Severn River Slays Savannah

Maybe we don't win every tournament we enter, but we do attempt to achieve legendary status wherever we roam. The 2018 Savannah Saint Patrick's Day Tournament was approached with no less sense of purpose. With fewer than the needed for the weekend, the men teamed up with Media from Media, PA while the women joined forces with some girls from Frederick, St. Mary's, and some other tournament whores looking for a home.

Both the Men's and the Women's Teams represented the club well on the pitch with impressive play by Taylor "Moses" Gavigan of the men's club with phenomenal rucking and steals at the breakdowns in both matches. On the women's side, Mikey, Lina, and Marshall were wrestled from their deep Cage Dancing induced slumbers to play their Sunday matches with heart, even if they may have lacked their traditional coordination at times. Captains Lenni Ferraria and Casey Hartzell stated that "having 100% attendance and participation in the Sunday game is [our] biggest accomplishment to date."

Saturday night became the main event for the club. Dressed in Hawaiian shirts, the Men and Women pre-gamed at the women's home for the weekend, a historic mansion on Perry Street. After a round of Flong, a flip cup/beer pong hipster mash-up game, won decidedly by the women, a boat race where the men were victorious, and some prom style stair photos, the club headed into the once peaceful, quaint city of Savannah. After stops at Wild Willy's to taste and ogle the wall of frozen beverages, cage dancing at Liquid, piano bars, and mistakenly discovering a costume party, it was back to the house with what was left of the tattered ruggers. After some rounds of SEGA, cold pizza, and a front porch Dr. Phil session where far too many feelings were flying, the night came to a close just before the sun tried to ruin the fun. The teams lost an hour of sleep that night to both the terror that is daylight savings time, as well as their own excellent decisions.

The women rallied for their 8:30am match and the men slept soundly through their quiet Sunday in true rugby whore fashion.

2017 - 2018 Banquet Re-Cap

            After some poopy circumstances (literally), we had to move the banquet from the basement of the American Legion to the Berrywood Community Clubhouse just down the road. Shuffling kegs, food, liquor, and decor from one side of Severna Park to the other, Rachel Priddy, Meredith McAlister, and Lauryn (McAlister) Bary did the early leg work to secure the new location. Dee Crovo, Phil Denton, and the first family (Brad and Aly McCarty) arrived early to set-up the bar and tables while the rest of us enjoyed what appeared to be a seamless transition. 

          As each team member arrived, they were greeted by Cinnamon, dutifully checking names off of the list and handing out poker chips to use at the tables. The deck space was a welcome change from banquets in the past, but some of the players grew nostalgic for the frat basement quality of the Legion. There was the normal standing in a circle, belting out a little David Allen Coe and Journey, and some inspired dance moves from nearly everyone, but arguably Casey's "sick cat" is one to look for next time. With a photo booth and game tables provided by B&B Casino Party Pros, food from Mission BBQ, a number of guest bartenders, deserving award winners, and an epic YAD award list of nominees, the night was one to remember. Or not remember.

YAD Award

        Severn River Rugby had a busy year on and off the field.  So to say they had an overflowing list of nominees for the YAD award, is an understatement.  Nominees included the Hesters, Harrison, Bram, Blimmel, Mick, Rich, Cinnamon, Jazz, Joe, and as always Jimmy Benson.  Their accomplishments included everything from getting married on a match day to being too intoxicated to function as a human being.  Other notable nominees included one who stiff armed founding member Henry Posko at the Alumni match and another who kicked down doors at a college party despite being 30+ years old.  Club members started to lose their voices from the number of times we yelled "You're a Dick!" into the peaceful January night of the family focused Berrywood neighborhood.

Despite the best efforts of others to steal the coveted trophy, there was a repeat recipient...

Sloth - for bringing the YAD award to the Anderson's family Thanksgiving Dinner.  When Jenn (Anderson) Fenzel's mom heard that Rachel "Sloth" Priddy was thoughtful enough to bring a centerpiece to share at Thanksgiving, she was speechless. Mama Anderson is no stranger to the team's antics, but even she was taken aback when Sloth arrived with the YAD trophy, decorated with fake daisies and christmas lights from a previous year.  Sloth ceremoniously placed the YAD in the center of the table while cousins, siblings, and grandchildren looked on from their formal china place settings. As the family continued to share what they were thankful for this year, Sloth added how much she appreciated being accepted by such a caring family and always being welcome in this home. Jenn's mom nodded approvingly seeming to forget the gigantic...well use your imagination...in the room, while the rest of the table tried to stifle their laughter.  

TEAM AWARDS:

Forward of the Year- Aldo Batubara

Unsung Hero - Brad McCarty

  Back of the Year - Karl Teague

Rookie of the Year - Mike Gibson

Back of the Year- Charlee “Charles” Bryan

   Forward of the Year-Michal “Mikey” Williams

Steel Tits-Dee Crovo

Rookie of the Year-Taylor “Ferd” Tracy

Unsung Hero- Lina Hargadon

Ruggers for Ryan Need Your Help!

Severn River Men's Rugby Player, Ryan Kivitz aka Samoa was in a serious accident on Tuesday night. As he was leaving the firehouse, he saw a car accident on 795 near Owings Mills Blvd. A single car slammed into the jersey wall, creating extensive damage to its front end with a pt stuck inside. 911 was dispatched and then he parked his vehicle at a safe distance along with a box truck who stopped to put flares up. Ryan then attempted to save this gentleman in the vehicle and asses his injuries. While getting him out the car and to safety, he heard a noise roaring toward him. And the next thing he remembers is he was in a ditch 20+ feet from where he was last standing. He was struck head on by a drunk driver at 100+ miles an hour, as a pedestrian.  He was flown to shock trauma where he had multiple surgeries. He is safe and alive and has been released from the hospital, to the care of his family. But he is nowhere near out of the dark yet. He has multiple broken bones, steel plates and rods were put in his body. He will have to learn how to walk again and we expect a long road to recovery. His career as a Firemen/First Responder will be over for a while and he won't be with us on the pitch this spring and possibly for quite some time to come. 
We want to send a HUGE thanks to the State Police, Baltimore County Fire. Engine 2, medic 2, and many others that responded because you guys never missed a step, and are the reason he is here today. As well as the bystanders who saw him laying in the ditch and helped hold C spine. The guy who held his leg in place til help arrives. 

Those of us who know Ryan, know that he is an incredible guy, he is so generous and supportive of all of us, of our rugby club and it is no surprise that he put his life on the line to try and save a stranger on the side of the highway, even while off duty. Though Ryan is lucky to be alive, he will be struggling through a long road to recovery and his life will forever be changed. We hope that we can all be there to support Ryan in his time of need as he has always been there for so many of us. 

How Can You Help? 

This weekend we will be putting together a basket of goodies for Ryan to help him through recovery. Anything you can think of he might need or just want to help keep his spirits up can be brought to the 7s workout on Saturday or the Crossfit workout on Sunday. We will be making a special delivery to his parents house on Sunday after the Crossfit workout. 

If you cannot make it out this weekend or don't know what to give, that is fine. We will also be taking donations. He will need a lot of various things immediately to get him back on his feet and these things take money. All proceeds will be donated direct to Ryan and anything he doesn't need, he can donate to a First Responders or Drunk Driving Charity of his choice, in his name. 

You can donate thru the following links. Leave "Ruggers for Ryan" in the description. 

paypal.me/SRRFC

www.venmo.com/Severn-River

If you want to send him some love from afar to go in his care package, you can do here: 

https://goo.gl/forms/1lR7GM82xq4MiXKx2

Thanks in advance for your love and support! The more Ruggers for Ryan that support him, the quicker Kivitz can get back on his feet! 

NOT SO FUZZY ANNUAL UGLY HOLIDAY SWEATER PARTY

10 Days to our Holiday Jam.
Saturday, December 16th!

Stand & Joe's West - 37 West Street, Annapolis, MD 21401

TIMELINE:
5-8 pm Drinks, mingling, grab dinner & enjoy gift exchange. Stan & Joes will have bands. 
8 pm Bar crawl
Hopefully Survive. Wake up and Wonder Why?!

SPECIALS:
We wanted to arrange some cheaper drink specials for our players, alumni, friends, fans, etc if we'll be there for several hours. But since its a Saturday night and we wont be in gear, we need to differentiate who is rugby and who is not. So for a $10 wristband... 
Bottomless Coors Light
$3 rail
$5 bombs
When Coors Light is kicked $2 domestics.
You, of course, are welcome to buy drinks on your own as well. 
Food being worked out.  Special Holidays Treats in store. No bah humbug here. 
YOU CAN VENMO OR PAYPAL IN ADVANCE ON OUR WEBSITE IF YOU DONT WANT TO BRING CASH. I WILL HAVE WRISTBANDS INSIDE FOR YOU. 
Paypal.me/SRRFC
http://www.venmo.com/Severn-River

WHITE ELEPHANT:
Bring a gift only if you want to do the white elephant. Keep it around $15. You know the drill, the gifts go in, everyone gets a #, you can choose a gift from the pile or steal one that you like. It's a knock down drag out battle and good Holiday fun! 

BAR CRAWL (ROOKIE FUN):
Sweet Dee, Phil, Sloth, Cinnamon and Charlee put together a great Bar Crawl that will rival our last Rookie Crawl to find Carmen (San Diego). This years celebrity will be the Cinnamon Elf on a Shelf. More details that night. Just need yourself and some Holiday attire. Can the Rookies get on the Naughty list? Will the men or the women prevail? Who knows, only time will tell. Good luck catching her...

Men's Fall Kickoff

Severn River Men are kicking off their Fall Season with a Friendly Away Match against former league competitor Delmarva. Delmarva transferred to the North this season and as a non-league opponent are a great first test as we prepare for our Fall 2017 campaign. 

Delmarva just took on former Severn River Coach and Alumni, John Burke as their head coach. John will have his work cut out for him as he stands to face off against the Severn River Coaching Staff of International Stars William Delsing, Dave Egar and Severn River alumni, Mike Posko. William a premiere level player and coach who moved to the US from from Klerksdorp, South Africa in 2005 serves at the helm for another year. William is joined once again by Associate Coach, Dave Egar who hails from Ireland and the club has been lucky to have for several years now. Severn River old boy, Mike Posko rounds out the staff as skills and development coach. 

First Year Captain Mike Blimmel hopes to step up to lead this men's team in the 2017-2018 campaign. With a rousing couple years at 8 man for Severn River out of college at Philadelphia U and high school before that at local powerhouse Archbishop Spalding High School, Blimmel hopes to provide a fresh, young group of players to the pool of seasoned veterans set to take the field this fall. 

We are excited to see what the Fall Season has in store. Come check out the first and only test of the pre-season, next Saturday August 26th at 10am. They play at Delmarva's pitch which is a short run from Annapolis at 31768 Legion Rd, Millsboro, DE 19966. We will return after the match for our Fall Kickoff Event, Beer Olympics. For more details or to join us, Click Here

Severn Auto Body - New Sponsor!

We are pleased to welcome Severn Auto Body as a Sponsor of our Ireland Tour in March 2017. A special thanks to Dave White, alumni for your continued support!

If you need some work done on your car, trust it to a Severn River Alum and call Severn Auto Body! Click the link below to contact them today. 

http://severnautobody.com/

Welcome Our New Sponsor

Severn River Rugby Club wants to thank our sponsor, David Taylor, a State Farm Insurance Agent for being a special event sponsor for the Ireland Tour in 2017.  

We are hoping to provide supplemental medical insurance for our players, current and alumni to protect against significant injury while on the pitch. However, they provide Home, Auto, and Life Insurance. Let him get you a quote on insurance today and support those who support our club. http://www.taylor4u.us/

Gear, gear it's finally here!!

(See what I did there?!?!?!) The gear site is locked and loaded, so follow the link below to order the latest and greatest Severn River Swag! 

What are the highlights you ask???

1. The new Rookie tees are on there in case you aren't a rookie but want one! 

2. For Dee and all of the crewneck sweatshirt lovers out there, a new option is live on the site.... OOOoooooooooo

3. The classic Severn River Rugby striped shirt is back if you want to look cool and pop your collar

4. Sneak preview of the Alumni Under Armour Baseball Tee that will be available this weekend (limited quantities available, but if we run out you can order here!)

5. Custom shorts with MD flag print in our blue and green colors. 

So where can I go to find this great stuff and order it?!?!

http://www.steamrollerrugby.com/severn-river-rugby-1/ 

Whaatttttt there isn't free shipping like Amazon Prime?!?!?!?! 

If you select the pick up in store option, that will mean it will be shipped to the club and you can snag at practice. If you want it shipped to a different location than practice, you will need to pay shipping... sorry Amazon ruined us all. 

Is there a deadline? 

Get your orders in by next Friday, October 28th (No Exceptions)- its quick, easy and on the internet... so basically everyone can figure it out. 

Oh Captain, My Captain

A huge Congratulations to former Captain Mike Bertoni and his new wife Lea, on their marriage in Pennsylvania on August 28th. Severn River family was happy to be there to celebrate with you and we all wish you the best of luck in your travels, hoping one day they may lead you back here. 

OLYMPIC VIEWING PARTY

SAVE THE DATE FOR AN OLYMPIC 7's VIEWING PARTY! 
 

Matches for women are Saturday, Aug 6th thru Monday, Aug 8th.  

• Saturday, Aug 6th - prelim rounds
• Sunday, Aug 7 - prelim rounds and quarterfinals. 
• Monday, Aug 8th - final rounds
• Click Here for Full Women's Schedule

We still have not heard, but are hoping to hear our own Carmen Farmer's name when they announce the rosters. Likely they will announce this weekend, so stay tuned for that! 

Matches for the Men are Tuesday, Aug 9th thru Thurs, Aug 11th 

• Tuesday, Aug 9th - prelim rounds
• Wednesday, Aug 10th - prelim rounds and quarterfinals
• Thursday, Aug 11th - final rounds 
• Click Here for Full Men's Schedule

Men's matches are all played during the DAY. So, it may be best to arrange somewhere to record the matches and re-play for us...more details to come as we determine the when, where and such.