Junior Dolphins Rock Sharkfest!

U8 Dolphins brought two complete sides to the Sharkfest: Southern California Championships.  The Dolphins fielded an eight man squad in the Premier Division and a ten man squad in the Developmental Division.  Congrats to the Developmentals for going 1-1-1 in pool play to make to the semifinals.  In the Semis the Dolphins lost in a courageous and tenacious effort to the Division Champs: Fullerton.  For the course of the tournament they played attacking, running rugby combined with a “no quit defense.”  Well done to the developmental boys for playing with our Santa Monica Dolphin spirit and Coach Ray Conboy for his leadership.

In the Premier Division, our team went 2-0-1 in pool play, advancing to face San Clemente in the Semis.  The Dolphins were 1-0  halfway through the first period and showed enormous character to come back and win the match 2-1.  From there they advanced to face the reigning So Cal Champ: San Diego.  The Dolphins played their characteristic champagne rugby to de-throne the SD Mustangs 2-0.  The boys played quick-ball, attacking rugby the entire day.  They continuously ran with tons of pace while they passed and offloaded to put runners into space to score tries at critical times.  This was done against top caliber teams who trying to do the same on offense.  The Dolphins played aggressive and attacking defense the entire day, as they never got beaten on the outside.  In addition, after every tag/touch they hustled back to mark their channels in defense.  The team scored a total 10 tries and allowed only two.