by Mark Smiley | Feb 26, 2015 | Glendale City News
by Marco Cummings
Writer for and on behalf of the City of Glendale
For the Glendale Raptors, a new season in the Pacific Rugby Premiership (PRP) is well underway. But with four road games to start the team’s current campaign, many of Glendale’s rugby fans may find themselves acclimating to the 2015 version of their favorite team.
Like any sports team, the Raptors have not been immune to the inevitability of player movement. No less than 10 players from last season’s roster will not be joining the Raptors in 2015. Of note, three veterans have announced their retirement from the game, including back Mike Graham, forward Mike Kenyon and lock Casey Rock.
“There becomes a point in any sportsman’s career where you’ve got to make that decision. Age plays a factor, injury plays a factor, and lifestyle changes play a factor,” Raptors head coach Andre Snyman explained. “We’re unfortunate to lose those important veterans on the team, they were all a part of that.”
A devastating knee injury ended Rock’s playing career, but it hasn’t knocked him out of the sport. He’s staying on with the team to assist in coaching the forwards.
Added Snyman, “It’s great to see guys like Casey still be active and part of the club.”
The Raptors will also be missing another key piece from the team’s run to the PRP championship game last season in Justin Pauga. The 29-year-old CSU product made the offseason jump to the Raptors’ local PRP rival, the Denver Barbarians (nicknamed the Barbos).
“That was a bit out of the blue; it was unexpected,” Snyman said of the move. “It was disappointing because he was a star and a key player to what we were doing.”
Conversely, Glendale has snatched away their own player from Denver. The Raptors have added former Barbos back Iniki Fa’amusili, a 22-year-old with five seasons of competitive experience.
It should make the match between the Raptors and Barbos on March 7 at Infinity Park one to circle on the calendars.
“There’s always been rivalry between the Barbos and Glendale even before I arrived at the club four years ago,” Snyman elaborated. “It’s good because it’s easy to get the players motivated. It’s a bad thing sometimes because we’re always trying to build bridges between the two clubs. Hopefully the attitudes have changed to the point where we can all promote rugby.”
It will be one of four home games for the Raptors in March, which includes weekend contests against PRP opponents Olympic Club, Old Mission Beach Athletic Club and last season’s champions, San Francisco Golden Gate.
When it comes to player movement however, Glendale’s cupboards will be far from bare this season, with a new influx of incoming veteran recruits as well as players freshly coming up from the collegiate ranks.
Most impressive to Snyman has been the addition of USA Eagles pool players, props Ben Tarr and Nick Wallace.
“It’s no wonder they are Eagles,” commented Snyman. “[Tarr] and [Wallace] are really solid players.”
Another player that has impressed the coaches in training is 6-foot-1 Australian center Dan Flemming, a player which Snyman is “excited” to see in action during league play.
All in all, nearly 20 new players hope to be in the mix for selection this season.
Added Snyman, “The new players have really put their heads up and they’re trying to make a difference.”
Like every year since Infinity Park was first built, numerous sponsors have helped turn Glendale into RugbyTown USA. Of course, it all started with the stadium actually being built.
As Jennifer Julian Mathers, Marketing Manager of Turner Construction explained, “Turner Construction has a long-standing relationship with the City of Glendale and is honored to continue our partnership by sponsoring the Glendale Raptors and the Infinity Park Stadium. As the General Contractor of the stadium, sports center and event center, it has been a pleasure watching this project grow from a vision to a reality and beyond.”
Turner Construction is just one of the sponsors the Raptors have secured for the 2015 PRP season, a list headlined by companies which includes Butler Rents, 1st Bank, Alphagraphics and Xfinity by Comcast.
“A great deal of energy and civic pride has been generated as a result of this beautiful facility in the heart of Glendale and the resulting excitement about the sport of rugby,” added Geoff Graham, president of Alphagraphics. “Alphagraphics is honored to be involved with Infinity Park in a relationship that is as much a partnership as it is a sponsorship. Never before has our involvement in this business community provided us with so many lucrative business opportunities and relationships.”
Sponsors have not only been impressed by the facilities that Glendale has provided, but also the fan base that fills the stands during home matches.
“Each season I learn more about this great game and am continually in awe of the dedicated and growing fan base,” said Barb Wyatt, owner of Butler Rental Company. “It’s such an exciting time for the sport and with the approaching 2016 Olympics in Rio, we know the game is just getting started in the U.S. Butler Rents is proud to endorse the Glendale Raptors Rugby Football Club. Best of luck Raptors in the Spring PRP Season.”
The excitement and anticipation for the 2015 season is reciprocated by those within the club.
“We’re very fortunate to have all the sponsors on board and help in any way they can. We’d like to thank them to allow us to participate in a sport that we all love,” Snyman concluded.
by Mark Smiley | Feb 2, 2015 | Glendale City News
PRP Season Began January 31
by Charles C. Bonniwell
The Glendale Raptors Rugby Football team has high hopes for the upcoming Pacific Rugby Premiership (PRP) season that kicked off with an away match against the San Diego, California team Old Mission Beach Athletic Club on January 31 and potentially ends with the league championship game on May 16. The Raptors lost in last year’s championship game at Infinity Park in Glendale, before a packed crowd in heartbreak
ing fashion by the score of 39-38 to the San Francisco Golden Gate Rugby Football Club.
West And East Leagues
The PRP league was formed last year after the demise of the Super League in 2013 and all of the clubs (five from California and two from Colorado) are former Super League teams with the exception of Glendale. A five team American Rugby Premiership was formed this year with eastern teams and there is talk of the top teams in both leagues to square off on May 30.
The two Colorado teams (the Raptors and the Barbarians) have all of their early matches away to take advantage of the mild California weather with their schedules back loaded with home games as Colorado weather begins to warm up. The Raptors’ first three games will be in California with the home opener at Infinity Park on February 28 against Belmont Shore.
The Raptors hoped to bring home a championship trophy to match the national title won by the ladies team who took the Women’s Premier League national championship by the score of 16-15 over the Twin Cities Amazons.
During the fall the men’s team was able to take the Aspen Ruggerfest championship after four prior tries and the team has undergone a rigorous off-season training program. With 90 percent of the team returning, the men’s coach, South African Andre Synman, has high hopes but notes, “If we want to win the PRP this season we’ll have to improve on all aspects from last year. Our skill level has to be higher, our physical level needs to be higher, and our defense needs to improve.”
In addition the team will not be able to sneak up on teams like last year when “everyone picked us to finish last and that was a driving force throughout the season,” noted team captain Zach Fenoglio, who is a member of the USA men’s national team, the Eagles, as a hooker. The Denver native who is 6’2” and weighs 245 pounds also noted that the team needed to “prove to the competition that we’re a tough team and tough to play against.” Other members of the Raptors who have been on the national team include James Paterson, a 6’2” wing from Colorado Springs, and Chad London, a center from Johannesburg, South Africa, who was named Club Player of the Year by Rugby Today.
Joining the team for the 2015 season is Mose Timoteo, another former Eagle, who represented the United States in 2003 Rugby World Cup. The 38-year-old scrum half, born in American Samoa, headed up the San Francisco club that beat the Raptors in the season finale last year.
One player who will not be returning is 6’9” second row man Casey Rock. Rock was on the original Raptors team in 2006 while still in high school. He responded to an ad in The Denver Post looking for players for the new team. He retired this fall at age 27 due to repeated injuries. “I tore my LCL, MCL, ACL, patella tendon, all of my meniscus and shredded all of the cartilage in my tibia and femur,” noted Rock. “The doctor told me that because of all the bone damage, contact spots are done for me.”
Rugby did allow Rock to travel the world playing for teams in Australia and New Zealand, with his high point being the Division I national championship garnered by the Raptors in 2011.
American Rugby In State Of Flux
The world of American rugby remains in flux. The prior attempts to create a professional league have not come to fruition with another effort being mounted this summer by the National Football Rugby League that recruited various former NFL players in players combines. The effort is being undertaken by Mac Robertson and Mike Clements, but many in the rugby scene are deeply skeptical as plans have been delayed several times.
The national governing body of American rugby, USA Rugby, has not unified rugby in the country. By way of example, the PRP is not under the egis of USA Rugby but the ARP is. The top collegiate post season championship, the Varsity Cup, is also not part of USA Rugby. Various colleges have indicated that USA Rugby has been unable to obtain top dollar sponsorships and national television contracts for a collegiate championship which they were able to obtain on their own.
World Cup And Olympics
The quadrennial showcase for international rugby union, the World Cup, is scheduled to be played in London this fall and the United States qualified by defeating Uruguay in head to head matches in 2014. The United States will be an underdog to make the quarterfinals, an important feat it has yet to achieve in a World Cup.
USA Rugby was thrilled by the sellout crowd of 61,500 that showed up at Chicago’s Soldier Field in November where the Eagles played the world’s dominant team, the New Zealand All Blacks in an exhibition. The game, however, demonstrated how far American rugby still has to go as the All Blacks crushed the American team 74-6.
Seven-man rugby will be an Olympic event in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, which American enthusiasts hope will help jump start the sport in the United States, as well as increase the awareness of rugby across the globe. But for the Glendale Raptors first things first, which means taking the PRP title this spring.
by Mark Smiley | Dec 22, 2014 | Glendale City News
by Marco Cummings
Writer for and on behalf of the 
City of Glendale
Glendale Raptors head coach Andre Snyman is no shaman; and he can’t predict the future. But the South African offered up a few words of wisdom when asked about his team’s start of a new campaign entering the 2015 Pacific Rugby Premiership (PRP) season.
“When you’re on the top of the mountain, everyone wants to knock you down. The tallest tree catches the most wind.”
After entering last season as a proverbial sapling amongst bigger and more established clubs within the PRP, the Raptors surprised many by riding the winds all the way to the championship final, only to fall short to San Francisco Golden Gate.
The Raptors entered 2014 widely regarded as underdogs, but the team’s second place finish also places a target on their backs entering a new season in 2015.
“Everyone picked us to finish dead last and that was a driving force throughout the season,” Raptors team captain Zach Fenoglio said of last season’s campaign. “Now, our driving force is to regain our confidence and prove to the competition that we’re a tough team and tough to play against.”
Proving themselves to the competition is just one of several small goals the Raptors have set up for themselves for a new season of PRP play. The team’s ultimate goal for the New Year is to once again make the final, but this time emerge as champions.
Glendale’s method to winning the Pacific Rugby Premiership crown appears simple in theory, but will take a great deal of effort in practice.
“If we want to win the PRP this season we’ll have to improve on all of the aspects from last year.” Snyman explained. “Our skill level has to be higher, our physical level needs to be higher and our defense needs to improve.”
The improvement for the Raptors began in the offseason. This past fall, the Raptors scheduled a slate of games, which included collegiate opponents Lindenwood and Arkansas State as well as the Aspen Ruggerfest, where the team got a taste of hardware as tournament champions.
The majority of the progress Glendale has made during the offseason has not been on the pitch, but in the weight room. After performi
ng a calculated series of tests measuring each player’s physical fitness, the coaching staff placed the team on a regimented strength and conditioning program.
Weeks later, the players were reassessed and the tests revealed a minimum of 10 percent improvement in both weight and repetitions.
Results in hand, the Raptors hope to gain a physical edge over their opponents. Strength is certainly key in a sport like rugby, but so is the ability to outrun and outlast an opponent. The Raptors hope to have enhanced that ability with added depth to the team’s roster.
Said Snyman, “I’ve got about 90 percent of the players from last season back this season. That in itself is a lot. If you can keep continuity within the team that’s a huge contribution to success.”
It’s not simply depth, but quality depth in which Glendale hopes to invest its championship aspirations throughout the course of the 2015 season. Snyman is hopeful that with the remaining 10 percent of new players added, the Raptors have found players that are capable at playing at a high level within the PRP.
One of these “new” faces is a familiar one. Twenty-one-year-old Cody Melphy, a longtime member of Glendale’s developmental programs, is one of several young players Snyman hopes to provide opportunities to throughout the course of the PRP season. Melphy proved to be a factor during the Raptors’ summer 7s season and has since been training with the first team men.
“A player like Cody Melphy has got all the skill and the character to play at that level,” commented Snyman. “The only thing he’s lacking is experience. My job as a coach is to get him that experience whether I start him or bring him in as an impact player. He will definitely be a contributor to the team because he’s a very versatile player.”
Another newcomer to Glendale’s first team is Jake Turnbull. Like Melphy, the Australian has been auditioning throughout the course of the summer and fall alongside a mix of veterans and newcomers.
In fact, keeping everyone happy yet competitive within the group is what Snyman believes will be his biggest challenge as a coach this season, aside from the Raptors’ opponents.
“As a coach, selecting a starting lineup is going to be tough,” he said. “We have at least two or three players who could start at each position.”
But from a player’s perspective, the competition is welcome and healthy, as the team’s captain was quick to point out.
“I think the more competitive training can be, the better. The flexibility of depth is something we’re continuing to work on and haven’t had in the past. In a physical sport like rugby, injuries happen. Having confidence in the guy behind you is a good way to go about the season,” Fenoglio explained.
Competition within the group is just another tool that the Raptors hope to use to propel the team back to the top entering the new season.
“Obviously we have our expectations set pretty high,” Fenoglio added. “We have small and big term goals that will help us throughout the year.”
The Raptors will have a full 14-week season to complete these smaller goals en-route to accomplishing their grander task at hand. Fans will get their first glimpse at the newly energized and determined Raptors when they travel to face OMBAC in their first game of the season on Jan. 31.
by Mark Smiley | Nov 21, 2014 | Glendale City News
by Brent New
Writer for and on behalf of the City of Glendale
Following a season where they gave up way too many second chances to their opponents — almost on a weekly basis — the Glendale Raptors got the best of its kind en route to their first Women’s Premier League national championship.
The Raptors beat the Twin Cities Amazons 16-15 in the women’s finals, two days after their loss in the semifinals was negated by a disqualification.
Hannah Stolba was named the MVP with 11 points in the finale; none bigger than her penalty boot that gave the Raptors their first lead of the match in the second half. And her team was able to hold off a furious attack from the WPL reigning champions down the stretch to preserve the win in Marietta, Ga.
None of it, however, would have been possible if the Atlanta Harlequins weren’t forced to forfeit after they knowingly used an ineligible player during their 13-7 win over the Raptors in the WPL semifinals.
“There were conflicting emotions within our team,” captain Laura Miller said. “There were people who were excited. There were people who felt we didn’t deserve it because we had lost.”
The Raptors would use it as motivation toward a goal that was now all the bigger and more important.
And as a sign of support and respect (and a sign of complete disregard for hygiene), they chose to wear the socks of Harlequins players in the championship game against the Amazons.
“It was tough for me personally because I was told before Friday’s kickoff that the Harlequins had forfeited, but they would appeal. It messed with my head,” said Michael Fealey, the first-year coach of the Raptors. “In any case, they outplayed us. They played their hearts out. And they deserved to be represented in the final, at least in that small way.”
Atlanta’s center Patty Jervey defended her team’s choice to play an ineligible player on her personal Facebook page.
“We were told going into today’s match that if we played the player, we would forfeit,” Jervey wrote. “I understand the rules, and for the most part, choose to abide. But I also understand that rules are usually created in response to something unfair or unjust or unbecoming.
“…Moreover, we believe that in CIPP’ing the player two days after the arbitrary deadline did not give us an unfair advantage over any team in the league.”
Compelling thought. Didn’t matter.
Stolba stepped over two defenders late in the championship game and dove in for the try to give the Raptors a 16-10 lead, before Kaelene Lundstrum scored on a try with two minutes remaining in regulation time to cut the deficit to 16-15.
The Raptors, who lost in the first round last season, and came up short in the finals the year before, stuffed the Amazons for the rest of regulation and held firm in more than six minutes of extra time to hoist the cup.
It ended a season of mostly good and some bad. A season where they started fast, stumbled late, and finished on top.
It ended a season where fortune favored the resilient.
“It feels like a massive weight off our shoulders, like we finally healed and came together after a turbulent season at times,” Fealey said.” I’m a very happy man right now to say the least.”
by Mark Smiley | Oct 24, 2014 | Glendale City News
by Marco Cummings
Writer for and on behalf of the City of Glendale
Following last spring’s successful Pacific Rugby Premiership (PRP) campaign in which the Glendale Raptors fell just a few plays shy of winning the championship, the team has been taking new steps in preparing for another successful run in 2015.
Traditionally, the Raptors first team would play a more robust fall season, but the team’s transition to the action packed spring schedule in the PRP means that Glendale has been using this fall to refocus its roster and players.
“Previously we would be playing Division I games during the fall. The fall season is pretty much open for the Division I players now, so we’ve got to keep them busy, train and keep them fit,” Raptors head coach Andre Snyman explained. “I just don’t want them to sit at home for four or five months and wait for the PRP season.”
This fall, the Raptors participated once again in the Aspen Ruggerfest, a tournament the team has participated in for the past four seasons.
Using a mixed group of veteran players and younger players who are competing for the possibility of being included with the first team next season, the Raptors won the Ruggerfest crown for the very first time.
“I think it was a great milestone for the club,” Snyman said.
Even though the Raptors were proud to take home hardware in Aspen, the tournament largely serves as a social tournament, and Glendale was looking for stiffer competition for the remainder of the fall.
For its next two matches, Glendale would play friendlies against two collegiate teams. But they weren’t just any two college teams. The Raptors would play two top-10 college programs with a home game against No. 5 Arkansas State followed by a road trip to No. 8 Lindenwood.
“We’ve always gone to Aspen, but this year we needed something different,” Glendale Director of Rugby Operations Mark Bullock explained. “The two college sides reached out to us because it gives their players an opportunity to play with a club side in the PRP.”
The competition was stiff indeed. The Raptors suffered defeats in both collegiate matches, losing 51-24 to ASU and 24-15 to L
indenwood.
But the results on the scoreboard weren’t the most important point of emphasis for Glendale during their fall preparation. Forging new relationships with the two college programs was a prospect that the Raptors, as well as their opponents, were excited to be a part of.
“The most important thing for us is building bridges between ourselves and the schools. When these players graduate, then maybe they’ll have the opportunity to play for us,” Snyman noted.
“We all know that Glendale of the fall is a distant cousin of the Glendale of the spring, so it’s about development,” Lindenwood head coach J.D. Stephenson added. “Although we’re happy with the victory, we’re not branding ourselves world champions or anything too soon.”
For Snyman and the Raptors, evaluating what kind of players the staff has at its disposal within the club’s broader talent pool, in addition to testing out new ideas prior to the competitive matches in the spring has been a greater goal.
“Those two games helped to give me an idea of the depth of the club,” Snyman explained. “It gave us an opportunity to see new players in different positions, try new combinations, and look at new structures and game plans.”
New players can be defined as players new to the club, or simply players from Glendale’s Division II team that are getting new looks and a shot to contribute to the First Team. Snyman describes the latter as “bubble” players.
So who are some of the players that have caught the eye of the coaching staff this fall?
Snyman highlighted two Australians, prop Jake Turnbull and flanker Leslie Stephens.
“Turnbull is definitely PRP material. Stephens is a really busy little flanker, he could become a good PRP player,” Snyman said.
Players from countries where the rugby tradition is more deeply rooted always make for a strong side, but Snyman and his staff don’t necessarily have to look far to find talent.
“We’ve got local guys like Cody Melphy,” Snyman noted. “He’s always steady, a good young player.”
Glendale’s fall slate of games has concluded, but it doesn’t mean the team has taken a break from its preparations.
“We don’t have any more games scheduled for the fall but we’ll still be practicing and doing weight training,” Raptors veteran forward Justin Mitchell said. “We’re working on skills and strategy preparing for the spring.”
Given all the work put into team strategy, evaluating players and working on strength and conditioning in this fall’s Pacific Rugby Premiership offseason, fans of the Glendale Raptors are assured a new look side coming this spring.
by Mark Smiley | Sep 29, 2014 | Glendale City News
by Marco Cummings
Writer for and on behalf of the City of Glendale
Casey Rock
The Glendale Raptors fell short of their summertime goals in 2014, falling a game short of Club 7s Nationals with a loss at the Omaha 7s qualifying tournament and falling short of hardware with a loss to the Northeast Olympic Development Academy with a 35-7 loss in the Plate (second tier) Final at the annual Serevi RugbyTown Sevens tournament hosted at Infinity Park.
Yet neither defeat was the biggest blow to the Raptors during a grueling 7s season. The team’s biggest loss was that of longtime team member Casey Rock to injury.
Suffering a blown knee in the Denver 7s tournament which started off the Raptors’ 7s campaign in 2014, Rock was tackled by an injury which not only prompted an early end to his season, but also forced the lock forward into a premature retirement from playing a game he has grown to love.
“I tore my LCL, MCL, ACL, patella tendon, all of my meniscus, and shredded all of the cartilage in my tibia and femur.” Rock said of the gruesome injury. “The doctor told me that because of all the bone damage, contact sports are done for me.”
Ironically, Rock’s injury came not from contact but from an awkward landing while chasing down an opponent.
An injury involving damage to the primary ligaments within the knee is sometimes referred to as an “unhappy triad” in the medical field, and for good reason.
“My spirits are pretty low,” Rock laments. “I wasn’t ready to stop playing and it’s been a real challenge to deal with that premature end to it all.”
At age 27, Rock seemed primed for many more seasons playing with the Raptors in both the 7s and 15s variations of Rugby. But it also ends the long journey he has experienced alongside the club, having joined the Raptors as one of the team’s original members back in 2006.
A Colorado native, Rock played both soccer and rugby at Denver’s East High School. In college, he focused on soccer with a scholarship to Metro State, but was lured back to Rugby when the Raptors began recruiting players at the club’s inception.
“I always thought that soccer players made a better transition to rugby because you’re used to running around for 90 minutes,” Rock explained. “You’re used to the game’s flow because soccer has so much change of direction and constant movement.”
His time with the Raptors eventually led to additional opportunities within the sport, including stints abroad with clubs in Australia and New Zealand as well as stints with the Collegiate All-Americans and USA Eagles. But his fondest memories remain with the Raptors.
“Winning the National Championship in 2011 was really fun,” Rock recalls. “We had a great team of guys that year. We had guys who weren’t necessarily stars but it was a great team.”
Rock continued his path to become a better rugby player while the Raptors became a bigger and better club.
“It’s been fascinating to watch the club grow. From being a 19-year-old practicing behind the Goodwill to playing for a Springbok legend in one of the greatest facilities in the Nation has been really great,” Rock said.
The “Springbok legend” Rock refers to is current head coach Andre Snyman. While Rock has only spent a few seasons under the South African, Rock explained that Snyman’s experience, particularly in the 7s game, had helped him become a more complete player.
“His knowledge of the game is so vast,” Rock said. “He’s really helped me develop my ball handling skills and vision for the game. I learned how to look at the game differently with him and see how the game was developing to put myself in a better place on the field.”
But even though Casey Rock’s time on the field has come to an end, he assures that he will continue to maintain a role with the Raptors and a relationship with the sport of Rugby.
Shortly after his injury, Rock was offered the position as coach of the Raptors Division II forwards. He’s also spearheading the movement to create an “Old Boys” organization for the Raptors. Not often seen with rugby clubs in the United States, an Old Boys organization is a way for former players to give back time and resources to their former club.
“Having played overseas, I’ve been part of clubs that have been around for hundreds of years. When guys retire they don’t just disappear. They tailgate or run a training session for the younger players. I see myself bringing the boys back in an organized fashion and being more visible,” Rock explained. “I feel really proud and humbled at how much the club still wants me around and to be involved.”
Outside of rugby, Rock has also gained time to focus himself on his new career as a first year language arts teacher for middle school students.
Unfortunately, no lesson plan could have prepared him for the challenges he has faced this summer while dealing with the devastating knee injury.
“The lesson I’ve learned is that all good things come to an end. It’s put some things in perspective for me. It’s reinforced the belief that you can’t spend all your time and energy on one thing.”
