Archive for 2009

7/2/2009

Due to the voting of our many fans the Indianapolis Impalas were able to Win Metro Mix’s “Sexiest Alternative Sports Team” category. If you check out this week’s Metro Mix magazine (formerly Indy.com) you will a small mention about the team. You can also find us on the website (even if they made us the last picture in the gallery).

I also don’t know what to think of their quote: “Editors’ pick: Roller derby. Sorry, but we prefer tattooed ladies with advanced degrees.”

The Impalas kicked off their summer touch training sessions with a large group of Impalas players and college players home for the summer. Joseph C. Stuckey was deemed unlucky player of the day as every team he played on lost. When asked why this occured Joe said, “Apparently everyone just gets nervous when playing with me.”

In other news it was great to see some other familiar faces out and about. Travis Smith was out and showing off his new Kirkendall esk physeek.

Touch Rugby will continue Tuesdays and Thursday all summer from 6 to 8pm at Broad Ripple Park. Anyone interested in participating is welcome to join.

The people at Indy.com have the Indianapolis Rugby Club (with a picture of the cover boy himself, Mac Levindofske) up for “Indy’s sexiest alternative sport”

Go to this link and vote for the different categories (we are the 19th category): http://indianapolis.metromix.com/home/photo_poll_gallery/indys-sexiest/1239670/content

I don’t know if we win anything other than more media recognition, but it is worth it. Vote now!

6/10/2009

First thank you to all who responded to our request for votes for or against a DIII side (It was great to hear from several old boys as well. Your input and wisdom are much appreciated). Everyone posed valuable information and good arguments. With that said. The majority of votes came in FOR establishing a DIII side.

After discussing this with the Midwest, we found out that 7 out of the 8 teams in the DI league have a DIII side. This means there would be little opportunity to have competitive B-Side matches in the Fall.

What this means for our club…

1. Everyone will now get a chance to play on a competitive Impalas team, in a league, with an opportunity to advance to playoffs.

This should help retain and recruit players. Help foster improvement in individual player’s skills, help increase the numbers at practices, increase the competition for positions (In the beginning more so for the DI side). It will help recruit both the social player and the young players.

2. We have to begin recruiting. That means everyone. Talk to your friends, old teammates from HS/college and get them interested in coming out. We will have a meeting to discuss other methods of marketing our team.

3. We will have additional coaches to help with the increased player numbers. The idea is to have a head coach who focuses on the DI team, another coach who is directly responsible for the DIII side, and other assistant coaches who help out in more specific areas for both squads. The head coach will ultimately be responsible for managing the entire staff of coaches. This should improve the over all coaching and make practices more fulfilling for players at all levels.

4. More administrators. We will need to discuss and create new admin positions to manage both squads. Evan did a tremendous job this past season with travel arrangements communication etc. Dave Toth also was a tremendous help through out the season (Outside of the required dues collector persona). We will need more individuals to step up.

We will have a meeting within the next couple of weeks. Specific date TBA (you should see an email the next few days). I hope everyone will make the effort to come. (Especially those who wanted to see this happen.)

Final thoughts……..Long email, I know….This has been the best season by far of any team I’ve been apart of the past 12 years. Not because of how well we did (although that helps), but because of the mutual respect you all had for each other. I’ve always loved being apart of this club and probably will be until the end. This respect and your skills on and off the pitch, are what have helped us grow and will take us to the next level.

Sincerely,
Carson

Congratulations to your Indianapolis Impalas. The past weekend the Impalas competed in the national tournament in Glendale CO.

Indy first played a tough match against East Palo Alto. They fought hard and kept the game close but came up short in the end.

In the final to determine 3rd and 4th in the nation Indy won with a stellar performance. Indy was matched up against the Lancaster Roses. It was a hard fought exciting match and in sudden death, double over time Indy came out with the win!!!!

Pictures and Video will be up soon!

Indianapolis Impalas flanker Neal Maxwell, stepped in today for Impalas President and Wing, Evan Roberts, in the Carb Day for a Cause Celebrity Eating Contest.  He he was able 34 pancakes in 15 minutes, second place ate 14 pancakes!!! Then Neal went to practice, no word yet on how that went….

After the event, everyone from the event were speaking about Neal’s pancake eating prowess.

Make sure to come out this weekend to watch Indy Impalas Wing Evan Roberts compete in the Carb Day for a Cause Event.

Press Release from Carb Day for a Cause

What is Carb Day for a Cause? It’s a consortium of Indianapolis media stars–social media stars, especially–who will stuff their faces with pancakes on May 23 to raise money for Indianapolis’s St. Vincent de Paul food pantry. On the leadup to the event, they’ll blog about their training, wax poetic on their favorite pancake batter, and its encouraged magnification on Facebook, Smaller Indiana, Twitter, and other popular Indianapolis social media sites and blogs (paging Moosh and FeedMeDrinkMe).

When all is said and done, the contestants will have raised money for a great cause in a new way. And probably gained a few pounds training to WIN the contest. Prizes will go to the celeb raising the most money on game-day leadup, and also to the one who actually eats the most pancakes.

Game Day Details:

Time: May 23, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Location: Locally Grown Gardens, 1050 E 54th St

Cost: Spectators can get a $10 all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast, which will also go to the food bank

For more information visit: http://carbdayforacause.endlessdeep.org/

INDIANAPOLIS IMPALAS MEN’S RUGBY CLUB QUALIFIES FOR NATIONALS

Team Raising Funds for Trip to Denver
Indianapolis, IN – May 18, 2009 –

The Indianapolis Rugby Football Club’s Men’s team qualified to compete in the 2009 USA Rugby Division II National Championship being held on May 30-31 in Glendale, CO.  The team earned the opportunity on Sunday by advancing out of the Eastern Conference Semifinals in Columbia, South Carolina.  Indianapolis beat #2 South seed Baton Rouge, LA 53-12 and clinched their ticket to Colorado with a 16-10 victory over last year’s runner-up, Brandywine(PA)
(http://erugbynews.com/article.php?sec=125&a=4816).

The Indianapolis Impalas Rugby Club is a non-profit, amatuer club open to men with a desire to play rugby or just be part of a great group of guys.  The Indianapolis Impalas have one of the most talented squads in the US with USA National Team player Donny Younger, former Super Leauge All-Star Scott Peterson, and NA4 wing Ian Neberiezia.  This is the second National Championship quest for Indianapolis in the past 5 years.  The team competed in the 2004 Nationals finishing 4th in the Nation.
(http://erugbynews.com/article.php?sec=125&a=4780)

The club is seeking financial support in its mission to bring back a National Championship to Indianapolis.  The team has already held several fundraisers including dinners and car washes in preparations for the traveling, but since all of the players are amateurs, and pay for their traveling themselves, they welcome any financial or publicity support possible.
(http://web.usarugby.org/cgi-bin/viadesto/championships/show.pl?competitionId=187)

For more information, contact Evan Roberts at indypresident@gmail.com or 317-413-2836.

–
Evan Roberts
President, Indianapolis Rugby Football Club
www.indianapolisrugbyclub.com

The Indianapolis Impalas hit a bump in the road with their first loss of 2009. The Impalas welcomed Division 1 Midwest Powerhouse Cincinnati Wolfhounds to the Velodrome for a warm up match before both head to the playoffs. In a tough back and forth match one would expect from two Midwest power houses, Indianapolis had two key penalties called on them in the end of the second half to seal their fate. When the final whistle blew the final score was 11-5 Cincinnati. The Impalas will be getting right back to work though as they will have 4 games in 2 days this coming weekend in St. Louis. The Impalas hope to learn from their experiences and be ready for their run at a National Championship later this month.

The Indianapolis Impalas showed they haven’t lost a step from the fall season, by holding Dayton to zero points in a 60 – 0 victory Saturday. Donny Younger was back in action for his first game after his stint with the USA National 7s team and played superbly. Wing Ian Neberieza scored several tries in helping the Impalas secure the victory. Overall, every player played great and the team produced good ball movement which lead to an array of tries.