Coaches Corner

It's Rugby Time Again

07/17/2006
All:

Summer is over as far as serious rugby players are concerned and it is time to turn your attention to the coming campaign. Last season is done and dusted, progress was certainly made and standards were raised. Standards will be raised again this year and a Sweet 16 place is again our target. There is much to look forward to this fall, home and away against Aspen and the Barbos, Ruggerfest, and league games against Kansas, Goats and Boulder.

To that end training starts August 1 and fitness expectations will be significantly different this year. Most of you will cope, some may not, you have been warned! You will receive an individual packet re the season from me in the first two weeks of training. Reflect on the St.Louis, Austin and Boston defeats. There can be no repetition. This year will be tougher and we will need greater personal and clubwide commitment.

Dates to put in the calendar which are VITAL are Ruggerfest (9/16-17) and the away league games in Kansas and Omaha (10/7 and 10/21 respectively). Make sure these weekends are free from all weddings, wives, children, jobs and any of the other usual excuses. We want everyone fit and available so we travel in strength.

For those of you who are not yet aware, Alex Agre will be Assistant Head Coach with specific responsibility for the forwards which will allow me to spend more time with the backs. Alex is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable rugby individuals I know and you would be well-served by listening to him. We will also have some guest coaches and position-specific coaches throughout the year.

SELL YOUR RAFFLE TICKETS!

Steve Lewis

Wakey, Wakey. It's Medication Time

02/28/2006
All:

The phoney war is over and it's live bullets starting Saturday!!!!!!

Consequently, training attendance Tuesdays and Thursdays are now REQUIRED. We have two games Saturday against the Quins prior to our trip to St.Louis the following weekend and so we need everybody out, full-time players, part-time players, ex-players, potential players etc etc. Tuesday is at Velocity starting at 6:45, so NO EXCUSES.

For your information, I was gone for 10 days at the USA 7's in Los Angeles as liaison for Uruguay. While there I observed and particpated (yes ran, admittedly slowly) with all the top international sides including joint sessions with the All Blacks and Australia. It was extremely useful as regards both playing philosophy, drills and making contacts with top coaches.

This season is promising to be a good one provided we continue our progress. Remember, recruitment is word of mouth, we play better on the field, we have more fun off the field. GET THE WORD OUT TO YOUR PEERS!

See you, Tuesday

Steve Lewis

Happy New Year

01/18/2006
Dear All:

The mid-season break is over and it’s time to re-engage and remember what Tuesday and Thursday nights are for. As regards training we are starting on January 24 indoors with the Velocity program which will be fun, different and a big help before we go outdoors. It is VITALLY important we are fit going into the season as we have Quins on March 4th followed by the big one in St.Louis on March 11th. In other words 6 and a half weeks before the action starts, so be at Velocity. If we are fit and our approach to training attendance improves we are capable of playing good rugby, as we demonstrated against Boulder and Omaha. So let’s raise our personal and team standards and show up ready to play. Make sure those of us who are less than svelte get a jump on it and encourage them and yourself to shed the Yuletide fat.

All comments, suggestions or questions are very welcome.

Lizzard

Fall Season Recap

11/03/2005
To all Players:

The Fall season is over and we have finished well with two convincing wins over Boulder and Omaha. On balance we are where we need to be but not what where we want to be. Following are some items for consideration, please review and feel free to e-mail me back at stevelewis7 [at] yahoo [dot] com with comments, suggestions, ideas etc.

1) Schedule - dependent on whether we have to go to St.Louis but Westerns are in mid-April and we need to peak for that. I would like us to have six weeks or so under our belt first which means starting playing late Feb/early March. Provided we do not have to go to St. Louis I would suggest one tour (Savannah March 18?) and a robust 4 or 5 game schedule prior to Westerns.

2) Practice - Training attendance was poor and sporadic. A genuine commitment will be required to move up and make an impact in Div 1. It is no secret we had two good practices and two good games thereafter.

3) Fitness - Average at best with some notable exceptions. Fitness is the one thing we can all improve on individually which will have an immediate impact on our game, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!!. We plan to participate in the Velocity program in late Jan for a month. This is indoors, details to follow. Scott Bredehoeft wants to do some running in Dec, does anyone fancy Saturday touch etc etc?

4) Recruitment - We need depth and we need old players back, peer pressure is the key. Talk to your buddies, beg, steal, borrow, guilt them, whatever, get the bodies out.

5) I am planning on organizing a fundraiser late Jan, a Burns Night Supper, very appropriate for a team called the Highlanders. Any help would be appreciated, it will help defray travel costs and will involve some small libations if you get my drift.

Thanks for your efforts thus far, we are on the way back.

Steve

Boulder Match

03/28/2005
Hi All,

So as you all know - the game against Boulder was postponed - shame -  but that gives us another week to prepare for them - I believe that we have an excellent team and skills and ability all around. I will be speaking to Craig Tarr and Paul Mason this week to see if they can both offer assistance in coaching the forwards this week - lets take this opportunity to improve and be ready to show them how advanced our rugby is getting. Commitment, loyalty, attitude and intensity will see us through.

Support is a very important part of the Highlander rugby - it would be an honor to have all the old boys and wives/partners on the sideline when we beat Boulder - We had an excellent showing of supporters against Queen City - and we (the team) need all the support and noise from the sidelines to help us over the next couple of BIG games.

So - how about a bus trip or a group outing to Boulder's Pleasantview to cheer your team into the play-offs... thanks for your support and participation - it means a lot to the team.

Nigel

A Question for the Players

03/09/2005
Guys,

Let me ask this - do you want to compete and make a name for yourself and your team this season OR do you want to have one more season where you you can look back upon it when you are 40 and say "Why did we not take our chance when it it was there to have a great season in 2005? We had the players, we had the skills, we just did not ALL have the same level of commitment"

Let me tell you all one thing - if you learn NOTHING from me this season - learn this - we have the players and the ability to make this season the best season ever. We need the COMMITMENT from ALL to make it happen. I can tell you that you do get to a point and look back over your playing career and assess seasons and games gone by - and some do haunt you - I want you guys to have an amazing season THIS SEASON - and have NO REGRETS. This goes for all players - not just A's as well... Without pressure from others we would not rise up...

We have the players, we are improving on the skills - lets bring the commitment and increase the intensity to make this the season of our lives... TOGETHER WE CAN BEAT ALL COMERS - individually we can beat nothing...

Lets take the Highlanders back to the top...
Nigel

Saturday's Scrimmage

02/26/2005
I would like to take a minute to thank everyone for showing up and displaying their skills on Saturday - I thought it was an excellent starting point - it showed that we are getting the fitness (although we need to continue to work at it) and have great numbers.

I would specially like to thank Craig Tarr, Terry Wadsworth, Geoff Blue, Yippee, Mayf along with DJ for coming out and stepping up - I hope you guys enjoyed it and want to stay involved in some capacity - I know the players enjoyed having you on the field with them.

We also have excellent support on the sidelines from a number of old boys and partners. I enjoyed looking over and seeing Scott Herman, Patrick, Pobar and Bill Baldwin on the sideline talking with our BOD Steve Z-B. Thanks for coming out.

I look forward to seeing EVERYONE on Tuesday at 6th and Dayton at 7pm. Grass and lights provided - makes a coaches heart happy!!!

We have a lot of work to do - so be prepared to have fun and work hard?

Training to begin on Tuesday, Jan 25, 2005

01/21/2005
Guys

Welcome to the spring season!!! We start training on Tuesday the 25th at 8pm location is Colorado Athletic which is I-25 and Belleview. The club is paying for the expense of the gym so TRAININGS ARE FREE THIS YEAR so lets get as many people out as possible on Tuesday.

From then on trainings will be every Tuesday and Thursday at 8pm at Colorado Athletic. Whitey is working on finding a field with lights for us and once he finds a location (hopefully very soon) we will be transitioning to grass and getting into some real fun trainings.

This is a huge season for our club - we need to do well and for this to happen we need to be FIT - so get off the couch - get moving and make an impact. We also need numbers - lots of numbers - competition is a good thing.

Below you will find a six week preseason workout schedule that I have assembled to assist you in your Spring (re)conditioning efforts.

See you Tuesday
Nigel

Spring 2005 Preseason Workout Schedule