Increased Numbers Prime Warsaw’s Girls Rugby Season
Increased Numbers Prime Warsaw’s Girls Rugby Season
Posted
Alaister McFarren-
Increased Numbers Prime Warsaw’s Girls Rugby SeasonAs the 2019 fall sports seasons run thier course, high school athletes around the nation are getting geared up and ready to go.
Football players are donning their pads, soccer players are breaking out their cleats and volleyball players are practicing their serves.
At Warsaw Community High School, one of the school’s most successful – yet often overlooked – teams is prepping for the upcoming year. The Warsaw girls rugby team has one of the finest track records in the state, boasting three state championships (2005, 2016, 2019) and two state runner-up finishes (2013, 2014) since the program’s formation in 2003. Several Warsaw alumni have gone on to play on scholarship at the college level as well.
Hopes are high for this season’s squad, which had over 30 girls at practice on recently. Since the team has appeared in a state championship with as few as 15 girls – the minimum number of players required on the field – having so many girls on the team bodes well for the year.
When asked about has made the program so successful, coach Trevor Cracknell credits the fact that rugby is one of the few contact sports available to young women.
Senior Gladys Bautista agrees with Cracknell’s assessment, adding that Rugby is sport available to individuals of all sizes.
“It’s harder for a 4’ 11” girl to play basketball or other sports where size is a huge advantage; in rugby, everyone has the chance to get involved,” said Bautista, who has played since the eighth grade.
“In rugby, everyone gets to pass, everyone gets to tackle and everyone gets to run, so you don’t get pushed into one role based on your size and strength level,” Cracknell said.
This season, the great number of girls on the team brings athletes of all levels of strength and quickness into the fold, which Cracknell views as a plus.
“In the past, we’ve had a much smaller teams in terms of height,” said Cracknell, who has been with the team since 2003, “so we were very reliant on quickness and execution. This year we’ve got some very strong girls, which gives us much greater flexibility in what we’re able to do.”
In addition to being one of the few available contact sports of young women, one of the team’s greatest draws is the sense of camaraderie and fellowship the team evokes.
Junior Anais Melendez, a captain on the team, says that the trust between the players is a huge factor.
“This team is like a family,” Melendez stated. “The girls all help out each other, even with off-the-field issues.”
Bautista praised this year’s captains, saying that they were “encouraging, helpful and always ready to help out their teammates.”
Both Bautista and Melendez were spoke highly of Cracknell’s coaching.
“He always talks us through things we don’t understand and makes sure that everyone gets plenty of time to play and learn,” said Bautista.
Melendez echoed the sentiment. “He makes sure that everything we do is fun,” she said.
According to Cracknell, a practice isn’t a good one if there is not at least one burst of uncontrollable laughter from the team.
“If they’re not having fun, they won’t want to continue playing,” said the coach. “If you want to keep being competitive, you have to keep improving, keep developing and keep it fun.”
Rugby’s competitive season comes during the spring, so the team aims to use the fall season to hone the new players and turn the team into a cohesive unit.
“We’re a young team – our average age is 15-1/2, with eight to ten first-year players, so we’re looking forward to using this fall season to hone quite a few things,” said Cracknell. “There’s quite a large learning curve in rugby, so we have to teach the basics and polish them before anything else.”
The team plays will travel to Queen University in Charlotte, N.C. Saturday to play and watch several alumni compete. Future dates will be revealed as the fall schedule is finalized.
