The High School All-Midwest Thunderbirds returned from their Florida tour with two wins, 190 unanswered points, and a bolder desire to play more rugby. Fortunately, the coaching staff is working hard to create those opportunities and sate the players’ competitive appetite.
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“I was extremely delighted with how fast the players bonded and worked together at the training sessions,” said High School All-Midwest coach Garrett Fisher, whose 22-player squad represented 16 teams and six states. “It’s like they’ve been playing together as a high school club team instead of a select side team.”
That chemistry translated into a 92-0 win over Florida state champion Sebastian River High School on Saturday. North Suburban’s Tatum Johnson was named MVP.
“She has the most positive attitude and is maybe the most coachable player I’ve ever met,” Fisher praised. “She’s one of those players you have to tell to stop saying, ‘Thank you,’ when you give her a critique – that’s a coach’s job. It just shows the class she comes from, and that has a lot to do with the [Minnesota] Tundra program that she’s been playing with since 7th grade.”
On Sunday against the Florida U20s, the Midwest played a faster game against the larger collegiate players. Megan Bird (Oak Creek, Wisc.) bumped in to outside center, allowing Grace Estes (Iowa Hawkettes) to start on the wing and up the pace on the sideline. MVP and inside center Emily Becker (Kettle Morraine, Wisc.), along with the powerful Annie Rolf (St. Joseph Academy, Ohio) and Samira Colbert (Shaker Heights, Ohio), crashed into the opposing centers, sucking in the defense and helping produce overloads.
“We played a more wide-open game and it paid dividends,” Fisher said of the 98-0 win. “They couldn’t keep up with us on the edges of the attack.”
Erin Fitzpatrick (Grandville, Mich.) and Regina Baldaldo (St. Joseph Academy, Ohio) took home the “great play” awards.
“Fitzpatrick always surprises me,” Fisher said. “She’s six-foot, 120 pounds, but plays like she’s six-foot, 215 pounds and runs great lines.
“Regina had a tremendous weekend,” the coach added. “Her growth from the first training to the last game improved greatly.”
While the Thunderbirds could have used more competition, the players and staff are enamored with the location and aid of the local teams, especially Eckerd College and coach Mike Geibel.
“It’s nothing negative to those two sides – we’ve just done a really good job and the players have done good work as a team,” Fisher reflected on the results. “Eckerd has welcomed us with open arms and was great about organizing a great pitch and location, and having equipment at our disposal. We’d like to stay in Florida and continue to use college sides as hosts.”
Those 22 players (two were unable to attend last-minute) are the top candidates for the Thunderbirds’ next fixture. From July 25-30, the Midwest will hold another summer camp at Denison University and host the Ontario U18s for a three-match series. Another 20-25 players will also be invited to camp, and the staff is currently trying to lineup a fourth team as competition. The Midwest is hoping that an All-South team will form and make the trip.
“We’re considering a 7s team for Vegas next year,” Fisher looked toward the 2018 Las Vegas Invitational. “We weren’t expecting them to want more rugby – with Vegas and the Florida tour so close together. We were worried about burnout, but a bunch of players are going already [this year] and they’ve shown interest already for next year.”
If you build it, they will come.