The Ohio State women’s club rugby team’s motto is “whatever it takes,” and in the six years of its existence has shown a desire and willingness to do just that.
Going from a new program to being ranked in the top 10 in the country in six years illustrates talent and hard work.
Rugby is the only contact sport in the United States where both men and women play with the same rules.
“We have a men’s rugby program that has been around for a while and has a tradition of excellence,” head coach Steve Weaver said. “So there was pressure on the women’s program right from the beginning to match the men’s success.”
“We take it for granted now that we belong there, but it took some tough losses and some hard work, out of season, in the gym and on the track in order to get there,” Weaver said.
The Buckeyes went 21-2 this past year, and finished the spring season ranked sixth in the nation. The team finished ninth last season, and won the Division I Midwest Champions.
During the fall season, the Lady Ruggers went 10-1, including victories over nationally ranked Illinois, Eastern Illinois, Vassar, and Army. The team defeated Northern Iowa in the semifinals of the Midwest Tournament, and beat Bowling Green in the finals to win the first championship in school history.
The only loss of the season came in the final game against Penn State.
“The Penn State game has become a tradition for us,” junior flyhalf Annie DeSantis said. “Playing each other on the same day as the Ohio State-Penn State football game has added more to an already heated rivalry.”
The team went 11-1 in the spring season, with key victories over Dayton, the reigning Division II Midwest champions, and Bowling Green. The team also won the Detroit Tournament and the Teapot Dome, their last tournament of the spring.
The biggest tournament of the spring was the 16-team national tournament held on April 16-17. The team defeated Vassar 25-17 on the first day to advance to the final eight, but found a familiar foe waiting for them in Penn State. The Buckeyes lost the game 29-13 and were eliminated from the tournament. The Stanford women went on to win the championship.
The team is sending five players to the Midwest collegiate women’s under-23 all-star team tryouts next weekend in Champaign, Ill. The 50 best players in the region are invited to tryout, 25 make the team and play against all-star teams from six other regions, DeSantis said.
This year’s group includes DeSantis, junior scrumhalf Tina Schafer, sophomore 8 man/center Sarah Wilson, freshman flanker Jojo Hoffman, and junior wing/center Sarah Hancock. They are the largest number of players that have been invited from Ohio State to date.
“We have managed to recruit some remarkable athletes and great leaders in the team’s brief history,” Weaver said. “These girls are amazing, they want to work hard, they want to build this program, and they want to do ‘whatever it takes’ to win our first national championship.”
Weaver got his start in rugby as a player for George Washington in college, and then for the Potomac Athletic Club men’s team in Washington, D.C. He helped start the women’s rugby program at George Washington before returning home to Columbus to join the new OSU women’s program in 1999. A year later he became the head coach, and in the five years since, the program has become one the nation’s premier Division I schools.
“Right now, we are finding it’s tougher to go from eighth in the nation to the No. 1 spot than it was to go from the start of the club to No. 8,” Weaver said.
One reason they are finding it hard to get to No. 1 is the increased popularity and growth of rugby in recent years. Weaver said rugby is the second-most popular sport around the world, behind soccer. Although it has been slow to catch on in the united States, it is the fastest growing sport for women on both the high school and college level.
There are currently 335 combined varsity and club women’s college teams across the country.
“We are right at the start of major growth for the sport,” Weaver said. “The number of players has doubled over the past four years and I think rugby is set to explode onto the scene in this country.”
