Haiti Relief Effort

In keeping with its charitable history, Budd Bay RFC is pleased to announce we will be partnering with former Budd Bay RFC immortal, Rosedanie Cadet (many of you may remember her as former women's coach, former Steelheads coach and just about everything all-star in rugby), and joining with Helping Hands Noramise (HHN) to help bring about some positive goodness in Haiti.

Following the tragic earthquakes that rocked the tiny island nation, Rosedanie began working with small communities in Haiti to help rebuild - with an eye on sustainability and empowerment. Read more about Rosedanie and her efforts here: http://noramise.org/our-story

Two years ago, Rosedanie asked for help to bring rugby to youth in the communities she was working with. We were happy to help, giving HHN a handful of balls and t-shirts. Little did we realize, rugby was non-existent in Haiti - and the youth are craving more rugby. Through our partnership with HHN, Budd Bay RFC will sponsor an international side to help spread rugby and our love of the game across the seas. Through rugby, we hope that the communities working with Rosedanie will find more unity and strength to empower the redevelopment of their home.


JOIN US this Friday, from 7-10pm at Traditions Cafe for music, a silent auction and door prizes. If you can't make it, but would like to make a donation, please visit http://noramise.org/donate, or contact Rosedanie via email (rosedanie@noramise.org) to contribute your gift for the silent auction. The more prizes the better! Hope to see you there!

Match Report

Hi!

The Buffaloes started off the second half of the season this weekend with a trip south to face the Portland Pigs. It was a perfect day for rugby thanks to all the Bandits, Friends and Family that made the trip to support the Buffaloes. However, the field conditions were less than perfect when the field quickly turned to mud which made life hard for the forward packs from both sides.

It was a hard fought contest from the first whistle. Portland scored on several kicks from penalties. The Buffaloes managed to put together a couple of great moments of phase rugby, resulting in a try from Johnathan "Shorty" Thomas, and a great run by Eddie Haige, dotting down between the posts. The half ended 15-6 Budd Bay.

In the second half, it became clear that it was the first season match after a long break as errors plagued both sides the game. While the Buffaloes kept the Pigs out of the try zone all day, Portland was still able to convert on several more penalties. The penalty kicks were enough to bring the score to 15-15 at the final whistle.

The match may have ended in a tie, but the team knows where they fell short and look forward to a good week of training for their match against Kitsap this upcoming weekend. Eddie Haige was named Man of the Match for that great run in the first half.

Nice work fellas and nice work supporters for making the trip. We look forward to the Spring matches coming up!

-Lena

Wolf Haven

Hello,

As many of you may have heard, following the Jan 2012 winter storms, local wildlife conservation organization, Wolf Haven, appealed to the community for help to address the $50,000 worth of damage they experienced. Falling limbs damaged enclosures and remote cameras and made quite a mess throughout the grounds of the Tenino-based international organization dedicated to the conservation of wolves.

Dan Smith had the inspired idea to mobilize an army of ruggers to help Wolf Haven get back on track, and last weekend each BBRFC Team volunteered ruggers to lend a hand in the storm clean-up.


Not only did the Club make a difference for another member of the local community, but over 50 Budd Bay Directors, Coaches and Players worked hard alongside each other - moving in unison toward a common goal - a true rugby unit.

"Ruggers are my new favorite people!" one Wolf Haven staffer said.

(Click the image for more pics!)

The wolves also recognized the effort - thanking them with song upon arrival both days, and bidding them farewell on Sunday.

Today I would like to thank each of the individuals who went out and dedicated a part, or all, of their weekend for this volunteer activity. It's great seeing everyone leap at the chance to be so selfless - and shows an amazing promise for the future of Budd Bay!

You can read a little more, and see a lot of pictures, at our new web page dedicated to Budd Bay's charity efforts - www.buddbayrugby.com/giving_back. And stay tuned for our next event - Jamm'n for Haiti Charity on February 17th!

-Kyle

News Updates

Hello,

I have a number of exciting items to announce - it's been a great week for Budd Bay Rugby! I know this one's a little long, but there was so much good stuff happening that I couldn't contain myself! And now, in no particular order...

Please join me in welcoming Wes Hillman as the new head coach for the Bandits! Wes has been with the club as a parent for quite a few years, and has agreed to take it to the next level as head coach. While Wes has many years of coaching other sports, this is his first foray into coaching rugby. For any of you old hands out there, this would be a wonderful opportunity to get out and return to the sport we all know and love! I'm sure Wes would be more than appreciative to have some assistant coaches to help him out. Even if it's only a few times a month - some of that rugby experience would be a great boon to the women! You can contact Wes at wes.hillman@buddbayrugby.com if you would like to get involved.

Erika DeLeon has agreed to return to the role of Bandit's Team Manager. She'll provide a single conact point for the women, helping to coordinate the many tasks that are needed for a team to have a successful season. Erika will need lots of assistance from her teammates - so ask her how you can help out! She can be reached at women@buddbayrugby.com.

We have a new board member! Jennilyn Franklin was appointed at the last board meeting as the new Senior Teams coordinator. This is a much needed position that has been covered primarily by Dan Smith (our Youth Team Coordinator) over the last few months - it's great to have Jennilyn take over. The Senior Team Coordinator is the primary contact between the adult teams and the Board, as well as the indivdual responsible for making sure players are registered, payed, in good standing, etc. Both the Bandits and Buffaloes will be hearing more from her in the future as she gets up to speed. Jennilyn can be reached at seniorteams@buddbayrugby.com.

I am very pleased to announce a new partnership with KBA Bookkeeping! Towards the end of 2011 the board decided that due to our high turn-over of Treasurers, increased costs for fields, equiptment, etc, and increased possibilities of making our long term dreams a reality (owning our own fields - and the costs associated with them), finding a professional bookkeeper was an import step to take. Our goals for the new bookkeeper revolve around constantly being aware of exactly how much money we have on hand (and how each team is meeting their budget) as well as easily being able to maintain our 501c3 status. After much research, we discovered KBA Bookkeeping, and were very impressed with both the services they offered and the manner in which they provided them. To top it off, KBA Bookkeeping agreed to provide bookkeeping services at an extremely reduced rate - making it possible for us to work with them. We are looking forward to continuing to build on this partnership to provide the club with the best financial accounting available.

In consideration of our club's roots as a charitable organization, Dan Smith has begun arranging several events coming up soon. You should have already received an email about these events, but in case you didn't, please email Dan Smith at smithe@buddbayrugby.com. Coming up first is a service day at Wolf Haven - needed due to the more than $50,000 worth of damage brought on by the recent storms. Get your name in now to make sure you are a part of this great event.

Finally - if you're a registered player you will be recieving a link soon to sign in to TeamStream - our new tool for player communication. I strongly encourage each person to sign up for a few reasons. The first is the ability of the coaches to communicate out from one central point - reaching out to you through email or cell phone if you'd prefer. And second, update your profile for the online roster! That's right, team rosters can now be found online. Go to your team's home page and click on the "Think you recognize a friend? Here's the roster" link. If you're all paid up your name will be there, and your pic if you so choose. If you're not paid up - now's your time to do so!

OK - I think that's enough good news for one day. Please help me welcome these individuals to their new roles in our rugby community, and look forward to more good stuff in the coming days and weeks!

-Kyle

Weather Updates

Hello,

I hope everyone made it through the storm safely, and has their power back!

Due to the weather, last week's board meeting was postponed. The board meeting will be held this Wednesday, January 25th, 6:30 - 8:30 pm at Round Table Pizza in Hawks Prairie. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Presuming the projected windstorms next week don't knock out more power, practice will resume on Tuesday at 6:00 for the youth teams and 6:30 for the adults.

Stay safe out there!

-Kyle

Practice Cancelled

Hello,

Due to the road and field conditions, tonight's practice at Skyhawk's Park has been canceled. Steelheads - please look for further information from Coach Quigg, I believe he has something planned for you all. The remaining teams - look to resume practices on Tuesday, 1/24.

Feel free to help me spread the message! Text your friends, post on Facebook, etc. Let's make sure no one is sitting at the park in the dark tonight!

Please have a safe remainder of the week!

-Kyle

Need Some Gear?

Hello,

Hope you had a great holidays!

This is just a quick note for those of you looking to do some post-holiday shopping for the upcoming season.  Schmetzer's Sporthaus, an athletics goods chain, is looking to expand into rugby!  They are adding rugby supplies to their stores and are offering Budd Bay players a 15% discount for the month of January!

It's great to have more local options, and Schmetzer's Sporthaus is looking forward to a long-term relationship with Budd Bay Rugby.  Their nearest branch is in Tacoma, so if you need some gear for this January, it's now only a short drive up the road!

For more information, including store locations, visit their website: http://www.soccerspecialists.com/.  Note that mostly they display soccer gear; lets show them the demand for rugby gear is strong!

Be sure to tell them you're with Budd Bay Rugby so you can get that 15% discount.   

-Kyle