Eastern members of the Canadian National Team program are currently with their USQRA teams at the Atlantic Sectional in Sarasota, Florida. This tournament will decide which four teams will compete on behalf of the Atlantic zone at the USQRA Nationals, which are to be held next month in Phoenix, Arizona.  They held an Atlantic North regional competition prior to the Sectional, at which 3.0 Mike Whitehead and 2.5 John Szintai from the London Annihilators helped their team from Maine take 1st place honours.

The teams involved in the Atlantic Sectional, and their seedings were:

Pool A
1 - Hoveround Lightning (Featuring 2.0 David Willsie)
3 - Casco Bay Navigators (Featuring 3.0 Whitehead and 2.5 Szintai)
6 - Magee Rolling Rebels (Featuring 3.0 Fabien Lavoie)
8 - EPVA New York Jets

Pool B
2 - Tampa Generals
4 - CIR Carolina Crash (Featuring both Aussie and Kiwi national team members)
5 - South Florida Rattlers (Featuring 1.5 Patrice Simard & 3.5(US) Steven Dunn, and coached by Marco Dispaltro)
7 - Atlanta Shepherd Smash

The South Florida Rattlers, who have been playing with a varied lineup all year, which included other Canadians, and even a member of the 2002 Swedish national team, had a must-win game to start off the competion, as only the top-2 teams from each pool would have a chance to move on to the Nationals.  Their first opponent was the #4 ranked team from Carolina, and although making a great game out of it, the Rattlers fell by two points to the Crash, losing 29-31 in a heartbreaker.  The Crash went on to beat the #1 team in their pool, the Tampa Generals, by the same 2-goal margin.

Over the past couple of days, there has been a certain amount of whining in the USQRA Rugby Talk Forum by an anonymous member of the Crash who appears to have flunked out of Charm School.  It seems he didn't much care for the seeding, but it appears that the Commish has been vindicated, as Maine's Casco Bay Navigators eliminated the Carolina Crash from Division 1 play by beating them in the crossover game.  The win by Maine earns them their first ever trip to the Division 1 Nationals.  Congrats to Mike, John, and the rest of the Maine team! :-)

Meanwhile, in the other crossover, #1 seed Hoveround Lightning, which was also the tournament host team, sent the formerly mighty Tampa Generals to compete in Division 2, against Charlotte and the rest of the teams, which are yet to be determined.  Last year's Division 2 champs, the Boston Pitbulls, pulled out of league play this years due to some key injuries, but anticipate being back on the court for a full season next year.  Get well soon guys!

The Mountain Section Playoffs are scheduled for next weekend in Austin, Texas, and will decide on the next group of teams who will slot themselves into either Division 1 or Division 2 play.  The seeds are expected to hold.  The teams in contention are the:

1 - APVA Phoenix Heat
2 - Texas Stampede
3 - San Antonio Ruff Ryders
4 - Denver Harlequins
5 - Pasadena Texans
6 - U of A Wildchairs

The Pacific Division has some more can-con, with BC Bandits big guns 3.5 Garett Hickling and 3.0 Ian Chan participating for the California Quake and the San Diego Bushwhackers respectively.  The Pacific Sectional consists of the following teams, which play next weekend:

1 - San Diego Bushwhackers (yes, there is a second 'h' in Bushwhackers...)
2 - California Quake
3 - Portland Pounders
4 - Sharp Edge
5 - Southern California Plan B
6 - Nevada Bighorns

Canadian national team head coach, Joe Soares, who is quietly observing in Sarasota this weekend, will be coaching the Bushies next week in interestingly named Chula Vista, California, which will definitely be less chilly than snowy Ottawa.  Go figure.  (Go Sens!)

The Lakeshore Demolition dominated Heartland Division Sectionals won't be held for two weeks.  This section consists of the Pittsburgh Steelwheelers, Jackson Jags, Chicago Bears, Milwaukee Iron, Minnesota Ice, St. Louis Rams, Kentucky TNT and the #1 team in the USQRA, the Lakeshore Demolition.  The #5 team from the Atlantic Division would probably be able to compete well with the teams from this section who don't rhyme with "BreakMore," but sectional lines have to be drawn somewhere, and that's just the way it is.

Final standings in the Atlantic Section have yet to be finalized, but today's games will decide that.

09:00 - 7th/8th place game: (7) Atlanta Shepherd Smash vs. (8) EPVA New York Jets
10:30 - 5th/6th place game: (5) South Florida Rattlers vs. (6) Philadephia Magee Rolling Rebels
10:30 - 3rd/4th place game: (2) Tampa Generals vs. (4) CIR Carolina Crash
12:00 - 1st/2nd place game: (1) Sarasota's Hoveround Lightning vs. (3) Maine's Casco Bay Navigators

~That is all~