February 18th, 2008
Texas Thunder Invitational - The Texas Stampede hosted the first annual Texas Thunder Invitational at St. Stephens
Episcopal School in Austin Texas. The tourney featured members of statewide club teams as well as Paralympic Team USA members.
Round Robin play was centered on development and upcoming post season play. Some of the key match ups featured Division II hopefuls Pasadena and San Antonio going head to head as well as previously defeated Texas (lost to San Antonio and Pasadena in 07) trying to find their winning form again.
In the Pasadena v San Antonio tests, it was evident that advancement to Louisville would be front and center on the minds of both squads. Pasadena led by former Team USA member Steve Kearley rallied both newcomer Tim (Mike) Jones and veterans Alan Bailey and Mike Peacock against a seasoned San Antonio line featuring Juan and Gil Garcia and the 1.5 work of Ramos and Boothby.
The first game saw the two heavy weights exchanges goals at an up-tempo pace. The first turnover caused at 3:14 was caused by a stifling Ryder defense which caused the hurried pass from Bailey (6 points in the game) to Peacock to go off the waiting gloves. While the first quarter saw the score 10 - 9, the teams continued the stepped up pace. San Antonio went to their bench and took advantage of skilled low pointer Landon "Lando" Groff and his sticky front end to hold Pasadena's high pointers. As the teams entered the half several unforced turnovers saw Pasadena fall behind 17 - 23. The 3rd and 4th saw several runs by both sides, however in the end the Ryder's were too much for the Texans taking the first match 45 - 38.
The next big match was the Stampede B team meeting San Antonio. Stampede B led behind Paralympian Mark Zupan and Jace Beck (Team USQRA) showed up ready as they jumped up early against the hi/low line of Garcia and Huizar. Texas held a 15 - 8 lead going into the 2nd where they expanded there charge to 28 - 14. Said James Gumbert "It was a great opportunity for our veterans to play with the new guys and gain valuable court time". The Stampede was able to expand their lead in the second half winning the game 55 to 36. Zupan whose game high 35 points was a season high was joined by Beck (12 points) for accounting for the majority of the team's effort.
Fresh off the Stampede B win, the entire Stampede team divided to play one another. New vs Old, Present vs Future it was all there to be counted as the players who beat the heck out of one another in practice, played for bragging rights. The A's lead by Zupan and Lyduch took on Honl, Beck, and veteran Hogsett of the B's. In a classic match the youth of tomorrow proved it had game for a half but the wisdom of A's experience showed there was no changing of the guard today. A's win 47 - 39. B member Jesie "Beekeeper" Honl.(17 points in the match) said "We could not stop Zupan, he was too much for us today". "We want a rematch"!
Rematch indeed as the tournament came to a close. The Texas "conference" which usually sees one another up to 4 times a year is already planning the next test games. A big thank you goes to tournament director Kelly Gumbert, the Staff and administration at St. Stephens, Mark Zupan and the great people at Wahoo's, Texas State volunteers and the athletes and staff of the Stampede who helped in hosting this sporting event.
As always, please check back regularly for the latest!
- Webmaster Mike
February 14th, 2008
The Texas Stampede is pleased to announce the Texas Thunder Invitational this Saturday and Sunday February 16 – 17 2008 at Saint Stephens Episcopal School in Austin Texas.
This state wide invitational will represent the finest in “wheelchair rugby aka Murderball” and will showcase 2008 Beijing Team USA Paralympians Mark Zupan, Scott Hogsett, Norm Lyduch and the rest of the Texas Stampede.
For more information visit www.fearthesteer.com or coachgumbie@sbcglobal.net Cost is $5.00 at the door children under 10 free.
We can’t wait to see you there!
Coach Gumbie
December 17th, 2007
Birmingham, AL - Eleven athletes have been nominated to the 2008 U.S. Paralympic Wheelchair Rugby Team. The team
was announced following a weekend tryout camp held at Lakeshore Foundation, an official U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training
Site. Chosen for Team USA were three Stampede members: Scott Hogsett (1.0), Norm Lyduch (1.0), and Mark Zupan (3.0). This
team will represent the United States at the Paralympic Games in Beijing, China next September.
Congratulatioms!
December 9th, 2007
London, Ontario - Traveling to Ontario for the Crash For Cash tornament were Stampede all-stars Mark Zupan, Shin
Shimikawa, Norm Lyduch and Scott Hogsett. A solid performance by the iron-man squad resulted in a first place finish
winning all games convincingly. A great step forward towards the teams goal of competing for the D1 title in April!
Great Work Guys!
July 8th, 2007
Birmingham, AL – This summer 24 athletes went to Birmingham with the intensity and desire to move to the next
level. Out of those 24, 14 athletes were selected and named to the “Next Generation”, Team USQRA – National Developmental
Program. Selections were made following a four day tryout camp held at the Lakeshore Foundation U.S. Olympic & Paralympic
Training Site. These 14 athletes will provide a strong foundation for the future of our sport in the U.S. Coaches and
staff were extremely impressed with the effort and dedication that each athlete brought with them to camp. Team USQRA is
sure to provide a solid foundation to represent our country on the international level.
Of the 14 athletes making Team USQRA included are four of the Stampede's own:
1.0 - Michael Fries – Leander, TX
2.0 - Andrew Burton – Dallas, TX
2.0 - Jace Beck - College Station, TX
3.0 - Jesse Honl – Victoria, TX
Congratulations to our developing athletes!
August 15th, 2006
Welcome athletes, staff and fans to the 2006-2007 wheelchair rugby season. The Stampede had a practice two weeks
ago that probably scared everyone enough to get back into the gym and fitness center to prepare for another exciting
season. The website is finally receiving some badly past-due updates and continual work on new pages - he most important
and significant being the calendar. On the calendar you can see some exciting events, including the North American
Wheelchair Rugby Club Challenge being hosted at the Disney World of Sports at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, in
which the Stampede will be competing against the top 5 US club teams and the top 3 Canadian club teams! Also scheduled
are multiple game weekends hosted by the Stampede and Texas State in San Marcos. A few top rated teams have been invited
for a full weekend of intense competition. Information will be posted as in becomes available and the schedules are set.
As always, please check back regularly for the latest!
- Webmaster Mike
May 2nd, 2006
Congratulations go out to the Texas Tornados low-point team for two consecutive tournament championships! The squad
of Bearden, Boothby, Crouch, Fries and Lyduch won four convincing games to take first place at the Lone Star Low Point
Tournament in San Antonio, TX on April 21-23, 2006. This past weekend - April 28-30, 2006 - the Tornados went to Défi
Sportif 3.5 Tournament in Montreal with a squad of Boothby, Crouch, Fonner, Hogsett, Lyduch and Regier. This squad competed
against some of the best low-pointers in the world through four hard fought victories to become the 2006 Défi Sportif
Tournament Champions. Congratulations Guys!
Check back soon for more rugby magic!
- Webmaster Mike
April 17th, 2006
Nationals went off without many operational hitches with many thanks to Kelly Gumbert, Katie M., Chloe R., and a huge
army of very helpful volunteers. We are all very thankful for all of everyone's hard work. The Stampede did not do as well
as hoped - finishing the 2005/6 season in 3rd place. Although two games were lost, the Stampede finished the season with a
win. If anything, it is a great way to start the next season - as a winning season.
As we slow down a bit for the summer we are still on the look-out for fundraising opportunities, volunteers, and practice locations (gyms) to make the 2006/7 season as successful as possible. Although some of us will be sporting tans, the Stampede squad will look very familiar and will make another run at the Mikkelson Cup - but one face will be absent. Number 6 on your program and number 1 in our hearts, Geremy Tinker has played with the Stampede for many years, becoming a pillar of the team. Much of our success can be attributed to the legendary Kiwi rugger. Geremy will be missed here and will continue playing on the New Zealand National team on it's way to the 2008 Paralympic Summer Games in Beijing.
Again, please check back regularly for new things on the site!
- Webmaster Mike
March 1st, 2006
The first few steps have been taken to releasing our new website! Webmaster Mike would first like to thank everyone
for their patience. The home page is nearly complete, minus flash, and unfortunately only a couple links are active. The site
was designed for multiplatform use; for resolutions 800 x 600 or higher; for use with Mozilla Firefox (recommended), Internet
Explorer, and Safari; and frames and javascript support must be enabled for implementation of ajax controls.
The Texas Stampede is proud to be hosting the 2006 USQRA National Championships at home in Austin, Texas on April 6th thru April 9th. The games will be held at the Student Activities Center on the University of Texas campus. Donations, volunteers and sponsorships are still needed to help us host an outstanding event. Please see our 2006 Nationals page for more information.
Please check back regularly to see all the content become live on our new site!
- Webmaster Mike