by Mark Smiley | Aug 24, 2018 | Glendale City News
Glendale Team Will Be Bigger And Better Starting This Fall
by John Arthur
Writer for and on behalf of the City of Glendale
Glendale Raptors Head Coach David Williams, right, answers questions in a post match interview with Nate Kreckman, left, up in the VIP Raptors Club after a Major League Rugby victory at Infinity Park. (Photo by Seth McConnell)
Following a statistically impressive but ultimately disappointing conclusion to their inaugural Major League Rugby debut season, the Glendale Raptors have all hands on deck for 2019. As an exhibition schedule and official preseason loom ever nearer, Raptors Head Coach David Williams explains how hard his side is working to make sure the MLR Championship Shield comes to Glendale next year.
After a short July break, the Raptors are back to regular season training levels. With a focus on what Williams puts simply as “building bigger, better, more powerful bodies,” the squad is hitting the gym five days a week. Off-season preparation is focused on individual development, skills improvement, and patterns. With a reasonable timeframe to get into shape before league play starts, the Raptors should be able to integrate new talent onto the squad and prepare the players being called up to the USA Eagles side for the national team’s four-game November tour.
Long characterized by veteran players, the Raptors are not short on opportunities to recruit new talent. Infinity Park hosted a camp for the Collegiate All-Americans in mid-August, an event that saw nearly one hundred of the best college-level rugby players in the country come to compete. Split divisionally, East and West, the group was pared to the top selections, later playing against the Raptors MLR side. Glendale Head Coach Williams explains that the camp is a recruitment tool: “It doesn’t just give us a shot at early pre-season play, it also allows our coaching staff and the rest of the MLR coaches a chance to see the next generation of talent in action.” Outside of U.S. potentials, international signings within the league point to the talent that MLR is attracting, and add further value and legitimacy to American professional rugby.
Asked about signings to look for in the off-season, Williams, who is notoriously tight-lipped about both players he’s courting and game day strategy, was reluctant to divulge specifics, but said with a laugh that more than half of his job as Raptors Head Coach is recruitment. “I’m looking all the time. Seeing which players are off contract, speaking to agents, keeping connections around the world. We are always building our squad to be bigger and better for next year. A lot of players contact us. This is an environment where they can improve and prosper and they understand that.”
Camps and relationships are an important aspect of making sure Williams is able to continue to attract fresh faces, but Glendale has another leg up on most of the competition: the Raptors Academy. A European-style feeder system for young players to mature for professional or divisional play, the Academy has already produced one impressive MLR player: the Raptors’ break out player Mika Kruse. Entering professional play at 19 years of age, Kruse was a regular on highlight reels throughout the inaugural season. Williams has nothing but praise for the young player: “He is definitely someone fans need to look for next year. He is a rising star in U.S. Rugby without a shadow of a doubt. How he plays, how he prepares, how he trains, his skills: it’s awesome. Simple as that. He’s only going to grow.” Asked about the evolving Academy programming, Williams is reflective: “It’s an interesting proposition,” he said. “The Academy is a long-term solution for supplying the Raptors with ongoing talent. We always want to build a bigger player base. The Academy does that and provides an opportunity for players to train professionally and develop their game. We’re one of the few clubs that have an Academy program and is developing these younger players.”
Outside of developing new players, the Raptors are, of course, training their exceptionally talented existing squad. Back on a regular season training regimen, the team is exploring nutrition and mental conditioning in addition to their rigorous physical preparation. With a full time mental skills coach, and continued education on nutrition, Glendale is building what promises to be a 2019 powerhouse. Williams says that education is key to making his team the best next season: “The boys do a huge amount of work in the gym and on the pitch, but there’s more to the game. The more education on prep and recovery we have, the better players we have at the end of the day.”
Glendale remains an MLR favorite going into 2019. Rugby-specific facilities and top-tier talent set the team apart from the crowd, but the Raptors have something to prove in their second professional season. Statistics won’t cut it this year for Williams, or for the rest of the squad: they want to bring home the big win. Though the inaugural season is just behind them, preparations are underway for the team to leave their stamp on Major League Rugby, beginning with fall exhibitions. As Williams succinctly puts it: “The standard has to improve year on year. That will happen in 2019.”
19 year-old Mika Kruse of the Glendale Raptors evades a Utah Warrior tackler
as he makes his mark on the inaugural season of Major League Rugby.
Photos by Seth McConnell
by Mark Smiley | Aug 24, 2018 | Feature Story Middle Left
by Alison Chism
With today’s busy schedules, it can be challenging for families to create and maintain healthy lifestyles. Yet, it’s an important task to take on. In the United States, obesity rates among children have doubled since 1980, and over 60% of adults are considered overweight or obese. The good news is that by influencing your family’s physical activity, nutrition and social environment you can instill healthy habits that will last a lifetime. Here are four ways to start.
Take The Team Approach
When it comes to being healthy together, the key word is together. Working toward a healthy lifestyle as a family helps strengthen relationships and it gives kids a role model for being active and eating right. Also, a team approach creates a group mentality. By emphasizing the importance of doing things as a family, you will be more apt to be successful than you would be on your own.
Plan And Cook Meals Together
Studies show that when families cook and eat meals together, children are more likely to view nutrition as a positive experience. Eating meals together also creates time for bonding and building relationships. Tackling proper nutrition may seem daunting, but aiming for this as a family can make it easier. Involve everyone in planning, shopping, and preparing meals.
Be Active Together
Another way to be healthier as a family is to make fitness part of your routine. Make an “appointment” to take a walk after dinner at least three times per week. If you have it planned and on the schedule (like a doctor’s visit or deadline), you’ll be more likely to follow through. In addition, over time it will become more of a habit instead of a task on your list.
Also do a search for local parks to visit, trails to bike, and playgrounds to explore. Bring a frisbee or other toys. Remember, physical activity means incorporating movement into your day. It doesn’t always have to mean going to the gym.
Identify Family Rewards Together
To stay motivated and positive, rewarding yourself is critical in any healthy lifestyle change. Sit down as a family and identify rewards for hitting milestones in your journey, such as walking a 5k together, trying a new sport, or adding a certain number of healthy meals to your rotation.
Doing this as a family helps build stronger relationships and increases support for each other. Try to choose different kinds of rewards, for example, new tennis shoes for everyone, a night out together at the movies and a favorite restaurant, or even a trip to the beach or mountains. Start with small rewards for reaching short-term goals, and work toward larger rewards for long-term goals.
Getting fit as a family is not only healthy, it’s also fun. You’ll create healthy habits and great memories, all at the same time. For more strategies for healthy living, contact the fitness professionals at the YMCA.
Alison Chism is the Health & Wellness Director at the YMCA Glendale Sports Center at Infinity Park. She is certified as an ACSM Personal Trainer, ACE Health Coach and TRX Suspension Trainer. She is also certified in ACSM Exercise is Medicine. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Promotion and is pursuing a Master’s Degree in Health and Wellness Management.
by Mark Smiley | Aug 24, 2018 | Travel
Leading Light: Civic leader Chuck Warren, who led many of Colorado’s leading cultural institutions from the Denver Zoo to the Park People, passed away on July 29, 2018.
by Mark Smiley
Widely respected and beloved by many, civic leader Chuck Warren died at age 92 on Sunday, July 29, at his home in Denver. Memorial services were held at Saint John’s Cathedral on Washington Street where Warren had been a parishioner for most of his adult life. Eulogist Bill Houston remarked that Warren was known for his extraordinary ability to “make and retain” friends as the packed nave at the cathedral for the service demonstrated.
Warren grew up in Fort Collins, and after serving in the Navy during World War II returned to Colorado to earn a degree in Business Administration from the University of Colorado and later a master’s degree in Mass Communication from the University of Denver. He was a stock broker for Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith for 20 years and after the death of his father in 1978 he took over as president of Moody Warren Company, a company started by his grandfather who homesteaded farms in Colorado starting in 1966.
Having made his fortune at a relatively early age, Warren retired and spent the rest of his life giving back to Denver and Colorado. He served as the president and/or board member of an extraordinary number of civic organizations including, but not limited to, the Denver Zoo, the Denver Foundation, Children’s Hospital, the Park People and the Colorado Wildlife Heritage Foundation.
He is best remembered as Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District from 1985 to 1988, and setting up the passage of the multi-county sales tax supporting many key institutions throughout metropolitan Denver.
A talented musician, he played drums with groups from his early teens to the end of his life. An enthusiastic member of the University Club, he was Club president and a prolific songwriter, performer and leader of the University Club Band. He played the drums at the Twelfth Night Show for an extraordinary 64 continuous years.
Veteran: Chuck Warren served in the Navy during World War II.
He was also a highly active member of the Denver Country Club for virtually his entire adult life. He helped longtime friend Bill Wilbur with the publication of the award-winning The History of The Denver Country Club (1888-2006).
His daughter Robin Warren Buckalew noted at the memorial service her father’s almost infatiguable energy and good humor. Hoping to slow him down just a little she bought him a hammock for the backyard which had to be returned as he refused to ever relax in it.
Chuck Bonniwell, publisher of the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle, who wrote the history of the Denver Country Club stated, “Chuck Warren was an extraordinary human being who made everything he did and participated in literally fun. One would go through the most exhausting and contentious negotiations over the printing and publication of the book with third parties and at the end he would laugh and say, ‘Boy, wasn’t that one great donnybrook! Hey, who do we have to take on next?’” Bonniwell went on to note, “Everyone who ever knew Chuck will greatly miss him. The world he inhabited is a little less joyful with his passing. I wish we could have cloned Chuck and his wonderful spirit.”
by Mark Smiley | Aug 24, 2018 | Featured Stories & Advertisers
by Mark Smiley | Aug 24, 2018 | Featured Stories & Advertisers
