The field for the club 7s national championship won’t be decided until late July, but one team has confirmed its appearance. Glendale will take the uncontested seed from the Frontier region and compete in national 7s championship.
Glendale has never competed at 7s nationals, although the Rocky Mountain Squids – a combination team between Glendale and Black Ice – has [6.29 Update: Glendale competed in 2011]. There is a movement to build a more sustainable summer program at Glendale.
“In Denver, we have the challenge of finding competitive tournaments that have women’s brackets within driving distance, which has in the past dwindled interest for competitive 7s and put us at a disadvantage come nationals,” Glendale 7s coordinator Christen Suda explained. “With nationals being in Denver [this year], we have taken the opportunity to heighten the 7s program, invite collegiate players and DI players that would like to play competitively during the summer, and hopefully start a program that can continue to grow momentum.”
More than 30 players are fueling competitive and social teams this summer, with approximately 20 expressing interest for A-side selection. Both teams launched their 7s campaigns last weekend at the Denver 7s, which ended with a Glendale A vs. Glendale B final.
The competitive side won the tournament, shutting out pool opponents Pikes Peak, Glendale B and the University of New Mexico 131-0. Glendale B also shut out Pikes Peak 51-0 and the Lobos 36-0 to advance to the final against the A side. Glendale A triumphed 41-7 in the title match.
“The Denver 7s was a good first season hit out for the Raptor women, and provided an opportunity for the teams to compete in a competitive environment and allow the coaching staff to observe which players best handle [the] cauldron of sevens play,” Glendale head coach Mark Bullock stated. “Our A side played very well throughout, and the B side was not far behind in standards of play.”
Jeanna Beard led the A side and was named tournament MVP for her efforts.
“Jeanna had a solid performance in her first 7s tournament of the season,” Suda praised. “She has moved from center to hooker in 15s for the Glendale Raptors and is extremely versatile. She has great field vision and structure, which showed on Saturday with her being able to put players into space or taking the gap when made available. Defensively, she is one of our strongest players.”
Beard was joined Saturday by fellow WPL Raptors Suda, Kelly Mullen and Julie Tordonato, as well as Alli Hale and Alaina Polaski. Once she is finished with the U.S. Women’s National Team, Joanna Kitlinski will join the ranks, too. The competitive roster also included Lin Hill and Molly DeMarr, who play their 15s with Denver Black Ice, and collegians Madison Slaught, Macie Helgenberger and Charley Thompson.
“We were thankful for the opportunity to see the competitive nature of the players participating in the summer 7s program boost the club as a whole,” Suda reflected on the summertime Raptors. “Charley Thompson was a great ‘power sub’ and really brought the team back up after a tiring first half in each match. Lin Hill had a high work rate and kept the ball moving to make her team successful while she was on the pitch.”
Glendale will hone its 7s skills during the next two weeks and then test itself at the Roy Lucas 7s in Portland, Ore. There, the Raptors will face 7s nationals regulars like ORSU, Berkeley, San Diego and Seattle. Glendale will play a third and final prep tournament on August 6, the Glendale 7s.
“Coach Mark Bullock is hoping to integrate more game-type experiences into our practice plan, as we are still limited in competitive tournaments this season,” Suda reminded. “We hope that this will help us be more prepared for nationals come August.”
Glendale is currently slated for Pool B at nationals (Aug. 13-14, Dicks Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, Colo.), and will play the Pacific North champion, and runners-up from the Midwest and Red River in pool play. Stay tuned as the season progresses.
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