The Frederick Rugby Club has had a great record recently in the Mid Atlantic Territory (MARFU). The Club has also earned respect on the National stage reaching the final in 1998 and the Elite-8 in 1999 and 2000. We set ourselves the goal of building a rugby program that consistently reaches the Nationals, rather than a one off, and have the ultimate goal of being Division II National Champions. In reality though, National Championships are rare things. In order to be reached you need committed athletes, coaches and friends. You need a team spirit and that magic when players click and you need a little luck. For this season I think we should set the following goals.

1. Attend the indoor training - we will get a chance to click, learn from our coaching staff and get more fit.
2. Encourage our fellow players to commit to the program, so that we have good numbers at practice.
3. Make the Savannah tour - nothing builds up team spirit like relying on your buddy to pick you up from a hotel near Florida because you forgot where you were staying (for example)!
4. Start winning matches. We play some Division II teams as friendlies this season - it will get our confidence back.
5. Then Nationals will come.

In order to play rugby at Frederick you need to do two things. The first is to register with USA Rugby each Jan. This costs $25 per calendar year if you are 25 or older and $20 if you are 19-24. The forms will be at practice; all you need to do is supply a check made out to “USA Rugby” or use a credit card. The second is to pay your dues. This is $85 per season. Please make out a check to “FRFC” and give it to Stu Levine at practice. These are important responsibilities so please take care of them as quickly as you can.

Chad Ogden has done a great job of updating the web page. It will be the main source of information on the Club, tours, match reports, team photos etc. I will e-mail out reminders but full reports will be on the web page.

Philly, Norfolk and Raleigh are league matches. We need to win 2 of 3 to get home field advantage for the MARFU Elite-8. The MARFU Final-4 will be hosted by Severn River (Annapolis). The National Sweet-16 will be in New Haven, CT or Fort Worth, TX. Severn River, Rocky Gorge, Harrisburg and Savannah are friendlies.

For those of you new to the Club, the Player Awards are a big deal. At the close of each season the players cast votes for the following:

Best New Guy
Unsung Hero
Most Improved
B-Side Best Back
B-Side Best Forward
B-side MVP
A-Side Best Back
A-Side Best Forward
A-side MVP

Votes are secret and tallied by the Captain. The awards are special as they are from your peers.

Indoor rugby training starts Monday 8th January. This will be held at the new SoccerPlex in Germantown, 7:30pm to 9:00pm. Please get there by 7:00pm as we pay by the half hour. To get there take I-270 to Rt-118 west. After 3 miles turn right onto Rt-117 (Clopper Road). Make an immediate left onto Schaeffer Road. Go 2 miles to a traffic circle. Turn right and the SoccerPlex is at the back of the soccer park. This is 25 mins from Frederick. Please bring $5 per session. For details see the Training Page.

Indoor strength training starts Thursday 11th January at Gold’s in Frederick. 7:30pm to 9:00pm. If you are not a member of Gold’s just say you are with the rugby team. There is no charge involved. Thanks Pres. Dan “Moo” Makosy

Savannah is a little different this year. Normally we travel down on Friday, play Saturday and Sunday then come home on Monday. The Club rents minivans and the drive is around 8 hours. This year as St. Patrick’s Day is on the Saturday we need to travel down to Savannah on Thursday, play on Friday, take part in the parade on Saturday then play again on Sunday before coming home on Monday. To avoid having to take too much time off work, we will leave Frederick at around 4:00pm on Thurs from 7th Street. We can get to the hotel by around midnight and rest up until our first match (8:30am). We are looking to take a large squad. This tour is a great way to build up team spirit and play some rugby in (usually) warmer surroundings in March. We leave Thursday 15th March at 4:00pm and return Monday 19th March at around 6:00pm. Mike “Tool-Time” Taylor and Brian “Magnum” Taormina are getting tour jerseys and T-shirts made - should be great. For details see the News Page.