More photos can be viewed at here.
The 2014 Rugby Rave Tournament has come to an end with some amazing team and individual achievements, especially for the Phoenix Heat! The tournament started Friday with tough competition and hard hits; hits hard enough Raf Hendrix from the Texas Stampede was sent to the emergency room for a laceration to the back of his head. The Phoenix Heat showed great strength on Friday winning games against the St. Louis Rams and Texas Stampede. Joe Delagrave said “Rugby Rave is a great tournament since it hosts some of the top teams in the United States as well as a top team from Canada! Phoenix Heat were able to work on some weaknesses while coming out with wins.” Friday night’s festivities included dinner at Macayo’s on Ash Ave in Tempe where the players received a 10% discount on meals.
Saturday morning continued with pool play with wins for the Tucson Roadrunners, Minnesota Steelheads, Texas Stampede and Phoenix Heat. Crossover competition began Saturday afternoon concluding with Phoenix B team and St. Louis Rams battling for 8th/7th, Texas Stampede and Las Vegas Renegades combating for 6th/5th, Minnesota Steelheads and Tucson Roadrunners clashing for 4th/3rd and London Annihilators and Phoenix Heat fighting it out for 1st. Saturday evening the players fueled back up with BBQ from Honey Bears and complementary beverages.
Sunday’s competition was nothing less than fierce with determination and drives to come out victorious for all 8 teams. The final standings were:
1st Place-Phoenix Heat
2nd Place- London Annihilators
3rd Place- Minnesota Steelheads
4th Place- Tucson Roadrunners
5th Place- Las Vegas Renegades
6th Place- Texas Stampede
7th Place – St. Louis Rams
8th Place – Phoenix B
Congrats to the following players on their individual achievements of best in class.
Class .5 – Jeff Butler from Texas Stampede
Class 1.0 – Scott Hogsett from Phoenix Heat
Class 1.5 – Dave Willsie from London Annihilators
Class 2.0 – Joe Delagrave from Phoenix Heat
Class 2.5 – Josh Wheeler from Tucson Roadrunners
Class 3.0 – Jim Roberts from Phoenix Heat
Class 3.5 – Garrett Hickling from London Annihilators
MVP – Chuck Aoki from Minnesota
Thank you to all the volunteers for dedicating their time over the weekend to help Rugby Rave run smoothly. Lastly thank you to The Ability Center for being a sponsor for Rugby Rave, bringing one of their accessible vehicles to the tournament and having a representative on hand to answer any questions from the players.