Monday, May 28, 2012

AGM

What a great Spring season we had! Congratulations to all who made this year so successful - continuing our tradition of State Champions, Runner Ups, and National Qualifiers. While we should all take a breath and pause for a few moments, there is still news to share.

The Sevens season is about to get under way - contact your coach if you're interested in knowing more. However, the news today pertains to our upcoming Annual General Meeting. Per our club's Bylaws, the AGM will be held on the third Sunday of July (7/15). The AGM has several focuses, and a complete agenda will be sent out in advance, but one of its main purposes is to elect new board members. This year there will be a number of positions needing to be filled, so I want to give everyone time to think about how they can help serve the club.

The first position open for election will be mine. I have decided, after 4 years on the board and 2 years as President, that it is time to focus on my family (play time with a 9 month old no longer constitutes listening to him while I sit in front of my computer!). Effective August 1st I will step down and the newly elected President will take over. I have agreed to remain available for a time to help transition the new President and/or other new Board members.

Our Secretary, Lena McKown, will be stepping down as well after several years of service. She stepped up and filled a hole without any intentions of it being a long term commitment, and has stuck with it, providing all of the wonderful Board Meeting Minutes that you review each month!

Our Junior Team Representative, Dan Smith, will also be stepping down. Most of you know Dan due to his 6 or 7 or 8 or 32 (I'm not even sure anymore) years filling just about every position on the Board! Dan will be consolidating his focus to the Vision Fund, where he will be continuing his good work in helping us secure our own fields.

The Vice-President, being a position that is currently not filled, is also up for election, and per our By-Laws, the Members at Large are voted on annually.

That was the long version... The short version is, the following positions need to be filled by some of our wonderful volunteers!
  • President
  • Vice President
  • Secretary
  • Senior Team Rep
  • Junior Team Rep
  • Member at Large 1
  • Member at Large 2
I hope each of you are able to thank Dan and Lena who have spent many many many hours over the last few years serving on the board, helping to ensure this club operates smoothly. We will need people to fill their shoes! If you think you may be interested, please reach out to any of the current board members for more information, or plan on being at the AGM.

Again, a more detailed agenda (along with time and location) will follow, however, here's a sneak peak at some of the items we plan to address:
  • General Reports by Director
  • Dues Increase?
  • Bylaws Modification - Change Board Structure
  • Community Service Events
  • RugbyWA, PNRFU and PCRFU changes
  • Awards
  • Elections
There will be more!

If you can get over the excitement of all that, here's what's coming up in the future:

The 20th Annual Tatunka 7's Tournament will be held on June 9th at The Evergreen State College. This promises to be an amazing event - each year seems to be more pulled together than the last - in no small part to our Tournament Coordinator, Mary Shero. Feel free to shoot her an email if you'd like to get involved, and of course, you can register online.

That news, of course, means that the Sevens season is starting. Practices will resume shortly for those interested in Sevens, with details on the tournament schedule being worked on. Check back on our website for info on the start of the season.

And that's not all - stay tuned for details on the Annual Rafting Trip, Community Events, Fundraisers, and more. This won't be a quiet summer!

-Kyle

PS I want to thank our Fields Coordinator, Rena Carlson, our Senior Team Coordinator, Jennilyn Franklin, our Treasurer, Savannah Parker, and our Members at Large, Mark Baca and Tom Cusack, for their continued work on the Board, and commitment to remaining on the Board next year. Its great to have continuity along with fresh faces!

Friday, May 18, 2012

End of one Season, Start of the Next

Hello,

The end of the 15s season is upon us! The Buffaloes wrapped up their year last weekend in Chula Vista. Despite not advancing, the Buffaloes walk away knowing that they will always be the first and only Pacific Coast Champions from the Pacific Northwest!

I want to thank every person who contributed to their trip down south. Due entirely to your generosity, the Buffaloes were able to raise ~$2,500.00 for their trip in three short weeks! This allowed us to supply vans and hotel rooms to the team at no cost - ensuring all were able to travel down. Once again, the rugby community's generosity is staggering, and makes me proud to be a part of the organization.

Speaking of travel - both the Steelheads and the Barbarians will be traveling this weekend. They are heading up to Chuckanut for the RugbyWA State Championships. If you're able to head up with them - I know they would love your support! Many thanks to the coaches and parents who have worked hard to arrange accomodations, meals, travel, etc to make the trip work. Go Bay!

And speaking of generosity - Budd Bay was mentioned in The Olympian today in conjunction with our adventures at Wolf Haven. You can read the story here. Clearly they appreciated our help as much as we enjoyed being able to give it - and we are looking forward to more partnership with them in the future, as well as some other great events coming up at the end of the summer (stay tuned!).

And finally - as a reminder, all agendas and minutes from our club Board Meetings are posted online. If you want to know what the latest discussions are about, feel free to review (or come to a board meeting!). Links to both are available here.

If you can get over the excitement of all the latest news, here's what's coming up in the future:

The Alumni game/Vision Club Fundraiser/Barbarians Team Banquet - Details are still being fleshed out, but the match will be in the early afternoon on May 26th at Rainier Vista. This will be a fundraiser - there will be a small entry fee to try your luck against the current Barbarian squad. Good luck!

The 20th Annual Tatunka 7's Tournament will be held on June 9th at The Evergreen State College. Again, still working out the details, but it promises to be an amazing event - each year seems to be more pulled together than the last - in no small part to our Tournament Coordinator, Mary Shero. Feel free to shoot her an email if you'd like to get involved, and of course, you can register online.

That news, of course, means that the Sevens season is starting. Practices will resume shortly for those interested in Sevens, with details on the tournament schedule being worked on. Check back on our website for info on the start of the season.

And that's not all - stay tuned for details on the Annual Rafting Trip, Annual General Meeting, Community Events, Fundraisers, and more. This won't be a quiet summer!

-Kyle

Friday, May 4, 2012

Car Wash, Kettle Corn, Schedule, Alumni Match, 7s

Isn't this time of year exciting? So much going on in the world of Rugby! Here's your weekend update:

Last week I saw a number of you out getting your cars scrubbed clean by the Buffaloes. And I mean SCRUBBED! They took my very dirty brown truck and made it yellow again! In case you missed your opportunity, the Buffaloes will be holding another car wash on Sunday, starting at 9am, at Cut Rate Auto Parts on Pacific Avenue.

But wait - it gets better! What could make a carwash better, you might ask? How about some fresh Kettle Corn? That's right, one of our own Buffaloes will be selling Kettle Corn at Cut Rate Auto Parts on Saturday and Sunday, from ~11-5, and all proceeds will benefit the Buffaloes' travel fund.

Flavors include:RegularCarmel CornLime AttackRugger's Blend

Can't make it to Cut Rate Auto Parts but still want some Kettle Corn? I can feel your pain. But don't worry - we have a solution. You can either order some up over the phone, or print out an order form that will be available from our website shortly. You can order all week long. Until we get the order form online, call Crazy Poppin at (360) 786-6366 to reserve your bag.

For those of you who have chosen to help them out with a donation, thank you so much! I'll be sending out tax-deductible receipts shortly. If you're still interested, you can do so on the Buffaloes' website - www.buddbayrugby.com/buffaloes.

The Steelheads are playing Rainier Plateau this weekend, 2pm kick off, at White River Alternative School (27515 120th St E, Buckley, WA 98321‏). This will be their final away game before the State Championships, so help them bring home the season with a bang. And don't forget - the Steelheads are home next Friday for their final home match, so if you haven't had a chance to watch them yet - mark your calendars!

The Barbarians have their final league match this Saturday against Seattle - in Seattle. If you're in the area - give them some love! This will be a great last tune-up before the State Championships.

Upcoming Events:

If you check the webpage regularily you may have noticed two new upcoming events added - the Alumni game/Vision Club Fundraiser/Barbarians Team Banquet, and the 20th Annual Tatunka 7's Tournament.

That's right - TWENTY YEARS. This is one of the longest running annual tournaments in the Northwest - and we host it! Find out more about the tournament details at www.buddbayrugby.com/super_saturday. And stay tuned for updates about the Alumni Game/Vision Fundraiser/Barbarian's Team Banquet - info will come. For now, set aside May 26th, starting at around 11. It's going to be a blast!

-Kyle