Quotes: Rick Schmitz

Fourth year

We wanted to do the parks in Glendale, particularly the parks we’ve played on. We started with Glendale Parks and then just moved around to the parks that were closest to Glendale.

We had a bunch of parents that helped.  We divided into teams, handed out gloves and trash bags, and cleaned up the parks and the surrounding areas as well.  We walked up and down the streets around the parks and cleaned up there as well.  We filled about 95 trash bags that day.

23 people worked 8 hours + 200 hours.

Because we pull players from lots of different highschools, we were trying to figure out how we could spend a day together doing something positive and building comeraderie.  Help them get to know each other working for a common cause off the field.  It’s been really successful.

It’s a big part of the rugby culture to give back to the community. Especially in

Glendale – we want to let the City and the people of Glendale know that we want to be a part of the community.

I’m kind of the general manager.  I coordinate the mixture, coordinate the schedule, that kind of stuff.  4 years

Build a sense of team and community with our players coming from different highschools.  6 or 7

We have had really good success with players moving on to collegiate rugby.

Email notes:

21 members of the Glendale High School Rugby team along with coaches and parent volunteers spent the day Saturday (1/23) doing park and neighborhood clean up in Glendale and the surrounding areas.

Facts:

Over 200 hours of total service on Saturday January 23rd.

Parks cleaned:

Mir Park

Four Mile Historic Park

Area surrounding Infinity Park

Garland Park

Cook Park

Jacobs Park

Crestmore Park

City of Brest Park

As well as streets between Colorado Blvd and Holly and Mississippi and Alameda including both banks of Cherry Creek as it winds it’s way through Glendale

Over 95 bags of trash were collected during the eight hour period.

Quotes:

“It was a great way to give back to our community, and it was a great way to get to know our teammates better.” – Josh Brake (Wheat Ridge High School Sophomore)

“We have players from a lot of different schools including - South, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Wheat Ridge and others so it was a great way for them to serve shoulder to shoulder together as teammates.”  Josh Schmitz (Assistant Coach)

More Information:

Rugby is the worlds second most popular sport and it is growing in it’s popularity in Colorado.

The Glendale Raptors are still looking for players!  They are hoping to field teams at 3 levels, essentially a level 3 team, a JV team and Varsity team.

Glendale has just started their spring season and would love to welcome more players!  They practice Monday – Thursdays 4-6 PM at Infinity Park south (Just off of Mississippi between Birch and Cherry).

Contact Rick Schmitz at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information