Coach's Corner

8/08/09

The most exciting time of the year is near. We will be kicking off our 2009-2010 season soon. I hope everyone had a great summer break. This season I truly believe may be are best year yet. With so many of you coming back and many new players coming out. This really gets me excited; the coaching staff has been preparing all summer. I hope you have been working out and getting healthy.

This year we will be adding AG middle school this spring. Coach Dean Boylan has excepted to be one of there new coaches and I know this will bring us a much stronger and prepare crop of new players.

This year we will have two divisions our A side and B side will have there own championship and will work as a unit. During preseason you will be tested on condition and speed. We will be going back to basic’s and work to prefect our skills. As always I will be setting up fun matches during the fall to test and prepare us for the league season in spring.

Our Lady Mustang will play a spring season, sense we lost so many seniors, this will give us more time to rebuild the Lady’s side. We are working on having at least two new lady rugby sides in the Charlotte area by this spring. I am very proud of the lady’s and having two of them get certified as Rookie Rugby coaches for the under 12 age group. The earlier that we start introducing the youth of Charlotte to rugby the more skilled and expose the kids will be to play at our level.

This coming Sat Aug. 15 we will have our annual BBQ, this is the time to invite new players to come and join our family. I strongly encourage all of you to attend and bring new players and family. Please RSVP on coaches contact and confirm you and your guests. I will have my address and directions posted in a few days.

I am so happy to see that we will have many of our seniors playing college rugby or join Charlotte Rugby Club in this coming year. The very best to all of you.

Now is the time to start thinking RUGBY, WHAT IS YOUR LEVEL OF COMMITMENT?

Coach Thomas

5/24/09

Now that we reached the end of the season brings the staff and me great pride and excitement for the 2010 season, which is just around the corner. We have had so many great times and some of best High School rugby that I’ve seen. Every member of Myers Park Rugby Club stand tall and feel that you have done your part to bring us to a second year as North Carolina High School State Runner-up. The Lady Mustang in there first year had a great season, which they now can build upon for the upcoming season.

I expect many of you to continue playing through out the summer and into the next season. All the seniors going to men’s and women's clubs or college take what you learned and remember that you always will be part of the Myers Park Rugby Club.  As you know you will get back what you put into it. I could not thank the staff enough for their great support and hard work during this long season. I also wish all the NC Select All Stars nominees much success and use this as a stepping stone to reach even greater heights. I look forward to seeing you at the 2009 Award Banquet on June 6th at 6 pm, again this year we are so lucky to have the banquet at Mr. and Mrs. Henricks home.

Head Coach Thomas Connor
MPRFC

4/5/09
From Coach Thomas

I talked to you in my message on 3/20/09 that the scariest thing to a coach is the fear of playing a team or club with nothing to lose and everything to gain. You just prove me right. You see when I took over the club two years ago, we were the underdog with nothing to lose and everything to gain and we did. We played with heart and intense focus. This is a different team this year we have more talent and deeper numbers to draw upon. However I see less heart and almost no focus, to some of you this is a game and to rest of us this is life. We are still in the playoffs even though we just dropped to third place in the standings. We will be playing East Meck and you know they are coming after us. So what are you going to do? Think about it guys; we had a pitiful showing against West Meck and a total stomping by Barry Academy. It is now up to you. We have given you twice as many matches this season, more then any other club. This was all done to prepare you for the State Championship. As of now take and enjoy your vacation and Easter with your families. When you come back I expect to see men with a mission, burning passion and extreme focus. You have been giving one of the best coaching staffs in the league and they have giving you the skills and direction, it is really up to you.

Rugby is a way of life it is not a game, every match is a test to see how one is progressing in life. You just tripped, now get up and be sure to run over your vacation. We the coaching staff have not given up on you, so done give up on yourself. Be the winners we know you can be.
Happy Easter to all.
Coach Thomas

3/23/09

From Coach Thomas

Great match this last weekend against North Meck, I’m proud of all you guys  sorry I was not there. However I did get to watch Travis play this weekend at Appalachian State. App. played the Crimson Tide of Alabama and won the quarterfinals with a score of 26 to 3 and now advances to Semi Finals in Tuscaloosa, Alabama this coming weekend. They will be playing Georgia Tech or South Florida.

We currently have three former Myers Park players in the AHO Rugby Club at Appalachian State.

Christian Dice, JD Dorsey and Travis Connor.

I wish to thank and say job well done to Coach Matt, for his outstanding job leading MP to victory.

27 to 7 and that win moved us up to second place towards North Carolina State Championship. We now have to prepare for West Meck this coming weekend. This should be a great match, so its time to put our plan of attack together. We need everyone at practice this week.

Check photos of AHO vs. Alabama

http://picasaweb.google.com/MPcoach12/AHO26Alabama3#

3/20/09
Message from Coach Thomas

As we enter into the final leg of our regular season it is very important to remember were we came from. Sept. 9th we kick off our preseason and started building the 2008-2009 team and started focusing on our goal. “North Carolina High School Rugby Championship”.

The Staff of Myers Park Rugby Club has to this point not only expanded the club to now 70 members, but also transformed the club into 3 sides. Our premier A side is in the push for High School Championship and our B-side and our new Lady Mustangs has become the clubs future. What most do not understand is we have also become the largest U-19 rugby club in the southern United States.

Myers Park Rugby Club is in its second year under the new leadership of the club and will continual to grow the club. Myers Park Rugby club now has a 9-month program, starting in September and running though May. This requires a huge commitment from its players and staff. This year has been a fun, exciding and sometimes challenging season.

Every player was given a chance to play in at least one of two of the largest U-19 rugby tournaments in the southern union. Were our players and club as a whole, showed our level of play and the determination that is necessary to become true champions. In my eyes you have passed the test, now we must show our continual drive and focus to reach the top.

We have come to the point of no return, the eyes of the rugby community is now on us. It is all about how we handle ourselves though the rest of our season will show everyone that Myers Park Rugby Club is not a flash in the pan club. Not only do I believe that we can become state champions but also a nationally ranked club. We have the depth and talent and skill to be what ever we want, it is up to you the players.

This is not the time to slow down, it’s the time to pick up the pace. We have ahead of us a few matches that are not suppose to be that hard to win, as coach this scares me more then playing the best in the nation. Why you ask, any team can win on any Saturday match, its the club that makes the least mistakes and play at its full potential that will come out victorious. I want you to play at the championship level you can play at and put the points on the board. One match at a time and we will be playing for the State Championship.

You are young men and women not kids, and as you go into the future you will learn that winning is a measurement of success in life. In my mind you are winners. Now show everyone else who you are. And as we go forward always show your sportmenship for you are the Myers Park Rugby Club.

Coach Thomas

3/8/09

Message from Coach Thomas

This last Saturday match against East Meck was truly a battle, and with the Myers Park winning attitude we again came though as warriors and victorious. East Meck was much larger is size in the pack, however did not have the heart or conditioning necessary to push us over. I know all of you see the importance of conditioning and why we spend so much time working on your condition. As you know we did not have our complete A side pack for this match, however the B side players that moved up did an outstanding job stepping up. We did very well on goal line defense and open field defense also our rucking and fast ball paid off. We still had break down of our attack line, we just didn’t play our normal game and spent more time adjust to theirs.

I know that Coach Frank, Brandon and myself are very proud of you. This may have been the toughest battle that you have played this year. East Meck fought hard and almost had us. This week play of the week is with out a doult was Chandler’s boot, one hell of a kick.
 
(ARE YOU GUYS TRYING TO GIVE ME A HEART ATTACK?)

We will be making correction to our play this week and adjusting and learning from our mistakes. B-side; your performance was lacking and I am not going to sugar coat it, As Coach Frank stated to you, you will never win and play well together if you do not come to practice. You can see the commitment of the A side and how they work together, you maybe just first and second year players and are still learning skills and how to play the game, this is something we as coaches can work with. However you not coming to practice or placing other activities ahead of your rugby shows and at this point I will not stand for it anymore. Remember this is a club and each member must carry his own weight. Are You? Some yes and some no! Those of you who do come to practice and work hard have the opportunity to play up and move up to the A-side. Those of you currently on the B-side are the future of the club so its time to act like men and prepare yourself for the upcoming challenges that are presenting themselves to you.

This coming week we have the largest Rugby Tournament in the Southeast. CYR Charlotte Tournament and we have entered A, B and Lady’ Mustangs to this event and each unit must stand on its own. So every member of Myers Park Rugby Club is and expected to be at each and every practice this week. For those of you who were not able to go to Radford tournament this is your big weekend. Be sure to check the website a couple of times a day for updates and important information that will be going out at short notice.

Some will say a win is a win, maybe so. But to the coaches we expect more out of each of you. ASK YOURSELF ARE YOU REALLY READY? IF NOT, WHY NOT?

Remember this, “ IF IT IS TO BE... IT IS UP TO ME!”

3/5/09
Message from Coach Thomas

First I must say that our trip to Radford Invitational Tournament was very successful. We did play a much higher level of rugby then we have ever played. Going up against two of the top ranked High School clubs in the nation, really show me that we are at the Championship level of play now. Personally I believe that there is no school club now that can stand in our way to the State Championship. The only way they may beat us is if we let them. The scores really do not reflect on your playing level. As with every match we learn and adjust our play, and so we will. As your head coach I am very proud of you and your performance. What I need you to do now is get your heads into the league matches coming up. We have no more away matches and the weather should start to improve here in Charlotte. I do expect each of you to evaluate your level of play and work on personal skills that need to be improved. Each of you have some area that needs extra work. Conditioning, is a must, you must now work even harder at it on your own time. We have too much to cover at practice to spend much time on conditioning. We are now half way to the finals and some big matches coming up. Are you ready? This is the time the whole teams must pickup its pace and focus on its goals.