Women's Rugby Newsletter
University level Women’s Rugby has gone Canadian! This means that in addition to the provincial playoffs (OUA) there will be further competition with other provincial champions to determine the best in Canada. The location of the CIAU playoffs is yet to be determined, although it may end up being in our own backyard as Hamilton (McMaster) has put in a bid to host the tournament.
As a CIAU sport, Women’s Rugby now has some more guidelines to follow. One of them is eligibility -- each player is allowed 5 years of eligibility (instead of the unlimited years that we were allowed). The count begins in the year that the sport becomes CIAU sanctioned. As a CIAU sport, we will also be subject to drug testing. All of these details will be expanded upon in the fall in a special information session with the administrative staff of the Intercollegiate sports division.
Women’s Rugby is being recognized as an important and growing sport as demonstrated by the first ‘official’ Women’s World Cup this year and the CIAU’s recognition of intercollegiate Women’s Rugby. (Note that the men have yet to organize a national championship).
Rhodes Scholar
a special congratulations to Andrea Iaboni. Andrea has earned herself the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship which allows her to study at Oxford University in England next year! Andrea follows Allie Binnie, another U of T rugby player who won the scholarship last year. Andrea is the seventh Varsity Blues athlete to earn a Rhodes Scholarship in the past twelve years.
The 1997 Season
This past season was filled with fast, competitive rugby. Our team lost many starting players to graduation. However, a successful recruiting year provided us with plenty of promising rookies. We saw vast improvements in everyone, especially from our first-year players. Outstanding achievements were made on the athletic side by Marlene Donaldson, our OUA All-Star. It was a successful building year for the program and we look forward to the upcoming seasons with more experience on our side.
Acknowledgments are due to our coaches Gina Minutillo and Kevin Jones, for their ongoing support. Thanks also to Dan Milkovich for his help with coaching and to Andy Ianni, our tireless athletic therapist. We also owe thanks to the Department-formerly-known-as-DAR for their administrative help -- in particular to Skip Phoenix, Christine Kos and Sherry Ing.
Stacie Dalrymple, who has been a co-director of Women’s Rugby for the past two years finishes her term with the following message:
From Stacie
I just wanted to write a quick little message to thank everyone for giving me the opportunity to help run the behind-the-scenes aspect of the U of T team. I have enjoyed my two years as co-director and have learned a great deal. Working with Jing this season also proved to be very successful, she was willing to take on every little task thrown at her and pay attention to every little detail. Jinger, I can’t thank you enough. I would also like to acknowledge all of the hard work that everyone else put in to running the team and all of the help that everyone offered to Jing and I. I wish Jing, Allison, and Amanda the best of luck next year... not that they will need it. I’m looking forward to next year when I can just be a player.
Finally, I would like to thank Gina and Kevin for all the support they have given me over the last three years, it has had a tremendous impact on my life as a person and a player... Thank you!
-- Stacie Dalrymple
Fundraising
The 1997-98 Women’s Rugby Team was extremely successful with their fundraising endeavors this season. With the money from the U of T Department of Athletics and Recreation covering the travel costs of the regular season, we were able to take buses to all our away games. The expense of new jerseys for the 1998-99 season has been covered by our sponsors, The Duke of York. Thus our fundraising efforts this year were focused on raising money for the February tour to British Columbia. Knowing that we had very little time before going to BC, we had to work hard and fast! Amanda and Maureen did a wonderful job organizing six deliciously successful bakesales, raising over $1000 for the team.
Even when the cold months of January and February came along, the Varsity Blues did not give up fundraising. We trekked through the slush and snow while postering for The Princeton Review (thanks to Jessica Thoms, 9T6), just to make the final dollars to go on tour. Our fundraising event at the Bohemian Nightclub, annual High School Clinic (which attracted over 80 participants!) and 50/50 Raffle draw also contributed to our accomplishments. We hope to continue with this great Varsity Blues spirit, pride and enthusiasm for the 1998-99 season.
-- Allison Mihaly
Tour ‘98 . . .
From Thursday February 26 to Tuesday March 2 of 1998, a group of fifteen women cast aside their school work and took off to BC for four and a half days of rain, rugby, and rowdiness. We stayed at Risha’s grandparent’s “farm” near Victoria: a large house in the middle of the forest, over looking a beautiful lake. (We still wonder why Risha would every leave all that BC greenery to come to Toronto.)
On Friday night we played a group of women from various island clubs (Velox, James Bay, Nanaimo, U Vic) who were trying out for the Crimson Tide regional representative side. We played hard even though it was cold and dark. Our persevering attitude was typified by Red, a friend of the team who , along with June Carson, joined us in BC. (Red came back on the field within ten minutes of breaking her nose to continue playing the game!) Though exhausted, we partied hard that night in Victoria at The Planet, surrounded by adoring fans and sailors from the USS Abraham Lincoln.
Our second game Sunday morning, also against Crimson Tide hopefuls, was equally hard fought and just like all games played in the mud, totally fun. That night, our last night in BC, we celebrated with a house party. Most of us took the opportunity to let our hair down, but those of us who never get to wear scrunchies tried something new too.
On Monday we did a whirlwind tour of Vancouver and ended the night with coffeeshops, piercings and Japanese food at MIDO’s on Granville Street, courtesy of Vanessa’s aunt. At 10 pm we hopped aboard the red-eye flight and arrived home in Toronto at 6 am, tired but happy.
-- Amanda Martyn
Alumni Game
Our first annual Alumni Game was held on Saturday October 25th. The turnout was promising and we were able to play a ten-a-side match. The game was not exclusive to the women as the Old Blues had the help of Kevin Jones, while the Blues had the assistance of Andy “Don’t tackle me” Ianni in the fullback position.
Our second annual Alumni Game will be under the lights of Varsity Stadium on Monday October 19, 1998. Kick off time is still to be determined. The game will be followed with a social (informal) at The Duke of York. Alumni, please help us make this game a full 15-a-side by notifying us of any address and phone number changes. We will be contacting you in September to confirm your attendance and give more details of the game. Contact names with phone numbers, e-mail addresses and URL are appended at the end of this newsletter.
The Duke of York is a nearby pub located at 39 Prince Arthur, that has generously supported U of T Women’s and Men’s Rugby. Events such as our team breakfast, 50/50 Raffle Draw and the Rugby Banquet (where we managed to run an astronomical bill, and decide on our last will and testament) took place at The Duke. As mentioned before, our new jerseys have been provided by The Duke and they look great! Thank you to The Duke of York and Kim, the General Manager for the continuing support of U of T Rugby.
High School Clinic
Our third annual High School Clinic was held in the Sports Gym of the Athletic Center on Sunday March 29, 1998. This year’s clinic was an astounding success with over 80 young female rugby players from Toronto area high schools. Schools in attendance included, C.W. Jefferies, Cederbrae, Earl Haig, Holy Trinity, Leaside, Mentor College, Senator O’Connor and Thornlea. Also in attendance were the High School coaches and University students interested in the learning more about the game of Rugby.
Instruction at the Clinic was provided by our coaches Gina Minutillo and Kevin Jones. Additional support was provided by National team members; Sue Asprey, Lee Fairclough, Joanne Gardner and Sarah Hall.
These players have just finished a strong fourth place showing at the Women’s Rugby 1998 World Cup. The tournament took place in Holland from May 1 to 17. The New Zealand squad were the tournament winners, followed in second place by the United States and England in third. In addition to the aforementioned team members, players with U of T connections included alumni Ann-Marie Fleming and Heather Hunt.
Upcoming Season
Now that you know what we were up to in 1997, it is time to prepare for the 1998 fall season. Gina sends her best to everyone and wants to remind everyone to keep fit and play rugby! Returning players: please refer to the fitness program and season schedule enclosed in your mailing.
The first official meeting date for Varsity Blues Rugby is on Tuesday September 8, 4:30 pm at Back Campus. (The day after Labour Day, or if you prefer, the first day of frosh week) This date was picked as the official first meeting date in order to accommodate players new to the program and University.
However, please note that by that point in time, team training will be in its third week. This shouldn’t be of any surprise to the returning players, as you have received notification of the training camp dates over a month ago. The Training camp dates are now confirmed. Camp will start on Monday August 24 from 12-5 and continue at the same time on the Tuesday and Wednesday. Please refer to the enclosed schedule. We are also working on getting exhibition games before our first league game against Queen’s University on September 17th.
New players: Don’t wait until September 8th to practice with the team. Please, by all means, come to the training camp. Call one of the team members to arrange a campus tour during the summer. We start practicing in August because the fall rugby season is otherwise very short. The training camps, exhibition games and recruiting efforts we are making at the OFSSA championships are all geared towards making 1998 a winning season!
Return to 1998 Archives