Andrew King, Tournament Director, summed up the season beginning action when he said "This is by far the most competitive this tournament has been since I have been paying attention.'
On the Women's side, there were four teams vying for placement in a bracket that is built upon two tournaments. The first was June 23rd, with the latter on July 14th. Only three of the four teams would qualify after this tournament. The scores were fairly definitive, with a couple exceptions. Berkeley All Blues fielded 2 teams, All Blues and All Blues B. Both were in the first two games, with both games tallying the same score; 41-0. However, it was Life West beating All Blues B, with All Blues blanking San Jose. San Jose played a back to back, this time against All Blue B, and was able to put points on the board but again lost, 26-10. In a foreshadowing of the final (spoiler alert) Life West won the narrowest of contests 22-20 over All Blues, and then went on to stretch their legs with the widest of victories over San Jose 47-10. All Blues were pitted against their B side and came out victorious 29-10. The final showed another close game, with Life West squeaking by, yet again, over All Blues 17-14.
The women's standings after 23 June:
1. Life West
2. All Blues
3. All Blues B (Non-Qualifying)
4. San Jose
The men fielded seven teams with six hoping to qualify for the championship on 29 July. There will be two round robin tournaments over two weekends. The top four teams will move on to the Semifinals, and then the Finals. There will be a consolation match on 14 July after the last 2 round robin games. The scores reflected the weekend's atmosphere, where any of the teams could walk away with the win, and most games were very close. Santa Rosa beat up on San Francisco Golden Gate (SFGG) 26-7. Olympic Club won against Old Gaels 12-5. San Jose lost to Life West 24-12, who then handed Sacramento its only loss on the day 22-19. San Jose continued to have a hard time finding a win against SFGG, losing a close race 22-17. Old Gaels over Santa Rosa 14-12. Olympic Club bested Life West 19-14 while SFGG fell to Sacramento 26-22. San Jose continued its losing streak against Old Gaels 22-12 while Life West lost a close game against Santa Rosa 26-24. Sacramento beat Old Gaels 24-14, and SFGG continued to fall, losing to Olympic Club 19-17. Sacramento again scored 24 points in a victory over Santa Rosa 24-12. Olympic Club remained undefeated against the winless San Jose 31-7 in the last game of the tournament.
The Men's Standings after 23 June:
1. Olympic Club 4-0
2. Sacramento 3-1
3 Santa Rosa 2-2
3. Life West 2-2
3. Olde Gaels 2-2
6. SFGG 1-3
7. San Jose 0-4
