: : SEASON UPDATE : :

Since we are a few games into the season we figured we'd give everyone a little update as to how our club is doing!

Men's Club:  With a couple close games to start off the season, the Old Dogs went to San Jose this past weekend and pulled out a 2 point win over the Seahawks.  With some new guys added to the mix, the men are building their team chemistry and are looking to fit everything together when they take on Diablo this Saturday - probably at 1:00 at Al Patch park - if its too rainy the game will be at VCS!

H.S. Boys: With a couple losses and a good friendly match against De La Salle the boys team has been improving week to week, despite our really awesome practice facilities :) Their game last Friday night was in the pouring rain for the duration of the 70 minutes.  It was a tough loss, but the boys are looking to bounce back this Friday against Sierra up at Lincoln High School at 7:30pm! 

H.S. Girls: The girls started off with a round robin with Mother Lode and Sierra/River City.  It was a really great learning experience for our Rookies to get some playing time.  We opened up league play against the Amazons (who are nationally ranked) the girls took a beating but surprised themselves and the Amazons with some great hits and big offensive runs.  Last week they pulled away in the second half with a great win versus Chico.  The ladies look to build upon last weekends success this Saturday against Solo at VCS.

Every week each team is doing what they can to improve and prepare themselves for the upcoming weekend.  It hasn't been an easy season, but everyone is sticking together as a team and doing the best with what we have!  Any and all new players interested in rugby is encouraged to come out, it is never to late to join!! 

Thank you to everyone who has been helping us out, we appreciate it!

#DPWW

: What Do We (the Club) Do When We Aren't At Practice?? :

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." - Theodore Roosevelt

Over the last couple decades Vacaville Blackdog Rugby Club has taught the game of rugby to hundreds of high school athletes.  The club has had great success on the field and our times of growth, but our Club is ALWAYS working and growing behind the scenes.  

This is 100% what we do and some of the problems we face running this club.

We (the coaches) wish we could spend the majority of our time planning practices and working with the kids, but we have many more responsibilities than just coaching.  Some of the questions we ask ourselves on almost a daily basis are:

Where are we going to practice? 
What equipment do we need? 
How much money do we have? 
How do we raise more money? 
Is everyone registered?  
Did everyone pay their dues? 
How do we help those who can't afford their dues?
How do we get more people to play? 
How do we get more PARENTS involved?
... that covers the major ones.

Especially this season fields have been a major issue.  We started the search for fields in October, and we are still searching for a place to call home.  Yin Ranch works, but we can't use the grass when it's been raining as much as it has.  The City has a moratorium on all of their fields... can't use those.  The school district is a whole other issue in itself to say the least, but we are currently allowed to use the blacktop only at Jepson Middle School.  Vacaville Christian School has the only all-weather, lit, field in town available to rent.  So that means EVERYBODY wants to use it.  We have been lucky enough to get our home games there.  It is a cycle of endless emails, phone calls, sending schedules, waiting, being told no, being told yes and then no and then maybe, there was even a petition to be allowed to use city fields.

Needless to say, we all spend a lot of our time on fields and still try to tackle all those other questions as well. We are also working to make sure the athletes are as prepared as they can be for their games.  It is no easy task running this club, but we continue to do it because we love rugby, we love teaching to those who want to learn, and because we are probably a little crazy.

So maybe this motivates you to help out, maybe it doesn't, but here's how you can help.  You can volunteer to organize food and drinks for socials. You can volunteer to help do fundraisers or get donations.  You can volunteer to help coach during our youth program this summer.  You or someone you know can donate money (and write if off) to something other than jerseys.  The way to be the MOST helpful, donate to paying for fields/lights.  It can be upwards of $60/hour to rent a field, that's almost $1,000 a month just on fields!  The possibilities are pretty endless.  Please feel free to shoot us an email, vacavilleblackdogrugby@gmail.com or message us on instagram or facebook if you want to help, have ideas, or want to come to the next board meeting, we would love to hear from you!