With recruiting events over and meetings in the past, it is time to put the actual playing of rugby in the forefront and get back to why we work so hard to bring rugby along off the pitch: to be a successful club on the pitch.
For the casual fan, there are several points of interest this spring. If you have been following the club since its inception in 2006, the club has played two dozen games against 14 different teams. This season brings further variety of competition. The team will open against a college side, scrimmaging Union College in Schenectady on April 7th. They follow that up with a trip to Rutland, the third time that they have played their friendly rivals from Vermont. After a week off, the schedule becomes very formidable against Division III teams (Being new to league play, Saratoga is D-IV).
First, the club travels to New London on April 28th, a good team who gave the Stampede some real trouble in their fourth overall game last year. The club hopes that a year in between meetings will yield more favorable results compared to the 52-12 drubbing of 2006. Perennial powerhouse from the north, Montreal, will roll in with a full contingency of sides (full A and B sides) on May 5th. This match will be a good measuring stick as to how the team deals with experienced, veteran competition. This is also the first meeting between Montreal and Saratoga.
On May 12th, the club travels to take on the Hudson Valley Rebels, whose president is a former team mate with Stampede Vice-President Pike Mody. The Rebels met the Stampede in tournament play during last August, in the 8th Annual Saratoga Invitational, and dealt the Stampede a sound loss, so this rematch should also be a tough match for the growing club.
Finally, the club takes on the first team with less experience than they have. On May 19th, the newly formed Utica Klubs make the pilgrimage to Saratoga for the first time for an inaugural meeting versus the Stampede. The Utica Klubs have been practicing since January and are staffed with young, but experienced players, and should provide an exciting match for the Stampede, who currently are comprised mostly of players in their late teens and early twenties and older players in their early to mid thirties. And who can forget, of course, graybeard Rick Babson, who celebrated his 52nd birthday during the off season.
In my next entry, I will preview some of the more interesting competitions that are sure to arise as the season gets underway. With some veterans retiring or unable to play due to injury and/or work commitments, it should be intriguing to see the moves that Coach Mick O'Dalaigh and the spring captains make in order to put a strong team on the field. Last year saw flankers moving to center and one second row from the first game become one of the team's regular centers, while the other second row became the team's regular 8-man. This spring has the potential of seeing a fly-half become a hook, or a completely rookie break in at prop. As the battles for starting positions unfold, check back to the Stampede Blog for details.
A reminder that the team will still play pick-up touch rugby on Sundays at 1PM. Contact Matt Volke for details. Official practice begins on March 20th.
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