Photos courtesy of Meagan Hughes, a member of the WSU women’s rugby team
WSU’s women’s rugby team, for the second year in a row, is competing for the national championship title.
So far this year the team is 10-0, having won the Pacific Coast Rugby Football Union title and the first round (two games) in the national tournament.
The first round, or sweat 16, of the national tournament was played April 17-18. WSU played its games in Sanford, Fla., at the Seminole Soccer Complex, where the lady Cougars beat Stonehill College 68-7, and Winona State University 5-3. For additional information and scores from the first round of the nationals, go to http://www.usarugby.org/default.asp.
The final four of the national tournament is slated for April 30-May 1 at Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif. In the first round will feature WSU vs. Norwich University and Temple vs. University California Santa Cruz. The winners of each will play for the title on May 1.
“The highest praise I can give this team is that the people on it are on it for the right reasons,” said Leah Hammond is the team’s head coach. “There are no scholarships. There are no guarantees. And there are a lot of sacrifices. But at the end of everyone comes together to make it work.”
Hammond is a WSU graduate and played on the team in years past.
The lady Cougs face another challenge, however, off the field — finances. Because women’s rugby is a club sport, the team does not receive support through athletics. They started off the year in debt, which is still the case. However, they helped raise quite a bit of money toward paying that debt off with a variety of fund raising events, including Rent-A-Rugger, car washes, concessions stand duty at Beasley Coliseum for baskeball games, entertainment shows, and family events; sending out donation letters to friends and family. University Recreation recently made a couple of donations after the team won at regionals, to help pay for airfare and hotel reservations.
Hammon estimates that the upcoming trip will cost about $12,000 including airline tickets, hotel accommodations and ground transportation.
“It’s quite feasible to finance the rugby team through the regular season, because our travel is limited and we generally don’t incur any unexpected expenses,” said Hammond. “However, the post-season is another story altogether. We seldom know more than a week or two in advance whether or not we have qualified for playoff tournaments, and therefore are left with very little time to purchase and organize these trips. It is expensive to travel across the country on such short notice.”
For information about the women’s rugby team or to make a donation, click the following link, or contact Hammond at 360-751-3512 or lahamm@hotmail.com.