VILLAGE LIONS

RFCS I N C E 1 9 8 9

2015 YEARBOOK

On behalf of the officers and trustees, I’m excited to introduce to you the 2015 VLRFC Yearbook developed by Christian Averill, Jackie Finlan and Mike Malone, as we celebrate a great year for our club. In all things, we are guided by mission statement, to encourage men and women to participate in the sport of rugby and to promote an appreciation for the culture of our sport.

For the past 26 years, VLRFC has had a generation of highlights and this year we celebrate the founding of a most integral branch, our Women’s Rugby Program. For the past 15 years the Leonas have brought a feroc-ity from the pitch to the board room, playing a major part in the club’s current healthy status amongst the NYC rugby landscape.

Over the past year we’ve been hard at work in put-ting the club in a position to be successful and tonight I hope you’ll join me in celebrating the fruits of that labor, the player’s accomplishments and a year of 15s and 7s team achievements. While we celebrate the past year we must note that the Lions future is bright. Our Northeast Academy Representative & Empire GU All Stars have represented the club in 7s and 15s at the representative level. Both of our 7s programs achieved new heights this summer and are ready to take the next step. The 15s programs for Men and Women have felt the impact of their new coaching staffs and at the administrative level have brought stability and creativ-ity to our membership.

In the next year we aim to see another jump in each of our programs success with a sustainable & steady plan that can see the Lions continue to take NYC by storm.

RICH GALLINAPRESIDENT, VILLAGE LIONS RFC

INSIDE

2015 VLRFC BOARDPresident Rich GallinaDirector of Rugby Jessica HouserTreasurer Erin McGeeSecretary Catherine SumMen’s 15s VP Alex SheiderWomen’s 15s VP Margo SmithMen’s 7s VP John MartinWomen’s 7s VP Jo HayesMen’s Match Secretary John LechnerWomen’s Match Secretary Lindsay Thompson

TRUSTEESCerra CardwellAlex Kallmann

Shashi KhemlaniRenee Ovrut

Andrew Wagner

WELCOMEPRESIDENT’S MESSAGE [ ]

2015 HONOREES / HISTORY 3HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES 4WOMEN’S 15s 5MEN 15s 7WOMEN 7s 9MEN 7s 10OLD GIRLS 11OLD BOYS 12MILESTONE: WOMEN’S 15TH 13MILESTONE: MEN WIN NRU 14MILESTONE: MEN TOUR EUROPE 16RIP: MARY HOLMES 17THANK YOUS 18

FOR MORE ON THESE STORIES, VISIT THE LIONS BLOG: WWW.VILLAGELIONS.ORG/CATEGORY/BLOG

SEVENS MEN WOMENRookie of the Year Kyle Ward Gezel FrederickCollege Player of the Year Hubert Chan -Silent Force - Emmarie EtheridgeElite Player of the Year Kevin Morgan Jo Hayes

FIFTEENS MEN WOMENRookie of the Year Eric Jones Sam O’BrienMost Valuable Back Brian McCorkle (DII) Aislinn Smith Jack McLaughlin (DIII) -Most Valuable Forward Matthew Mullen (DII) Tricia Stanley Eric Han (DIII) -Lightbody Award - Jo HayesPlayer of the Year Mike Tagliaferro Meg Collins

Old Boy of the Year Guillaume Blin

Hall of Fame Eric Anahory Jackie Finlan

2015 / HISTORYAWARDS [ ]

PRESIDENT’S CUP2015 Mallory Woods2014 Hamish Keith2013 Dr. John Greally2012 Jackie Finlan2011 Erin Martschenko Liz McSpedon2010 Cris Maisano2009 Pat O’Keefe2008 Bret Costain2007 Chris Gunsten2006 Jennifer Doman2005 Michael Malone2004 Renee Ovrut2003 Erin Martschenko2002 Dennis Thomas2001 Dr. Francis Camillo2000 Paul Marotta1999 Luis Schroeder1998 Christian Averill

2015 HONOREES

PLAYERS CUP MEN WOMEN2015 Michael Tagliaferro (Flanker) Meg Collins (No. 8)2014 Franco Delisa (No. 8) Meg Collins (No. 8)2013 Joe Karlin (Flanker) Meg Collins (Flyhalf)2012 Matthew Mullen (Flanker) Meg Collins (No. 8)2011 Patrick McJury (Halfback) Jackie Finlan (Flyhalf)2010 Austin Enright (Hooker) Meg Collins (No. 8)2009 Steve Raia (Flanker) Meg Collins (No. 8)2009 Rosie Rough (Outside Center)2008 John Garbo (Prop) Jessica Houser (Lock)2007 Jerry Gray (Flanker) Meg Collins (No. 8)2006 Michael Hilliker (Flanker) Meg Collins (No. 8)2005 Matthew Shelton (Halfback) Susan Pellecchia (Flanker)2004 Alex Kallmann (Flanker) Allison Behrens (Fullback)2003 Josh Patt (No. 8) Allison Behrens (Fullback)2002 Chris Gunsten (Prop) Trina Lear (Center)2001 Nils Clotteau (Halfback) Jessica Houser (Lock)2000 Steve Raia (Flanker) Katie Pisano (Scrumhalf)1999 Mitsuru Yoshimura (Halfback) --1998 Brian Murphy (No. 8) --1997 Mike Donnelly (Flanker) --1996 Jim Birmingham (No. 8) --

President’s Cup: Mallory Woods

2014 Jen Lightbody Michael Steavenson

2013 Greg Parsons Steve Raia

2012 Renee Ovrut Tim Tuohy

2011 Mary Holmes Michael Malone Shay Fitzpatrick

2010 Christian Averill Bret Costain

2009 Andrew Gonzalez Kieran P. Holohan Rachel Liberatore

2008 Mike Barry Paul Marotta

2007 Alan Lobo Erin Martschenko

2006 Dennis Martin

2005 Michael Bainbridge Bill McHugh Chris Ratay

2004 Jessica Houser Thierry Langlais Ken Murphy Alan Whelan

‘15 INDUCTEES

HALL OF FAME

HALL OF FAME

ERIC ANAHORYBorn / Live: Rockaway, Queens, NY / Fairfield, CTClubs: Iona College, Manhattan RFC Spring ‘96, Village Lions RFCLions Term: Fall 1996 to presentPositions: When I was young and fit 10-13; 9 todayOff-field Positions: Men’s VP 1997-99, Club President 2000-02 (approx), Wom-en’s 7s co-coachAwards: B Side Back x 2

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: Winning D3, Hong Tour in 2001, and every Old Boys tour

FAVORITESVillage Lion (F/M): Can’t believe you’re asking about favorite Woman; Men is tough ... Billy McGoldrickLions Bar: Cherry Tavern (I’m dating my-self on this one), FiddlesticksPost-Game Ritual: Drinking my face offLions Song: DelilahMan of the Match adornment: Playboy shirtLegacy: Firstly, to see the club continue to grow both on and the field; and second, see one or both of my boys wear the Black-and-White.

[ ]

Born / Live: Elkins Park, PA / Oakland, CAClubs: Univ. Arizona, Suffolk (NY), Village LionsLions Term: Spring 2007 - Fall 2013Positions: All back positions except wing Titles: Backs captain, Women’s Team VP, Four Leafs co-direc-tor, Hell Gate 7s co-directorAwards: Back of the Year, Play-er of the Year, President’s Cup

JACKIE FINLAN CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: Co-captaining the first Philippines 7s women’s national team (2010 Asian 7s Championship, Guangzhou, China) and first Filipino rugby team ever to compete at Hong Kong 7s (2011) • first season in DI • 10th Anniversary tour to Spain and France • HEAT winning 2015 Savannah St. Pat’s tourney

FAVORITESVillage Lion (F/M): Meg Collins, Stebie FinlanLions Bar: Croxley’sPost-Game Ritual: Van Diemen’s stoop debriefLions Song: The Tunnel lung-clearerWoman of the Match outfit: door wreath laurelsLegacy: The Dummy, Mommies

MIKE BARRYAIS > Having Mike Barry as a coach was a big game-changer. He brought good drills to prac-tice and created game-like scenarios that easily transitioned into real-life games on Saturday. We started practicing at a higher, faster pace, which really showed during games.

TRISH > I agree that Mike has been crucial in our development this year. The Leonas have not had a coach who has been as thoughtful or prepared as he has. It also helps that he is a Lion and understands what that means on and off the pitch. He relates to players well and the girls want to improve individually as well as a team under his leadership. Practice is also far more physical than it has been in the past. This has helped us be better prepared mentally for the physicality we face in games.

GROWING PAINSAIS > Our big problem was not building throughout the season. We were inconsistent from week to week. For example, in week one we’d focus on the breakdown and be stellar ruckers in that weekend’s game. The next week, we’d focus on making the gainline, and we’d be great at making ground - but terrible at rucking. It was like starting at square one each week.

TRISH > We have to find a balance between structured and free play. For a long time we have tried to adapt the “Expo System” into our system of play, and even though it has produced some success, it breaks down after the third or fourth phase. Mike has been thoughtful about how to incorporate structured plays that allow key players to show their strengths and improvise at times within our Expo-like system.

MENTAL FITNESSAIS > The main thing that has evolved is that we come out working in minute 1, for the most part. The Lions usually need 10-20 minutes to pick up the game or get our heads in; this year we started to come out of the gate strong and intense. We still haven’t had an entire 80 minutes where we work at 100%. We usually have a lull right before halftime or directly after, but that is due to fitness rather than mental toughness.

We’re learning to play smart rugby. Mike always says it’s about the top two inches. So knowing what to call depending on field position, kicking for territory, making smart decisions off open play, having ready, close support on punches and breakaways. We work a lot on just smart and fluid rugby and that is very apparent when we play. We play way smarter rugby as a team than we did even last year.

TRISH > The strides we have made have been due to trying to focus on the fluidity of the game but still within a structured way like I said previously. To build on what Ais said about momen-tum and 80 minutes of rugby ... what is even more damaging is that I am not sure we believe as a team that we should be winning or deserve to be winning games. I remember a teammate saying during the Fordham scrimmage that she was afraid to lose because that was a game we’re supposed to win. I want us to have that feeling before every game. Hopefully as we continue to make strides in our play, that feeling will be fostered.

HEAD COACH Mike BarryASST COACH Mike SteavensonVP Margo SmithMATCH SEC Lindsay ThompsonFORWARD CAPTAIN Tricia StanleyBACKS CAPTAIN Aislinn Smith

SPRING friendlies (5-4)Mar 21 Boston 55-5 Village LionsMar 28 Village Lions 94-12 SpringfieldApr 18 Village Lions 64-0 Lehigh ValleyApr 25 Village Lions 27-10 MorrisMay 2 Philadelphia 46-12 Village LionsMay 9 Village Lions 17-5 NOVA New York 33-0 Village LionsMay 16 Monmouth 41-17 Village Lions

FALL (Northeast DI) (0-7)Sept 19 Boston 95-0 Village LionsSept 26 Monmouth 29-27 Village LionsOct 3 Albany 26-15 Village LionsOct 10 Beantown 26-10 Village LionsOct 17 Albany 39-12 Village LionsOct 31 Monmouth 31-19 Village LionsNov 7 Boston 40-10 Village Lions

15sWOMEN [ ]

WOMEN’S 15s CAPTAINS AIS SMITH & TRICIA STANLEY TALK HIGHS AND LOWS OF THE 2015 SEASON

CONTINUED >>>

T C P TOTALCollins, Meg 9 0 0 45Rough, Rosie 5 3 2 37Smith, Ais 6 1 0 32Smith, Margo 2 7 1 27Stanley, Tricia 4 0 0 20Woods, Mallory 4 0 0 20Dushku, Vicky 3 0 0 15Etheridge, Em 3 0 0 15Hayes, Jo 3 0 0 15Kunsman, Emily 3 0 0 15O’Brien, Sam 3 0 0 15Sum, Cat 2 1 0 12Mcgee, Erin 2 0 0 10Baer, Alli 1 0 0 5Cassano, Theresa 1 0 0 5Dacres, Kim 1 0 0 5Harten, Tara 1 0 0 5Haughton, Sam 1 0 0 5Kocher, Erika 1 0 0 5O’Neill, Megan 1 0 0 5Sesny, Amanda 1 0 0 5 **Missing 8 conversions from March 28 game vs Springfield

15sWOMEN [ ]ROOKIE TALENTAIS > We had two rookies who really impressed me, Sierra Cutler and Sam O’Brien. They brought a quiet intensity to the forwards. We need to work on set play a lot. We lost a lot of our own lineouts and scrums, but open field play was pretty solid.

TRISH > Agreed on Sam and Sierra. We were struggling for props in the beginning of the season and having such dynamic players there is great!

A GAME TO REMEMBERAIS > Beantown. We were nervous before we got there since ‘Beantown’ has a very negative stigma in our head. But during practice that week we worked on open and fluid play that involved anyone who was there at the ruck - instead of a definitive forward punch/ backs ball - so that gave peo-ple confidence for regular open play. And before the game we had a chat about what each individual could do personally, and we didn’t talk about it out loud, we just took a second and thought about it.

When the game started, we were completely turned on: tackles hit, rucks clean and won easily, great support, and beautiful ball out to the wings. We did that for the first 20 minutes and scored. No one stood out, nothing was flashy, it was just simple beautiful rugby.

We lagged after about 40 minutes, but we kept our heads up. Beantown had two intense campaigns on our five meter, but we played methodic defense, were patient, and turned over rucks to clear it. It was super im-pressive.

It was also a very fun game to play. It was one of those games where, when the ref blew the final whistle, people were disappointed because we wanted to keep playing.

TRISH > The game that stood out the most for me was the first time we played Monmouth. I think that there were a few factors that made that game particularly emotional, but that was the game where I felt the heart of the Lions shine through. Even though we had been leading for most of the game, in the last 10 minutes we needed two tries to win. I remember telling the girls in the try zone that we could score twice in that amount of time, and that it was completely within the realm of possibility. I am not sure how much they believed me at the time, and when I look back on it now it seemed like a crazy thing to say. But what happened after was one of the biggest Lions comebacks I have ever been a part of. After the kickoff, we stole the ball, did a short line out to the backs and they scored. We only needed one more try! We spent the last five minutes of the game knocking on their try line (I think Collins even touched the goal post pad with the ball but the ref didn’t see). Anyhow, because we weren’t able (or were too stubborn) to get the ball out wide, the game ended with us two points behind. But again, I haven’t seen the Lions rally like that in a long time, and it reminded me of how much fight we have in us.

2015 POINT SCORERS

15sMEN [ ]LIONS GO

5-3-1 TAKE 3RD IN 2015 LEAGUE SEASON

The Fall 2015 season saw the Lions get back to form under new coach Andrew Britt.

Following a spring playoff defeat to Old Blue, the Lions finished the League season with a 5-3-1 record, in-cluding wins over Old Blue and taking back the Village Cup with a 40-29 win over New York. Holding third place overall, just behind White Plains, the Lions head into the Spring with play-off matches again on the schedule beginning in March.

Coach Britt set the team’s focus on a simple game plan of executing the basics well. There was a particular fo-cus on defense, winning the forward collisions and making the right deci-sions relative to where were were on the field.

“We set out at the beginning of the season to earn respect,” offered Coach Britt. “That is, let the other clubs know when they face the Village Lions they were in for a tough battle. I think we achieved this and I honestly believe on our day, with a fully fit team that we are the best in the competition. The good thing is that we are now starting

to believe this too. We have a big job ahead of us in 2016 but making the na-tionals is not beyond us.”

Contributing to the winning attitude was a successful high performance summer 7s program. A few notable veteran also came out of semi-retire-ment to make their contribution to the club, including Patrick McJury and Adil Manari.

Going into the playoffs for Spring 2016, Coach Britt is counting on hav-ing a “consistent number attending training to ensure cohesive team pat-terns and selections. Ideally we need a squad of 60 players to cover injuries and absence.”

FALL 2015 (5-3-1)09/12/15 W Lions 30, Old Blue 2409/19/15 D Lions 38, White Plains 3809/26/15 W New York 29, Lions 40 (Village Cup)10/10/15 L Lions 36, New Haven 4010/17/15 W Long Island 15, Lions 51 10/24/15 W Landowne 7, Lions 7110/31/15 L Old Blue 37, Lions 1211/07/15 L New Haven 25, Lions 2111/14/15 W White Plains 19, Lions 26

DIII RECAPIt was tough going this Fall for the bloodline of the club, our D3 side.

Our newcomers showed promise; something to build on. But the re-sults just did not come our way.

“The D3 side battled away admira-bly,” shared Coach Britt. “However, we really suffered from player depth in key positions. Often the team would travel with barely 15 guys and I want to commend the attitude of these players as they never gave up.”

“We are trying to create a consistent style of rugby across the D2 and D3 sides,” Britt continued, “and the guys who played across both teams really applied themselves well.”

Q: Things really seemed to click this fall, what to you attribute that too?The most prominent reason is the change in coaching staff. It really was a group effort and Andrew did a wonder-ful job in utilizing Keith and Q to have some the most effective training ses-sions I’ve experienced with the Lions. This change also feeds to the return of veteran players that were not around last year and the continuity of players turning up week in/week out all season. This was critical to us becoming a unit.

Q: What players stepped up their game to contribute in a big way?There are so many. We had the most consistent starting 23 that I have been a part on any team ive played with. Ev-eryone played their best this year be-cause we were playing for each other. We cared about our mates and wanted to win for those guys that have shown up all year. The return of one Patrick Mcjury was a key addition to our offense. His veteran leadership was apparent on and off the field.

Q: What did we do differently to pre-pare for the season?We didn’t do anything terribly different. We only had one, maybe two tune-up games before we rolled into the sea-son. I think the guys coming of a great 7s season helped carry momentum to our 15’s campaign.

Q: Did the 7s players competing in the elite bracket contribute in anyway?As mentioned, yes. I think our backs play was directly effected by a majority of them playing 7s.

Q: Can you comment on how having won back the Village Cup after an peri-od of absence?I have been a part of a few village cup victories, some much harder than oth-

ers. Every time you win that trophy it makes your heart feel good. NYRFC has been a consistently good squad and bench mark for how we as the li-ons are going to do. The win this year really helped set a tone for the rest of the season, though an opening day win over old blue was maybe just a little bit sweeter.

Q: Who are the newcomers that im-pressed?Our Chilean contingent has been a wonderful and knowledgeable addi-tion. Some of these guys aren’t neces-sarily new, but new to 15s, and the cur-rent players. Brian McCorckle, Ra-Ra, and of course Georgi from Georgia (the country, not the state).

Q: What has been the contribution of the coaching staff?They have contributed everything to this success. Training sessions were always planned and run very effectively. The ability to have enough coaches to split backs and forwards and have meaning-ful drills and skills worked through was a key element to our success. Between the three of them, they offer a wealth of knowledge and tricks from a broad background. Nothing like having an ex referee as your GM.

Q: During one game I read a tweet that described McJury putting Adil away for a try. McJury came out of retirement this season? And Adil had been playing for the Lions since he was 16 (1997 I think?). Can you comment on their contribution and the impor-tance of having a big clan to help sup-port the Team?I touched on this in an earlier answer. The return of Mcjury and the contin-ued play of Adil is a testament to the club as a whole. Lions run deep and if called upon, always step up. Having that kind of support from old boys and semi retired guys just makes you love

this game and this team even more. It makes you proud to wear the black and white and take the pitch each Saturday.

Q: What are your expectations for the playoffs? How will the team prepare?I expect and plan to go to champion-ship. I do not see why we cannot take this thing and run with it. I feel that we have something special amongst the guys right now and we can do great things. Off-season training and workouts will be key as well as getting everyone to trainings once they pick up again. We still have three league games and those will determine final seeding. We need to stay in the groove we were in at the end of the fall.

Q: There’s no hiding that our d3 side did not produce. What can you com-ment on about that? How will things turn around?The biggest thing I can say is that guys new to turn up to training. Our D2 side is doing well because everyone who gets named turns up every week. Suc-cess starts at training and we need ev-eryone there.

Q: Congrats on a successful fall cam-paign. Any last comments?WE ARE BLACK, WE ARE WHITE, WE ARE FUCKING DYNOMITE, AS THE LI-ONS GO RUCKING ALONG.

15sMEN [ ]

MEN’S 15s CAPTAIN MATT MULLEN REFLECTS ON THE 2015 DII & DIII SEASONS

The Lions played a full summer 7s sched-ule, and that time on the pitch paid off in the form of an Empire Geographic Union 7s Series title.

The summer began with a second-place finish at Lehigh Valley 7s, and after an exhibition 15s win over Guyana’s nation-al team (12-5), the Lions finished fourth at the Tri-State 7s. Cat Sum was the top point-scorer during the latter tourna-ment, accounting for 46 points on six tries and eight conversions.

During the club’s home tournament, Hell Gate 7s, the Lions took the Plate after splitting games with NJ Blaze, and drop-ping matches to eventual reps to club 7s nationals - Old Blue and New York. In the Plate final against NJ Blaze, Women’s 7s VP Jo Hayes (2), Emmarie Etheridge, Mallory Woods, and Gezel Lewis scored tries, while Sum (3) and Margo Smith added the extras.

On July 18, the Lions moved into third in the Empire standings, thanks to a Cup-winning performance at the New Jersey 7s. The team went 2-1 in pool play,

defeating Monmouth 31-0 and Union 24-5, and dropping a 12-10 contest to PAC. A convincing 26-12 Cup Semifinal over Monmouth put the Lions into the final against Harrisburg, which had defeated the team in its first 7s game of the sum-mer. Tries from Hayes, Etheridge, and Woods, and two conversions from Smith afforded a 19-12 win and first 1st place finish of the season.

The Empire series is decided on stand-ings points, and the Lions were now mathematically in the running for the ti-tle. After a sobering 35-0 loss to NOVA (another perennial national club 7s con-tender), the Lions surged in a 17-5 win over New York - a big triumph. Angela Corpus, Hayes, and Vicky Dushku scored.

A 25-0 loss to Old Blue in the Cup semi-finals relegated the Lions to the Plate fi-nal; however, the berth afforded enough standings points to secure the top spot in the Empire standings. With nothing to lose, the Lions defeated the DC Furies 24-5, sending Hayes, Tara Harten, Sum, and Etheridge across for tries, and rely-ing on Smith and Sum for conversions.

PAPERPLATEAWARDSCertified Realness Award: Kimbo for keepin it 100 all day. Ereyday. Leave it all on the field (and in the van) Award: Margo-pass-the-plastic-bag-SmithRookie of the Year Award: Coco and Liz (shared for excellence on the pitch and letting us nickname them and sing at them)Most Improved Dancer: JoSwag Queen: MalPal - duh. On and off the pitch “don’t even step”ness. She comes through the front door.Keystone and continued Best Hair Award: Fraggle for holding the game together on the field, rocking leave-in conditioner like none other, and shot gunning like a fucking badass.To Wong Foo Award: Angela yyaaassss quueeennn yyaaasssss. Someone get her her chia seeds.The Shady Lady Award: Cat for her epic shade throwing to fools and finding cool spots to stretch in.Miss Cleo Award: Emmarie for hypnot-ically communicating with her team-mates. Is she a mind reader?Sneaky Pete Award: Jaz for evasive actions all aroundStuck Like Glue Award: Vicky for her dedication to the game, her team-mates, and going HAM at Blue RuinBadass of the Year Award: Katie Morris - if you have to ask, you didn’t see picturesSnake Charmer Award: Dez for suspi-ciously getting everyone to do what she wants... and being super sweet seductive doing it.Best Eyeliner Award: AlliMVP: Sham. Mic Drop, bitches.The Misty Copland Award: Raquel for her secretive dance movesThe Arnold: Gez - she’ll be back.Gosling Goodmate Award: Channy for being an epic driver who will hopefully build us our dream houseThe Ultimate Guest Star: Erin McGee for facing all the odds to come play at CTThe Blob Award: Caroline for being all over the field and expanding recruiting!Rick Moranis Award: Dana for stepping in Little Giants style - annexation of Puerto Rico!

7sWOMEN [ ]

Profiles on Northeast ODA

selectees Margo Smith and Tara

Harten are avail-able on the Vil-lage Lions blog

(see address below), as well as interviews

from Emmarie Etheridge and Jo Hayes, who also wrote a Lions-in-

spired Shake-spearean play.

w w w . v i l l a g e l i o n s . o r g / c a t e g o r y / b l o g

LIONS REACH FOR THE TOP IN 7s

7sMEN [ ]

Now in his 10th year of coaching the Lions 7s program - and 15th year overall - Dr. John Greally has set the bar high for preparation, performance and results.

Competing in the elite division of the northeast national qualifier bracket this summer, the Lions now consistently challenge for top hon-ors with the top 4 teams. By many estimations, the Lions are unoffi-cially ranked in the top 20 of US 7s programs.

Newcomers Kevin Morgan, Kyle Ward, and Giorgi Maisuradze com-bined with vets Joe Karlin, Senmut Durham, and Alex Cook and led

by U-19 All American Byron Henry of Notre Dame put up some of the greatest results on club history.

The year capped off with the squad taking top honors in the club divi-sion of the New York 7s tournament over the Thanksgiving break.

The 2015 7s Qualifier Season has been well chronicled through the Lions Rugby Reports, which can be found online.

In addition to the Qualifier squad, the men regularly fielded a 7s squad in the Empire GU bracket of local tournaments throughout the summer.

SUMMER 2015 7s SCHEDULE

June 9 Lions vs GuyanaJune 6 Lehigh Valley 7sJune 20 Monmouth 7sJune 27 Newport 7s Bowl WinnersJuly 11 Hell Gate 7s Bowl FinalistsJuly 18 Saratoga 7s Bowl FinalistsJuly 25 Blazing 7s Bowl Finalists

Nov 28 New York 7s Cup Winners

HEAT SCORCHES SOUTH“Who ate my effing Tagalongs!?”

In honor of the women’s 15th anni-versary, 24 Lions-turned-Girl Scouts swarmed Savannah for the St. Pat-rick’s Day tournament. After a week-end of masticating southern accents, declaring robe rule in The Whitman mansion, and hoarding badges, the Leonas won the whole damn tourna-ment. After two solid wins on Satur-day, Troop XV defeated Norfolk 23-20 for the championship trophy, which is now a yankee.

“The Savannah Tour, while predom-inantly HEAT, included many of the current players, and it was fantastic to blend the old and new, continuing to pass on Lions traditions (and start some new ones - yes, robes should always be worn at dinner!). We have definitely continued to build since we had our 10th anniversary tour to Spain and France, and at the same time it was phenomenal to have so many of the same faces present, in from all over the U.S. and even England! Looking forward to the 20th Anniversary Tour!”

- Rebecca Asser Finlan, tour director

OLD GIRLSWOMEN [ ]

(Hams, l-r) Kim Dacres, Renee Ovrut. (kneeling) Ros Anderson, Becca Finlan (and Frankie Finlan), Em-marie Etheridge, Jo Hayes, Ais Smith, Two Tone, Rosie Rough, Paula Cheung. (standing) Emma Fisher, Cerra Cardwell, Vicky Dushku, Margo Smith, Ginny Braverman, Karine Yantorno, Shannon Bowles, Jess Houser, Meg Collins, Sharon Berger, Tricia Stanley, Jackie Finlan, Meredith Harmon, Angela Corpus.

HELL GATE 7sBY RENEE OVRUT

First thing’s first: HEAT ALWAYS goes home with hardware ... whether we win it or steal it! Fortunately for us, HEAT is an incredible team and we’ve been able to bring home hardware the good ol’ way - by kicking ass, taking names and WINNING. Hell’s Gate 2015 was no different.

HEAT took the field at Hell’s Gate with a little help from their friends (i.e., some who have not yet crossed the 30 threshold). We went 2-2 on the day and finished in third place, bringing home some hardware. We were the strongest team in the competition, though the W/L record didn’t appropriately reflect that, and the sheer fact that the Hell’s Gate team had never played or practiced together, no one on the team actively played 7s, and some of the players haven’t played active rugby in years was noteworthy. We kicked ass, we came home with a trophy - what more can be said?!

(front, l-r) Kelsey Schappell,

Erika Kocher, Angela Corpus,

Ali Baer, Katie Morris,

Emily Kunsman.

(back) Sharon Berger,

Sari Warren, Rosie Rough, Meg Collins, Renee Ovrut, Dana Szakacs.

The “Lion Kings” kicked off the year with a well attended tour to Delaware, taking on a much younger, fitter and faster Delmarva team. We trav-eled with 40 Old Boys, schlepping several hours to Dewey Beach, Delaware, to face Delmarva on May 2, 2015. It was a free-flowing match that fea-tured three halves to accommodate the multitude of players.

Southern Delaware is known to the locals as “Low-er Slower Delaware,” and the Lion Kings’ “LSD Trip” motto was the Leary-esque “Tune-in, Knock-on, Sub-out” (runner-up slogan: “We get lower, and we’re definitely slower”). The match was held at an American Legion post in Millsboro, and the 35-and-older Lion Kings outplayed their Delaware counterparts in the set pieces, had the penalty count vastly in their favor, and owned much of the possession. But Delmarva’s recent efforts to raid a semi-pro football team for talent had been suc-cessful, and after turnovers, the speedy backs were too hard to corral in the open field.

In the end, the impressive wheels of the young Del-marva players earned a 42-24 win for the locals.

Lion Kings tries went to winger John Griffiths, loose forward Alex Kallmann, scrumhalf Eric Anahory, and winger Ray Abruzzi, with Robert “Goose” Green-

awalt pitching in a couple of conversions. Man of the Match honors was seized by “Ghetto” Ron Guzman for several impressive rambles around the pitch, as well as the hit of the day, which sent his opponent into tremors and quite unfairly sent Ron to the sin bin for 10 minutes.

Lions came from far and wide for the match, with former Lion’s president and Women’s assitant coach Greg “Gator” Faherty flying in from Seat-tle, another former president, Georgie “Godzilla” Rohloff, flying up from Florida, and Lions original Mike “Just Mike” McKeon driving in from Cleve-land, along with Lions vets and former coaches Adrian McDermott and Martin Doughty making the trip from Washington.

“It was an amazing thing to see Lions represent-ing every single generation of the club dating all the way back to 1989,” said tour leader, another former president and Village Lions Hall of Famer “Cherry” Mike Steavenson. “I don’t think I’ve ever been part of a Lions tour that blended such a wide array of personalities quite so awkwardly and un-successfully.”

That momentum carried into the fall with a round-robin schedule against CT Greys, NY Gents, Long Island, Morris Masters, and All Japan.

OLD BOYSMEN [ ]

Spring 2000 saw the Women’s launch an XV side on the backs of standout players and club members like Jennifer Lightbody, Jessica Houser, Gretchen Doughty, Cassie Abodeely, Katrina Lear, Kristi Casey, Renee Antezana, Katie Teitgen, Katie Pisano, Ra-chel Liberatore, Tracy Dubovick, Lara Lars-en, and Susan Murray. In that first season, they were just happy to have 15 players turn up on a Saturday and a men’s team player help out now and then leading practice. The women were also grateful for the backing of the men’s team, which supported on the sidelines during games, lent jerseys, and cir-culated word on the young team.

Momentum built quickly, and the Women’s team, nicknamed the Leonas, had a me-teoric run of success over the next several years under the dedicated coaching of Greg Parsons, Mary Holmes, and Mike Barry.

From 2002-2008, the Lions attended the USA Rugby DII National Championship, winning the title in 2002, and following with third- (2005, 2008) and sixth-place fin-ishes (2004, 2007). Those trips to nationals were accompanied by several DII Northeast Championships, and precluded the eventual move to DI in 2009.

The competition increased tenfold, as the Leonas faced longtime powerhouses like Atlanta, NOVA, Beantown, Boston.

Along the way, the Leonas took two interna-tional tours - Italy in 2001, Spain and France in 2010 - and make regular pilgrimages to watch the Las Vegas 7s and compete in the Savannah St. Paddy’s Day Tournament. The team has experienced some growing pains with their transition to DI, but they have continued to consistently field 25 players

and enjoy the spirit of family and camarade-rie upon which the team was initially built in 2000. The return of veteran coach Mike Barry has anchored the team more firmly in a position to compete in DI, and they con-tinue to adjust their style of play to meet the demands of a faster, more physical league, with hopes of returning to playoff competi-tion in the coming years.

Similarly, though the Leonas had fielded some quite strong 7s sides over the years composed of some of their more athletic XV players, Old Girl Becca (Asser) Finlan and Old Boy Eric Anahory became dedicated 7s coaches in 2012 and have been working to develop a more structured and competitive 7s program for the Leonas for the past sev-eral years. The Leonas plan to build on the momentum and increase their level of play for the upcoming 7s season.

MILESTONES

2000

W O M E N ’ S 1 5 T H A N N I V E R S A R Y2015

FOUNDING MEMBERS JESS HOUSER AND JEN LIGHTBODY SPEAK TO THE FIRST YEAR OF THE WOMEN’S TEAM AND WHAT’S FOLLOWEDPHOTO: 10TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR PHOTO

MILESTONES

LOOKING BACK

L I O N S W I N T H E N O R T H E A S T2010

It was the culmination of many years work, polished off with a dose of Auss-ie influence. It was 5 years ago and it was a banner year for the Lions as they dominated the League and took the Northeast title.

Many in the team had been stalwarts from the club’s rebuilding years. Stal-warts like Adil Manari, Chris Gunsten, Carl Trezza, Kimani Davis, and Steve Raia had been regulars in the A side for a decade by then. More recent ad-ditions like Austin Enright, Alex Kall-mann, and captain Pat McJury had rounded out the first team regulars and brought new energy to the side; as well as Danny Kroll, who helped the Lions play a fast expansive game and proved to be a scoring machine.

Then there was the addition of coach Expo Mejia. Brought in through the Li-ons’ Filipino connection (we have had 5 players capped for the Philippines!), Expo was part of the Brumbies and Australian Rugby Union set up. And he came to town to bring it all togeth-er and get the Lions playing some of their best rugby in history.

Pat McJury thought back and shared, “It was just a good time for the club when both A and B players were all about the club. It was the start of the killer B’s. The numbers at training were great for both sides, and the compe-tition on Tuesdays and Thursday was tremendous. The club was really orga-nized in all aspects from Old Boys sup-port, to coaching, to player and team management, player development, physios, game day logistics. We had a dedicated team manager in Shashi Khemlani, who was worth his weight in gold. It really allowed the players to focus on the important things, like rugby. We were really hyper-focused on working hard at training, winning games, and playing good footy, but we still maintained the integrity and soul of what it is to be a Village Lion.”

“We won almost every game except one,” McJury continued. “And we won every drink up ( even though I was the weakest link for the latter ). We really took it too many of our rivals, and established, and won, the Village Cup, which we also won back this year after a bit of an absence!”

“The rugby we were playing under coach Expo was beautiful,” remembers Raia. “We were a well-oiled machine with a common focus of getting the job done on the pitch.”

After an initial loss to the CT Yanks, the Lions turned into a juggernaut. The Lions not only won, but they won big and they won in style.

Below, we take a look at that season, along with some commentary from the time:

2010 LEAGUE & PLAYOFF SCHEDULE AND RESULTSSeptember 11: Village Lions 22, Danbury 20 • Chris Hitch on debut scored the matchwinner in injury time

September 18 a loss to the Connecticut Yankees

September 25 a friendly against Filipino players striving for national team selection.

October 2, Village Lions 67, Montclair 14 • A huge win with Adil Manari named Man of the Match

October 9: Village Lions 69, Union 69-0 (Friends & Family Day)

October 16: Village Lions 56, North Jersey 34 • A thumping of North Jersey, with Chris Hitch scoring 5 tries in his last game for the Lions before heading to Europe.

October 23: Village Lions 50, Montauk 24 • Lions smash Montauk 50-24 after being down 24-22. Fourth straight week scoring 50 + points, putting Lions second in the standings.

October 30: Village Lions 45, Princeton Athletic Club 17

November 6: Village Lions 38, Lansdowne 26 CONTINUED >>

The League season came down to an early November faceoff against undefeated Lansdowne, the rough and tumble Irish guys from the north Bronx. A tense first half gave way to the Lions’ now patented offensive ex-plosion; the club’s 38-26 win on the fast Randalls Island rug gave the 6-1 Lions sole possession of first place. Practicing on smooth, expansive, well lit fields enabled the club to replicate a lighting quick style in matches.

As much a source of pride was the performance of the B team, which went undefeated for the season.

Northeast Playoffs- Quarterfinal (Nov. 13):

Village Lions 64, Newport 20 • Danny Kroll contribut-ed 39 points and earned a chandelier while Pat McJury flew in from Florida to cap-tain us.

- Semifinal (Nov. 20): Vil-lage Lions 61, Connecticut Yankees 26

- Championship (Nov. 21): Village Lions 39, Middlesex 13

The final against a game young Boston team called Middlesex saw the Lions up 10-8 midway through the first half, the teams prodding each other for weaknesses like boxers. Near the end of the half, Stevie Raia took the pass from captain Patrick Mc-Jury. Middlesex saw it coming, but af-ter taking on an irate bull in Portugal, a wall of rugby defenders is nothing. Raia hauled a half dozen Middlesex men on his back, his sheer will carrying him across the goal line.

Steve Raia again, “When I jumped up after scoring and started running back to halfway the sidelines were going bananas. It was an out of body experience where I just saw everyone jumping and screaming and felt like the ground was moving.”

Middlesex was a different team after that play, having taken on the Lions’ toughest, and been knocked on their asses. The Village Lions, sporting the red lion logo on their chest, ran away

with a 39-13 win. The players came sprinting off the Randall’s Island pitch as the Northeast champs. Raia, at 33, forgot about his laundry list of injuries for a moment, and Chris “Gunner” Gunsten forgot he was 42, as the play-ers ran through a thunderous tunnel of Lions, past and present, to the side-line.

Gunner held the championship plaque aloft. Some players went off to quiet spots for introspective mo-ments: Hooker Austin Enright to think

about the father he’d lost in the spring, Kimani Davis to connect with his best friend Seth Goldfein, who’d gotten him to play rugby at Bard, and died in a car accident. Davis then walked over to a few of the old boys he’d known when he first showed up for training way back in 1999. “I told you I’d be back,” he said with a broad smile and emotion all over his voice.

Raia had made good on his vow to get the Lions back to Division 1. “We’re not professionals—we do it because we love the sport, and you have to love the people you play with,” Raia says. “Some of my best friends in my life are on this team.”

A jubilant Alan Whelan whooped it up from the Randalls sideline. The club he founded in 1989 would play in Division 1 the next fall—a full 18 years after that ragtag crew of Kiwis and

Yanks, bartenders and boozers, united by rugby, late nights in the Village and the Lions brotherhood, first charged into that elite level.

“I’d always hoped,” Whelan said.Looking back on his time in New

York, Coach Expo offered, “Coaching the Lions team of 2010/11 was one of the most enjoyable times of my life. What made the group so amazing was their willingness to soak up new concepts and to implement different patterns on the field. I remember our

attack was electric and we could score from any part of the field. Physically we were dominant in the collision area and that’s what laid the platform for those amazing tries. They were the great-est bunch of characters who worked hard and certainly knew how to party! From the old war horses like Raia to the new guns leading the next generation of Lions players, we were the team everyone feared. It was an honor to coach a team all the way to the Nationals and I hope that in the near future that National title which eluded our team will sit proudly in the Lions tro-

phy cabinet.”“What was really special about the

run,” Raia recalls, “was that the club came together to fully support the 23 picked for game day each week. The B-side was at each match led by Youn-gie, the Old Boys and Women were in attendance and cheering us on. Every match in the playoffs felt like Friends & Family Day and it carried us on and off the pitch. A magical time to be a Lion for sure.”

“That season,” McJury reflects, “re-ally set an upward trajectory of the quality of play for the club; the rugby IQs of the players, and in general the direction of the club to encompass all halves of rugby - 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. The fruits of those labors can be seen today with the quality, numbers, com-mitment, and support the club is en-joying.”

MILESTONES

Tour organizer/Lions Hall of Famer Tim Tuohy reflects on a pivotal club milestone:

It was 15 years ago that the Lions were gearing up for the club’s first true overseas tour—four days in Amsterdam, five in Copenhagen, and a short stint in Sweden, with a match in each of the stops. The mastermind of the ven-ture was Tim Tuohy, an England-reared scrumhalf who had played for the Copenhagen Exiles, and envisioned a matchup between his past and current clubs.Few Lions had been on an overseas rugby junket before, and buy-in among the club was almost immediate. “We gave ourselves a good deal of time to get organized and get people interested,” says Tuohy, a Lions Hall of Famer. “Preparing for the tour became a standing agenda item in the post-practice meetings we had in Fiddlesticks, so there was plenty of buzz about the tour in the bar after-wards that generated interest.”There had been talk of rugby tours before, some of it even elevating to the planning stage. But nothing had come together until Tim Tuohy landed with the Lions. “We were going to go to Wales for the World Cup in 1999, but it fell apart for a number of reasons,” says Christian Averill. “Tim put his mind to it and said, this is gonna happen, I’m gonna go if five guys go or 25 guys go. He put his stake in ground, made all of the arrangements--the hotels, the matches.”A squad of 25 signed on for the trip. The tour had a Gladia-tor theme, an homage to the popular film at the time. Play-ers had tour names and personas. Rules were laid out, and drinking penalties for scofflaws established. As the players boarded the bus to the airport outside Fiddle-sticks, pub owner Niamh Conway approached. Luis Schro-eder, a Lions stalwart who’d relocated to Luxembourg, had expressed interest in the pub’s handcrafted sign, a wooden behemoth bearing the name. After replacing the sign, Nia-mh had been holding the old one in the bar’s basement for months, and asked the Lions to deliver it to Luis.And so the giant Fiddlesticks slab headed to the airport. “Se-curity didn’t care, it was pre 9-11,” says Averill. “We spoke to the baggage handler at JFK, gave him 20 bucks.”Several hours and thousands of miles later, there it was, on the oversize luggage carousel at Schiphol Airport in Amster-dam.Having gotten the Fiddlesticks sign this far, it became a touchstone for the tourists, with rule-breaking tourists forced to haul it to the hotel, the bar, the match. Finally the sign arrived in Copenhagen, where the gladiators triumphantly presented it to the Copenhagen Exiles.

Former Lions spread all over the globe—Luis in Luxem-bourg, Welsh Peter Kay in London—met the tourists at var-ious stops in Europe. The players sampled the culture, be-haved like gladiators, and played a little rugby—taking down tough clubs in Amsterdam and Sweden before falling to the Copenhagen Exiles.Tim’s best tour memories include Sailor Rich Giannone managing a Pope—eight consecutive Cardinal Puffs with-in six hours—in Amsterdam in less than an hour. “This still stands as the most impressive feat of drinking I have ever witnessed,” says Tim.He also recalls Cherry Mike Steavenson organizing a team photo on the Dutch countryside, in local Dutch dress--all the bearded fellows donning ladies’ outfits. “I hang that team photo in my hall at home with great pride,” says Tim.And the Lions-Exiles match pitted “the two most important clubs of my adult playing career,” says Tim. “I have made lifelong friends from both.”The tour’s impact on the Lions was significant, and long-last-ing. Almost immediately upon returning home, the detoxing players started to talk of the club’s next tour, which would be Italy a year later.“I’m pretty sure most Lions had never been on a proper rugby tour before, but everyone got into the spirit of it very quickly,” says Tim. “It’s a trip none of us will ever forget...memories of a lifetime...priceless.”

The Lions went 2-1 on this tour. Read more online at:http://www.villagelions.org/category/blog/.

MILESTONES

LOOKING BACK

GLADIATORS INVADE NORTHERN EUROPE2000

MARY HOLMESREST IN PEACE [ ]A longtime coach for the women’s team and staunch supporter of the Village Lions, Mary Holmes lost her battle with cancer on December 21, 2015. Read more about Mary’s life and her contribution to the club on the Lions’ blog.

A scrumhalf at Florida State, she played along-side the game’s most influential Eagles and eventual National Team coaches. Mary coached the Lions to DII North-east Championships, and always celebrated with her team at the social.

THANK YOU[ ]

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These events are vital to the club and its tradition, and the Lions appreciate all of your efforts.