2nd problem. Blame your head coach for that one. Hope to see EVERYONE on Wednesday night at St. Walter's. Angus, Tim Martin, Downesie, Pat Cimaglia, we need you Friday night in Downers Grove. You'll have one more game together on Friday as Rice players.

Bus departing Rice today for Montini

2009-05-19 13:02:45    Try and get to Rice by 2:30 pm, for the bus. If we can leave a little early, great. The sooner we kickoff and play, the sooner we can get back to Rice for the Mass. I'll wait around for any late arrivals. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480

Tier II playoff today - directions to Montini

2009-05-19 09:18:08    Montini will have good athletes, but Brother Rice plays a more skilled game. If Danny Lyons isnt available make sure Paul Stoufer and Mike Kos are out and on the bus. Get Pat Cimaglia out too. We need him in the pack. Vinnie Franchetti - can you play today ? We can win this game. Rice is seeded #3, Montini is seeded #6. Again, we can win this game today. Directions to Montini for your parents and Rice students: 95th Street West to 294 North, 13 miles to Roosevelt Road, west about 4 miles to Meyers Road. Turn left (south) on Meyers and go 3 - 4 blocks to 16th street stoplight. Turn right or west, pass the pond / lake, and you'll start seeing Montini fields on the right. It is about 30 - 35 minutes driving time. Pull into the parking lot and find the football field. Coach Gilmartin (brainglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480. If any parents or students / staff, get lost call me on my cell phone. Theer will be no post-game meal. We will try and get back to Brother Rice ASAP.

Tier I and II playoffs

2009-05-18 21:47:58    The Tier II playoff will be at Montini on Tuesday. The bus for Montini will leave Brother Rice at 3:00 pm. We'll kick off about 4:00, and come right back to Brother Rice for the mass. (Mr. Antos said to come into the gym upon returning from Montini and into the Mass via the locker room. Be sure and enter the gym QUIETLY. Downers Grove beat Mt. Carmel 24 - 17 in the Tier I playoff tonight. Mt. Carmel gave them a better game than i thought. Our Tier I semi-final match will be against Downers Grove Friday night in Lemont, with kick-off around 5:30 pm, with the winner moving on to the Tier I Championship on Memorial Day. There will be two games Friday night. An A and a B-side. It would be great to have all the Tier I players out to Montini for the game. It will be even better to have all those not playing in the Tier I game Friday night, on the sidelines cheering for a win that will carry us into the State finals. If one team makes it into the State finals, we all make it. Tier II - be ready to board the bus at 2:45 pm tomorrow. We'll try to get on the road a little early. This is a big game. We can definitely win it and move on to play Sycamore. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480

Tier II playoff 5/19 at Montini - practice Monday

2009-05-17 21:47:23    We will kick off at 3:30 pm on Tuesday, May 19th at Montini (or even earlier given that Rice has a half day) in order to get the seniors back for the baccalaureate (SP ?) Mass at Brother Rice at 6:00 pm. We need everybody to be at Montini no later than 3:00 pm. The juniors and under-classmen can hang around for the post-game meal. The seniors can head back to Rice as soon as the game is concluded. Montini is a team of good athletes. Not sure how skilled they are at rugby, in the same sense that Rice is. I think Rice Tier II can win this game, and get into the semi-final against Sycamore, but the forwards will need to be ready to play. Downers Grove and Mt. Carmel play Monday night in Lemont. We have practice scheduled at St. Walter's on Monday at 4:30 pm. Sean Sullivan will run practice and i will scout the Mt. Carmel - Downers Grove game. (Pat Sully and Colin, work on pretty boy and roxy, (get the timing down) and work on getting wider gaps in the back line. No question you guys play better when you have room to maneuver. We have a full week of rugby ahead. The Tier II team could play two games this week, and Tier I has at least one more game on Wednesday night. Brother Rice is in the driver's seat. We control our own destiny from a playoff perspective. (Coach Gilmartin 312-280-8532) brianglm@trinityasset.com

Frosh soph / Tier II playoff @ Montini

2009-05-16 13:30:33    We have 15 guys going to the Frosh - Soph tournament in St. Charles on Sunday, May 17th. Be at Brother Rice Sunday morning at 7:45 am if you want to play on Sunday. You must be a freshman or sophomore to play in this tournament. There will be an Illinois and USA select side coach to evaluate the frosh - sophs in the IYRA. The Tier II playoff is scheduled for Tuesday at Montini. Rice has a Baccalaureate Mass scheduled for Tuesday night at 6:00 pm. We might be able to re-schedule for Monday. I need to know if you are a senior and CANNOT play on Tuesday. I need to know NOW !!! to see who is available. Thanks, Coach Gilmartin 312-81-3480 (brianglm@trinityasset.com).

Frosh-soph and Tier II playoff

2009-05-15 15:21:27    The Chicago Ball was cancelled on Saturday. which means the Mt. Carmel - Downers Grive game was cancelled on Saturday unless they change the venue. I'll post it to website of the game is moved to Mt. Carmel or another field. The St. Charles Frosh - Soph tourney is Sunday in St. Charles. ALL freshmen and sophomores are elegible to play. There will be a USA U-17 selector on hand to watch the matches, so NOW is the weekend for Rice to showcase its talent. Jason Venckus, Mike Houston and Danny Lyons should be looked at, as well as few others. We will carpool and depart from the Brother Rice parking lot on Sunday morning, at 7:45 am. Judge can take 3 - 4 in his car and we only have 15 going (Mike Sheehy and Kevin Gory are unavailable) so all we need are 3 - 4 more cars. The Montini playoff game is next Tuesday, May 19th - i assume everyone is available from the Tier II squad. If there is a problem with seniors attending the Tier II playoff game next Tuesday, I need to know NOW ! Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480

St. Charles and Fox Sports segment today

2009-05-14 14:08:10    Fox did a nicejob with the segmenty on Rice rubgy today. Vambo, Vinnie and Downes were in the shot, as was Lawler who konocked on a pass. (Thanks, Jim.) Anyway, Rice was portrayed in a good light. Glad to see it. Get out to Gaelic by 4:00 pm today, Thursday for the game. Need to warm up talk about St. Charles. (Get me your checks for Elkhart. Only about 20% of the guys have paid. I'm tired of asking for this money. I wanto focos on coaching and the team, and not on being a bank. $40 for unaccompanied players, $15 if your parent made the trip. Make checks payable to Brian Gilmartin.) See you tonight ! we need everyone out - this is when the games count ! Coach Gilmartin 312-810-3480. brianglm@trinityasset.com

Playoff and Fox Sports segment on Rice

2009-05-14 14:03:56   

Rice Tier I playoff game today !!!!

2009-05-14 12:39:19    Brother Rice Tier I is playing St. Charles at Gaelic Park at 5:30 this afternoon, in a Tier I semi-final playoff game. There will be two games, an A and B-side for the Tier I team. EVERYONE must be there, including Tier II (you may play in the b-game). Be at Gaelic at 4:00 pm and ready to warm-up. Judge and I will be there early - about 3:00 pm - to start preparing the field. The Tier I backline will need to get Collin Heffernan up to speed on some of eth newer plays so Collin, Pat Sully, Connor, Marius, etc, if you get there a little bit early and just walk through some of the plays, it would be appreciated. The rain washed away the touch and main field lines, so the field needs to be re-striped. The Tier II B-game may be played this weekend, or next Tuesday at Montini. Get EVERYONE OUT TO GAELIC - this is a HUGE game. St. Charles will be fired up ! Coach Gilmartin (312-810-3480) or brianglm@trinityasset.com. (spread the word around Rice. Make sure everyone knows.)

Fox Sports covering Rice rugby !!!

2009-05-13 15:26:16    Pat Ellwood, a Brother Rice grad and a current Fox Sports reporter, is going to do a piece on Brother Rice rugby from Gaelic Park at 8:45 am tomorrow (Thursday) morning. We need seniors and ANYBODY that isnt required to be in school to be at Gaelic Park for the segment. We will kit up (forwards wear your shorts and cleats) and do a few lineouts and scrums for the shoot as well as some 2nd phase loose play just to give the segment some action. Pat will be suiting up with us and running with us for a bit. The focus of the story will be on the growth of rugby at the high school level. The Judge and I will meet you at Gaelic Park at 8:30 am. Please be there and be ready to run for a few minutes. Thanks. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480. Shoot me an e-mail if you can make it tomorrow morning. I need to be sure we have numbers.

Tier II playoff game postponed

2009-05-13 13:55:42    Gaelic called me about 12:30 pm today and postponed the Tier II playoff game versus Montini scheduled for this afternoon, due to the field. Hopefully we can get it played tomorrow, but Gaelic will give me a call tomorrow morning in terms of allowing Rice to play the Tier I playoff. Sorry - obviously i had no control over this. Still waiting to hear from Fox. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480

Tier II playoffs tonight / Fox Sports Thursday

2009-05-13 10:11:05    Rice Tier II is playing Montini tonight at Gaelic Park. Kickoff around 5:00 pm. The rain could be an issue. Any decision to not play will be made by both coaches and in conjunction with the ref tonight. I dont want to trash Gaelic Park (and Gaelic doesn't want to trash Gaelic Park) before the Tier I playoff game tomorrow against St. Charles. The Tier II playoff game could be made up Saturday at the Blaze in conjunction with the Chicago Ball. There is a 90% chance we'll play tonight, but keep the weather in mind this afternoon as well. Colin Heffernan will be available for Thursday's game (although Bobby Waddell did nothing wrong and filled in admirably) so the Tier I backs need to work together before Thursday, preferably Wednesday on the smaller soccer pitch at Gaelic Park, particularly on the newer back plays. Fox Sports wants to do the segment on brother Rice rugby at 9:00 am Thursday, (tomorrow) morning from Gaelic Park. Seniors, I need EVERYONE there who isn't required to be in school for the shoot. This segment will likely air live on Thursday morning, May 14th from Gaelic Park. Tier I and Tier II, please be out to Gaelic Park tonight as soon as possible for game preparation for tonight and tomorrow. Get Matt Black, Joe Sebek, Scott Dempster, Ian Estabrook (and any other injured players) out tonight and tomorrow for the games. These guys are very much a part of the Rice rugby family. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480

Tier II playoff, Wednesday, 5/13

2009-05-12 22:17:34    Get to Gaelic about 3:30 or 4:00 pm. Tier I backs, Colin Heffernan will be available for a walk-through on Wednesday. We need to work on a few plays with Collin as fly-half so get to Gaelic as soon as possible on Wednesday afternoon. Tier II players: we'll try and get everyone into a game either on Wednesday or Thursday, but the intent is to win on Wednesday, so we will be pressed to play our top 15 - 22 guys. Bobby Waddell and Vinnie Franchetti, bring your gear to Wednesday's game. Has anybody heard from Pete Weyforth ? Selections will be made on Wednesday before the game, but we'll try and get as many players into the game as possible, when and where permitting. This is a big week for Rice rugby. (Still have a lot of guys unpaid from Elkhart. Bring your checks Wednesday.) Tell your parents that kickoff Wednesday is about 5:00 pm, maybe a little later. Post-game meal is at Gaelic following the game. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480.

Practice, Tuesday night 5/12

2009-05-11 15:03:59    Get EVERYONE to St. Walter's on Tuesday, at 4:30 pm. The Tier II playoff will LIKELY be Wednesday at Gaelic Park, versus Montini, while the Tier I playoff will likely be played Thursday night at Gaelic against the loser of Morton vs. St. Charles being played tonight at Morton. We need a solid team practice as we enter our final weeks. 1.) Frosh / soph tournament this Sunday in St. Charles. Get all the frosh / soph's out, including any guys like Ken Kash or Paul Hansen. We need a head count Tuesday night. 2.) Seniors, Fox Sports and Patrick Ellwood want to do a shot from Gaelic Park on Thursday morning, May 14th, possibly at 9:00 am. We will need all seniors and everyone not in school for a segment on Brother Rice rugby to be filmed from Gaelic. Seniors only (!), since they will have the day off. Get me your Elkhart checks or cash: $40 if you were a player in Elkhart unaccompanied by a parent, and $15 if your parent was in attendance. (That is pretty reasonable for a two-day trip. Make checks payable to me Brian Gilmartin, and get the checks in if you want to play this week or weekend.) Coach Gilmartin 312-810-3480.

Frosh - soph game on Sunday / St. Rita

2009-05-10 20:26:42    (Be sure and read the earlier post below). The IYRA has disqualified St. Rita from all Tier II playoffs in '09. None of the players was CIPP'ed (yes, none) and the club wasn't CIPP'ed under the IYRA and USA Rugby rules. That will definitely change our playoff status and prospects for Tier II this year. Get EVERYBODY out to practice on Tuesday night. Rice has entered a team in the Frosh / Soph tourney at Campton Park in St. Charles, next Sunday, May 17th in St. Charles. If guys like Paul Hansen, Ken Kash are sophomores, get them out to practice this week. Hopefully we can get 15 - 17 freshmen and soph's out to put a decent team on the field. Jason Venckus could play, since he is a sophomore at St. Lawrence, but if Tier I wins this week, Jason will likely be held out for the tournament. We can only play FRESHMEN and SOPHOMORES. Get younger guys out who may have fallen away if they want to play. Preference will naturally be given for regular attendees. Get you $40 or $15 Elkhart payments into me this week. Check the website regularly. Coach Gilmartin 312-81-3480.

Practice and playoffs this week

2009-05-10 14:18:44    There is a chance that we will all 3 teams into the playoffs, which start this week. For the Brother Rice Tier I team, we will likely play Thursday at Gaelic Park, against the winner of the Morton - St. Charles game to be played Monday, May 11th at Morton. The winner of our Thursday match at Gaelic Park will play the winner of Mt. Carmel and Downers Grove, also to be played this week. (I'm going to Morton to scout the game Monday night, if anybody wanst to join me. Game time is 5:00 pm, at Morton West High School at 26th and Harlem.) The Tier I B-side could make the playoffs, but the loss to New Trier Friday night might have hurt us, however it was Parent's night, and everybody needed to get into the game. The Tier B-side hopefully will have a playoff game this year, since our 3-1 record should get us in. The Tier II playoffs will be announced this week. We're also 3 - 1 at Tier II, with our only loss to St. Rita. The forfeiture of all games by Hyde Park Academy really played havoc with our Tier II conference and schedule. I'll know more on Monday on what happens with Tier II and the playoffs. Let's practice Tuesday night at St. Walter's and we may do a walk through Wednesday. I would like ALL players to attend practice this week. We started in December as one team, and we will end the season as one team, regardless of which Rice team(s) make the playoffs. Solidarity and continuity is important for all the Brother Rice teams. If you went to Elkhart, i need to start collecting payments from players, which are pretty reasonable: $40 for any player not accompanied by a parent, and $15 for any player, for whom a parent was present at Elkhart. That would be Connor Healy, Harry McCarthy, Arturo Martinez, Dan Hendrin, Conor Piper, and Tony Puentes (who has already paid.) Make checks payable to Brian Gilmartin. I'd like to collect all of this money this week. This is ANOTHER big week for Rice rugby. Let's continue to practice as one team, with one goal in mind, i.e. a State Championship. See you at St. Walter's Tuesday night at 4:30 pm. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480.

New Trier game - still on !!!

2009-05-07 23:19:47    Let's try this again. All players meet at Rice and be ready to leave by 4:00 pm on Friday afternoon. Vambo and Al, leave last so that we know we have everyone. Need to be in Lemont, dressed and kitted up by 5:30 pm, We will have locker rooms in which to change. Game time is around 6:30 pm. Dinner will be after the game. Get your folks out to the game. Check the website throughout the day on Friday. Coach Gilmartin, 312-810-3480.

New Trier game - still on !!!

2009-05-07 23:16:07    It is late Thursday night, and the Lemont game is still on. Players, get to Rice and be ready to pm on Friday afternoon. Meet at Rice and carpool so everyone has a ride. Vambo and Al, leave last so you make sure everybody has a lift. We need a good game Friday night. New Trier will be a better team than the one we played on March 14th. If you have any questions, dont hesitate to call me. 312-810-3480. Check this website throughout the day on Friday. The Blaze website is www.chicagoblazerugby.com. Directions are on the website but i cant find an exact address. Coach Gilmartin

Lemont is on for Friday ! practice tonight at 4:30

2009-05-07 14:37:13    4:30 pm at St. Walters tonight for a good run / walk-through. The Chicago Blaze and their representatives gave us the go-ahead to play Friday night, May 8th in Lemont at the Chicago Blaze facilities. Rice rugby is ON !!!! The easiest way to get to the Chicago Blaze facilities is to take 95th Street west to 294 North to I-88 West to 355 South. Exit 127th Street, turn right (west) drive 2 blocks to Smith Rd. Turn left (south) two more blocks to the Chicago Blaze Rugby facilities on your left. Pass along to you parents. This is a big night for Rice Rugby. Let's have a good walk -run through tonight and pass the word around at school. Coach Gilmartin brianglm@trinityasset.com (312-810-3480).

Practice Thursday, May 7th

2009-05-06 19:39:07    St. Walter's at 4:30 pm. Our game is scheduled for Lemont on Friday night, with kickoff at 6:30 pm, but we may move it to Gaelic Park, just to be sure it can be played. Let's meet at St. Walter's Thursday at 4:30 pm. Hopefully the practice field wont be under water. No bus for Friday night, so be sure and arrange rides for Friday night. The rain has fouled up everything. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480

Practice Tuesday, May 5th

2009-05-04 18:45:32    4:30 pm at St. Walters. All teams did a good job this weekend in Elkhart. We played some quality programs from the Midwest with bigger athletes and it showed, but Rice represented well and we are well prepared for our last two games of the season and for playoffs. Friday night is the new Trier game under the lights in Lemont. Assuming it doesnt rain and the game doesn't get cancelled, we'll play 2.5 games under the lights, with the post-game meal to be after the game. Tell your parents, teachers and the school staff. Hopefully it will be a great night for Brother Rice rugby. Forwards: Matt Kelly, the former SouthSide Irish and Midwest 8-man (and a Rice theology teacher) will be at St. Walter's on Tuesday night to give a primer on lineout movement. I'd like us to free up some space in the line-out and move the targeted jumper around to confuse the defense. Matt will show us a few moves that we can work on the remainder of the week. We have just two regular season games left: Friday with New Trier and next Monday at Gaelic against Morton, and then the playoffs start Wednesday or Thursday of next week. We need our scrums and lineouts working in a pristine fashion. We need to be prepared. This is an important week of practice. Be on time and ready to go Tuesday night at 4:30 pm. Let me know if you can't make it. Coach Gilmartin, 312-810-3480, (brianglm@trinityasset.com).

Mapquest Elkhart and Jameson Inn South Bend

2009-05-01 18:06:16    For parents driving up for the game, use 1500 County Road 6 W for the Moose Rugby Grounds address and select Moose Lodge for Mapquest. The Jameson Inn South Bend is located at 215 South Dixie Way, South Bend Indiana, 46637. The telephone is 574-277-3211. Ask for the Brother Rice room rate. My cell is 312-810-3480 should you need anything. Coach Gilmartin

Directions to Elkhart and Hotel in South Bend, Ind

2009-05-01 13:12:39    Big weekend for Brother Rice rugby, but even with the departures of guys back to Chicago for the McCauley prom, we still have a lot of talent and depth for the first side. Win the first game tomorrow and we control our own fate. Here are the directions to Elkhart from the SouthWest Side: take 294 East into Indiana and pick up the Indiana Tollway East (90 - East) to the Elkhart #92 exit. Exit At Elkhart (about 90 miles from Rice), pay the toll, turn left and drive back over 90-East, to the 2nd light or County Road 6 (CR 6). Turn right, drive past the WalMart and past the airport (both on your left) about 2 miles and the Moose Rugby Grounds will be on your right. Once you pass the small airport on your left, look for the grounds on your right. NO DOGS/NO PETS and NO ALCOHOL are allowed on the Moose Rugby Grounds. (Coach's cell 312-810-3480 - call me if you get lost, but if we are in the middle of a game, i may not answer. Judge's cell 708-767-9008, and Sean Sullivan's cell 312-915-5641). We are staying at the Jameson Inn Hotel in South Bend, Indiana. Address is 215 South Dixie Way, South Bend Indiana (telephone: 574-277-3211). Jameson is actually Exit #77 off of 90-East so we will pass South Bend on the way to the tournament, and then drive back that evening. Take 90-West (if coming from Elkhart) or 90-East if coming from Chicago, and exit at #77 South Bend Indiana (Notre Dame), which is In-933 / US 31 Business. Turn left at South Dixie Way (sings for Roseland / Niles Mi) and look for the Jameson Inn.

Midwest Championship - Elkhart, Indiana May 2 - 3

2009-05-01 09:02:33    The bus is leaving Brother Rice at 6:00 am, Saturday morning, May 2nd for Elkhart, Indiana for the Midwest Rugby High School Championships, to be played at the Moose Grounds, Elkhart, Indiana. (We played Penn at the Moose grounds in March.) Make sure ALL players have your school ID, driver's license (or birth certificate) and insurance card(front and back) copied onto an 8.5 by 11" sheet of paper. Once we get to Elkhart, we will register the team with the Midwest Tournament Coordinator. This is done by standing in a single file line, showing each player's paperwork, along with team paperwork which I will have. Here is a rough itinerary for the trip: * May 2nd (Saturday) - 6:00 am - leave Brother Rice for Elkhart - 9:00 am - arrive Elkhart Moose Rugby Grounds (time change - eastern time) - 11:00 am - Tier I game vs Cathedral (Indianapolis) - 1:00 pm - Brother Rice Developmental vs. Penn Developmental - 3:00 pm - Tier I - 2nd game of day (depends on who wins at 11:00 am) - 4:00 pm - Tier 2 - Brother Rice B's vs Cathedral B's - 5:00 pm - Depart Elkhart for hotel in South Bend, Indiana - 7:00 pm - team dinner with parent's and coaches Sunday May 3rd - 6:00 pm - wake up and breakfast - 7:00 am - depart for Elkhart on team bus - 9:00 am - Both Rice B's and Rice Developmental play at 9:00 am - 11:00 am - Single-School Championship - 1:00 pm - Tier I game (depends on the outcome of Saturday's matches) - 2:15 pm - tournament championship game We can depart from Elkhart for Rice once all games are completed. Check back on the website later for directions and further instructions. There is plenty of rugby to be played this weekend, so let everyone know. Coach Gilmartin (312-810-3480) brianglm@trinityasset.com

Kennedy Park - 112th - 113th & Western

2009-04-30 15:06:26    Kennedy Park is located at 113th and Western. Just a 5-minute ride from St. Walters. It is tucked behind the tennis courts you can see from Western Av. Just park on the south side of the park and we'll be in between teh baseball diamonds. The field should be in better shape than St. Walters. Again, 45 - 60 minutes and we are done and on the way home.

Practice at Kennedy Park - 1 hour (if that)

2009-04-30 14:59:43    Let's meet at Kennedy Park at 4;30 pm for a quick run and walk-through and then get home. Since there is no lightning and thunder we and it is relativelty warm out, let's work in units and then get home for the Hawk's game. (tell your parent's i have 18 rooms reserved at the Jameson Inn South Bend for Saturday night. I need to fill these rooms so have them check with me first before making their own reservations.) Tell your folks to check the website on Friday for ALL information. See you at Kennedy Park tonight at 4:30 pm. we'll get in and out quickly. Coach Gilmartin 312-810-3480.

Practice at Kennedy Park - 1 hour

2009-04-30 14:56:24   

Thursday practice and Elkhart

2009-04-30 12:00:05    Fellas, be sure and let your teammates know that the Midwest high school Championship this weekend requires: 1.) a driver's license or State ID (or birth certificate), 2.) a valid School ID, and 3.) the front and back of an insurance card copied onto the 8.5 by 11 inch sheet of paper. If you see your mates around school and they plan on going to Elkhart, MAKE SURE THEY ARE AWARE OF THIS REQUIRMENT. Someone is going to get on the bus Saturday morning with out these doc's - i just know it, which could mean they won't be able to play AT ALL in Elkhart. (Check Andy Kacz when you see him in the halls. Make sure he knows of this.) I'm tying to get practice time tonight in the gym: check the website later. The Midwest has added a 2 more Festival games to Rice's schedule which means we could have 2 games EACH day this weekend in the Festival bracket. Tell Tim Martin, Angus, and Mark Morrissey that if they want to drive up on Sunday (as well as anyone else) we're gonna have games. Where has Paul Hansen been ? Check the website later for practice info. Coach Gilmartin 312-810-3480.

Thursday practice

2009-04-29 21:38:13    It is supposed to rain heavily on Thursday, so i'm trying to get a gym for an hour or two on Thursday night, but we may get washed out entirely. If it doesn's rain, let's go to St. Walter's. (Check the website on Thursday afternoon for instructions !!!). Festival players: Elkhart had another team back out of the Festival bracket so i've thrown Brother Rice Developmental into the mix. We could get two games on Saturday and two on Sunday. I'll know more on Thursday. (Some guys were whining about just having two games over the weekend. Keep the faith. Next you'll be crabbing about too many games.) We have a busy month of May. Stay focused and keep working ! Check the website on Thursday afetrnoon. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480.

Morton game cancelled - field unplayable

2009-04-29 13:30:40    Today's Morton game was cancelled. The field is unplayable, and so is Gaelic. We tried Gaelic again, but they said "no way" as well. There is a meeting at school at 3:30 pm today, (April 29th) at Brother Rice for the Midwest Championship's this weekend. ATTENDANCE is MANDATORY. I still don't have a good head-count and we need to distribute the schedule and forms to players. See you at 3:30 pm today. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480.

Morton game, Wednesday, 4/29/09

2009-04-28 21:23:44    The bus will leave Rice about 3:15 pm. Get on the bus early. Kickoff for Tier I is 4:45 pm, and there will be a Tier II game following, and then a third half (hopefully). Morton West is at 26th and Harlem. The game will be played on the freshmen football field, near the tennis courts. (Look for the car wash, seriously.) From Rice take 95th Street to Harlem north to 26th Street, or take 96th to 2-94 West/North to I-55 to Harlem North. Morton West is a big campus. Look for the freshman football field. It is pretty easy. The straight shot is Harlem north to 26th Street. Call me at 312-810-3480 if the driver gets lost. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com)

Practice Tuesday 4/28/09

2009-04-27 17:15:38   Practice will be Tuesday, 4/28/09 at St. Walter's at 4:30 pm. Everyone will play in the Tier I – Tier II game Wednesday but the game will be at Morton West High School at 26th and Harlem. Kickoff will be at 4:45 pm, Wednesday night. one (1) bus will leave from Rice at 3:15 pm on Wednesday 4/29/09 for the Morton game. We will need a 2.5 hour practice Tuesday night since Morton will be our warm-up for this weekend's Midwest tournament. We'll talk about it Tuesday night. Be a little early on Tuesday, particularly the forwards. We are going to add one wrinkle to the lineout. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480

Practice cancelled, Sunday 4/26/09

2009-04-26 11:56:12    Let's cancel practice. We'll only tear up whatever field we practice on anyway. Too much rain. Be at St. Walter's Tuesday night at 4:30 pm sharp to get in a good 2.5 hour run. (I might call a practice for Monday, keep checking the website.) We're going to add one twist to the lineout so make sure all forwards are there. We play Morton on Wednesday, probably at Miller Meadows in Berwyn near Loyola Hospital, since Gaelic Park hasn't gotten back to me on using our home field. Send me an e-mail if you want to go to Elkhart and if your parent's will chaperone. The cost of the hotel in South Bend will be $57.99 plus tax on Saturday, plus your meals on Saturday and Sunday. EVERYONE WILL PLAY in ELKHART. We have two festival bracket games for Tier II, and at least two - three games for the tournament team. Some guys will move up to the tournament team on Saturday and Sunday given the prom departures, so everyone will get into the Festival game(s). LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT TO GO. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480. We may practice Monday at or around Rice if the weather clears. Check the website. My apologies for the last minute machinations. It makes no sense to run in mud / slick conditions. Keep Mondat available. Will try and work something out.

Practice cancelled

2009-04-26 11:47:27   

Practice Sunday, 1:30 and Elkhart trip

2009-04-24 17:04:02    The Tier I team is scheduled to play Cathedral (Indianapolic Catholic High School) on Saturday morning in Elkhart, May 2nd as our opening round game. The Tier II team plays later that Saturday about 3:00 pm. At Sunday's practice (April 26th at 1:30 pm at St. Wlater's), Judge and i need to start getting a headcount for Elkhart. If you are attending McCauley's prom and can make at least 1 game in Elkhart we need to know that now, so that i can plan for lineup adjustments and schedule enough rooms. The winner of the Rice - Cathedral game will play the winner of the St. Ed's - Brownsburg game on Saturday afternoon. We'll start taking names on Sunday for the Elkhart trip. Don't commit to go unless you can definitely make it. We'll likely leave from Brother Rice in a bus on Saturday morning May 2nd about 6:00 am, for the trip to Elkhart and then stay overnight Saturday night in South Bend. We're taking two teams and EVERYBODY WILL PLAY. Coach Gilmartin 312-810-3480 (brianglm@trinityasset.com).

Practice Sunday, 1:30 pm 4/26/09

2009-04-24 14:43:04    It is supposed to be 80 degrees and summy on Sunday. Let's meet at St. Walter's and work for 90 minutes and then get out of there. The IYRA is inquiring if we want to play St. Rita again, since Hyde Park Academy forfeited all of their games, and the division is so screwed up. We could have played more guys since i got clarification on some of the Tier I - Tier II eligibility rules since our Gaelic Park game, but I'll leave it up to the Tier II squad to tell me if you want another go at them. The odds are we could see Rita in the playoffs. See you Sunday for a 90 minute walk-through, run on some finer points. Coach Gilmartin 312-810-3480 (brianglm@trinityasset.com). Need to start getting a headcount on Elkhart too. On Sunday, will start taking names and interest in going to Elkhart for May 2nd - 3rd Midwest playoffs. The Tier II team will play a game on both Saturday and Sunday in teh Festival bracket. The Tier I team will play Cathedral (out of Indianapolis) in our first game Saturday morning. Coach

Practice tonite / Parent's meeting tonight

2009-04-23 09:27:53    There is practice tonight (Thursday, 4/23) at 4:30 pm at St. Walters. Be on time and ready to go by 4:30 since we will have to be done and on our way to the parent's meeting at Barraco's by 6:30 pm. The parents meeting at Baracco's at 7:00 pm will feature pizza and snacks for those attending (including players) with a cash bar. We'll discuss the season so far to date, the Midwest playoffs, the IYRA finals, and some discussion of a parent's club that will be run by Jack Lydon. We've had a great season to date, but we are only half-way through the season. Our best rugby is ahead of us. The Tier I team, as a compliment to them, is only playing at 50% of potential, and we're still undefeated. The best rugby rugby for Tier I is still ahead of them as well. ASK YOUR PARENT's to PLEASE ATTEND TONIGHTS MEETING. We will discuss the rest of the seasn as well as a game plan for the future of the club. (Joe C. i have your red kicking tee. Will bring it to practice tonight.) Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480.

Tier II game tonight at Gaelic, Wed 4/22/09

2009-04-22 09:27:21    Tier II, (that should be about 30 guys) get to Gaelic and be kitted up and be ready to warm up 3:45 pm. Be ready absolutely no later than 4:00 pm. We'll warm-up with some light contact, some tackling drills, and then talk about and walk through some strategy. Assume kick-off will occur between 4:30 - 5:00 pm. We'll play at least 3 halves tonight, depending on their numbers. EVERYBODY WILL PLAY. Don't forget to tell your parents about the Parent's meeting at Barraco's on Thursday, April 24th at 7:00 pm in one of the back rooms. It is a cash bar, but some pizza's and appetizers will be on hand. We'll talk about the trip to Elkhart and the Midwest Playoff, and the remainder of the season as well as discuss our progress thus far on forming a parents club for the rugby team. Coach Gilmartin 312-810-3480 (brianglm@trinityasset.com)

Practice tonight - game tomorrow at Gaelic Park

2009-04-21 10:44:15    Let's meet at St Walter's at 4:30 pm tonight (Tuesday, April 21) and run for a bit and then get out of there. The Tier II game tomorrow night at Gaelic Park will be against Oak Park River Forest, and should kick-off about 5:00 pm. Tell your parents. The Tier I game against Morton has been postponed until next week, Wednesday, and will be played at either Gaelic or Miller Meadows in Berwyn. Oak Park now has a few games under their belt after our 73 - 0 drubbing at their place in early April. Expect a better team, for sure. See you tonight at St. Walter's at 4:30 pm. Don't forget to tell your folks about the parent's meeting at 7:00 pm at Baracco's on Thursday night. All players are welcome too. We'll talk about the Midwest trip to Elkhart and the IYRA State Championship, as well as the formation of the Brother Rice Rugby parent's club. Coach Gilmartin 312-810-3480 (brianglm@trinityasset.com)

Morton and OPRF on Wednesday at Gaelic

2009-04-20 17:58:53    We are tentatively scheduled to play Morton at Gaelic on Wednesday in terms of the Tier I team, and the Tier II team is also scheduled to play Oak-Park River-Forest again. Not sure if we'll have time for a B-game for either side. Sorry - this was a coach's error as a result of being overworked and under paid. We can (and should) win both games, but i may try a few guys at some different positions to see what is what. Practice Tuesday at St. Walter's at 4:30 pm. We'll go light with some contact and tackling practice, but mainly fitness and just polishing up some rough spots. Again, it was a great Sunday in terms of all levels of play. The lower level forwards still have an issue with rucking that is giving your coach the first signs of gray hair and will drive me to an early grave. For some reason we aren't doing it and it absolutely drives me into fits of purple rage, since we've been working on it since December. It isnt a matter of NOT being able to do it: you\'ve handled everything we've asked you to do all year now, but for some reason driving that 1- 2 meters over the ball around the tackle is just not registering. We'll talk about it Tuesday night. There may be an issue with getting two games at Gaelic given the rain the past few days. I sure hope we can get these games in. See you Tuesday at 4:30 pm at St. Walter's. Coach Gilmartin, 312-810-3480. brianglm@trinityasset.com.

Games this week - (maybe) Morton and Oak Park

2009-04-20 12:11:44    From reading the schedule, I thought we had an open week this week at the Tier I level, but we may have a game scheduled against Morton at Gaelic Park. The Tier II is scheduled for a home game against Oak Park, also at Gaelic, although i'm not sure what day. I'll get all the info and be back at players later. Figure at least one side will have a game this week, and we may possibly get 3 games again. Coach Gilmartin 312-810-3480 (brianglm@trinityasset.com).

Rice rugby update

2009-04-19 19:38:00    We prevailed in 3 games against Mt. Carmel on Sunday, April 19th in tough conditions (rain, wet, slick ball-handling.) You guys are in the driver's seat this year in terms of playoffs. We still ahve to play New Trier and Naperville (Naperville is a crossover game) and Naperville might be undefeated as well, so we can't relax entirely just yet. Since there is a Tier I b-side championship this year and a Tier II championship, Brother Rice could conceivably have 3 teams in the finals come Memorial Day weekend final in Lemont. We've only been beaten by St. Rita and that was Tier II, so we are undefeated in Tier I and Tier I B-side brackets. (The Tier I b-side beat both Lincoln Way B's, and Ignatius B's, no ?) The Tier II side will make the playoffs despite the loss to Rita, so Tier Ii will get at least a Round I bid for sure. This is all due to the heart, dedication and attendance of all players at practice since late December, 2008. The 60 guys that comprise Rice rugby have done it all, i.e. traveled to Elkhart, endured a pretty rigorous practice schedule, played top Midwest teams, etc. and you've come out winners half-way through the season, and congrats are to be offered to every single player on the team, regardless of level or ability. The next step is Elkhart on May 2nd, and 3rd. Rice caught a break with the "single-school" bracket, which means we'll (possibly) compete against St. Ignatius and Notre Dame LaSalette, which are formidable in and of themselves, but it means we won't play Penn or Westerville. With our depth, we could go deep in this bracket and possibly get a National berth (the top 3 teams from the Midwest move on to the National finals.) I'd like to go and Judge would like to go, so we will need to be able to replace the players that will go to McAuley's prom, which gives guys an opportunity to step up, and play 3 games this weekend as well as make a significant contribution. We'll talk about it this week: maybe the McAuley prom contingent can give us a game on Saturday and trek back to Chicago. Congrats again to a formidable Rice rugby squad. You guys did the work, but we're not quite done yet. Coach Gilmartin (312-810-3480) or brianglm@trinityasset.com

Sunday, April 19th v Mt. Carmel

2009-04-18 20:29:20    For the frosh-soph, either a true frosh / soph or any upper classmen under 150 lb's and without a full season under their belt get out to Gaelic Park by 8:30 am and be kitted up and ready to for the 9:00 am game. We'll likely play 2 20 minute halves. The b-game is at 10:00 am and the A-game is at 11:00 am. This is a big day for Rice rugby. Carmel is hungry, but we've proven ourselves worthy already this year. I would like the A-side kitted up and ready to go NO LATER THAN 10:15 am, but get out to Gaelic early to support the first and 2nd game players. A win on Sunday for Tier I puts us in the driver's seat in CARFU and the IYRA. We've overcome a number of obstacles already this year. We'll take the next on, head on. Coach Gilmartin (312-810-3480 or brianglm@trinityasset.com)

Walk-through Saturday, April 18th at Gaelic

2009-04-17 10:40:57    We'll have a walk-through Saturday, April 18th at Gaelic for the Sunday game(s) versus Mt. Carmel. We'll meet at Gaelic tomorrow at 10:30 am, and we'll work for about 90 minutes. The SouthSide Irish are playing Lincoln Park at 1:00 pm in what should be a pretty good game if players want to hang around and watch. We have 3 games on Sunday: a frosh-soph game at 9:00 am, a B-game at 10:00 am and then the A-game at 11:00 am, all on Sunday morning at Gaelic Park. During Saturday's walk-through we'll simply review some forward and back technique with nothing new to be introduced. We'll work various plays and situations so that everyone knows responsibilities and locations. The starting lineup will likely be similar to the Lincoln-Way game with possibly some mlast-minute changes, and depending who is available and back from vacation. Most importantly, EVERYONE WILL PLAY this Sunday that wants a game. We'll keep Saturday light and positive. Everyone has made good progress this year. See you Saturday morning at Gaelic at 10:30 am. Last point: Lincoln-Way is playing St. Charles in Lemont at 6:00 pm on Friday night, April 17th, (tonight) if the Tier I guys want to take a ride (or anyone else for that matter). We'll likely face one or both of these teams in the State playoffs. Keep the faith - EVERYONE is doing well and putting in the time to be successful. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996 or 312-810-3480 (cell).

Frosh - soph game on Sunday

2009-04-15 19:23:14    Mt. Carmel has enough kids to play a frosh - soph game on Sunday at 9:00 am. Let's try and get Rice organized to see if we have enough under classmen to give them a good game. We can fill in if we don't have 15, but let's get a headcount Thursday night and put players into various positions to see what we need. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com)

Practice, Thursday, April 16th at St. Walter's

2009-04-15 09:10:52    Not a good run last night, given the field conditions, etc, but we'll make up for it on Thursday night. All other things being equal, it wasn't such a bad night either. We got some critical work done in the forwards, and in the backs and we sharpened the pencil in terms of some of our existing movements. Get everybody there early on Thursday, and be ready to go. Hopefully the ground will be drier and sturdier and we'll have better working conditions. With the weather this bad we could have stayed at Mt. Greenwood longer. It was a good turnout last night despite the spring break, and it has been a long season already, so thanks for the hard work so far and the enthusiasm. We're in a good spot in terms of of our schedule and the rest of the spring season. Midwest playoffs: the Midwest playoffs are the weekend of May 2nd and 3rd. I would really like to take 2 teams since, with this year's junior crop of Vambo, Sully, Conor Healy, Jason Venckus, Scott Dempster, Chuck Busking, Tom Clements, Bobby Waddell, Dan Lyons, Jpe Sebek, Houston, Downes, etc. (and my apologies if i left anybody out), we will likely be very competitive in the Midwest in 2010. With our junior talent this year and the guys in the pipeline, our goal for next year should be the Midwest Final 4 and a trip to the National Championship. We should try and make the trip this year just to get some experience and the fact is we have a very competitive team this year as well. Give me some feedback after Thursday night's practice. I want to know if you guys are interested in making the trip. We can also put a team in the "Festival" bracket for the Tier 2 and Tier 3 guys that don't get selected for the top 22 for Tier I. We can easily take and play 45 guys over the tournament IF YOU WANT TO GO. You guys tell me whether you want to go and play. I think it would be huge for your development. See you Thursday: be prepared to work a full 2 - 2.5 hours on all facets of play. Cocah Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480

Big week for Rice rugby - practice Tues at Walters

2009-04-13 23:12:00    We have a chance to go 3 - 0 on Sunday, and control our own destiny. Be focused, on time and ready to go on Tuesday and Thursday this week. Very little that is new will be introduced, but we'll review a number of our offensive and defensive schemes be sure evrybody is thinking along the same lines and be we'll be sure to have the calls down so everyone is one the same page. It is important that - in the event of injuries - we can sub in forwards or backs that understand the schemes. So even if you arent a Tier I starter, listen and watch what is happening and get an idea of what the overall plan is for Sunday. See everyone at 4:30 pm at St. Walters on Tuesday, April 14th. Check with the guys around school that haven't been out and get 'em to practice, including Michael McGreal. Guys like Angus, Joe (injured knee), Scott Dempster, Murph, and Matt Black are very much a part of the team. Make sure they get out to the game on Sunday. We have a few other things to discuss on Tuesday night, including the Transportation Fee, Midwest Playoffs and the Friday Night Lights for Rice Rugby on May 8th. There will be a parent's meeting at Baracco's on Thursday, April 23rd. Parent's are welcome and wanted. They need to do anything and we won't hit them up for anything. It is a state of the season address. Coach Gilmartin, brianglm@trinityasset.com. 312-810-3480.

Mt. Carmel game(s), Sunday, April 19th at Gaelic

2009-04-12 10:17:18    In order to secure a decent ref, the Rice - Carmel Tier I match has been (tentatively) moved to Sunday, April 19th at Gaelic. We'll try and get three games in (including a frosh-soph) but it may just be a Tier I A and B game. This is a BIG game for Brother Rice, and i absolutely don't want anyone to underestimate or take lightly, this week's opponent. We are in the driver's seat in the Tier I division, but 3 - 0 as we approach the Midwest playoffs and the season's midpoint is a much preferred position than 2 - 1. THIS IS A HUGE WEEK FOR BROTHER RICE RUGBY. We need everyone out to practice, fired up, enthusiastic, and ready to work this week, which will be at St. Walter's on Tuesday night, at 4:30 pm. St. Walter's and Karstrand Field is just off Western at 117th and Oakley. It is where we practiced for 7's this past summer. Jason Venckus, i need you and Josh there on time Tuesday and Thursday. Tuesday and Thursday nights will be real practice with a Saturday walk-through before the Sunday game. Mt. Carmel may want to play a frosh-soph match, so if we have enough freshmen and sophomores to make a complete 15's team, we'll try and get another game in. Go for a light run over the weekend, and hit the weight room, given the 10-day hiatus we'll have between Lincoln-Way and the Mt. Carmel games. Hopefully everybody will be back from vacation in time, and the stretch between games will allow for some healing of aches and pains. Somebody please check on Michael McGreal and see if he can make it to all 3 practices this week. Finally, I just want to say on behalf of the coaching staff, how well the Rice players have performed this season. The St. Rita kids are tough kids, but we never gave up in any of our tougher games this year. EVERY PLAYER (from 1 through 60) has represented well this year and played with heart and fire. It has been tough to get everyone quality game minutes with the number of kids we have in the Rice program, but we have many more regular season and playoff games ahead of us, so keep the faith. Your coaching staff is working to get everyone into games and enough games to keep everyone interested. It isn't easy (believe me). If anyone sees CJ Breitling, get him out this week. Mt. Carmel will be a tough opponent. The key this week will be judicious use of our practice and preparation time. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480.

St. Rita Tier II match, 4/11/09

2009-04-10 17:08:13    Be at Gaelic Park by 9:45 am tomorrow, Saturday, April 11th and be kitted up and ready to warm-up no later than 10:00 am (and i mean no later than 10:00 am.) Kickoff will occur between 10:30 and 10:45 am. This is an important game for the Tier II side. Tier II has a league playoff at the State Finals on Memorial Day, so this game will count. During warm-ups, we'll review a few ways we can attack and maintain ball against a much bigger group of forwards. St. Rita has a good squad, but Rice should be up to the task. Be sure everyone gets out including, Kyle Kronk, Paul Hansen, Conor Boyd, and some others like Paul Stouffer, Pete Weyforth, etc. A LOT of guys were missing Thirsday night. See if Angus was available. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480.

Practice tonight, 4:30 pm April 9th at Ag School

2009-04-09 09:15:46    What a showing by both sides last night ! The Tier I defense was INCREDIBLE. Lincoln-Way probably had the ball 25 of the 35 minutes of the first half, and we still managed to come out with points. Let's do a walk-through tonight for 90 minutes at the Ag school. NOTE THE STARTING TIME: let's go back to 4:30 pm, and get you home early. The Tier II game is Saturday, at Gaelic Park, versus St. Rita @ 11:00 am. THIS IS A LEAGUE MATCH. Saturday's match counts in the standings. We'll review the Lincoln-Way game in its totality Thursday night. No contact tonight, just walk-through and unopposed and work on some weaker areas. Congrats to all Brother Rice Players ! Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480.

Tier I Lincoln-Way game, April 8th

2009-04-08 12:13:55    Be on the bus by 3:00 - 3:15 pm today for the ride to Lincoln-Way. Despite the injuries, new personnel and the distractions this year, we have a good chance to go 2-0 today in Tier I, despite a tough opponent. We'll get to the pitch early, we'll probably spend a little more time than usual warming up, and then we'll talk a little strategy before the game starts. Let you parent's know the pitch is located at Summit Hill Junior High School, 7260 West North Avenue, Frankfurt, Ill., 60487. The easiest way to get to the pitch per Mapquest is I-294 South to I-80 West to Harlem to North Avenue. Travel time from Brother Rice is just 30 minutes. I'll see everyone at Brother Rice before 3:00 pm today. Call or e-mail with issues. Coach Gilmartin, 312-810-3480 (brianglm@trinityasset.com).

Michael Igoe

2009-04-06 14:17:40    After a flurry of activity (e-mails, texts, and phone calls, etc.) over the weekend regarding Michael Igoe, and the IYRA Competition Committee, a new vote was conducted by the 5 members of the IYRA Competition Committee this morning, and Michael Igoe is finally, and irrevocably found to be a good member of the Brother Rice Rugby Club for the remainder of the Spring '09 season. Michael, assuming he still wants to wants to play rugby at all, is without doubt now, a member in good standing of the Brother Rice Rugby Football Club. I've sent him an e-mail, so hopefully he isnt disgusted with this whole pricess, and will be at practice tomorrow night. Spread the word. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480.

Lincoln-Way and St. Rita this week

2009-04-06 11:01:13    The Brother Rice coaching staff can't say enough positive comments about the heart shown both Saturday night against St. Rita, and Sunday versus St. Ignatius. There was good play all around, and some new faces emerged Saturday night that can play Tier II (easily) and even Tier I (if needed) and the heart and grit shown by the Tier II players that stepped up to play in the Tier I St. Ignatius game was phenomenal. We have a Tier I match vesrus Lincoln-Way Wednesday night, April 8th at 4:30 pm, at Lincoln-Way and we'll need every body (literally). We'll work and do a walk through Tuesday night at the Ag school but there will be little contact to stay fresh. I may try and get out of the B-game to preserve bodies, unless you guys convince me otherwise. There will be a Tier II league match Saturday morning, April 11th at Gaelic Park versus St. Rita for the Collegiate All-Stars versus the Southside Irish opener. This is a LEAGUE match, like Oak Park was, and will count towards the Tier II playoffs. All the Teir II players had a chance to see the full Tier II St. Rita squad Saturday night, so we will need the regular Tier II starters healthy and fresh for Saturday. With the injuries incurred Sunday, we will have to move some bodies around, but if we can get through Wednesday night victorious, and start the Tier I season with 2 wins, we will have some time to recuperate physically before our next Tier I game. Again, congrats to all those involved in this weekend's games, regardless of the level. I'll see you Tuesday night at 5:30 pm (note the new start time) at the Ag School, and EVERYONE be prepared to work for 2 hours or so. Remember, it is all about having fun. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480.

Week of April 6th, Lincoln-Way and St. Rita

2009-04-06 10:43:06   

Clarifying this weekend - April 4th, 5th '09

2009-04-03 17:47:31    Saturday, the Tier I players will start a walk-through at Brother Rice in preparation for Sunday's game at St. Ignatius at 2:30 pm, which will last about an hour and a half. (Chuck Busking, be at Rice for the Tier I walk-through as well as the Tier II starting backline.) All Tier II players are invited, particularly the starting 15 Tier II players, many of which could see acton in Sunday's Tier I B-game, but the Tier II walk-through will be at 4:00 pm, also at Brother Rice, and will include all non Tier I players. We will leave Brother Rice at 5:00- 5:15 pm for St. Rita at 79th and Western, around 5:00 - 5:15 pm. There will be no bus, thus we will have to car pool to St. Rita on Saturday night. (Ask you parent's to meet us at Rice Saturday night at 5:00 pm. to car pool to St. Rita.) Sunday morning, there will be a bus leaving from Brother Rice no later than 9:15 am, for St. Ignatius. St. Ignatius is located at 1076 West Roosevelt Road, Chicago, 60608. Tell your parent's to take the Dan Ryan North to Roosevelt Road, Taylor Street, and then west to St. Ignatius. No bus Saturday night, but there will be a bus Sunday. Saturday night's game is designed for Tier II players, while Sunday is Tier I A-side but some Tier II players will play the Tier I B-side match. Get players out for Saturday night. Non-league match versus St. Rita under the lights at St. Rita Stadium. If you find any of this confusing, call or e-mail me. To all those taking the ACT/SAT Saturday, April 4th, BEST OF LUCK !!!! Coach Gilmartin 312-810-3480 (brianglm@trinityasset.com).

Tier I vs Tier II eligibility

2009-04-03 14:49:31    There will be plenty of rugby this weekend for EVERYONE. I just checked with the IYRA and with the Tier I B-side game following the A-side game on Sunday, we can bring up Tier II players to fill in slots in the B-game, so at the Tier II walk-through tomorrow, I'll have some names of players that I'd like to see in the Sunday B-game. Your coaches are working hard to get players games, so keep the faith. We're getting there. Saturday night, is mostly for guys who haven't gotten a lot of playing time in the pre-season, and aren't slotted in readily to a position on the Tier II squad. Tier II: everyone be at the walk-through Saturday at 4:00 pm or so and EVERYONE WILL PLAY. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com, 312-810-3480).

Tier I walk-through Sat, 4/4 and Tier II game

2009-04-03 10:49:16    Tier I will do a walk-through on Saturday, April 4th at 2:30 pm, at Brother Rice, for Sunday's game against St. Ignatius. The bus will leave Rice at 9:15 am Sunday morning (no later) so be at Rice no later than 9:00 am Sunday morning for the ride downtown. The Tier I walk-through will be at 2:30 pm Saturday at Rice, and then we expect the Tier I guys to come watch the game at St. Rita and support the Tier II and 3rd side. Tier II: let's do a separate walk-through at Rice at 4:00 pm, and then get into cars and head to St. Rita around 5:00 - 5:15 pm. Kick-off is scheduled for 6:00 pm. ALL Tier II players are expected to be at the walk-through, although the game is intended to get some of the non-regulars playing time. Michael McGreal, and Dan Hendrin, please plan on being at both the Tier I and Tier II walk-through, (part of Tier II anyway,and then we'll cut you loose) since i would like to get you both some minutes Saturday night against a bigger pack, at different positions. Someone reach out to Angus, and make sure he is there Saturday, both at Rice and at Rita. Conor Yanz is unavailable for Sunday's game. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480. See you tomorrow at Rice and be ready to work by 2:30 pm.

Tier I walk-through Sat, 4/4 and Tier II game

2009-04-03 10:23:24    The Tier II and Tier III players will have a NON-LEAGUE game against St. Rita, Saturday night, April 4th at St. Rita under the lights, at 6:00 pm. Rice is going to play a lot of our players who have been subbing into other games, all good players, but for whatever reason haven't been getting good game time simply due to numbers or other considerations.

Practice April 2nd, 2009 - 4:30 pm

2009-04-01 22:08:59    Let's try and work one more night at MGP, Thursday night at 4:30 pm, and move to the Ag School next week. St. Rita is looking for a game Saturday night, April 4th at 6:00 pm, under the lights at St. Rita. If there are Rice kids that want a game and want to play Saturday night (and that means you Angus), let me know Thursday. I want to get players games this year, and these opportunities don't come up very often. You guys tell me if you want to play. I think we can make it happen for you. Our Sunday Tier I game against St. Ignatius will kickoff at 11:00 am. We need to be at St. Ignatius by 10:00 am Sunday morning to get kitted and warmed up. There will be two games Sunday, an A and B game. The season has started and the Tier II's squad victory against Oak Park River Forest has set the tone. Be at practice on time Thursday and we'll work on strategy for Saturday, and Sunday, and talk about the weekend. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480.

Rice Tier II - OPRF recap

2009-04-01 21:59:35    Great game by the Tier II squad, and all 35 guys really. Hard to argue with a 73 - 0 score. Really solid play in the forwards and the backs, although the backline play was exceptional. Overloads, good passing to the outside man, runners finding gaps in the defense - can't say enough about it. Chuck Busking's defense around the scrum was outstanding. Chuck singlehandedly brought down that 8-man at least half a dozen times with solo tackles. Good rucking by the forwards all day: we were committing just the right number of players to the rucks. Tremendous job, one and all. We'll talk more at practice on Thursday, April 2nd. Let's try and work at Mount Greenwood Park one more night - Thursday night - at 4:30pm, and then move to the Ag School next week. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480.

Bus leaving Brother Rice at 3:15 pm today

2009-04-01 10:22:35    The bus should leave Brother Rice at 3:15 pm, and no later than 3:30 pm today, to get to Thatcher Woods in time for us to have a decent warm-up and be ready to kick-off on time. Be on the bus, and ready to travel, no later than 3:15 pm. Matt Black, you and Ryan Downes get the players corralled and focused and ready to go. Players use the bus ride to get focused and visualize on what you will do during the game. We've been starting all of our games flat. We need to come out hard and fast tonight. Visualize success (strong running, good tackling, short crisp, clean passes and you will have it.) See you tonight at Thatcher Woods. Let your parent's know that dierctions will be on the website. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-810-3480.

Tier II match - 4/1/09 - Rice vs Oak Park RF

2009-04-01 10:04:23    There are several ways to get to the match grounds today: from the Southwest Side take 95th Street west to 294 North (about 10 - 12 miles) to the Eisenhower (290) East (another couple miles) and exit at 1st Avenue (right around Forest Park). Go North to Chicago Avenue, turn right (east) about 1/3rd of a mile to Thatcher Woods, and look for the entrance into Thatcher Woods, just past the big parking lot. Thatcher Woods is located on the western end of Oak Park, and right where Oak Park and River Forest merge. Another route is the Dan Ryan North to the Eisenhower, west to 1st Avenue, and then follow the same directions. Kickoff is scheduled between 4:30 - 5:00 pm and there will be AT LEAST one full game and then another half, but hopefully we'll get in 2 full games. Dan Hendrin and Colin Heffernan, try to make the bus if you can. I may use you guys to shore up some weak spots and let some of the younger players see what experience can bring to the game. EVERYONE WILL PLAY ! (it is just the extent of the play and how many kids OPRF has that will determine amount of game time.) A note will go out to parents today. Try and bring water, Gatorade and energy bars. Bring a snack on the bus. It is easier for me to drive directly from downtown to Oak Park, than to come to Rice first, so i will meet you at the fields around 4:00 - 4:15 pm. Coach Gilmartin brianglm@trinityasset.com, (312-810-3480).

CIPP update - 3/31/09

2009-03-31 10:48:46    We only have 20 players currently CIPP'ed per the current USA Rugby roster. Matt Black isn't CIPP'ed. Get everybody to meet at the computer lab today at 4:30 - 4:45 pm, because we need to get this done, and done at one time. Be at Rice at 4;30 pm (all players and teams) and we'll ehad to practice following the registration.

CIPP update

2009-03-31 10:45:06   

Practice Tuesday 3/31 - now 5:00 pm

2009-03-31 09:28:31    Practice was pushed back 30 minutes to 5:00 pm today since we need to get players CIPP'ed at Brother Rice. Meet at Brother Rice with a car around 4:30 pm, today, and we'll get all remaining players CIPP'ed and then push off for Mt. Greenwood. Remember, getting CIPP'ed is NOT a one-time deal, each player must get CIPP'ed every year. We'll work with Tier II tonight to get them ready for their season opener on Wednesday, April 1 at Thatcher Woods in Oak Park. Game time is at 4:30 pm on Wednesday night, and we have two games, so all non Tier I players will play. Judge is checking on the buses today. We should have one leaving Brother Rice on Wednesday by 3:15 pm. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com).

Rice rugby - Tuesday, 3/31/09 practice

2009-03-30 11:05:14    Tuesday night, 3/31/09 will be our last night at MGP for regular practice. We move over to the Ag School on Thursday, 4/2/09 with a 5:30 pm starting time. Ryan Downes, Matt Black, please see if you can get the computer lab for 30 minutes today or tomorrow to get any remaining players CIPP'ed, that haven't been already. We've had a decent preseason: we are far ahead of last year in terms of progress, but we still have some lingering issues. Saturday's game was ok: we played just 35 minutes but we had four key players missing, (Michael Igoe, Matt Knight, Marius, and Conor Healy) which gave the team an opportunity to see some fresh players in new positions, but that costs the team in terms of continuity and confidence, so don't worry about the 8 to 5 outcome. In addition, we were running and playing into a significant wind, which is something i wanted you to get used to in terms of strategy, and the Tier I team played it just right. Flankers and 8-men, plan on working with the backs on Tuesday night for a spell. Coach Sully will work with the tight-5 and shore up any lingering issues there, and try some new guys at prop to give them a feel for scrumming down. See you Tuesday, 3/31/09 at MGP or maybe at Rice before that, if we can get the computer lab for 30 minutes. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com.)

Wisconsin - Saturday, 3/28/09 - 12:00 noon

2009-03-27 10:56:52    We'll play three sides tomorrow. Not sure how much Wisconsin will be up for. Tier II has their first game next Wednesday, April 1 at Thatcher Woods in Oak Park, against Oak Park - River Forest. Tomorrow, the coaches will be looking for forwards to commit to tackles and the ruck, to win both our own ball and occasionally opposition ball, and for the Tier II side, all around solid play (both forwards and backs) in preparation for the season opener. A note went out to parent's looking for water, Gatorade,oranges, and energy bars and Judge is arranging for post-game meals. This is our last preseason game, so let's have fun and work on the areas where we aren't hitting on all cylinders. Get to Gaelic Park tomorrow around 10:30 am, to set the field up, get kitted up and so that we have plenty of time to warm up. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com, 312-810-3480).

Saturday game, 3/28 at Gaelic - 12:00 noon

2009-03-26 21:20:21    Don't let the lunatic ravings of your coach spoil a good match: be out at Gaelic Park by 10:30 am Saturday, March 28th to gelp with goal posts and setting up the field and then we can kit up and be ready to warm-up by 11:15 am. Wisconsin may be a little late. We are so far ahead of last year it is scary, but when we have a knock-on fest like we had at tonight's practice, I start to wonder if it is all worth it. If we can get forwards to the breakdown and get numbers over the ball, we'll be a national side, but we have to cure the problems one week at a time, so let's remember that, and also not forget that the bigger aim is to have some fun while working for a unified goal. We'll play three sides on Saturday, probably for 30 - 35 minutes each. It might snow Friday night or Saturday morning, so leave tome to warm up on Saturday. A few guys are out due to injuries and other commitments, so if you show up you'll get a game, but the priority will go to guys who practice. Finally, have fun with all of this, even if your head coach is acting like a crazy dude. We have a good team this year, and we've made huge strides in just the past 4 weeks with outdoor practice. Some players have great attitudes and some don't, but remember it is the journey that counts and not just the destination. However, winning is the best fun of all. Coach Gilmartin (312-910-3480 or brianglm@trinityasset.com). Talk it up and try to get some fans out. Judge is taking care of lunches post game.

Practice tonight, 3/26/09 at MGP - 4:30 pm

2009-03-26 10:35:04    Practice tonight at MGP, 4:30 pm. Skill positions like hookers, scrumhalfs, get there a little early and work on line-out throws and passing. Work on some drop-kicking as well, against the fences. We move over to the Ag school next week for practice. Coach Sullivan has a full set of drills cooked up for the forwards. I might involve the backs as well. Only 4 teams have applied to play for the Midwest berth this year. I'll have more detail at practice. See you tonight at 4:30 pm at MGP. We need a good night of work, and a good showing this weekend, for momentum into the regular season. Conor Healy, Chuck Busking, Luke, Alvaro, Ian Estabrook, Gomez, Tony Puentes, and a host of others didn't make practice Tuesday. Some let me know - some did not. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com, or 312-810-3480)

CIPP's and various / sundry

2009-03-24 11:35:58    Someone (like Matt Black, Pat Sully, or Vambo) reach out the Brother that helped us last week (Brother Martin ?) in the computer lab, and see if we can't get the lab again for anm hour one night this week to get everybody CIPP'ed thaht hasn't been thus far. We need one more shot at it, and doing it en masse in the lab is the quickest and easiest way to get it done. The '09 schedule will be up on the website shortly. Wisconsin confirmed for Saturday, expect kickoff at noon, at Gaelic Park. They will only have 20 - 25 guys, so hopefully they will play a 3rd half. The Tier II game against Oak Park is on for Wednesday, April 1 in Oak Park at Thatcher Woods. kickoff is 4:30 pm, and there will be two games. According to the Oak Park coach, they will ask Pritzker Academy, which is starting a team to give us a 2nd game, so TWO GAMES will be played on Wednesday April 1, 2009 (as i've been told, and until i hear otherwise.) We'll talk more tonight at practice. Be at MGP by 4:30. Hookers work on your lineout throws and scrum-halfs practing your passing. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) 312-751-0996.

Practice, Tues, 3/24/09 at 4:30 pm

2009-03-23 13:54:06    See everyone at 4:30 pm on Tuesday. It was a tough series of games against Penn, but the 3rd side showed good stuff, and Penn's Tier I squad, particularly their pack, was the best team I've ever seen at Penn, and I've followed them for 8 years. Rice players have to realize, Penn goes to the National Championships pretty much every year, year in and year out, thus they are consistently playing a better level of competition every year. Rice Tier I didn't quit, although we definitely need to work on a few key areas at practice. Rice Tier I backs had a good showing. Our offense confused them more than a little (according to their coach) so we'll look to develop this further this week. Wisconsin is coming to town on Saturday, March 28th at Gaelic Park. Hoping to confirm that in the next day or two. Coach Sullivan and i had our hands full Saturday so let me know if anybody didn't get into a game. We'll talk about this Tuesday. If it is the last game of the day, and you haven't gotten in to play, you need to let me know. Our first Tier II game is Wednesday, April 1 in Oak Park. There should be two games, so everyone will play. Finally, don't get down or discouraged about Saturday's results: we took on one of the consistently top teams in the country and we learned quite a bit about ourselves in the process. There were definite positives and negatives to the day. There will be some personnel changes but only to get a little more out of certain positions, however no one played badly. See you Tuesday at 4:30 pm.

2009-03-21 10:34:13   

directions to elkhart for 3/21 games

2009-03-21 10:34:08    Take the Indiana tollroad (I 80 - 90) east to exit #92 (Elkhart) just east of Notre Dame, exit and pay the toll. Turn left and drive back over Indiana Toll Road and take to County Road #6 (if you travel more than a mile, you've gone too far. ) County road #6 should be the 2nd stop light. Turn right or west on CR 6, past the Walmart about 2 miles to the Moose Rugby Grounds. When you see a small airport on your left, look for the rugby fields on your right.

directions to elkhart for 3/21 games

2009-03-21 10:34:02    Take the Indiana tollroad (I 80 - 90) east to exit #92 (Elkhart) just east of Notre Dame, exit and pay the toll. Turn left and drive back over Indiana Toll Road and take to County Road #6 (if you travel more than a mile, you've gone too far. ) County road #6 should be the 2nd stop light. Turn right or west on CR 6, past the Walmart about 2 miles to the Moose Rugby Grounds. When you see a small airport on your left, look for the rugby fields on your right.

directions to elkhart for 3/21 games

2009-03-21 10:33:50    Take the Indiana tollroad (I 80 - 90) east to exit #92 (Elkhart) just east of Notre Dame, exit and pay the toll. Turn left and drive back over Indiana Toll Road and take to County Road #6 (if you travel more than a mile, you've gone too far. ) County road #6 should be the 2nd stop light. Turn right or west on CR 6, past the Walmart about 2 miles to the Moose Rugby Grounds. When you see a small airport on your left, look for the rugby fields on your right.

Rice Tier II's - first game April 1

2009-03-20 12:55:41    Rice's Tier II men's side will take on Oak Park in Thatcher Woods on Wednesday, April 1, 2009, for their first game of the season. Assume a late afternoon kick-off. Oak Park just confirmed the match and venue. We'll ask them to play a full game and then another half to get some of the younger guys in. Assume we'll take 25 - 30 players to Oak Park. Thus, the first league match is 10 days away. The next two weekends will be good warm-ups for what is a pretty strong Tier II side already. See you Saturday morning at Rice for the trip to Elkhart.

Elkhart Saturday 3/21/09

2009-03-19 22:36:33    Be at Brother Rice no later than 9:30 am Saturday morning, March 21, since the buses have to be on the road no later than 10:00 am. We will have two buses to Elkhart so 50 - 60 players plus gear should be no problem. Bring $5 for the chicken dinner, which should be a nice meal for the ride home. The Saturday weather forecast for Chicago is for mid 50's temperatures but you never know what Elkhart will be like. Bring an extra coat. You can always leave it on the bus. This will be a good test for all 3 sides: Rice is loaded with talent. Younger guys like Bobby Waddell, Danny Lyons, Ian, Michael Houston, are the 2012 - 2013 all stars. The core group of juniors and seniors playing Tier I is some of the Top 15 in the Midwest, but we need to put it together and play as 15, and get the basics right. Forwards committing to the ruck (if needed) or setting up to take a pass, forwards lifting your feet at the rucks to clear ball, backs running straight and distributing the ball quickly, setting up properly on defense, knowing where you need to be on 22's, penalties, kick-off's, etc. Doing the little stuff right counts big-time in games. See you Saturday morning in Rice's parking lot. Coach Gilmartin

Practice Thursday night 3/19/09 at MGP

2009-03-19 10:41:01    Be at MGP at 4:30 pm tonight promptly to stake our claim to the fields. We have a permit but if we got on the mid part of the fields early, it looks better. Should be a pretty nice night - let's work on bigger picture stuff and a few drills and then get out of there. Matt Black, Vambo, Pat Sully, please reach out to Brother Martin and thank him for the use of the computer lab last night. I got a call from the credit card company this morning: they shut down my card due to what they thought was fraudulent activity, so about 6 - 10 players didn't get CIPP'ed. Ask Brother Martin if we could use the computer lab one last time to get everybody CIPP'ed at once. Maybe next Wednesday night at 6:00 pm ? We'll get everybody that isn't CIPP'ed, done at one time and be done with it. See you tonight at 4:30 pm. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com) cell: 312-810-3480.

Film night 3/18 - 7:00 pm

2009-03-18 18:21:43    Someone bring a laptop PC if you have one. Might need it.

Film and CIPP night, Wednesday, March 18th

2009-03-16 16:23:16    We'll watch the Wisconsin video and get everybody CIPPED on Wednesday March 18th at 7:00 pm in the Theology Center. I'm pretty sure Mr. Estabrook was at the game on Saturday and taping the Rice v. New Trier Tier I and Tier II matches. Perhaps we'll have that disk by Wednesday night as well, but Mr. Estabrook is doing us a huge favor as it is. We'll work with what we have.

Playing Wisconsin, March 28th at Gaelic

2009-03-16 16:05:00    A Wisconsin club has accepted our invite to play at Gaelic on March 28th. St. Charles backed out of the 3/28 date and I didn't want to go two weeks without a game, before the regular season opens Sunday April 5th at St. Ignatius. We'll talk about it Tuesday. Not sure of their numbers.

Penn confirms 3 games for Saturday

2009-03-16 11:19:59    The temp is expected to be above 70 degress on Tuesday night, but back to the 40's by the weekend. We need more fitness, so we'll work on fitness both Tuesday and Thursday, with more running planned for Thursday, and more time spent Tuesday working on various aspects of the game. Penn just confirmed all 3 games, with C's to play first at 2:00 pm Eastern, followed by the Tier I or A team, and then the B's or Tier II. Looks like each game will go an hour or 30 minutes per half. EVERYBODY WILL PLAY ! We will need at least 45 for the trip and we will work in sub's so if 60 want to travel, 60 will play. A bus will leave from Brother Rice at 9:00 am central, Saturday morning, March 21st, returning that evening. Penn is having a fundraiser: they are offering a roasted chicken dinner for $5 a plate, which i thought would be a good post-game meal. We can eat it there or on the bus on the way home. Need a headcount for the games and the meal by Tuesday night. See you at practice Tuesday night. It will be a good night to work given the temp's so get tere eraly and work on passing and drop kicking, etc... Coach Gilmartin, 312-751-0996 or brianglm@trinityasset.com.

Elkhart next weekend, March 21st

2009-03-15 20:35:07    Great job on Saturday by all three teams !!!!. Good play was seen at both the team and individual levels. We still have some kinks to iron out in a few areas but all-in-all, it was a good effort and great work. Next weekend is a real test - we play two of the best high school teams in the Midwest - and Rice should be right there with them. We have 3 games in Elkhart next weekend, so everybody WILL play. We still need work on fitness - too many forwards dragging on Saturday at all three levels. 15's is a forwards game, and the forwards need to be far fitter than the backs. You do a lot more work as a forward than as a back, when you think abouts scrums, lineouts, rucks and mauls. Running on wet and muddy fields the last few weeks is actually harder: it will get the forwards, fitter, faster. We'll talk more on Tuesday, at 4:30 pm at MGP. Enjoy the down time, and get out for a 30 - 45 minute run or hit the weight room, in the next few days. Coach Gilmartin, 312-751-0996 or brianglm@trinityasset.com. Ken Kash lost a cell phone this weekend. If someone finds it, bring it to practice, Tuesday.

Wisconsin video

2009-03-13 15:36:19    Without a doubt, and i don't care what level of a sport you are playing, watching game film helps enormously, and i spent last night watching film of the Wisconsin game. Tier I team, get to Gaelic a little early tomorrow and we'll go over what was found on the game film (as a team). Someone make sure Mike McGreal knows about the games. He needs to play a game or two tomorrow, just to get some familiarity with the sport. Matt Knight had a good game last week. That was his first. Knight showed up all over the game film. See you Saturday morning. Ian, thank your Dad again, please, and ask him if he will do the same this Saturday. Greta stuff. Coach Gilmartin

3 games this Saturday

2009-03-12 23:52:07    There will be at least two games against New Trier starting at 12:00 on Saturday, and now the Elmwood Park Tier II club has accepted our invite for a 2:45 pm kickoff against the Brother Rice III's (and some II's) so there will be plenty of rugby on Saturday, and more importantly EVERYONE WILL PLAY, certainly much more than last Saturday's game. Be out to Gaelic Park early, absolutely no later than 11:00 am (and be dressed and ready to go by 11:00 am), and help the Tier I team prepare for their 12:00 match, and watch the game. We had a good week of work, despite the weather. michael Igoe won't be there Saturday, so we'll have to slot in a couple of subs for Tier I. The team has been working hard - let's have some fun this weekend. Call or e-mail me if you need anything before Saturday, March 14th, otherwise i'll see everyone Saturday morning, bright and early at Gaelic Park. (Directions - take Cicero South to 147th, turn right (west) and travel about 2 miles, through the stoplight at Central. Look for the entrance to Gaelic Park on your left, about three - four blocks after the light at Central. Fields are in the southeast corner of the park.) Coach Gilmartin 312-751-0996 or brianglm@trinityasset.com.

Practice Thursday, 3/12 and Saturday games

2009-03-11 11:53:06    It will be considerably colder Thursday night, 3/12 at MT Greenwood Park so dress accordingly. We'll try to limit contact and work on fitness and defense. Conor Healy, Marius and Tom Clements thanks for coming out to practice on Tuesday and doing some grunt work. The effort and enthusiasm is appreciated. Josh Venckus and Chuck Basking, you both need to be at practice Thursday. We need to work you into the Tier I backline. Conor and Marius are out for a few weeks so current injuries don't get aggravated further. Brother Rice is offering us the theology center on Saturday at 8:00 am if we want to watch Saturday's game film. Let me know if you guys are up for this. We can watch film, get CIPP'ed and then all travel to Gaelic Park as one team. Parent's are welcome to attend the film session. Thank Ian Estabrook and his father for taping Saturday's game. The Irish are giving us a dedicated field on Saturday after 11:00 am. Thank the SSI - they are being very good to Rice. Saturday, we have two games scheduled against New Trier, starting at noon. We may also a 30-minute half against the Rice Old Boys (Primarily Tier I, but maybe some Tier II players as well, just to work players into a safer, competitive, game) and I'm trying to get the Elmwood Park Tier II club to Gaelic Park around 2:30 for a game for all the Rice men that didn't get much of a game last Saturday. We need real games against real opponents to accelerate the learning curve for younger players. I'd like to see Jason Venckus, Pat Cimaglia, Pete and Tim Keffer work in with the Tier I forwards on Thursday, and Josh Venckus, Chuck Basking, and Gomez (as well as a few others i'll name Thursday) to work with the Tier I backs. See you Thursday at 4:30 pm at MGP, for fitness and a review of defense fundamentals, in the event ball-handling cant be done. Get a consensus and see if there is sufficient interest to watch film at 8:00 am Saturday in the Theology Center. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com). 312-751-0996

Practice Tuesday, March 10th Mt. Greenwood

2009-03-09 21:01:47    MGP looks to be in good shape for practice Tuesday. Be there by 4:30 pm sharp or even get there early and let's chat a little about last Saturday and then get out of there by 6:30 pm. Coach Gilmartin

Equipment - last call

2009-03-09 17:28:10    Still need checks from Joe Janiczak, Joe Sebek and Matt Black for equipment, unless you want it to arrive the week before our last game. Joe J and Matt owe the team just for pads, while Joe Sebek owes the team for both (i.e. $73.00). Let's get this done Tuesday so that we can get the order in to American Rugby Outfitters. thx - see you Tuesday. We may need to change locations if MGP is underwater. Tell everyone to check the website.

Rice Rugby - more on Saturday

2009-03-09 11:23:56    We are going to try and get at least two games on Saturday (New Trier is bringing two full teams) and we'll try and find a 3rd game to make sure everyone gets in. Tell your folk's the first game will start at Gaelic Park aroun noon on Saturday, March 14th. Honorable mentions from Saturday go to three different groups: the new Tier I players, two of whom had try's. Frank Rinardi and Dan Harrington had great games on the wings. There is a couple of wing-specific skills that can be worked on, that might help. We'll get into it this week. (Remind me, Frank and Dan so i don't forget to review with you.) Matt Knight played very well as a new prop and Michael Igoe scored his first try as a member of the Rice rugby club. The 2nd group is all three scrumhalfs and flyhalfs: the link between the two positions was superb. This cures a big problem left from last year, although we could improve clearing ball from the ruck to get the scrumhalfs cleaner ball. Need to work on this, this coming week. Finally, some players in new positions like Dan Lyons, Michael Houston, Conor Boyd (the red-headed Terminator) played pretty well. The Tier I forwards need some conditioning work, which is your head coach's fault. We'll clean up some of the rough spots this coming week, but given that this was the first game of the year, and the bad field conditions, the quality of the play was far better than i thought we'd see. Congrats to one and all... Get to practice a little early on Tuesday and let's chat a bit about Saturday. I'd like to hear from forwards and backs from each game. The Tier II backs and the Tier III forwards need a little work. We had two Tier I backs come up injured Saturday so I'm going to move some bodies around, and the two players might be out a week or two just to be safe. If you think you're a Tier I back, you will be slotted in during this week's practice. Ian Estabrook's Dad was taping the game. Many thanks to him for doing that. Ian ask your Dad if we can get the taping for a look by the entire team. (shoot me an e-mail please.) We need a CIPP party, probably Friday night, to get folk's get registered before play starts in earnest. Hopefully we can get the theology center and watch some film too. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com)Great work, one and all. The next two - three weeks will be far tougher in terms of competition. SHOOT ME YOUR PARENT's EMAIL ADDRESSES !!!!

Wisconsin game recap - a look ahead

2009-03-08 11:58:20    Practice will be at MGP on Tuesday and Thursday for all of March. 4:30 pm sharp. Be there and be reday to work. Great work Saturday at all three levels. We need to polish up some areas of play, but some of the problems we had last year, well into the season, liek slow ball production at rucks and an ineffective link between scrumhlaf and flyhalf sure look remedied. All three scrumhalfs and flyhalfs should be commended. For that being your first game for many Rice men, the quality of the play was very good. Don't forget dinner with Judge at Baracco's on Sunday night at 7:00 pm (i think) and see you at practice on Tuesday, March 10th where we can talk in more detail. Our competition will get tougher as the preseason progresses, but we're off to a solid start. My apologies to all the men that didn't get adequate playing time. The 2nd Wisconsin team backed out on us, and I tried to find a replacement with no success. See you Tuesday at 4:30 pm at MGP. Be ready to work. (We need to find a kicker for the 2nd side. You can score a lot of points off penalty kicks.) Again, great stuff by one and all. We'll talk more on Tuesday at practice.

Saturday's game at Gaelic

2009-03-06 11:54:26    Directions are below. Someone please collect Joe, who was injured at practice on Thursday night, and make sure he gets to the game on Saturday. Kickers - get to the field early on Saturday. If you are interested or have the ability to kick for posts on penalties and conversions, and drop kicks (soccer players have an edge) get to the field early Saturday and work on your kicking. That would likely mean Joe Cimaglia, Pat Cimaglia, Mike Houston, and anyone interested. Thanks, Coach Gilmartin. brianglm@trinityasset.com, 312-751-0096.

Preseason game, Sat, 3/7 noon at Gaelic Park

2009-03-06 10:31:54    Gaelic Park is on 147th, just west of Central. Take Cicero south to 147th, turn right (west) through the light at 147th and Central. Go another 3 - 4 blocks and the entrance to Gaelic Park will be on your left (south side of street). Pull into the main lot and then drive through the gates and look for the fields in the southeast part of the facility. PLAYERS MUST BE THERE BY 11:00 AM, NO EXCEPTIONS. The Tier I group please get there a little early, like around 10:30 am to help Coach Sullivan and I put up goal posts. Please pick up water, Gatorade and oranges. I will bring some as well. Your shorts arrived last night. They will be brought to Gaelic Park for everyone that has paid dues. PLEASE PAY YOUR DUES by Saturday, if you haven't already. Then you can get shorts and socks when they arrive. Players who have given me sizes for scrum caps and shoulder vests, don't forget your $73 check for the equipment. Once all the checks are in, I can order the caps and vests. We had a good week of work, this week. The scrimmages look good. For the lower level guys, don't sweat it. Rugby will make more sense after we've played a few games. The Tier I and Tier II sides look good. We should have at least two games Saturday, and I'll ask Wisconsin to play a 5th half to get some of the younger guys some game experience. Starting line-ups will be named before game time on Saturday. We can sub up to 7 guys for every game, so figure at least 44 kids will play in some form or fashion in the first two games. See you Saturday ! Come out early and help Tier I prepare for their game. Tell your parents to come out and watch you play. See you Saturday bright and early for our first test of the season ! Coach Gilmartin 312-751-0996. If you have any questions or worries, give me a call or e-mail me at brianglm@trinityasset.com.

Frosh / Soph - nice weather

2009-03-05 10:06:12    For the younger guys who need equipment, your coach will be taking orders tonight. American Rugby Outfitters has has offered the team a $73 package for both the scrum cap and shoulder pads. Bring a check for $73 if you want both tonight, and we'll get you ordered. If you are ordering just the scrum cap or shoulder pads individually, the scrum cap is $46 and the shoulder vest is $38. We will need checks (not credit cards) to order the equipment, and it will go in as one order. Know your shirt size in order to order the shoulder vest. (Ask your Mom what your shirt size is and allow for some growth.) Anyone is welcome to order equipment. See you tonight, weather should be great. Be ready to work and have some fun. Coach Gilmartin 312-751-0996

Practice Tuesday, March 5th 4:30 pm

2009-03-04 17:42:10    If your parent's are picking you up from practice Thursday night, figure around 7:00 pm. we'll try and work for 2.5 hours. Both forwards and backs, think of a secondary position you'd be interested in playing. Most players have this worked out already, but i still want players to work in another spot, preferably forwards around the pack, and backs at other back positions. Tim Keefer and Pete are doing yeomans work moving between the backs and forwards but i think it allows new players to pick up the game faster. Matt Black wants to work a little at flyhalf, which is recommended, and welcome, just know that this is for back-up situations. The Irish are preparing the field for us for Saturday. Gotta like that. Thank the Irish players if you see any, and Pat Sullivan in particular. See you Thursday night at 4:30 pm. Be ready to work and have some fun. Coach Gilmartin 312-751-0996 (brianglm@trinityasset.com) Send me your parents e-mail ADDRESSES !

Practice Thursday, March 5th at 4:30 pm

2009-03-03 21:33:57    Next practice is Thursday night at 4:30 pm. Be on time and be ready to work. (I was late because Athletico donated some speed ladders to the club and I had to stop and pick them up.) Everyone did a good job Tuesday night. Matt Knight, Pete, Tim and Frank - all the new seniors - looked to pick things up in a hurry. Good play tonight by everybody, backs and forwards. The Tier I squad looked very good both around the rucks and the backs getting the ball wide. (Only Matt Black had a boneheaded post.) Players posting the ball at the tackle and allowing the ball to be played quickly was really well done. The tackling looked fundamentally from a tecnique perspective too. Wisconsin will be far tougher but the core skills are already in place. Our two months of indoor practice didn't go for naught. The Tier II and the rest of the team did pretty well too. We still have forwards lingering between the scrumhalf and the flyhalf but we can work that out as we go. Alvaro Garobay wants to make up Sunday's missed practice. Let's see how Saturday goes and on Sunday we can do a jog through of what went wrong during Saturday's games. I NEED YOUR PARENT's E-Mail ADDRESSES. Send them to me at brianglm@trinityasset.com. I want to reach out to all the parent's with a coaches e-mail about the games each week. Please ask your folks if someone wants to film the games on Saturday. This would be HUGE as a learning tool. Be sure everybody works in at least two positions on the field. Matt Black wants to try flyhalf, so Michael Igoe, work at 8-man and 2nd row. (Matt, work with the backs for a spell on Thursday.) Tuesday night was good work. We worked on some bigger picture strategy stuff too. This will mean more later in the pre-season. See you Thursday. Coach Gilmartin 312-751-0996 brianglm@trinityasset.com

Practice Tuesday 3/03 at MGP 4:30 pm

2009-03-02 21:52:28    Rain or shine we have to run tomorrow. See you at 4:30 pm at Mount Greenwood Park. We need dues paid, to pay for socks and shorts, etc. Get your medical forms in as well, as well as the other forms we need. See you Tuesday at 4:30 pm at MGP. Coach Gilmartin 312-751-0996.

Matt Black - no field prep today (3/2/09) at Gaeli

2009-03-02 09:29:16    Someone please get to Matt Black at school today and let him know that, due to the snow, the Irish will not be prepping the fields at Gaelic Park. It should be warmer later in the week. See everyone Tuesday afternoon at 4:30 pm at Mt. Greenwood Park.

Practice cancelled Sunday, March 1st

2009-03-01 09:52:46    Practice is cancelled for today, Sunday, March 1st. Won't make much sense to even do cardio given the conditions. Ballhandling will be close to impossible with the wind. Next practice will be Tuesday night at 4:30 pm. We'll stay a litle later on Tuesday and Thursday to get the work done. The longer-term weather projections for this week are that Thursday and Friday, will be 40 - 50 degrees, so there is a strong chance that Saturday's game will happen. The Irish will be striping and marking our field at Gaelic Park on Monday afternoon, March 2nd at 3:30 pm. Please, grab 5 guys and go out and give them a hand. I cannot make it, but the Irish are doing this so we can have a field to play on Saturday, March 7th against Wisconsin. The Irish have been good to Rice. They will be practicing at MGP in March as well, so they might even let Rice use their scrum sled and scrum machine if we get some guys out there to help them. We'll see everybody Tuesday at 4:30 pm. Be on time, be ready to work (and have a little fun too) but remember, winning is the most fun of all. Call or e-mail with any questions. Coach Gilmartin 312-810-3480 or brianglm@trinityasset.com.

Next practice, Sunday, March 1st

2009-02-26 15:04:01    Thursday night, February 26th is an off-night so the next practice will be our first outdoor practice at Mount Greenwood Park, on 111th between Kedzie and Pulaski, on Sunday, March 1st. It will be around 30 - 35 degress so dress appropriately. Bring both a light and dark jersey, and have shorts if you are a forward. Bring your mouthpieces ! Be there at noon and be ready to work. Our first games are Saturday, March 7th at Gaelic against two teams from Wisconsin. Tuesday night was disappointing from any number of respects. Practice was intended to be a review of basic technique the last 6 weeks. I wanted to see where the underclassmen and non Tier I guys were in terms of passing rucking, mauling and tackling and it was less than stellar. What is extremely disappointing is that when you are asked to communicate in drills and talk with each other, you are quiet as church mice, but when you are standing in the back of line waiting for drills (instead of paying to attention to what is going on or what your coaches are reviewing for YOUR edification) you talk like 4 McCauley freshmen with new hairdo's. We've spent time working on technique indoors and foregone hard-core conditioning because good technique is paramount, but if the chatter continues, your coaches will make our life easier and simply run you until you puke. (It makes our job far easier.) We need to take it to the next level starting Sunday. You will learn a bunch if you just shut the phat up, and listen and focus for the two hours that we practice. Tim Keefer and Danny Lyons call me at 312-751-0996 or 312-810-3480. Get your dues in to the Judge, or talk to the Judge about working it out. You don't play if you don't pay. Get your forms filled out. The freshman and sophomores be at practice Sunday for measuring for scrum-caps and shoulder pads. The set is $73 for both. Coach Gilmartin

Practice Tuesday Feb 24th at 7:00 pm

2009-02-20 12:48:29    We'll do a full practice Tuesday night, Feb 24th at 7:00 pm in the gym, before taking the rets of the week off. Seniors are welcome to attend, but you have the entire week off of practice if you wnat it. We're going to spend time with the new guys (new players are strongly encouraged to attend regardless of your year), Tier II and the juniors working on the basics. USA Rugby is being featured on ABC-TV on Sunday, Feb 22nd at 4:00 pm. ABC will show the highlights of last weekend's USA 7's tournament in San Diego where the USA National Squad performed quite well. Be sure and tune in. Don't forget 6 Nations rugby on cable this weeekend. If someone gets Setanta at home, have everyone throw in a few bucks and watch the games. The first outdoor practice is Sunday, March 1st at 12:00 pm (noon). Be prepared. We'll likely focus on team and unit play, and finally get the kind of room we need to spread out and work on a real field. Again, the turnout, attitude and work ethic have been outstanding so far this year on everybody's part, particularly the new seniors for which learning an entire new game has to be a daunting prospect. Our first pre-season game is March 7th at Gaelic Park (weather and field permitting.) It looks the two Wisconsin high school teams will bring enough guys so that Rice can play EVERYBODY on March 7th. See you Tuesday at 7:00 pm. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com)

Practice - Feb 19th at 5:30 pm

2009-02-18 22:49:19    See you in the gym at 5:30 pm on Thursday night. We'll go 90 minutes and then call it a night. If you get the chance check out "Hyde Rugby, A New World" on FoxSportsNet, the story of Hyde Rugby, the inner-city, high school rugby club from Washington, D.C. I reffed these kids in 2007 at one of the various 7's tournaments held in San Diego around the USA 7's. Good athletes. They know how to play the game. One of the kids made the Eagle's 7's squad. We have two inside practices left before we take a short break. Our first outdoor practice will be March 1st at Mt. Greenwood Park. See you Thursday night. Try to get to the gym a little early. Coach Gilmartin brianglm@trinityasset.com

Film night 2/17/09 6:00 pm

2009-02-16 21:08:16    If there is a basketball game Tuesday night, practice is cancelled. Those were the rules from A/D Cahill. We'll do film night in the religious ed center at 6:00 pm. I'll have some Elkhart Midwest playoff video. See you tomorrow at 6:00 pm at the front doors.

Practice Tuesday, Feb 17th at 7:00 pm

2009-02-15 10:51:42    Practice is scheduled for Tuesday, February 17th at 7:00 pm. Get there a little early, particularly the skill positions like scrumhalf, flyhalf, and the backs as well as the hookers, and backs work on left to right passing, and front-row and hookers work on line-out throws and jumping and supporting. THIS WILL BE OUR LAST FULL WEEK OF INDOOR, IN-THE-GYM, PRACTICE. We've been working for 8 weeks already, so you're going to get a break and get some time off, before we move outdoors on March 1st. Our first outdoor practice will be Sunday, March 1st at Mt. Greenwood Park, probably around noon. Our first pre-season game is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, March 7th against two teams from Wisconsin, weather and field conditions permitting, and if the game comes off and both Wisconsin teams show, all 60 Rice players attending practice this spring will play on March 7th. Let's make it a good final week of indoor practice. The week of Feb 22 - Feb 28, I am going to give the upper classmen some time off. For frosh - soph and Tier II players (and all NEW players) we'll practice Tuesday, Feb 24th and then take the rest of the week off. You've been working hard since December 23rd, and for the next three months, starting March 1, you'll have a game every week (pre-season weather permitting), with the possible exception of the last week of March. (St. Charles is still on the schedule in the event that other pre-season games don't materialize.) We need to have a CIPP party in the religious ed center some Friday night, either February 27th or March 6th. We'll tie it in to some games films, and some pizza, but players will be required to show and register on a laptop with USA Rugby, and get a CIPP number. This needs to be done in order for any player to take the field and play in a game. You MUST be registered and assigned a CIPP number with USA Rugby. We've laid a good foundation during our 8 weeks indoors, with rucking mauling, passing, tackling, and some scrummaging and lineout work, and now that we are going outdoors, we will start to tie in the "bigger picture" aspects of a rugby game and utilizing an entire field, and getting our fitness to where it needs to be. The ELV's (experimental law variations) will be in effect for high school rugby this season, so we have to review some law changes. Rice men have been outstanding, with good attitudes and hard work the entire pre-season. We need to take it up a notch in the month of March, both from a fitness and game knowledge/awareness perspective. See you Tuesday, February 17th as early as you can make it. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com).

Practice and parents meeting Thurs 2/12

2009-02-10 23:52:16    Great practice tonight, one of our best this year. We've been working 6 - 7 weeks now, and the technique and talent are starting to come through. We're also starting to drill down into some important aspects of the game, that will speed your development. See you Thursday, February 12th at 5:30 pm for a 90 minute workout. Get there early and work on core positions skills or lift some weights. Parent's meeting immediately following practice in the cafeteria. All players are welcome, and this is for the parents that couldn't make it last week. Forwards bring shorts and mouthpieces to practice Thursday. Matt Black have your scrum-cap and shoulder pads for the parents meeting again please. Can't say enough about how well everybody is doing. There is a lot to learn in a short period of time. (I need to talk to Alvaro and Gomez on Thursday before practice starts.) Let me know if you arent going to be there by emailing me at brianglm@trinityasset.com. Don't forget to pay Judge Barry or me for Max-McCook. Reach out to all the new guys, make sure they are enjoying this, including Leo, Francisco, Conor, Austin, Ian, etc. We have a quality team this year in both tiers. No excuses. Coach Gilmartin

2nd parent's meeting Thurs, Feb 12th at 7:00 pm

2009-02-08 12:09:05    Judge Barry wanted to hold a 2nd parents meeting for all that couldn't make last Thursday's, so we will have a 2nd meeting on Thursday, Feb 12th at 7:00 pm after practice, assuming the cafeteria is available. Let your parent's know if they couldn't make the first meeting, and anyone is welcome to attend again, should they want to. Players, be sure and return the new waiver and medical clearance forms that were handed out last week. We will need clearance for EVERYONE that wants to play. It is a safety issue. Some players never paid the $5 for Friday at Max-McCook. Be sure and give your money to me or Judge by this week at the latest. Read below for thoughts on Friday and for Tuesday's practice. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com).

Practice Tuesday, Feb 10th at 7:00 pm

2009-02-08 11:58:47    I thought Friday's workout at Max-McCook was worth the effort, but it also showed we have a few gaping holes in the game, that need to be worked out before April. (Players, let me know your thoughts about doing it again before the season starts. We need to do it during a weekday when school is not in. ) The turnout was great, as was the enthusiasm. I'm glad everybody got a chance to do it. The width was about right too. For the new guys, you can see how wide a rugby pitch (field) is, which impacts spacing and back movement, and for the Tier I group, which has plenty of "real-time" game experience, i saw a lot of heavy breathing after just a couple of phases, which means that we have to kick up the fitness a notch or two. Hopefully we'll be outside starting March 1st, or even before. I can't say enough about the great attitudes and work ethic of all players this year. Keep up the good work. You don't realize it, but you are getting better EVERY week, although the cranky old man you've got for a coach isn't going to let up on you. For the new players, the juniors and seniors playing Tier I, don't sweat some of the game-type knowledge. This will make more sense after the first few pre-season games. See you Tuesday night, and for the skill positions, like scrum-halfs, fly-halfs, and hookers, get there early and work on passing and lineout throws. I'll see everyone about 6:30 pm. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com)

Directions to Max-McCook workout facility

2009-02-04 19:45:34    Directions will be available at practice Thursday night. If possible, for those that can't drive on Friday, please arrange to have some cars leaving from Rice at 10:00 - 10:15 am or so. Maybe we can work out a bus for the younger players.

Practice Thursday, Feb 5th 5:30 pm

2009-02-04 17:12:29    Practice tomorrow night at 5:30 pm. Get there a little early and warm up in the weight room. Backs and hookers/forwards get to the gym a little early and work on passing and line-out throws. We'll work for 90 minutes, maybe a little less and then meet in the cafeteria for a parent's meeting. Don't forget to tell your parents about the Thursday night meeting at 7:00 pm in the cafeteria. (Just to be safe, someone (i.e. Matt Black or another senior) ask at school on Thursday if the cafeteria is free, and if not, if there is an alternative available, like the religious ed center.) Matt Black and Luke Geary, bring your scrum caps and shoulder pads for a brief demonstration. Spikes (no metal) can be worn indoors at Max-McCook. They asked to clean your boots and don't bring in dirt, so rubber cleats / spikes can be worn during Friday's practice. We have the Max-McCook facility Friday, Feb 6th from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. The address is: Max-McCook Athletic and Exposition Center, 4750 South Vernon Av. McCook, Illinois 60525. (708-485-9900). Be sure and wear rugby shorts, particularly forwards for lineout and scrum work. See you Thursday night before 5:30 pm. If you have any questions, shoot me an e-mail. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com).

Friday 2/6/09 indoors at Max-McCook ?

2009-02-02 19:34:33    Max-McCook is offering us time from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, on Friday. You guys should have an off-day due to a Faculty day, no ? I'd love to get indoors at a normal hour and work for 2 hours. They are offering us a good rate, too. $400 for 2 hours. If we can get 40 - 50 guys and if everyone throws in $5, we can take half out of the budget and half in cash to rent the facility. Let me know Tuesday night at practice. We need SPACE to spread out, to give you guys a sense of what a game pitch feels like. The gyms are cramped and don't allow for true movement that you will experience in a rugby game. Also, since it is indoors we can dress appropriately and work cardio and 15 against 15. We need this time, but let me know Tuesday if guys can get cars and get teammates to the indoor dome. Don't forget to tell your folks about the parent's meeting on Thursday night, Feb 5th, right after practice at 7:00 pm. It will be short - hopefully no more than 30 - 45 minutes max. Shoot me an e-mail if you want to address anything or aren't going to be at practice: brianglm@trinityasset.com. Coach Gilmartin

Friday indoors at Max-McCook ?

2009-02-02 19:24:52   

Practice, Tuesday Feb 3rd at 7:00 pm

2009-02-01 09:56:54    Practice Tuesday, Feb 3rd is at the regular time of 7:00 pm. Scrumhalfs, fly-halfs and anyone wanting to work on their passing, try and get in a few minutes to take passes from the s/half's. We will try and work on light tackling, rucking and mauling Tuesday, if the mats are available. We are starting our 6th week of practice, and the turnout and attitude have been great. Your coaches are throwing a lot at you, but both the new players and the experiened, older players have handled the technical drills very well. For a lot of you, it is just simply getting numbers and repetitions to improve your technique. If you are a scrumhalf and want to improve the speed and accuracy of your pass to a flyhalf, get to practice early and make 25 passes to a flyhalf or center. If you are a flyhalf or center and want to improve your left-to-right pass, get to practice early and make 25 passes left to right. For those forwards jumping or supporting in the lineout or if you are a hooker and need to work on your throw, get to practice early and throw lineout ball 25 times and practice the throw, jump and support, the three most critical aspects of any lineout. The one thing i keep hearing is requests or comments about practicing outside. To add the elements of wind, snow, cold and unsure footing to passing rucking, or lineout / scrum drills would not be smart right now. Let's stay inside where we can work on technique and work on getting it right under ideal conditions, and then we'll add the elements to the equation later. Now is the time for developing good technique and habits, not watching a long pass you are attempting blow south to Florida thanks to gale force winds, or continually knock-on passes thanks to the fact you've lost all the feeling in your hands. See you Tuesday at 7:00 pm, try and be a little early. (Elvis sighting - anyone talk to Tim Keefer ? It would actually be nice to get everyone to one practice on same night. We had no flyhalfs at Saturday night's ball-handling practice.) Coach Gilmartin brianglm@trinityasset.com.

Practice Saturday, Jan 31 @ 5:00 pm - more

2009-01-31 10:29:02    Let's work on ball-handling tonight and keep it fun. Forwards need to work on ball-handling just as backs need to know rucking skills, so forwards try and make it tonight for a good run-around and some ball work. We'll do some basic drills and work on mechanics. Don't forget to tell your folks, the "parent meeting" is Thursday night, February 5th at 7:00 pm, immediately following practice. Hopefully, we can be done in 30 minutes. We'll talk about the spring schedule, safety, and a couple of other longer-term issues. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com)

Practice Saturday, Jan 31 @ 5:00 pm

2009-01-30 09:39:37    Coach Cahill gave us one of the gyms for 2 hours on Saturday, January 31, '09. Let's meet at 5:00 pm and move the ball around a little, have some fun. Maybe we'll only go for an hour and a half. Since it is Saturday, let's keep it light. Try and contact guys who have trouble making it during the week on a consistent basis. Also, try and reach out to the new kids that made it out on Thursday night and get them to practice this weekend. See you Saturday night at 5:00 pm. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com).

Practice Thursday, Jan 29th, 5:30 pm

2009-01-28 12:14:02    Practice starts at 5:30 pm sharp (!) Thursday night. Get there early and get into the weight room if you like. Forwards, work the leg machines. Scrummaging and lineouts is leg drive, leg power and core strength. Scrumhalfs and fly-halfs (positions #9 and #10) get to practice early and let's work on passing, particularly the left hand to right. All backs are welcome if you want some light ball work. A rep from Athletico will be at practice shortly before 7:00 pm to talk about safety and the new clinic on 111th. We only have 90 minutes so be prepared to run. Coach Cahill has offered us the gym from 5:00 - 7:00 pm on Saturday. Let's tentatively plan on practice Saturday from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. as well. (The parent's meeting is re-scheduled one week later, to Thursday, February 5th at 7:00 pm, right after practice. Please have at least one parent at the meeting, if possible.) Practices have been great - the development and improvement is definitely there. Rice Rugby is loaded with talent and athletic ability. The new guys like Pete, Tim Keefer, Dan Harrington, the Joe's (Kelly and Supec) (and some new guys whose names I don't know yet ) have picked up the game in a hurry. The old-timers like Downes and some of the cagey vet's know the game well. This year we have to find that right blend between athletic ability and game smarts. The team is better than its 3rd place finish the past two years.) No lineups are set and won't be set until after the preseason. We have to see who shows up in and for the games, and then your coaches, given what we see on the field, will talk about if you are in the right position. EVERYONE WILL PLAY THIS YEAR, but whether it is the side and the position you want depends on you. See you Thursday at 5:30 pm. If you can't be there, e-mail me. Coach Gilmartin brianglm@trinityasset.com

Practice Tuesday, Jan 29th, '09 @ 7:00 pm

2009-01-26 08:43:06    See you in the gym at 7:00 pm. If you can get there a few minutes early and warm-up in the weight room, even better. Don't forget to tell your parents about the Jan 29th, Thursday night parent's meeting at 7:00 pm, immediately following practice. Forwards, bring your rugby shorts this week for lineout work. Everyone have mouth pieces as well. If you can't make practice shoot me an e-mail at brianglm@trinityasset.com. Coach Gilmartin

Practice, January 22nd, 2009 - 5:30 pm

2009-01-21 17:11:20    Practice starts in the North Gym at 5:30. Get there early and hit the weight room, or be on time at 5:30. Either way, don't be late. We have just 90 minutes of gym time on Thursday nights. Parents meeting next Thursday, Jan 29th immediately following the 7:00 practice, hopefully in the cafeteria. Let your parents know about the meeting. Don't think we can get gym time this weekend, so the next practice will be Tuesday, Jan 27th, at 7:00 pm. Given the overwhelmingly positive response and participation at film night, we're going to do it at least one more time before the pre-season if only for the mental torture. (Vambo, wake up...) We'll watch ND - LaSalette beat the Minnesota team, which was twice their size, in the 2007 quarterfinal. If you have any questions, shoot me an e-mail at brianglm@trinityasset.com. Coach Gilmartin

Practice - film night - Jan 20th, 2009 5:00 pm

2009-01-19 11:00:26    Matt Black is trying to work it out with one of the Brother's on where we are going to hold film night on Tuesday, but it likely won't be in the religious ed center. Get to school a few minutes before 5:00 pm on Tuesday and we'll have signs or someone directing you to the right room. We are going to watch Penn vs. Notre Dame LaSalette in the Midwest semifinal match from Spring, 2007, (both teams went to the National High School Finals in 2007) and possibly parts of an international match. Tier I players, please attend and we may ask key positional players to talk about your positions, if time allows. (Front row, flanker, 8-man, scrum-half and fly-half, and full-back.) We'll get you out in plenty of time for the Brother Rice - Marist basketball game. Don't forget to tell your folks about the Parents meeting on Thursday, January 29th, 2009 at 7:00 pm, immediately following our Thursday night practice. Hopefully, the meeting won't last more than 30 minutes. We have two pre-season matches scheduled and I'm looking for a 3rd. We will be playing New Trier on March 14th at Gaelic Park, and then we are traveling to Elkhart, Indiana on March 21st,via bus for a one-day trip, where I am hoping to get at least 2 and hopefully 3 games, against some high-quality Midwest competition.

Practice, Sunday, Jan 18th, '09 at 4:00 pm

2009-01-16 16:44:24    We will have two hours in the small gym , Sunday night Jan 18th from 4:00 to 6:00 pm. Get there a little early, and see if the mats can be located. We have too many guys coming in late. At least a dozen players walked in between 5:30 - 5:45 pm last night. Tuesday night, January 20th, let's do game film in one of the big rooms, like the religious ed center. We'll watch a high school game, (Penn versus Notre Dame LaSalette in the '07 Midwest semi) as well as parts of an international match, if we have time. We'll go from 5:00 to 7:00 Tuesday night watching film, and then get everybody out to watch the Brother Rice - Marist b-ball game. Tier I players may want to attend to watch film of Penn. We are scheduled to play Penn March 21st, along with Grand Rapids Catholic in Elkhart in a pre-season round-robin. If we have a couple of minutes on Tuesday, I may ask some Tier I players to talk about their position responsibilities. There will be a parent meeting, January 29th in the cafeteria, right after practice. All Tier I and Tier II players, please encourage one or both parents to attend. We'll talk about the spring season. Finally, New Trier is scheduled to come down to the Whiskey 10's to play Brother Rice in pre-season games on March 14th. The New Trier coach has just confirmed it. I'd like to get at least one more pre-season game in before we open the regular season against St. Ignatius the first week of April. Like an Elvis sighting, has anybody figured out what happened to Vambo and Alvaro ? We are making good progress. Improvement is being seen every week. Keep up the good work. Let me know if you aren't going to be around Sunday or Tuesday. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com).

Practice Thursday, Jan 15th, 2009 5:30 pm

2009-01-14 16:50:40    We'll probbaly be in the small gym, so try and get there a little early and lift some weights since we are only together for 90 minutes as a team practice. If you get into the weight room, work on legs and leg machines. A rugby game is 70 minutes long, with two 35 minute halves. Particularly for forwards, scrummaging and line-out jumping / support requires leg drive and lift. Next Tuesday, January 20th, the BR basketball team has a home game, so we are closed out of the gyms for that night. Let's watch some games/rugby video in one of the larger rooms. Tier II attendance is mandatory, particularly if you've never seen a game or don't yet know what position you are going to play. Tier I attendance is optional, but you need to run or lift weights instead, or show up and watch the games and help out with explanations for Tier II and new players. I may ask Tier I players to give a brief one-minute spiel on each of their positions prior to film. Coach Cahill has offered us one of the gyms, Sunday night, January 18th from 5:00 - 7:00 pm. Let's talk about it Thursday night. Need to know if you aren't going to be there Thursday or Sunday night. Coach Gilmartin (brianglm@trinityasset.com)

Practice Tuesday, January 13th, 2009 7:00 pm

2009-01-12 15:13:34    Practice is scheduled for Tuesday night, January 13th, 2009 at 7:00 pm. We'll probably start in the small gym, and move into the bigger gym around 7:30 pm. We'll try and work for two hours, or two hours 15 minutes, then call it a night. The turnout and attitude at practices has been great. We're getting more done than you might think. Bring mouth pieces and game shorts particularly the forwards. We're going to and break into forwards and backs at some point this coming week and forwards will work on line-outs and scrummaging. St. Charles wants to play us on March 28th, before the season starts. (Somebody remind me to talk about this Tuesday night.) Most teams have not even started practicing yet, so the Rice program is ahead of the curve. See you Tuesday night. If someone can't make it, please shoot me an e-mail at brianglm@trinityasset.com. Coach Gilmartin

Practice, Sunday, 1/11/09 10:00 am

2009-01-09 12:03:15    Some of the hard-core Rice men wanted to practice this weekend, so we are going to go Sunday, Jan 11th at 10:00 am in the gym. Some of the guys in school on Friday, please make sure there will be a brother around to open the doors for us, and please make sure the gym(s) are available. If we don't have wrestling mats to use, then we will work on ball-handling skills and some "strategy". There is a longer learning curve with rugby than American football since all 15 players are required to do more than in football. In football, it is rare that an offensive lineman would handle the ball. In rugby, forward and backs have to know running, tackling, ball-handling, passing and the bigger picture. Gym work is for core skills for now. Be there a few minutes early and start to warm-up. We'll work hard for 2 hours, and then get out of there.

Practice Thursday January 8th '09

2009-01-07 17:03:45    Let's go 5:30 pm in the gym(s) on Thursday, January 8th. According to athletic director Cahill, our gym times will be 7:00 - 9:00 pm Tuesday's and 5:30 to 7:00 pm on Thursday's. Those appear to be "firm" times through the end of February unless there is a basketball or other special event. Thursday (tomorrow) night try to get there a little early, warm-up and we'll get to work right away. With just 90 minutes we need to be focused. Although Tuesday night's practice was not as good as last Friday morning, players are starting to catch on. Let's keep working... If anything comes up in terms of questions or issues, call me at 312-751-0996 or e-mail at brianglm@trinityasset.com.

Practice Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 7:00 pm

2009-01-05 18:59:16    Practice is scheduled for Tuesday, January 6th at 7:00 pm at Brother Rice HS. Be prepared to work for two solid hours and then we are done. In terms of development, we are a little ahead of schedule. Turnout and attitude has been great. Bring mouthpieces and rugby shorts. This week we are likely to start breaking into units of forwards and backs and working on positional and unit skills. New players need to start thinking about positions, i.e. where they want to play. We are likley to pre-season play games on March 14th and March 21st, prior to the start of the season. We may get an extra Tier II game in as well. If you have any questions e-mail or call me at brianglm@trinityasset.com or 312-751-0996. Coach Gilmartin

Practice Friday morning, Jan 2 @ 9:30 am

2008-12-31 16:32:56    Hopefully one or both of the gyms will be available at Friday morning at 9:30 am. We'll continue to work on the baisc fundamentals of the game including running, passing, tackling and decision-making. Tier II players: don't get frustrated. Some of what we are working on in practice will make more sense as your development unfolds. Tier I players: your coaches are simply reinforcing some of the basics right now just to dust off the rust and get you thinking about rugby again. It is GREAT to see all the players out for practice - 50 guys on Tuesday, December 30th. Next week, Tuesday night, Jan 6th at 7:00 pm is a firm date and time. Next week, we are going to start breaking up the team between backs and forwards. Think about where you might want to play. If you have any questions call or e-mail me at 312-751-0996 or brianglm@trinityasset.com. Coach Gilmartin

Practice Schedule - week of December 29th

2008-12-27 11:15:54    Our first week of formal practice went pretty well. We had good numbers and good understanding of passing and rucking/mauling drills this week. For New Year's week, we'll practice Tuesday night, December 30th at 7:00 pm in the gym(s), and then Friday morning, January 2nd at 9:30 am, also in the gym(s). Practices will run two hours in length: be on time and be ready to run. Friday morning's practice time might be amended as we are competing with other Rice teams for space. The new players did a great job this week with some difficult drills. New players need to start thinking about whether they will play in the forwards or the backs. Tuesday night - if we can get mats and space - we will start running some drills with forwards and backs together to get a more complete picture of the game for the younger players and to allow the Tier I team to start developing some continuity. Call or e-mail me at 312-751-0996 or brianglm@trinityasset.com if you have questions or concerns. Coach Gilmartin

Practice Friday, December 26th 10:00 am

2008-12-24 10:40:54    We'll be practicing Friday morning, December 26th, 2008 at 10:00 am in the gym(s) at Brother Rice. Plan on being at the school for two hours. Be on time or even a little early - we'll get started immediately. We should be done at noon or shortly thereafter. Great work Tuesday night December 23rd, at practice. We had about 50 kids at practice and - for the new players - the improvement in your passing and running skills was evident almost immediately. The Tier I players and the vet's did outstanding rucking and mauling work. If you have questions or isssues, shoot me an e-mail or give me a call at brianglm@trinityasset.com or 312-751-0996. Thanks. Brian Gilmartin

First practice - Spring '09 rugby

2008-12-22 17:57:03    We are going to have a short meeting Tuesday night, December 23rd before practice. The meeting will be at 4:30 in one of the bigger rooms or the library. Check with the Judge if you aren't sure. Practice will start immediately after. We are going to start the season in March this year. We will have at least two, probably 3 pre-season games, with a game or two in the Chicago area and at least one game outside Chicago. Both the Tier I and Tier II teams will get a few games before the regular season starts. There is now less than 6 weeks prior to the first pre-season game. We have a lot of work to do. Rugby is a great game, and it is all about having fun playing it. If you have any questions or concerns, shoot me an e-mail or phone call at brianglm@trinityasset.com or 312-751-0996. Brian Gilmartin

Spring '09 season starts !

2008-12-17 19:51:13    The first official practice will be held Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008, at 5:00 pm at Brother Rice high school. Come prepared to run and work. There will be a brief meeting before practice in one of the classrooms, and then we'll hit the floor and the pads. This coming year, we will likley have 2 - 3 preseason games before the 8-week schedule begins the first week of April. The current evening schedule for practices are Tuesday, December 23rd at 5:00 pm, Tuesday, December 30th at 7:00 pm, Tuesday, January 6th at 7:00 pm, and then Tuesday, January 13th at 7:00 pm. We are trying to schedule some day sessions around the Christmas and New Year holidays. Call Judge Barry at 708-422-2739 or me at 312-751-0996 if you have any questions or issues. Brian Gilmartin

RUGBY GAME THIS WEDNESDAY 8/27!!!!

2008-08-26 13:37:34   This is a posting from the Irish's website, they are playing a team from Ireland. There is a good chance that you will see some of your coaches out there! ---- Old Belvedere is in the USA!!!!! Wednesday, August 27th @ 7:00 PM, Gaelic Park For all Old Boys that can remember, during the South Side Irish’s most recent tour of Ireland, we ran into a club by the name of Old Belvedere. The outcome of the match is a little hazy, but the hospitality afterwards was never forgotten. Well, Old Belvedere is taking a tour of the USA, and will be playing the South Side Irish in a long-anticipated rematch. Gaelic Park has thrown us the keys to their main pitch (under the lights), and we would love to pack the house for this event!!! Wednesday, August 27th at 7:00 PM your South Side Irish will play Ireland’s Old Belvedere. Please come out with friends and family for a great match against old friends. We hope to see everyone there.

Brother Rice Rugby banquet 7/23/08 7:00 pm

2008-07-21 18:00:41    Coach Rowan and Judge Barry will host the first-ever Brother Rice High School rugby banquet at Palermo's on 95th Street (just west of Cicero) on Wednesday night, July 23rd, at 7:00 pm. Coach Rowan plans on presenting awards for the best forward of 2008, the best back of 2008, and the Player of the Year award as well. Call Judge Barry for further detail. See you Wednesday night.

Congrats to Brother Rice 7's team

2008-07-14 09:07:21    Brother Rice I's lost in a sudden death final to St. Charles in the Great Lakes 7's final on Sunday July 13th in what Nolan Day, the coach of the Illinois Tornado's said was one of the best 7's finals he had seen at any level. The Great Lakes 7's was the culmination of a summer of 7's play for Brother Rice, as we went 0-3 in our first CARFU tournament, 2-1 in the Milwaukee 7's and then made it into the final with a 2-1 record in the Great Lakes 7's. Thanks to all the Brother Rice players who made it out to practice and games this summer. It was our first attempt at 7's play, and we had a number of stand-out players participate including Eric McShane, Mike O'Grady, Matt Lyton, Matt Black, and Kevin McCarthy (St. Rita). The players stuck with the season after a less-than-stellar start in the Firehouse 7's and the last two games of the Great Lakes 7's displayed our best 7's play of the season. Joe and Pat Cimaglia, Marius Stalonis, Vinnie Vitek, Matt Black, Jim Lawler and Ryan Downes all played considerable games in one of the three tournaments and have a good start on 15's next Spring '09. Congrats to all players and if I missed a name or two along the way, my apologies. It was a good 7's season: all players should be commended for your hard work. Brian Gilmartin

Great Lakes 7's - Sunday, July 13th

2008-07-11 20:37:31    Be in Lemont at the Blaze Fields by 8:30 am Sunday morning, July 13th. For the competitive division, which starts at 9:00 am, we have Matt Lyton (captain), Mike O'Grady, Eric McShane, Marius, Vinnie, Kevin McCarthy, Pat and Joe Cimaglia, Ben Savory, Chris Franke, Joe Vitek and Brendan Coleman from St. Ignatius. If anybody can get a hold of Jim Lawler, and Ryan Downes, and get them out to Lemont on Sunday, we can play essentially the same side in the Open Division which starts at 1:00 pm. (If I forgot anyone, just show up on Sunday. You will play for sure.) If you have any questions give me a call at 312-715-0996 or cell is 312-810-3480. Bring PLENTY of oranges, bananas and water for Sunday, as well as nutrition bars for snacks. Part of the reason players gassed against Grafton was that we didn't hydrate and replenish between games. USA 7's coach Al Caravelli is giving a 7's clinic for all players (high school and above) at the Blaze fields in Lemont on Saturday July 12th at noon. Price is $40 per person. Brian Gilmartin

Last 7's practice Thursday night, July 10th

2008-07-10 16:39:54    Tonight is the last 7's practice for the last tournament of the summer on Sunday, July 13th in Lemont. Be there by 6:30 pm, warm-up a little and let's be ready to work for an hour. We have a numbers issue now for this weekend: the players we have are Matt Lyton, (Matt Black is now hurt and unavailable), Eric McShane, Marius, Ben Savory, Joe Cimaglia, Pat Cimaglia, Chris Franke, Kevin McCarthy from St. Rita and another player (possibly) from St. Ignatius. Vinnie and Joe Vitek, we need you both. Jim Lawler is needed as well. We need guys for the 2nd side. See you tonight at St.Walter's. I'll be there about 6:45 pm.

Practice Wednesday night 7/9/08 for 7's

2008-07-09 14:44:32    We will practice tonight at St. Walter's at 6:30 pm. Get there a few minutes early, warm-up and be ready to go. 8 guys showed up last night: hopefully that was because of what looked like lousy weather. We need at least 14 guys to practice effectively, and we will need 20 guys for the tournament this weekend. Vinny and Joe Vitek, Jim Lawler, Ryan Downes, Brendan and Pat Cimaglia, (Joe C. was out Tuesday night) John Flynn, and a few others need to be at practice Wednesday and Thursday night. This is our last tournament of the year: we will play our best rugby as a team, if we get guys out to practice. See you tonight.

Practice Wednesday night 7/9/08 for 7's

2008-07-09 14:39:58   

Practice this week for Great Lakes 7's

2008-07-07 17:26:20    Our last 7's tournament is Sunday, July 13th in Lemont. The Great Lakes 7's has a competitive side (Rice I's) and an open side (Rice II's) so everybody will play and everybody will get at least two - three full games. Practice this week at St. Walter's from 6:30 to 8:00 pm, on Tuesday (July 8th), Wednesday (July 9th), Thursday (July 10th) nights. Get to St. Walter's early, warm-up, stretch and be ready to work. Our fitness cost us against a team we should have beaten in Milwaukee. We need 12 players for the competitive side and 12 players for the open side, and we will play as a team. The USA 7's coach is running a 7's clinic in Lemont, on Saturday, July 12th from noon to 5:00 pm. We can talk more about it if you are interested. If you have any questions, email me at brianglm@trinityasset.com or call me ar 312-751-0996.

$$$$$$$

2008-07-07 16:00:06    I need two guys, with a car, to pass out 200 fliers around the neighborhood. These fliers need to be put on people's front doors - not down the sewer or in the garbage can - so Lydon or Barrett need not apply. I will pay you for your time. (773) 744-9377 ~Coach Rowan.

Great Lakes 7's - Sunday, July 13th

2008-07-02 19:59:38    I'd like to put two teams into the Great Lakes 7's for Brother Rice, however after talking to a couple of people, some don't think we can get 20 guys for Lemont on Sunday, July 13th. Send me an e-mail at brianglm@trinityasset.com or call me at 312-751-0996 and leave a message if you want to play. Neither side should be discouraged: the Rice I's were the best HIGH SCHOOL team at the Milwaukee 7's since the two teams above us had college players on their rosters. Rice II's were just getting their feet wet as did Rice I's at the CARFU tournament, so the Rice II team if it enters into the Great lake 7's will see improvement in their play. You guys came a LONG way in terms of the quality of your play and your general understanding of 7's in just the last 6 weeks. Let's put two teams into Lemont and finish the summer with a positive experience. Coach Gilly

Brother Rice plays well in Milwaukee: con't

2008-06-29 22:07:53    Brother Rice II's played well in Milwaukee as well, but a scheduling snafu forced Rice II's to combine with a local Wisconsin high school club. I have to apologize to the Rice II players: the day didn't go as I'd hoped. We tried to get that last game to play together as one single team, but weather cancelled the rest of the day. Eric McShane had 5 tries on the day, which shows that speed in 7's counts, and if weren't for less-than-stellar tackling in the Grafton game, and one defensive lap, as well as fitness Rice should have easily won that 3rd game versus Grafton. Rice I's played really well as team, but with a little improvement in a couple of areas, Rice I's can be very competitive. The last 7's tournament is in Lemont on Sunday, July 13th. Rice should enter the same two sides and be able to play well. We'll practice on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, July 8th, 9th and 10th at St. Walters. Call or e-mail me at 312-751-0996 or brianglm@trinityasset.com with questions or thoughts.

Brother Rice plays well in Milwaukee

2008-06-29 10:17:26    Brother Rice I's played well in Milwaukee this past Saturday, June 28th. After beating Marquette High and the Kimberley Chaos (two Wisconsin high school teams) we lost a close game to Grafton which we should have won (it was a fitness issue, nothing else) and earned a spot in the semi-finals against Naperville, which wasn't played as nasty thunderstorms swept across Milwaukee.

Milwaukee 7's June 28th - Rice has two teams enter

2008-06-27 11:01:48    We had good practices this week: we learned a lot on Wednesday night, and you can see play getting better across all levels. We need 20 guys for Milwaukee and it looks like we have them. Brendan and Pat Cimaglia, Chris Franke, Ryan Downes and Jim Lawler were not at practice Thursday but are expected to play on Saturday. (Joe Cimaglia is on vacation). Meet in the Brother Rice parking lot at 6:00 am Saturday morning, and leave by 6:15 am. Keep one car back for 10 minutes for latecomers. The first game should be around 8:40 am per the schedule. I'll be at the 7:30 am captain's meeting as Rice proxy. Selections for both sides will be made at 8:00 am or when Matt Lyton / Matt Black arrive at the fields. We have a good complement of both forwards and backs with Mike O'Grady playing this weekend. We have a little more back speed with Eric McShane and Dennis (St. Rita) playing this weekend to complement Vinnie and Marius. EVERYBODY WILL PLAY that gets to Milwaukee. The Irish internationals were very complimentary of Rice kids play on Wednesday night. See you in Milwaukee Saturday morning, bright and eraly. Call or e-mail me at brianglm@trinityasset.com or 312-810-3480 should you want to discuss anything.

7's tournament - Rice has entered 2nd team

2008-06-26 12:05:56    Practice tonight (Thursday, June 26th) at St. Walter's at 6:45 pm. Get there early and warm-up on your own. We will work quickly through some of the drills we learned last night around the tackle, work on scrums and line-outs, and then have a game or two. Milwaukee Summerfest 7's has allowed Brother Rice to enter a 2nd team in Saturday's tournament for free: tell the Rita and Carmel kids (or anyone else for that matter) that if they want a 7's game, they will play. We will need to carpool to Milwaukee. Let's arrange for everyone to meet in Rice parking lot at 6:00 am Saturday morning. The first games start promptly at 8:00 am, but even if we don't kick off until 8:40 or 9:00 am, we can get there early and watch the men's qualifiers. I'll have directions tonight. Call me at 312-810-3480 (cell) or e-mail me at brianglm@trinityasset.com if you have questions. Brian Gilmartin

Practice tonight (6/25) at Blaze fields

2008-06-25 14:18:38    Remember, be at the Blaze fields tonight by 6:30 pm (or earlier) and be prepared to work. Be sure and send Coach Rowan an e-mail at rowanrugby2@yahoo.com and thank him for setting this up for you. We will work for 60 - 90 minutes with two Irish internationals on 7's fundamentals tonight. Practice will be at St. Walter's tomorrow (Thursday, 6/26/08) at 6:45 pm. The games are Saturday in Milwaukee. We will need to carpool to Milwaukee, so 4 - 5 cars are needed Coach Rowan says Rice bus is not avialable, which I don't really want to drive anyway), so be prepared to chip in for gas money. Games start right at 8:00 am Saturday morning, with the captain's meeting promptly at 7:30 am. Call me at 312-810-3480 if you have questions or issues. Brian

Irish international's to run Rice 7's practice at

2008-06-24 14:58:58    Coach Rowan was called by a Milwaukee rugby contact about a 7's camp two Irish interntional's will be holding at the Blaze pitch on Wednesday and Thursday, June 25th and 26th. If you are interested please attend, BUT, we have also arranged a private tutorial on 7's fundamentals by the Irish internationals for just the Rice players Wednesday night, at 6:30 pm at the same Blaze fields. Rice players are welcome to attend the day session, but the evening session on Wednesday night will be for Brother Rice players ONLY ! This is a good chance to get out and learn basic, 7's fundamentals from a couple of experienced, high level, rugby players. Spread the word for Wednesday night. Get guys out who haven't been out like Colin Sheppard, Conor Healy, Mike lynch, not to mention all the guys that have been regular attendees at practice. This camp is being put on by the same two players is Wednesday and Thursday at the Blaze pitch in Lemont. Sessions start at 1:00 pm and go till 3:30 pm. Go Wednesday or Thursday or both, but PLEASE be there Wednesday night by 6:30 pm for a 1-hour private session. If you have any questions call Brian Gilmartin at 312-751-0996, or e-mail me at brianglm@trinityasset.com. Practice on Tuesday night will now be at St. Walter's. The Blue Island fields are not cut yet per Coach Rowan. Be at St. Walter's at 6:45 pm tonight (Tuesday, 6/24) and get players out !!!

7's practice for Milwaukee 7's

2008-06-24 09:33:36    There are currently 7 high school teams entered (including Brother Rice) for the Milwaukee 7's this coming Saturday, June 28th. Rice can put another team in if we can get another 10 guys to practice. We have to be in Milwaukee by 8:00 am Saturday morning. Traffic should be light on I-94 up to Milwaukee but there is construction. I'll have directions for those playing later in the week. Practice will be Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at the Blue Island Fields, where Rice played our home games this year. If we have a problem there, we will take practice over to St. Walter's. Get to practice by 6:30 pm - 6:45 pm and warm up on your own and then we'll work from 7:00 to 8:00 pm. There are a couple of Irish 7's players that are holding a mini-camp at the Blaze Field for 7's players. I'm trying to find the dates. Unfortunately it is during the day, as from 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm. I'm trying to get more info. We need bodies at practice. We need to practice 7-on-7 and we need to work on scrums and lineouts.

Churchill Cup June 21st at Toyota Park

2008-06-19 11:46:30    Be sure and get out to Toyota Park this Saturday, June 21st to watch quality, international, 15-a-side rugby here in Chicago for the first time. Not only watch the games, but watch those players that are playing your position, and follow them around the field. Watch what they do offensively and defensively. The first match, Argentina v. Ireland is at 11:30 am, and then England plays Scotland at 2:00 pm, and then the USA squares off against Canada at 4:30 pm. Brother Rice will be supplying 6 ball boys for the USA v. Canada game. 7's practice will be next Tuesday, June 24th at 6:45 pm at Blue Island, our old game field, for which we still have a permit. We are going to try and get the grass cut this weekend. Brother Rice will have a team in the Milwaukee 7's tournament on Saturday, June 28th.

Ball Boy Info!!!

2008-06-19 11:03:06    Attention Matt Lydon, I need you to coordinate this for me. All ball boys need to be at Toyota park by 10am no exceptions. Need the names of 2 drivers. The following message is from the president of CARFU and has the schedule for the day (he means Rice when he says Rita) ----- Okay, here are the directions and other relative information. Time: 10.30 amWhere: GATE E Toyota ParkT-shirts will be provided. Seating area to watch the games for those not involved in the game will be provided. NOW!!!! The latest information. USARugby has been told to provide 8 ball boys per game. Except they do not have enough t-shirts. So 1 player will be seconded to the active group from the non active groups to cover. So the game assignments area as follows Game 1: Argentina Vs Ireland : Dan Wiseheart and the Ducks, plus 1 player from St Rita and Morton.Game 2: England Vs Scotland: Aaron Sweeney and the Mustangs, plus one player from St Rita and the Ducks.Game 3: USA v Canada: Brian Rowan and St Rita, plus one player from Morton and the Ducks. Parking: We need the names of the drivers of the two vehicles from each club who will be bringing in the ball boys and yourselves. (You do know that you will the chaperone's of the your perspective crews and get to go on the side lines etc). Aaron, as the person who did this last year I will direct questions from the other guys to you on the do's and don'ts. Comments questions??? Hope you and your lads enjoy the moment.Thanks

Milwaukee 7's on June 28th

2008-06-15 23:15:43    The Firehouse 7's on Saturday, 6/14/08 wasn't the best showing for Brother Rice rugby talent, as the 7's team went 0-3 against some pretty good teams. The one consolation is that we were never out of any game, as each game was fairly close in final score. The team wants to go to Milwaukee on June 28th for the Milwaukee Summerfest 7's which is the premier summer 7's tournament in the Midwest each year. Matt Lyton and Matt Black played well, as did Jordan and Ryan Downes in the forwards. All the backs played well too, but 7's is a team effort to be sure, and although each individual played well, with several notable scoring opportunities throughout the day, we couldn't put the last pass together to put a guy in the try zone. This will come with playing time and confidence. For 6 of the 7 starters on Saturday, this was their first rugby game, and all-in-all I thought it was decent day. Team play and continuity got better in every game. There was a noticeable improvement between the first and last game. We need at least 14 - 15 players at practice, which will be at Blue Island fields on Wednesday, June 18th at 6:45 pm. We'll practice once this week, and see how the turnout is. We need to work on one-on-one tackling, scrums, and moving the ball away from breakdowns quickly. There is an old saying in rugby: "you will become a better 15's player, playing 7's, than you will become a better 7's player, playing 15's." The nature of 7's is that you get to work on individual skills: running, passing, tackling, and finding space/opportunities to slip through defense. Matt Lyton was going to talk to a couple of the Rita and Mt. Carmel players to see if they wanted to play in Milwaukee. Everyone is welcome and everyone that practices will get a game.

Brother Rice Lucky Seven's

2008-06-13 12:19:01    Good luck tomorrow boys! The team looked good last night. Play fast and hard! I will be there for the first few games. ~ Coach Rowan

Get To Practice!!!

2008-06-13 12:18:47    There are quite a few guys that have not been at rugby practice that need to be. We have finished in 3rd place the last two years! I don't know about you guys, but that makes me angry. Every other team in the league is practicing this summer. We need to pick up our game. The only excuse for a player not participating in summer 7's is football. But if football hasn't started - then you need to get your butts to practice. Think about how much it hurt to lose to St. Charles in the semi-finals! The future leaders of this team need to step it up and lead by example. Specifically - Pat Sullivan, Connor Yanz, Mike Van Boldrick, Luke Geary, Colin Sheppard, Colin Heffernan, Alvaro Garibay, Chuck Buskin, Connor Healy and Jason & Josh Venckus. The goal every year to finish the season undefeated and as state champions. It is time to put in the work to achieve those goals - step it up gentlemen! ~ Coach Rowan

Firehouse 7's game schedule

2008-06-12 15:23:29    Our First game Saturday, June 14th at the Blaze Firehouse 7's is at 9:40 am against the Barbarian's, followed by a game at 11:00 am and then 12:20, with playoff barckets to follow. Brother Rice is in Bracket B with the Renegades, Glen Ellyn Ducks and Barbarians (unsure where they are from). be sure and bring water and fruit to munch on between games, although I'll try and have both for players at the game. Teams need to check in between 8:00 am - 8:30 am to register and enter as a group. Call or e-mail me with questions at 312-751-0996 or brianglm@trinityasset.com

Ball Boys Needed!

2008-06-10 16:37:43    USA Rugby is looking for 6 ballboys for the upcoming match between the Eagles and Ireland here in Chicago. The first 6 players that get in touch with me - and that played a FULL season this past spring - are in. 773-744-9377.

Firehouse 7's June 14th and practice this week

2008-06-09 11:56:37    Saturday June 14th is the Chicago Blaze Firehouse 7's in Lemont. There are currently 6 high school teams entered, and I told the Chicago Blaze that Brother Rice would have at least one team, possibly two, in the tournament. With the talent out to practice last week, Rice could easily win the U-19 bracket of this tournament. This week, let's practice Tuesday (6/10), Wednesday (6/11), and Thursday night(6/12), at St. Walter's at 118th and Oakley for one hour each night. We'll get in and get out to keep sessions interesting. Try and get there by 6:45 pm and warm up on your own, and be ready to go right at 7:00 pm. Each night we'll do an offensive drill, a defensive drill and work line-outs and scrums and then play some touch 7's. We need cones and more balls for practice: Someone please stop by Judge Barry's house to collect some additional rugby balls and cones to mark the field, so Judge doesn't have to make a trip out to St. Walters. Call Conor Healy, Pat Sullivan, Conor Yanz, Michael Lynch, Murph, Nick, and anyone else that you might think interested and get them out to at least one practice this week. Selection preference for the Saturday games should be given to guys who have shown up and practiced TOGETHER. We have a good team - you can see it already - but we should have at least 14 players at each practice to do it right. Call Coach Gilmartin at 312-751-0996 or e-mail me at brianglm@trinityasset.com if you have any questions.

7's practice - Saturday 6/7/08 @ noon at St. Walte

2008-06-06 12:21:07    7's is a great way to work on ball-handling, one-on-one tackling, and running skills. It is a great way for back's to improve on basic skills, and for forwards to get a chance to handle and run with the ball more often than a 15's game. Let's meet at St. Walter's on Saturday, June 7th for a one-hour practice at noon. Someone please call Michael Lynch, Murph and Dempster and Conor Healy to come out either on Saturday or next week's practices. 7's is a great game: I don't know of one player that enjoyed 15-a-side rugby, that didn't enjoy playing 7's more given the wide-open fields and the ability for every player to touch the ball much more frequently than 15's. Coach Gilly (312-751-0996) brainglm@trinityasset.com

7's practice Saturday

2008-06-05 16:19:34    We had a good turnout last night at St. Walters at 118th & Oakley for practice: in no particular order Ben Savory, Marius, Matt Lyton, Matt Black, Mike O'Grady, Jim Lawler, Ryan Downes, and Vinny & Joe Vitek played some touch 7's with three guys from the Irish. Rosters can be filled with 12 players. To get an effectice practice going we need at least two teams or 14 guys. Call some other players to see if they are interested. Shoot me an e-mail (or call me at 312-751-0996) at brianglm@trinityasset.com if you can make practice Saturday. We really need 15 guys to run touch 7's and do some short ballhandling and defensive drills. The first tournament is June 14th at the Blaze: the Firehouse 7's. Thanks...

Brother Rice - 7's practice starts Wednesday night

2008-06-03 12:19:11    If you are interested in playing 7's this summer, practice for the June 14th, Firehouse 7's in Lemont will start Wednesday night, June 4th at St. Walter's at 7:00 pm. We will be practicing with the South Side Irish. 7's is a GREAT game and great way to develop running, passing and one-on-one tackling skills, not to mention the cardio benefits from playing on a regulation field with half the players. Players handle the ball a lot more than in 15's particularly forwards, so if you want to work on the basic skills of the game, and have a lot of fun as well, come on out. We are tentively scheduled for two tournaments this summer: the Firehouse 7's in Lemont on June 14th and MilwaukeeFest which (i think) is the last weekend in June, but it depends on the turn-out. Shoot me an e-mail at brianglm@trinityasset.com if you want to play this summer. (Coach Gilly)

Great Job This Year

2008-05-29 16:48:05    Congrats to everyone on a successful season. I will be posting information about the Awards Picnic and the Summer 7's schedule soon. Have a great summer everyone!

Game Time and Directions

2008-05-25 22:14:44    Tomorrow's game will kick off at 11am, all players must be at the field by 9:30 - don't be late! All starters and subs must bring a photo ID!!! They will be checking your ID against our CIPP list. We are playing at the Chicago Blaze's field in Lemont - same place as last year. Directions - Take 127th street West to Archer Road (rt 171), Turn Left on Archer, Take Archer back to 127th street and turn right, take 127th street to Smith Road and turn left (Smith is past I-355), turn Left on Smith - Field is on the left. If anyone gets lost call me at (773) 744-9377.

Great Season Boys... It's Not Over Yet

2008-05-22 10:58:13    It was a tough pill to swallow yesterday. We fought hard but unfortunately came up a bit short. The silver lining is that we have a chance to end this season with a victory. We will be playing in the third place match this Monday at 11am. We will practice this Friday at 5:30. It will be a fun practice - make sure that everyone is present.

Biggest Game of the Year Today!!!

2008-05-21 10:19:36    Br. Rice vs St. Charles! It is the match that we have been waiting for! Bus will be leaving Rice at about 3:15. Make sure everyone is on it! Here are directions for the parents: From the south: Take I-88 to Aurora Exit at Orchard Road, heading north Follow Orchard around to Randall Road Turn left onto Randall Road (also heading north) Continue north on Randall through North Aurora and Batavia Turn left, heading west, on Rt 38 in Geneva (Meijers on corner) Turn right, heading north, onto Peck Road Campton Hills Park is on your left

Practice Monday...

2008-05-19 14:03:29    ... starts at 5:30. We play St. Charles on Wednesday - A and B sides. Let's have a great week of practice and get to the state final. Jack McGann needs to skip work today!

Freshman Sophmore Tournament

2008-05-17 17:05:35    All freshmen and sophmores must be at Br. Rice at 8am on Sunday morning. The bus will leave at 8:15. There are directions in the previous post. All parents are welcome and encouraged to come. Our first game is at 10am, and the championship will be at 2pm. Bring food, warm clothes, dry clothes to change into. See you tomorrow.

Directions to Freshman/Sophmore Tournament

2008-05-15 17:05:51    Our first game will kickoff at 10am. From the south: 294 North Take I-88 W to Aurora Exit at Orchard Road, heading north Follow Orchard around to Randall Road Turn left onto Randall Road (also heading north) Continue north on Randall through North Aurora and Batavia Turn left, heading west, on Rt 38 in Geneva (Meijers on corner) Turn right, heading north, onto Peck Road Campton Hills Park is on your left

Practice today at 5 for Frosh/Soph team

2008-05-15 17:03:16    Blue Island.

Playoff game today!

2008-05-14 14:43:10    Rice vs Plainfield today at 5pm at the Blue Island fields. B-side game to follow.

Tuesday walk through

2008-05-13 10:41:52    5pm. Blue Island fields. It is mandatory for Jack McGann to be there.

Monday Practice

2008-05-12 16:47:51    5:30 - Blue Island - manditory.

Location Change for Saturday's Game

2008-05-08 15:35:05    This Saturday's Tier II game against Montini will be played at Gaelic Park (147th and Ridgeland), not Blue Island. Kickoff will be at 11am. All players must be there at 10am. There will only be one game. Also, Brother Rice is entered in the annual St. Charles Frosh/Soph tournament on May 18th. All freshmen and sophmores will play!

Tuesday Practice @ 5:30

2008-05-06 13:58:47    Blue Island Fields.

Time to get back to work!

2008-05-05 10:43:53    Today's practice - Monday, May 5th - will be at 5:30 pm at the Blue Island field. Tier II has two games this week. The first is Wednesday against St. Rita, and the second is Saturday against Montini. Both games will be played in Blue Island. Tier I will be conditioning hard all week to prepare for the playoffs. Be ready to work!

Monday Practice is on --- for now!

2008-04-28 15:21:47    Monday's practice is on for now. If it is raining really hard we will try to make arrangements, but for now be at the Blus Island fields at 5pm. -coach

Monday Practice is on --- for now!

2008-04-28 15:20:13   

Kickoff at 11am on Sunday.

2008-04-19 13:28:45    All A-Side players must be at the field by 9:45am.

SUNDAY'S GAME AGAINST MT. CARMEL!!!!

2008-04-18 09:59:36    Sunday's game against MC will kick off at 11am. We will play a B-game afterwards, so everyone should be prepared to play. The game will be played at the Blue Island fields on 119th and Division.

Monday Practice is On!

2008-04-14 10:46:10    5pm at the Blue Island fields.

Monday

2008-04-14 10:44:25   

Practice today at 5pm

2008-04-11 12:58:32    Weightroom and gym. If it is still nice we can go outside.

Indoor Practice

2008-04-10 14:17:09    Practice today at 5pm at Brother Rice!

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

2008-04-07 10:28:33    OUR TIER I GAME THIS WEEK AGAINST PLAINFIELD IS ON WEDNESDAY - 4/9 - NOT THURSDAY!!! TIER II WILL ALSO BE PLAYING ON WEDNESDAY AT THE BLUE ISLAND FIELD AGAINST WABONSEE VALLEY! THAT MEANS WE HAVE FOUR GAMES THIS WEDNESDAY - WE NEED EVERYONE TO PLAY. WE ARE PRACTICING TODAY - MONDAY - AT 5PM AT THE BLUE ISLAND FIELDS. EVERYONE MUST BE THERE!!!

BIG GAME TONIGHT AGAINST ST. RITA!!!

2008-04-03 13:28:30    AT 6PM BROTHER RICE WILL FACE ST. RITA. THE GAME WILL BE PLAYED AT ST. RITA IN THE FOOTBALL STADIUM!!!

Practice today @ 5pm

2008-04-01 12:36:35    Practice today at 5pm. Forwards need to go over lineouts and wildcats, backs need to go over plays. Thursday's game against St.Rita will be at 6pm under the lights, Saturday's game against St. Ignatius will be at 10:00 am at Gaelic Park.

PRACTICE THIS SATURDAY - 3/29

2008-03-28 11:47:40    SPRING BREAK IS OFFICIALLY OVER!!! PRACTICE WILL BE HELD THIS SATURDAY AT THE BLUE ISLAND FIELDS! THE BACKS MUST BE THERE AT 8:45AM, AND EVERYONE ELSE MUST BE THERE BY 9:15AM. ATTENDANCE IS MANDITORY!!! ANYONE EXPECTING TO PLAY ON THE TIER 1 SIDE MUST MAKE EVERY PRACTICE LEADING UP TO OUR REGULAR SEASON OPENER VS ST. IGNATIUS NEXT SATURDAY!!! THE TIER 2 SIDE OPENS THIS THURSDAY AGAINST ST. RITA - THE POSTED SCHEDULE IS INCORRECT. POTENTIAL STARTERS THAT HAVE HAD POOR ATTENDENCE INCLUDE: McGANN, O'GRADY, HORNING, SHEPPARD, McSHANE, BARRETT, BLACK, ROGER, JOSH, JIM, LUKE, TONY AND LYDON! WE HAVE BEEN WORKING SINCE DECEMBER TO ACHIEVE OUR GOAL OF A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP - NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO SLACK OFF. LIKE I SAID BEFORE - SPRING BREAK IS OVER!!! GET TO PRACTICE!!!

Practice tonight, indoors at Brother Rice !

2008-03-27 12:52:04    Practice is on for tonight, Thursday, March 27th, and it will be held indoors at Brother Rice beginning at 5:30 pm. Be there...

Wednesday Practice is on!

2008-03-26 17:33:21    Blue Island Fields - 5:30!

Practice today - 3/25

2008-03-25 13:41:29    Practice is on for today, Tuesday 3/25, at 5:30.

No Practice on Wednesday

2008-03-19 14:13:18    No practice today. Next practice tomorrow, Thursday, at 5:30pm @ the Blue Island fields.

Tuesday practice at new time!!!

2008-03-18 10:43:03    Practice will now be at 5:30!!! Practice will be held at the Blue Island fields. Bring a change of clothes it is going to be wet! See you there.

Br. Rice vs. St Charles

2008-03-14 10:24:15    The season kicks off this Saturday against the defending State Champions - St. Charles. The A-Side game kicks off at 11am with the B-Side and Frosh/Soph to follow. Anyone that is playing in the first game must be there at 10am. All other players must be there by 10:45am. The game is being played at the Blue Island fields - directions can be found in the previous post. Get to bed early tonight and be ready for our first test of the season ~ Coach.

Practice in Blue Island

2008-03-13 12:24:25    Practice today at 6pm at the Blue Island Field - 119th and Division. Directions - Drive East on 119th, once you get east of Vincennes(stop light) it is the next right that you can take. It is a stone access road leading to a few businesses - Fredrick Bros, a concrete company. The field is about a quarter mile south of 119th on the right side. See you there! Big game against St. Charles on Saturday!!! A-Side kicks off at 11am with B-Side and the Frosh/Soph to follow.

Practice location changed!!!

2008-03-12 13:09:20    Practice today at 6pm @ Munroe Park located at 105th and Talman.

Tuesday Practice at Beverly Park

2008-03-11 10:36:56    6pm. 103rd and Campbell.

Thursday Practice

2008-03-06 11:43:17    Beverly Park, 6pm.

Wednesday Practice at BEVERLY PARK!!!

2008-03-05 11:29:28    Practice will be outside tonight at Beverly Park - 103rd and Campbell. This weekend's game against New Trier is on!

No Practice Tuesday

2008-03-03 18:21:32    The Basketball Team has a playoff game on Tuesday - all of you should go and have fun. Practice Wednesday at 6pm @ Rice.

Sunday Practice!!!!!!

2008-03-01 19:43:20    11am at Beverly Park. Be prepared to scrimmage!

Thursday Practice at Brother Rice

2008-02-28 15:09:35    Thursday 6pm at Brother Rice.

Practice Wednesday night, 2/27/08 !

2008-02-27 17:49:02    See you at Rice at 6:00 pm, tonight ! Be prepared for cardio, some team work (backs and forwards) and maybe a little classroom.

TUESDAY PRACTICE CANCELLED

2008-02-26 11:48:56    Due to the snow and indoor baseball tryouts, there will be no practice today. Check the message board and listen to morning announcements for details on Wednesday's practice. Be sure to workout today! ~Coach

Sunday Practice

2008-02-22 13:18:38    11am at Beverly Park. Dress warm!

WEDNESDAY PRACTICE CANCELLED

2008-02-20 10:53:13    THERE IS A BASKETBALL GAME AT RICE TONIGHT, AND IT IS STILL TOO COLD TO GO OUTSIDE. HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT - 6 SETS OF 25 PUSH-UPS, 6 SETS OF 30 SIT-UPS, 3 SETS AT 45 SECONDS OF EACH CORE EXERCISE. OFF-SEASON WORK WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS! NEXT PRACTICE IS THURSDAY AT 6PM @ RICE.

Tuesday Practice

2008-02-19 14:17:51    6pm at Rice.

MONDAY PRACTICE AT BROTHER RICE

2008-02-17 17:34:48    11AM. BRING CLOTHES TO RUN BOTH INSIDE AND OUTSIDE.

Sunday Back Practice Is On!

2008-02-17 10:13:12    Back Practice is on for Sunday at 10am at St. Walters - 118th and Oakley.

Thursday Practice

2008-02-14 11:27:59    6pm at Brother Rice.

TOO COLD FOR SUNDAY PRACTICE!

2008-02-10 13:08:37    THE SNOW IS FROZEN AND THE TEMP IS ZERO. WE WILL NOT HAVE PRACTICE TODAY. I APOLOGIZE FOR ONLY ONE PRACTICE THIS WEEK, BUT THE WEATHER HAS BEEN A PROBLEM. WE WILL TRAIN ON TUESDAY AT 6PM AT BROTHER RICE. BE PREPARED TO RUN!

Sunday Practice now at 1:30PM!!!

2008-02-08 10:56:47    Hopefully everyone is going to the Mother/Son Mass at 10am. Practice will be 1:30pm so everyone can make the mass. Beverly Park, 103rd and Campbell.

WEDNESDAY PRACTICE CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER!!!

2008-02-06 12:23:26    Practice today will be cancelled due to the weather. Homework assignment - 5 sets of 20 push-ups and 5 sets of 30 sit-ups. Lets get ready for our big game against Penn on March 15th!

Practice Tuesday CANCELLED!

2008-02-04 15:59:46    There is a varsity B-Ball game on Tuesday, practice will be held on Wednesday and Thursday.

No Practice This Weekend - 2/2 or 2/3

2008-01-31 21:59:36    Next Practice on Tuesday 2/5 at 6pm at Brother Rice.

Thursday Practice is on!

2008-01-31 17:00:38   

Practice Tonight at 6pm at Brother Rice!!!

2008-01-31 16:59:51   

Practice Tuesday @ 6pm at Brother Rice

2008-01-29 17:23:27    We will condition and then watch films tonight at practice!

Practice Tuesday @ 6pm at Brother Rice

2008-01-29 17:23:23    We will condition and then watch films tonight at practice!