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Women’s Club Rugby: often unnoticed by Fairfield students, is deserving of the attention and praise of more fans.
An undefeated record and a team cohesiveness that all sports strive for, the Lady Ruggers are a powerhouse in the club sporting arena.
To cap off their regular season, the Women’s Rugby team defeated Columbia this past weekend to maintain their perfect record, showing the Fairfield community that this group of women is a force to be reckoned with.
The Women’s Rugby program has flourished into a popular club sport here at Fairfield, under the guidance of president Eileen Delaney ’11 and captains Emily Barrett ’12 and Alice Guglielmoni ’12.
The returning players made an intense recruiting effort for new players. They advertised the rugby program at almost all the campus club and activities events and relied on networking by the upperclassmen. Their efforts certainly have paid off, as the team now has approximately 25 members.
Freshman Morgan Carey said she was told by an upperclassman that joining rugby was the best decision she ever made at college. As a freshman looking to get involved on campus, Morgan joined and now says that she feels the same way about the program.
The forward captain for the team, Emily Barrett said, “Rugby is a culture. We have a good time. The team has a great bond; we’re together the majority of the time, on and off the field. As we always say: Good attitude, good time. Bad attitude, bad time.”
The Lady Ruggers of Fairfield use this team cohesiveness on the field not only during their games, but during their practices as well. You can find the Women’s Rugby team practicing on the field just below the Fairfield Prep student parking lots, where team bonding is fused with competitive play to create a team that can boast about its perfect season thus far.
When asked about the level of competitiveness in this sport, Delaney says, “We are 100% competitive. We work really hard all week and have a great time doing it.” The intensity that these athletes show during practice has helped them secure their undefeated record when it comes time for game day each weekend.
As mentioned earlier, despite the perfect record that this team can proudly flaunt, attendance at rugby games is still slim. Delaney says, “It’s growing. We have a lot of parents come out but we’re trying to get more students involved. For the big games we generally get a decent crowd.”
Although rugby does have many loyal supporters, for the success that this team has amounted this season, attendance could be expected to be greater.
One loyal fan, Samantha Ceglia ’11 says, “Going to the rugby games is great. A lot of my friends are on the team and you can see how hard they work. It’s such a competitive sport and right now they are undefeated, which is just so impressive.”
As the rugby regular season comes to a close, Delaney has high hopes for championship season play. With an undefeated record
Come support the Lady Ruggers at their championship game this Saturday at 1 p.m. vs. Sacred Heart.
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