text: Written by Alex Goff Monday, 19 September 2011 17:00 Report: Pan-Am Games Scrambling to Finish Venues International - Olympics With less than a month to go before the Pan-Am Games being, reports are that several new venues are not ready. The Guadalajara Reporter reports that the new athletics stadium is only 85 percent complete, and venues for handball, karate, Basque pelota, rowing, canoeing and rugby are all incomplete.
  The Athletes' Village is still due to open October 4. Add new comment Written by Press Release Monday, 12 September 2011 20:30 Gillenwater, Ringgenberg Named to USOC Committee International - Olympics BOULDER, Colo. – Two USA Rugby representatives have been elected to the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) Athletes' Advisory Council (AAC). Christy Ringgenberg was elected as the AAC rep and James Gillenwater will serve as an alternate. Ringgenberg and Gillenwater applied to be on the AAC and underwent an extensive selection process to eventually be elected. The AAC's mission is "to communicate the interests and protect the rights of athletes, in cooperative support of the USOC achieving its mission." Ringgenberg has 10 international sevens tournament appearances for the USA since 2004 and has 13 caps for the Women's Eagles in fifteens. She is fifth on the list of all-time points scorers for the USA Women. She is currently the Women's International Athlete representative on the USA Rugby Board of Directors. Gillenwater has 16 tournament appearances for the USA Men's Sevens team from 2007-2009. In 2009, he assumed the captaincy for the London and Edinburgh tournaments of the IRB Sevens World Series. Gillenwater stepped back from his international rugby career in 2009 to pursue a law degree at Duke University. While studying at Duke, he became involved in community outreach through rugby. The USOC conference in late September will be the first AAC meeting that a USA Rugby representative will attend. Add new comment Written by Press Release Thursday, 16 December 2010 00:00 Rucks and Rings Dinner a Success International - Olympics USA Rugby hosted its first-ever fundraising dinner and auction, "Rucks & Rings" on November 19. The evening was a sensation and raised $20,000 to support USA Rugby's goal of having men's and women's sevens sides that will medal at the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games. The event was held at the Hilton Garden Inn Downtown Denver and included a cocktail hour with silent auction, dinner, and a very energetic live auction with a hilarious game of "Heads or Tails" that had to do more with human anatomy than flipping a coin. USA Rugby honored three Colorado rugby legends with awards during the dinner: Terry Fleener, Mike Dunafon and Herk Koranski, for his devotion to the growth of youth Rugby. Olympic gold medalist and former CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee, Jim Scherr, spoke at the event. The former wrestling star highlighted how the Olympics have changed the lives of athletes and expressed his excitement for rugby's re-introduction to the Games. Bob Latham, Vice-Chair of USA Rugby's Board of Directors, also spoke. Latham has been a passionate advocate for the sport and was instrumental in developing a strong relationship with the USOC. In his speech, Latham acknowledged the enormous strides American rugby has made in recent years and how the Olympic inclusion will forever change the sport in the US. To cap off the night, USA Rugby was delighted to have a young and passionate local rugby advocate, Josh Tafoya, tell the crowd his touching story of starting a youth program in Denver. Tafoya played for East High School but was stricken with a serious liver ailment that prevented him from playing. His passion for rugby fueled his path back to the field and beyond. After hearing his story, Sports Authority was compelled to donate $5,000 worth of equipment to support Tafoya's newly formed organization "303 Youth Rugby." The hope is to grow on the event's success in the coming years and expand into different states to help raise funds for Olympic Rugby and recognize the volunteers and advocates that personify all that is great about rugby. Add new comment Monday, 25 October 2010 00:00 USA Rugby Now Full Member of USOC International - Olympics USA Rugby announced Saturday that the organization is now an Olympic Sport member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). The USOC Board made the decision Saturday after a thorough review of USA Rugby's operations and the organization overall. USA Rugby also presented and fielded questions at two public hearings. Following one of the hearings, a USOC member sent USA Rugby CEO Nigel Melville a letter praising the organization on their presentation. The letter, read on air during RuggaMatrix America show #32, indicated that USA Rugby had made a very positive impression. Asked to comment on that letter last week, Melville said, "we were the 10th in a long line of sports, and you don't know what goes on before or after. We'd never done it before and you don't know what they want to hear. We got a pretty in-depth grilling, but overall the feedback was very positive, and when you're being compared to the big guys, the big sports, you feel you're probably doing OK." USA Rugby had been an Affiliated Sport member of the USOC since 1998, but the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) vote last October to include rugby sevens in the 2016 Olympics made possible USA Rugby's new membership status in the USOC. The USOC Board's action today confirms USA Rugby as the official National Governing Body (NGB) of rugby in the United States. Melville and USA Rugby Vice Chairman, Bob Latham, were in Colorado Springs this week to ensure USA Rugby's approval. "This is great news for USA Rugby. Since the announcement that rugby would return to the Olympic Games, we have developed a strong partnership with the USOC and look forward to making a positive contribution to the Olympic family in the future," said Melville. "The game of rugby is growing at an incredible rate as thousands of young Americans are picking up the ball and running with it for the first time and dreaming of Olympic glory in 2016 and 2020." The United States men's sevens rugby team will participate in the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico in October of next year. Both the men's and women's teams will compete to qualify for the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games. Full membership in the USOC is one of the major steps to putting USOC resources behind the US 7s teams. "How does it change things? Right now access to better training facilities, more sports science support. Maybe we get some residency, increased insurance, and opportunity to train more consistently," said Melville. "But the USOC only funds in a four-year cycle, so we're not due any money. Still they know that in order to compete in 2016, we can't wait two to three years for money. China and Russia are developing, and the USOC is aware of that." Add new comment Written by Press Release Tuesday, 12 October 2010 00:00 New Zealand Wins Commonwealth Gold International - Olympics New Zealand have retained their Commonwealth Games Rugby Sevens title after defeating Australia 24-17 in a thrilling final to claim the gold medal in Delhi today. In a tense and exciting climax, the New Zealanders fought back from 17-7 down with late tries from Sevens World Series stars Sherwin Stowers, captain DJ Forbes and Kurt Baker to secure a fourth successive gold medal. Despite the heartbreak for a young and impressive Australian side, they return home with a first ever Commonwealth Games silver medal. South Africa dramatically claimed the bronze medal in a hard fought 17-14 victory against England, who had defeated World Series champions Samoa in the quarter finals. Samoa bounced back to win the Plate final, defeating Scotland 34-0 at the Delhi University Stadium, while Papua New Guinea shocked Canada 17-10 in the final of the Bowl competition. The competition, the first major international Rugby Sevens event to be staged in India, underlined the Sport's ability to reach out to new fans in emerging Rugby markets with a vibrant crowd enjoying two days of competition. "The tournament once again demonstrated Rugby Sevens' stature as a Sport that is able to attract new fans around the world due to its winning blend of world class athletes, highly-competitive action and festival atmosphere," said IRB Chief Executive Mike Miller, who was in Delhi. "India is an emerging Rugby market, but I am impressed by the way that the locals have wholeheartedly embraced Rugby Sevens, enthusiastically getting behind their team and the other teams throughout the competition." Attention now turns to the start of the 2010/11 HSBC Sevens World Series, which kicks off with the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens on 3-4 December. 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