Taking a Break

It is with a  heavy heart that I say LLR will be taking a break, it is brief but it is a much needed break personally and professionally. this past year coverage and articles where not coming out and turning out the way I wanted them to but it was mainly due to me having other pressing issues happening personally. with that said LLRugby should be back by end of this year and up again by 2017 season of club play.

things to look forward to upon return and going forward:

- More Q&A's
-monthly player profiles
-monthly team profiles
-more Rugby League coverage
-online store launch
-High school coverage of Rugby Norcal , Rugby Oregon and bit of Rugby Washington.
-and other rugby related projects such as summer 2017 (possibly) Rugby camp for those with ASD
Launch of a Rugby league 9's teams in the NW.

Thank you all for coming here to read the various posts, I hope to having things going at 100% going forward.

#GoEagles !

USARL week 1

Sat, Jun 04	1:00 pm	(H) Bucks County Sharks vs (A) White Plains Wombats	Shark Park (Falls Township Park)
Sat, Jun 04	2:00 pm	(H) D.C. Slayers vs (A) Philadelphia Fight	Duke Ellington Field
Sat, Jun 04	4:00 pm	(H) Northern Virginia Eagles vs (A) Delaware Black Foxes	Grizzly Sports Complex
Sat, Jun 04	6:00 pm	(H) Central Florida Warriors vs (A) Atlanta Rhinos	Spec Mart Stadium, Deland
Sat, Jun 04	7:00 pm	(H) Boston 13s vs (A) Rhode Island Rebellion	Boston University Nickerson Field
Sun, Jun 05	6:00 pm	(H) Brooklyn Kings vs (A) New York Knights	Bushwick Inlet Park, Brooklyn

____________________________________________________________________
 The start of the USARL 2016 Season is finally here  and there is a full slate of games this weekend.
Be sure to fallow each team through out the season via there social media sites, and on the USARL website.
*Bye week for Tampa and Jacksonville this week,

Mindaribba Warriors defeat Philadelphia Fight in 9s Final

Mindaribba Warriors defeat Philadelphia Fight in 9s Final

4 things I look forward to in the first OFFSeason

I know this topic is a bit early to bring up and talk about, but just as I am excited to see how this first year unfolds for ProRugby I am also excited for the first Off-Season and the 2nd season to Kick off. with that said as the season goes on I am sure there will be certain areas of the league we will see that needs to be fine tuned here and there as I am sure ProRugby Is watching also. so to being here is my 4 areas I would like to see address, there will be others also I will bring up as the season goes on.

1- better Media coverage: I have seen local news stations covering a few of the teams, Sacramento and San Diego have been the most active from what I have seen. I am not sure if Ohio or Denver has had anything similar as well, and the one team I am most disappointed in is San Francisco ( only because they are the team I choose to support and is my home town market and the area I am most familiar with). As far as I am aware there has been no media coverage at all. No radio interviews, there are 2 radio sports stations, no Television interview's, There are 5 news stations and 1 sports station CSN. No news paper coverage , there are Three major papers well two really but three papers along with another plethora smaller community papers and that's just the Bay Area its self from San Francisco to Oakland to San Jose that's not counting the other media outlets that's just a hour or so drive out side the "Bay Area" reach. with that said this league if they want to make money and put butts in seats needs to make sure every team is doing the most they can in reaching out to the public aside from doing local readings at schools. Not that there is anything wrong with that connecting to the youth which is always a good thing but they should be connecting with those fans who prefer contact sports (Football) and getting the word out to everyone. at the very lest at lest put up a few billboards in the area or on a few buses and trains so people can see them when they are commuting.

2- Getting the officals the best learning opportunities in the off season. I hope the league is proactive in getting the few officials they have now some good quality learning time, maybe see if another union like the RFU or someone in SANZAAR will let them train and observe those officials during matches or participate in lower division matches to gain the experience and see how other officials interpret the laws. This is not a complaint at all to the officials that PRO Rugby has now, in fact I think they have done a amazing job thus far into the early season! But one of the areas where rugby specialist over look when it comes to developing rugby in this country is not to just get players more games but there also needs to be a better training system for officials in this country so that way maybe one day USA Rugby can have possibly 2-3 officials representing this country at the Rugby World Cup or the Olympics.

3- More broadcast partners, to have the capability to stream games online and to get a TV broadcaster this first year and so quickly is an a achievement that we should applaud ProRugby for getting done, but with that said I still think the main online streamer we where all hoping for and many probably still want to see is to get games on ESPN 3. AOL has a done a fairly good job of putting things together for us fans thus far, but  if we want more people to care about this league and to help get the name out there more the ESPN brand still carries plenty of weight around the sports minded people and I am sure would prefer to watch a sporting event through their platform then to go to AOL. But enough about AOL , One World Sports is a channel that I am sure till the press release not many of us had even known existed. I personally love 1WS (30 million) and have always enjoyed there broadcasts of sporting games and hope that they continue to stay on as broadcasters for the years to come and hope to see them grow as a channel also, got to  make it more accessible to more providers. lets be honest PRO will not be on ESPN or ESPN 2, FS1 and NBCSN these first 2-5 years. At least not till they can pull an average of 5k a game and have some good investors and sponsors lined up which then I'm sure one of those sports channels would like to pick up a few games a year, Game of the Week type. till then why not take the 1WS approach and go after the smaller guys and build your viewership up so that way you can then take the numbers to the folks at Disney (owners of ESPN) and Fox and say hay we have something that will bring you more eyes and dollars to your channels. Probably the first step would be to get the local sports channels in each market to televise the home games at lest for each team and I am talking about your Comcast sports net (Blank) and the few Fox sports net channels that are still out there and Root sports (8.3 million). Now the problem with that is every market varies such as the SF market where the CSN channel there is already crammed with two MLB teams playing at the same time along with play-off issues when they have both the NBA and NHL teams playing at the same time. so the SF club may be bumped to tape delayed programming. The best bet and I am sure easy Major network to land would be CBS Sports ( 30 million)  which currently they don't have much to broadcast at this time of the year. outside of them maybe beIN sports (16 million +) would pick up Pro Rugby games here and there, they just signed a contract with the NASL to show a game a week which helped them to finally break into the USA market and have broadcasting rights to a USA based sports league, why not help them add two to there resume, while also keeping the 1WS broadcasts you now have two TV avenues for fans to take.

4- Finally my last is player development. I may be in the 1% who would like to see this happen but I do think this could have positive ramifications after a few years down the road. Why not have a All-Star/Barbarians team represent PRO Rugby and have them play a few international and national matches? obviously there will be players who will be called up to the Eagles for a few test matches here and there , but what about the other players who weren't called up. Pro Rugby hasn't said much on what the plans are for the league and the players in ether level of the player system they have, for the off season but my suggestion is to comprise a coaching staff made up of the Coach of the year and a few others and help that person select a team of players from every club. train for a few weeks and set out for a 2-3 week tour of playing other international clubs. Give those players a chance to experience what its like to play past our boarders and to experience different styles of play, so that way when they do get a chance to be called up they already have an idea what to expect. On top of all that it'll help keep players in rugby playing condition a bit longer and help add a bit of prestige and honor to be selected to participate on a all-star/barbarians team. ( similar to the current all star teams the major leagues have now, players do take some what pride in being placed on such teams)




* don't forget to like LLRugby Facebook page

RUGBY OREGON standings 4/21

Boys Club Championship
1- North Side Panthers
2- Polk County
3- Beaverton Barbarians A
4- North Clackamas crusaders
5- Clark County warriors

Boys Varsity Premiership
1- Union High School 1
2- Lincoln High school
3- Portland Pumas
4- Summit High School
5- Oregon City

Girls Club Championship
1- Grant
2- Lady Barbarians
3- North Clackamas
4- Battle Ground
5- West Linn

Girls Varsity Premiership
1- Linn Benton
2- Valley Panthers
3- Canby
4- Reynolds
5- East Oregon Wendigo

Rugby Oregon Rankings 4/15

 

Boys Club championship-
1- Northside Panthers
2- Polk County
3- Beaverton Barbarians A
4- Bend Blues
5- East Oregon Sasquatch

 Boys Varsity Premiership-
1- Union High School 1
2- Portland Pumas
3- Lincoln High School
4- Reynolds High School
5- Battle Ground High School

 Girls Varsity Premiership-
1- Linn Benton
2- Canby
3- Valley Panthers
4- Reynolds
5- Cleveland

 Girls Club Championship-
1- Grant
2- Battle Ground
3- Lady Barbarians
4- North Clackamas
5- West Linn

*rankings are my own doing, only influenced from the current standings that Rugby Oregon has posted on there own website.

Pro Rugby & Autism 4/02/2016

I am absolutely excited for PRORugby to finally kick off, with that said I write this open letter or plea to those in charge to take the opportunity and use the first game in league history and the first month to help bring awareness to Autism and those with loved ones on the Autism Spectrum, ASD. Help shine a light this April and take the time to connect with these amazing people. It's not just kids but adults with ASD who have a hard time in a "normal" setting that we all take for granted.



Since my daughter was identified on the spectrum we have been active and engaging when it comes to activism, we have met other families and individuals with the same qualities or similar and others who are more sever then our daughter. With all the recent education that organizations such as Autism Speaks and The Autism Society and countless others who may not be as poplar in name recognition, like Parents Helping Parents in san Jose , CA , there is still so much that needs to be done to help support and educate countless others about the in's and out's of dealing with someone with ASD and how to provide a equal opportunity in not just a education setting but through out America. Whether that's how to confront a class mate or co worker who is having an issue in focusing with outburst or making sure that the person who has ASD is understanding and equipped with how to handle situations outside of there own home while engaging "normal" people out in the world that we find so easily to do.

To the people over at Pro Rugby North America and the founding clubs, San Francisco, San Diego , Sacramento , Denver ,Ohio ,Why not have Autism Awareness night. Invite the local Autism organizations in each market where you currently have clubs, offer if not free then half off priced tickets to be sold to anyone involved and seeking help through that organization. Have a booth for those groups to hand out information available for people to stop by and ask question. Have a sensory are set aside during the game day festivities and the game its self.

Wear Blue Autism awareness Night: Encourage your Fans to Wear Blue during the month of April in support of those who have ASD, give local Charites or the non-profits in the area a profile in the game day programs or plugins during the game announcements. Have players wear Autism Awareness warm up T's or shoelaces similar to what the Glendale Raptors did last year. Invite the youth to walk out with the players, and parents if child needs assistance.

This past year the Seattle Seahawks them self's took an amazing step forward to insuring that fans but with ASD can enjoy game days, " But the Seahawks just took steps to make that environment a little more accommodating: The team now offers special toolkits to fans on the autism spectrum, giving them some gear to improve their experience at the game." Special tool kits were created and provided by the non-profit group called I'm A-Okay, "The kits feature both noise cancelling headphones and earplugs, since many children with autism are sensitive to noise. The kids also have a detailed game day schedule to help parents prep for every aspect of the visit to the stadium. A toy is included, as well as stickers and ID wristbands to let other fans know that the child may experience some difficulties at the game." such simple yet effective way to help make attending a rugby match in America that much more enjoyable for the fan who is on the Spectrum and for a parent like my self who wants to take there child to a game.

There is countless other ways that you ProRugby can do your part and USA Rugby for that matter also, you can make a big difference in countless lives. I am just a man sitting at his key board reaching out to you who have the power to  make a difference in so many life's and impact so many others. As much as the general public is a wear of some the underlying issues that associate with someone on the spectrum in society there is still so much that needs to be taught and understood. A mother or father should not have to apologize to the other people in line at the grocery store when there son or daughter break out into a tantrum and they can not get them to calm down, A young man or woman should not feel embarrassed if in the middle of class or work they have to leave and isolate them self's because they cant stop the urge to hit them self's or stop fidgeting. Parents should not be a shamed because there child is different!

Dear PRO Rugby North America this April help #LighItUpBlue at the many games happening next month, bring #AutismAwareness to the rugby community and the rugby community to the Autism community. Get in contact with the people at autism friendly locations or the other organizations through out America about possibly getting the same "Tool Kits" that where provided to the Seattle Seahawks to help make the games that much more enjoyable for that young fan, for that family , individual person. I encourage you to please help make a impact in the many lives of people who have Autism Spectrum Disorder, I promise you that not just Pro Rugby but the over all sport of Rugby will leave a everlasting life changing experience to everyone it touches. Can you imagine the day that a USA rugby player who is representing on the National team or playing his/her first Pro Rugby match is someone who is on the spectrum, that is a day I look forward to see.

And if you are still not convinced that the Sport of Rugby and Autism don't mix, here is a few articles from the UK where the sport of rugby was introduced to kids with ASD and had a very positive effect on there lives and actually helped young people come out of there shell's and begin to interact with other people, sadly these articles are quite old and have not found anything recent just yet but am open to adding them if anyone wish's to inform me. 1) - Parents hail 'enormous' benefits of rugby training for autistic children    2) - Kicking autism into touch


I ask those of you who wish to see some action to please connect with ProRugby through there social media sites and urge them to step up and make a difference in 2016 and to also get in contact with USA Rugby to help make every game Autism Friendly, use #AutismAwerness or #RugbysupportsAutism #AutismInRugby when posting please.

PRO RUGBY-
Twitter: @ProRugbyUSA
Facebook: www.facebook.com/prorugby
Instagram: @PRO_Rugby_USA
Website: www.prorugby.org/

USA RUGBY-
Twitter: @USARugby
Facebook: www.facebook.com/usarugby
Website: www.usarugby.org

NorCal & Oregon High school standings 3/31/16

since I now live in Oregon I wanted to also try and incorporate high school scores and rankings from Oregon as well as California. so for a few weeks I will be giving this a try and tweaking things here and there. the same concept for ranking goes for Oregon as I do for NorCal. total points, but since total points through out the season are not recorded down like Rugby Norcal does I will be improvising to handle more then one team having the same amount of points.

-Oregon:                                                             NorCal:
Club Championship-                                         Premier Varsity A- 
1-Clark count warriors                                      1- Danville
2- East Oregon Sasquatch                                 2- Jesuit
3- South East                                                     3-Granite Bay
4-Oswego Rugby Club                                     4- Solo Falcons
5- West Linn Lions                                           5- Archbishop Riordan

Varsity Premiership-                                         Boys Division 1-
1- Union High School 1                                    1- Penn Green
2- Lincoln High School                                     2-CK McClatchy
3- Portland Pumas                                             3-Sierra
4- Summit High School                                    4- SFGG
5- Battle ground High School                           5- Christian Bros

Girls Varsity Premiership-                              Boys Division 2-
1- Valley Panthers                                           1- Roosevelt  
2- Canby                                                          2- Bullard
3- Linn Benton                                                3- Buchanan
4- Reynolds                                                     4- Cougar
5- Cleveland                                                    5- De La Salle

Girls Club Championship-                              Girls Division 1-
1- Lady Barbarians                                         1- Bishop O'Dowd
2- Battle Ground                                             2- Danville
3- Grant                                                           3- Mother Lode
4- North Clackamas                                        4- Land Park Harlequins
5- West Linn                                                   5- Chico Oaks

New Rugby League Tri-Series for Americas

New Rugby League Tri-Series for Americas

Rugby Norcal standings 3/17

Premier Varsity A-
1- Danville
2- Solo Falcons
3- Granite Bay
4- Jesuit
5- Archbishop Riordan HS

Premier Varsity B-
1- Granite Bay
2- Jesuit
3- Solo Falcons
4- Danville
5- Lamorinda

Boys Division 1-
1- Penn Green
2- CK McClatchy
3- Sierra
4- Pleasanton
5- Christian Brothers

Boys Division 2-
1- Bullard 
2- Buchanan 
3- De La Salle
4- Roosevelt
5- Kennedy

Girls Division 1-
1- Danville
2- Bishop O'Dowd
3- SacPD Pal Amazons
4- Mother Lode
5- Pleasanton

*all Rankings are based on PTs and Scores from rugbynorcal.com

SFGG WRFC

Many of you have probably heard of the SFGG (Rhinos) men's side and there many success stories and rich player history pipeline to the US national team or over seas pro clubs. But what many are starting to realize like myself is that the women's side of the SFGG brand is also starting to make just as much noise. Still a relatively young club, in years active, by a simple fallow on just there instagram you can just tell that these ladies are having a blast and enjoying every aspect of the wonderful sport of RUGBY. The Women had a very successful 2015 season that saw them move through to the NorCal Division II playoffs, also they where able to begin to develop the High School Girls 7s team. I was lucky enough to gain some perspective from a member of the SFGG ladies.

 

 

What does SFGG Women’s side mean - " Our women's side is fairly young in the history of the San Francisco Golden Gate RFC. In the past three years we have gone to playoffs each year and been a large contributor to the club with volunteers and fundraising efforts. On all fronts we are helping the club grow. On a more personal level it provides a place for women like me who played in college to continue and advance their level of play and allows women who have never played before to learn the amazing sport. For example, we have women who have been playing for more than a decade packing down next to women who have been playing for less than a month. Our players are from all over the Bay Area, and are very diverse. We join together twice a week for practice to get ready for our, competitive, DII league. We hope to create a squad that will grow in strength and tradition for many years to come." - Olivia Morales

What do you say to that young girl in high school or college about SFGG and why they should come out to play- " SFGG is an all-inclusive club. We want anybody who has a lot of heart and wants to get strong and learn all about rugby! With the recent reintroduction of rugby sevens to the Olympics, beginning play as early as possible gives you a head start on the competition, an opportunity that many of us never had before college level. Rugby is a sport where you lay your body out for your team and fight with them for 80 minutes. It's a sport where you give all you have against the opposing team then social with them after. It teaches you discipline, teamwork, and to push yourself in a way you couldn't imagine. If that's something you think you want to be a part of then we'd love to see you on the pitch representing Golden Gate." - Olivia Morales

The SFGG WRFC currently are sitting at 3-1 this season and you can head to Treasure Island in the middle of the Bay to catch this years matches. the next home game will be April 2, although this coming Saturday March, 12 SFGG will be playing the San Jose Seahawks in San Jose which is just such of San Francisco. I heavily implore that you guys/ladies find time to go watch a match and support not just SFGG WRFC but any and all female rugby clubs at all levels, even though there is a great deal of attention surrounding the mens side of rugby and a new competition begging there is also a greater need and much needed respect to be shown to the women's side, with advocacy for equality in media attention and development of future female Eagles along with preparation for all national team test matches and competitions . #FutureFemaleEagles #usaWrugby

You can follow SFGG WRFC on:

 Instagram @sfggwrfc  (Preference contact form)

Facebook :  Facebook.com/sfggwrfc (preference contact form)

Twitter @sfggwrfc.

 

There is some brief team information at sfggrugby.com

 

 

lastly if you would like to help grow not just the women's side of the SFGG organization you can also help grow Rugby for all levels of female players in the San Francisco Bay Area - "We are currently raising money to cover the cost of our season on indiegogo. Playing rugby in the Bay Area can be quite costly in addition to travel costs and rugby equipment, but in return we do have some great prizes in exchange for donations." -  You can check them out at 2016 SFGG Generosity Funding  .

*thanks to Forwards Captain  Olivia Morales for the answers/quotes and Social Media chair, Beth McKee for passing along the info.

Rugby NorCal Rankings 2/24/16

Premier Varsity A
1- Solo Falcons
2- Danville
3- Granite Bay
4- Jesuit
5- Mother Lode

Premier Varsity B
1- Danville
2- Solo Falcons
3- Jesuit
4- Granite Bay
5- Mother Lode

Boys Division I
1- Pleasanton
2-CK McClatchy
3- SFGG
4- Sierra
5- Los Gatos

Boys Division II
1- Roosevelt
2- Bullard
3- Kennedy
4- Berkeley
5- River City HS

Girls Division I
1- Danville
2- SacPD PAL Amazons
3- Bishop O'Dowd
4- Renegade HS Girls
5- Vacaville

Rugby NorCal Rankings 2/16/16

First set of high school Norcal rugby standings done my way. there will be a top 5 ranking from each Division combining teams from each conference in that division. It will be sorted by amount of points fallowed by points scored and if teams are still tied after that then points against will come into play lastly fallowed by Bonus points accounted for.

Premier varsity A
1- Granite Bay
2- Solo Falcons
3- Danville
4- Jesuit
5- Mother Lode

Premier varsity B
1- Danville
2- Solo Falcons
3- Jesuit
4- Granite Bay
5- Lamorinda

Premier Division JV
1- Danville
2- Granite Bay
3- Lamorinda
4- Mother lode
5- Solo falcons

Boys Division I
1- SFGG
2- Pleasanton
3- Los Gatos
4- CK McClatchy
5- Sierra

Boys Division II
1- Bullard
2- Roosevelt
3- Kennedy
4- De La Salle
5- Berkeley

Girls Division I
1- Danville
2- Vacaville
3- Sierra Foothills
4- SacPD Pal
5- Mother Lode


To get a better in-depth of how more teams are doing this season be sure to head to www.rugbynorcal.org .
To Save time I left out the JV sides for the lower divisions, but will do them from time to time through out the season.

Eugene Civic Stadium- Rebuild

It has been about a year now since I made the move from San Jose, CA to Corvallis , OR. When I first moved here I was sitting on the couch one day watching the news, then I saw a news story about the Civic stadium in Eugene and how a Group was able to secure enough funding to purchase the stadium and the ground it sits on with plans to renovate the Stadium and to add sports facilities for the youth of the city to use. Sadly only a few months after Eugene Civic Alliance began to put plans in motion three teen age boys committed arson and the entire historic Civic Stadium burnt down in a massive fireball. Some parts of the stadium where salvageable such as the old score board and wooden frames and beams, they will be instigated back into the new plans. Curious about the status of this effort I reached out to the folks at ECA to find out what's happening and what the next step is, along with of course  the possibility of a facility worthy enough to hosts rugby matches sometime down the road. Derek Johnson a spokes person for ECA was able to answer some questions about the status of Civic stadium and how he would sell Eugene to USA Rugby to and Pro Rugby to play a test match and place a club in the area.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LLR- Since the fire that burned down Civic Stadium what has happened behind the scenes, are there still plans to rebuild and continue forward with the original plans for the land?

DJ- Since the fire the Eugene Civic Alliance has continued its efforts to build a sports and recreation facility on the 10.2 acre parcel.  The Board of Directors is committed to making the vision a reality.

LLR- Where do things currently stand, with funding and the next process of things that still needs to be done?

DJ- We are in a strong position financially, owning the property free and clear and having proceeds from the insurance claim in the bank.  We intend to kick off our major fundraising campaign this spring, and have been assembling the materials, organizational structure and leadership to be successful.  We expect to hire an architect within the next month.  That will help us tremendously with conceptual drawings, cost estimates and the like.

LLR- I understand that the main attraction for this facility is to get a soccer team, Lane United, to become the permanent residence but can the community and fans of other sports also look forward to seeing other events being played there also?

DJ- We expect the park to have three main components: a fieldhouse for Kidsports, big enough for four or more basketball courts., etc.; a synthetic turf field; and a stadium with facilities for players and fans alike.  The soccer teams, both men’s and women’s would be anchor tenants, but the stadium and field are not being built for them.  We expect lots of other teams to play there, including other soccer teams, rugby, ultimate Frisbee, lacrosse and others.  We also hope the venue will work for events.

LLR- Lane United FC has on their website to be playing at the new civic stadium in 2017, is that still possible for some portion of the overall facility to be open for sporting events to start being held?

DJ-   We would love to have some of the facility available for play in 2017.  The decision as to when to break ground, and in what sequence, has not been made.

LLR- Being this is a rugby blog I have to ask a few questions for the rugby folks out there especially in Oregon, The North West has yet to host a Rugby Test match, if you could speak with USA Rugby what would you say to convince them to play in Eugene rather than Portland or Seattle?

DJ- Eugene would be an ideal location for a major Rugby Test match.  The community has lots of experience putting on major events, from Duck football games to the track meets at Hayward Field.  A match in Eugene would be the biggest event on the sporting calendar when it is played, not competing with the Timbers, Seahawks, Blazers or any other professional team.  Eugene is well situated between Seattle and San Francisco to host such an event, and airline connections, while not like Seattle or Portland, are adequate for this purpose.  Best of all, the players and fans alike would be one hour from the mountains and one hour from the ocean.  It would be a tremendous experience for everyone.

LLR- With the dawn of professional rugby set to begin this April in America, why should ProRugby call Eugene home to a club in the NW over Portland and Seattle?

DJ- See #5 above.  I would add that Eugene is teeming with the age demographic that is interested in sports like rugby and soccer.  And the microbrew scene would be super accommodating.  Further I suspect the costs of running a team out of Eugene could be significantly cheaper than bigger metro areas – air travel being the one exception.

LLR- How can those who want to fallow the Civic Stadium progress keep in touch and fallow along?

DJ- Best way to follow along is through the website: eugenecivicalliance.org

LLR- For those who want to help but may not live in the Eugene, how can they contribute to make Civic Stadium become a reality?

DJ- We have a link on our website where supporters can contribute.  And talking up the excitement of having such a venue in the heart of Eugene is critical.

“Imagine fans arriving by bus, bicycle and by foot; U of O students walking up for an international experience.  All the permanent seats are long sold out, and the temporary bleachers are packed.  Folks are up on Willamette trying to watch for free.  The All Blacks line up at midfield, stare straight ahead and the crowd roars as they start their haka.  The Springboks strive to ignore them and continue warming up casually.  The tension is palpable – beer flowing, flags streaming and fans cheering.  Finally, the referee whistles the match to begin and Civic is reborn in a swirl of color, culture, drama and unparalleled athleticism.  Play ON.”- Derek Johnson

rendering of plans to what ECA envisions

picture is aerial view of what was Civic Stadium

I would like to add that even though Eugene is not a major market for television , Eugene and the surrounding towns and communities, Springfield, Albany, Corvallis, and even Roseburg (total 346,487 population not including the other smaller towns in between)  are areas that are experiencing massive growth and development along with a very active growing rugby scene that can contribute from having a Stadium such as Civic available to host a variety of entertainment and with the lack of proper facilities in the NW this corner of Oregon could be its answer and be the Glendale of the area. For ProRugby placing a team in Eugene would be much cheaper to pay players and allow the people involved to live more comfortably then some of the other players will be experiencing in other parts of the country on top of that you have the massive investment from Nike to University of Oregon which could allow the club and the league a chance to also tap into by playing in the same market as Nike is headquarter in ( Portland).

Facebook: www.facebook.com/eugenecivicalliance

Website: www.eugenecivicalliance.org

Twitter: @Eugenecivic