Women’s rugby starts recruiting

Starting Daylight Saving Time means spring is right around the corner and spring sports are out in full force, with the women’s club rugby team on the bandwagon getting ready for the spring 2015 season.

First-year club member Katelyn Conlon said that the team has been in the gym doing their best to prepare for the season. “In order to get ready for this season, we have been meeting at the gym for practices. We run laps together with different workouts in between, and then we throw the ball around.”

The transition from the fall season to the spring season is tedious and with the numbers getting lower it makes it more difficult, according to Conlon, “Moving from the fall season has been a somewhat difficult transition. A few of our seasoned vets are studying abroad this semester so people have been doing their best to step up and help keep the team motivated in their absence.”

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Junior on the team, Lauren Futtner added, “We are adjusting to lower numbers this season due to a large portion of our team studying abroad this semester. This season we are focusing on adjusting to a newer style of play (Sevens) and recruiting new members to the club.”

The Sevens style of play that the Owls are adjusting to keeps the game going quicker and involves a lot less players. Usually in a rugby match they would run 15s, which means 15 players per side.

With the amount of players gone this semester, the best option for the Owls would be to run with Sevens.

Futtner said that she is most excited to see how the team plays with the new style.

“Since our numbers are lower this semester, we are going to more Sevens tournaments rather than games of Fifteens. Sevens is a faster game and I’m really excited to see what it is like and how it improves my game.”

In the fall 2014 season the team went two and two for the semester, beating Wesleyan University twice out of their two matches. The two losses came from Franklin Pierce University. With the new semester comes new faces to the team and returners are welcoming the new players with open arms.

With the amount of players that are studying abroad this semester, the team is starting the rebuilding process with recruitment.

Senior Stephanie Durvin said she is excited about the new players coming on to the team.

She continued, “We are open to every woman who is interested and we as a team are always ecstatic for new players to join, no matter who they are. The stereotype that women’s rugby is for butch women or only for lesbians needs to end and it’s going to start this spring.”

She continued “Many people have this assumption that in order to play rugby you have to be a certain kind of girl and I believe that is what keeps many women from playing . . . The class of 2016 accounts for around two thirds of our team. We need to gather more players now before we don’t have enough to field a team.”Conlon added, “One of the greatest things about rugby is that there really is a position for every type of person out on the pitch. It’s just a matter of finding the one that best fits you.”

Futtner said she  wants to get the name of the women’s rugby club across campus and is encouraging anyone that wants to give it a shot to go for it.

“Please consider joining our club! There is no experience necessary to play and it’s a great way to  learn a new sport as well as meet more people on campus,” she said.

Connor Smith can be conatcted at csmith@kscequinox.com