Capitol Thinking - Previewing the Western Regional Tournament

"There's something about the weather that everybody loves, they call it the Indian spring of Sacramento / And when the sun is up in the sky, the wind is blowing by the riverside, most every day” - Middle of the Road, "Sacramento"

The balance of power has shifted to the Western region of the USAFL, a movement that accentuated itself last season when all five competitive divisions last year saw at least one team from the Left Coast participate their respective Grand Finals.

And thus it is with that surge one of the most competitive USAFL regionals in recent memory takes place in the town of Davis, just due west of the Californian capital this Saturday.  There, nine league clubs and a guest from the Orient will take to Nugget Fields for the Western Regional Tournament across two men’s division and a women’s division.  Overall, it features an intriguing mix of powerful clubs and vastly improving sides, most of whom are participating in their first hit out of the season.

DIVISION 1:

The Division 1 men’s group will feature the Orange County Bombers ranked number one in the current USAFL Top 20 rankings, the #6 Los Angeles Dragons, #8 Golden Gate Roos, and the visiting Hong Kong Dragons.  It is a collection heavy with talent, and all four clubs in this group will dig into their full-squad campaigns after stretching their legs in their local metro leagues.

Defending champion Orange County arrives at this tournament just seven days removed from a harrowing victory over their rivals from L.A.  Suffering from an injury riddled preseason, the Bombers eeked out a win over the Dragons by a single point.  The defending Western champs will bring a stronger lineup to Davis, anchored by defender Lachie Agars, who played magnificently in last year’s National Championships, and young gun Scott Phillips.  Veteran Keith Rutherford says that his club will be deep, and hope to gain valuable experience from the weekend, in addition to victories.

“We are hoping to defend our title but to also give further experience to our growing list of first and second year players,” he said.  “We also look forward to strong and tough contests against LA, Golden Gate and our overseas guests, the Hong Kong Dragons.”

Like Orange County, the Dragons were also smarting from injuries in their first hit out of the season after a competitive metro campaign.   But to come up just one point short on the best team in the country is a major statement from the defending Division two champions.  Jeffrey Robinson and Anthony Martin headline an athletic and game-smart squad with that has spent most of its’ five years of existence trying to prove that can play with – and beat – some of the more established clubs.  Like Rutherford, L.A. president Ryan Hitch sees this weekend as a prep for Austin, both physically and mentally.

“Overall I think Regionals for the Dragons is going to be a good yardstick for us early in the season to gauge the work we need to do before Nationals, and to cement a spot as a Division I side and make an impact on the competition,” Hitch said.  “We are most looking forward to coming up against the Hong Kong Dragons, as this emulates the Nationals scenario of coming up against unknown sides and the necessity to really push hard from the beginning to get an early lead and control the game.”

In Northern California, the Golden Gate Roos will open their full season after another go-round in one of the nation’s oldest Metro leagues.  One of the GGAFL teams, the Marin Mavericks, posted a 41-15 victory over the Sacramento Suns back in April, which the Roos will hope is a glimmer of good form against tougher competition.  Led by Revo stalwart Bryan Dragus, Golden Gate hopes for a fresh start in 2015 after stumbling to a lackluster 1-2 record in Dublin last year.

“The Roos are looking to build on their Metro League success and stamp themselves as contenders on the National level,” says coach Christian Chynoweth.  “The boys have been working really hard so far this season and we're excited to show the rest of the country that we're here to compete.”

The three American clubs will face a pretty stiff test in the Hong Kong Dragons, a representative side of AFL South China.  The Dragons are drawn from a six team league that just finished its season and saw the Cobras club come out on top.  Made up of mostly Australian expats, this is the first touring party excursion for the club, and they are made up of good footballers such as former best and fairest Dwight Stuchbury.

DIVISION 2:

Men’s Division 2 will be fought out between three sides: the hometown Sacramento Suns, ranked 15th in the country, the Portland Steelheads, and a composite side of players from the Seattle Grizzlies and San Diego Lions.

Sacramento has competed in the shadow of the long established Roos since beginning play in 2009.  Their road to success has been bumpy, but the hard work came to fruition in Dublin, Ohio had last year’s Nationals, as they finally hoisted a trophy: the Division 3 championship.  Revolution midfielder Saleh Tyebjee dominated the Grand Final against Philadelphia, and he and his team will look to make waves in Division II this year.  The Suns will play tougher competition later in the season, taking on Division I sides Denver and Austin, but the goal for this weekend is to play well and put on some good footy in front of their hometown fans.

Portland’s Steelheads have been a steady presence in the West Coast footy scene in their last three seasons of play, and will try to make a move into legitimate title contenders with a good showing this weekend.  Just as every other team in the western region has done, Portland has built a steady local league to give its players experience, and they hope that it will bear fruit this season.

Rounding out Division 2 will be the Seattle Grizzlies, who will be augmented with players from the San Diego Lions.  Both teams struggled to get numbers for regionals and Nationals next year, but each are looking to return to former glory this year.  The Grizzlies, led by Revo players Kevin Stanley and Ryan Castl, split their first two games of the season against two Canadian clubs.

WOMEN’S DIVISION

The competitiveness of the Western based clubs is not limited to the men’s teams.  The Sacramento Lady Suns and San Francisco Iron Maidens have improved vastly over the last three seasons, and will each be contributing several players to the USA Freedom and Liberty squads that will take part in next month’s 49th Parallel Cup games vs. Canada.

Coming a long way from their first days as minnows on the Nationals scene, the Lady Suns have become a cohesive unit who have built themselves into a formidable side.  Helen Mondia, Lauré Kwoka, and Freedom vice-Captain Katie Klatt highlight the varying degrees of weaponry that Sactown’s women bring to every contest.  After starting this season with a big six-point win over their rivals from San Fran, they will enter regionals trying to prove that they are the better team.

“The WRT will showcase what Australian Football (Footy) is all about and there will be plenty of good footy,” said Suns coach Brad Anderson.  “The Lady Suns look forward to contributing to the tournament and continuing the great rivalry between themselves and the San Francisco Iron Maidens.”

As for the Maidens, the defending National runners up still have a boatload of confidence heading into this year despite their opening game loss.  Last year, they became the first team in four seasons to score against the Denver Lady Bulldogs in a Grand Final.  San Francisco will also be well represented at the Parallel Cup, with Jessica Estrada and Brette Brower among a group of hungry players looking to eventually return to the championship game at Austin for the third straight year.

“"Recruitment and player development has been a focus area for the Iron Maidens the past 12 months and we're excited to put that hard work to the test this Saturday at the Western Regionals,” said Maidens assistant coach Tara Salmon.  “The tournament will allow us to try out some line-ups and get more top-level game time into the players, some of whom have only played at the metro level. We're excited to play Sacramento and the combined Arizona/Portland sides in the lead up to Nationals where we're hoping to claim the main title this year."

Finally, the two clubs who helped the Iron Maidens to the runner up spot in Dublin last October will make up a combined squad: the Arizona Lady Hawks and the Portland Sockeyes.  The Sockeyes are part of the Portland club’s resurgence in numbers, and their recruiting game has garnered new talent into the game there.  Their fresh start into the game will be balanced by the experience of two of Arizona’s many contributories to the national team, namely in Melissa Armstrong and Valarie Barber-Axthlem.

Tournament Notes:

Each Division will operate as a round-robin format, and the team with the best record will be declared that division’s winner.  Percentage (Points for divided by points against, multiplied by 100) will be used to break any ties.

Two fields will be utilized to accommodate the total fifteen matches that will make up the carnival – Nugget Fields and nearby Sandy Motley Park.  A ladies’ all-comers match will also be included in the festivities.

Complete Schedule (all times Pacific – 3 hours behind New York, 17 behind Melbourne)

9am: Los Angeles v Orange County (D1) | Sacramento v Seattle (D2)
10am: Hong Kong v Golden Gate (D1) | Sacramento v Arizona/Portland (W)
11am: Sacramento v Portland (D2) | All Comers (W)
Noon: Golden Gate v Orange County (D1)
1pm: Hong Kong v Los Angeles (D1) | Sacramento v San Francisco (D2)
2pm: Seattle v Portland (D2)
3pm: Los Angeles v Golden Gate (D1)
4pm: Hong Kong v Orange County (D1) | Arizona/Portland v San Francisco (W)

Smokin’ Ewe BBQ truck will be the featured food vendor at the event.  The tournament will be followed by an after party at Goldfield Trading Post (1630 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95814).

Follow along with the #USAFLWRT live online here at USAFL.com, on facebook.com/usafl, and on Twitter @USAFL1997.