Santos & Anasazi Active on Two Fronts

August 26, 2023

Support for Collegiate Rugby / Prep for Fiesta 10s

Last Saturday the SFRFC demonstrated our reach by cooking and playing ball in different regions of the state, on the same day. While a dedicated cadre of Santo chefs arose alongside the beautiful Pecos River before dawn to stoke the fire required to cook 17 pork butts in preparation for next week’s Fiesta Tens tournament, seven magnificent Santos and their coach were carpooling I-25 to stir the coals of a longstanding talent pipeline with a preseason scrimmage session with New Mexico Tech’s team.

As reported by SantoNews eyewitnessTanner Graham, he and team captain Ryan Weir, head coach Richard Morris, and players Leonidas Wilson, Elijah Naranjo, Tadeo Herrera, Willie Uhrle, and Dane Robergs made the early morning trip to Socorro in response to a request from Tech’s interim coaches for help preparing for their 2023-24 campaign. In keeping with a longstanding SFRFC tradition Tanner, Elijah, Tadeo, Willie, and Dane are all New Mexico Tech graduates. According to Tanner, the boys acquired a loaner from NMT and warmed up with some ball handling and light tackling before launching into an 8 (SF) v 9 (NMT) live session.

According to Mr. Graham, “the intensity was high throughout the session. We all were soaked in sweat at the end. Tech had some missing/injured guys so they only had 10 players in total. Tech grad student Freddy Puriza ran the session and refereed the scrimmage” and fellow Namibian Milaan Van Wyk, who played for Santa Fe in last year’s Southwest RFU championships was also in attendance.

In the rugby way, “burgers/dogs and ‘other refreshments’ followed afterwards at the grill near Torres Hall. They (Tech) showed international rugby in a conference room inside on a big projector. It was a good day.”

Meanwhile, in the cool air beneath the spectacular cottonwoods towering over the beautiful riverside glen graciously loaned by Village of Pecos icon Pancho Adelo, Cory Micander & Son, Travis Hudson, and Jared Skillman were standing watch over the huge mobile oven used annually to cook the meat the club freezes for use at our annual tournament as well as home matches throughout the season.

A happy crew of families and couples arrived throughout the early afternoon to pull (shred) and package the mass of pork for frozen storage at Santa Fe’s Municipal Rugby Complex. Ryan and Eldora Means’s three young sons and that rascal Oona explored the river and woods and Anna Villa pitched in on the disassembly line alongside her son Angel and Mrs. Villa. Other perennial Anasazi helpers were there with significant others too, including Jon Zucker, David Jondreau, and Jo Bitsui (with manservant D Wheelock).

Your next chance to join in the family fun comes this Friday, August 2, as The Club prepares the pitches and clubhouse for the 48th (?) running of the Fiesta 10s (formerly 7s). Stay tuned to the various mechanical devices that run your life for updates.