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Being involved with the Penn State Women's program bears that out with a fall matrix season, immediately followed by indoor training.
The spring semester sees the team go back indoors for training and some early matches, usually indoors. PSU is lucky to have access to a full length indoor pitch for both programs to use.
Spring break is tour time. Last year the women toured the Southwest of France and Barcelona, the hotbed of rugby in that part of the world. The team trained hard every day and played against the top two teams in France and a Catalon Select side. Many of the opponents were former French and Spanish internationals so the level of the game was quite high.
Furthermore, their scrums were outstanding which forced Penn State to make strides in that crucial part of the game. The competition was designed to challenge the pack. The spring season was designed to both challenge and allow for further development leading up to the "Championship" season.
My role was as a "consultant" coach with a focus on the set piece. The schedule developed by Pete Steinberg, along with the defensive acumen of Peter Baggetta, made for an ideal coaching platform that resulted in a National Championship.
Coach Clark is correct in his assessment of the weakness of NCAA spring sports. Lacrosse has done a great marketing job but the sport is weak in comparison to rugby and for the most part, the sport is not played after college.
We must, however, get more of the rugby community to support the college game. On the high level, it is marketable and great to watch. Regardless of the final scores, both the women's and men's final four clubs put a great "Product" on the table, a product further enhanced with High Definition.
It also helps that the colleges represented, Penn State, BYU, Cal and Stanford are names synonymous with high level college sports.
Lance Connolly
Listening to you and Jack I agree completely, we need to get away from football - lacrosse is an easier compete.
Last year Navy played Boston College in Boston the first week in Feb, turf field, snow around the edges but the match went on.
We need the consistency of a single season, a start and finish with definite dates. The fans get it easier, they can follow week to week their teams progress.
It makes sense.
Mike Flanagan
