Trevor Cracknell grew up playing rubgy in the United Kingdom. Since coming to the United States in 1997, Cracknell has coached a number of rugby teams, including the women's squad at Purdue University. Bottom line, Cracknell knows a good rugby player when he sees one. And Warsaw Community High School senior Brooke Netherland, well, Cracknell says she's one of the best he's ever coached. "She's probably one of the best players I've ever coached," said Cracknell, who started the Warsaw Rugby Club nearly a decade ago. "I coached the Purdue women's team and coached very good players there, Brooke is every bit as good as them." How good is the 18-year-old Netherland? Last weekend she was in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., playing for the U19 Midwest team select side in the regional national championships. Netherland, was one of only five high school students selected to the team - the rest were college players. And Netherland wasn't just on the team, she scored the winning try for the Midwest squad in the championship game. "It was awesome," Netherland said of scoring the winning try. "I didn't expected it to the be the winning try, I thought somebody would score again. But it put us ahead, and we went on to win. It was pretty exciting. There was a lot of very good players there." And a lot of Division I coaches. Playing in the regional national championships is a way to get noticed by potential college suitors. Netherland said she may attend Indiana University to play rugby and study medicine, but was contacted by the coaching staff at Penn State University. Penn State is to women's rugby what North Carolina and Duke are to men's basketball. "It's the best program in the country," said Netherland. "To be noticed by those coaches, that's such an honor." As a freshman at WCHS, Netherland was named All-State and played on the U17 and U19 Indiana select side at the Midwest Championships. As a sophomore, she played on the U19 Midwest team in the regional national championships. And as a junior, she played on the U19 Indiana select side at the Midwest championships. Cracknell said Netherland has been Warsaw's leading scorer throughout her career. Cracknell said what makes her so good is "she's very powerful, she's very aggressive, she has great ball-handling, and she's very aware of the game around her."
