After a two-year hiatus, women’s rugby is back at White Station. The unique allure of rugby, along with its recent growth in the United States and the Spartan community, drew in many students.
Under the coaching of Dalany Duncan, the women’s rugby team hosted a well-attended interest meeting, drawing students new to rugby and others with previous experience.
“I’ve never really been interested in the other sports at White Station,” Libby Link (11) said. “Nothing about them has really called to me, but the recent uptick in media popularity of women’s rugby around the world has garnered my interest and I figured it was worth it to give it a try.”
Link, among others on the team, is new to rugby. Link has been intrigued by the opportunity to build community and exercise more. However, with adopting a new sport, she will face balancing her responsibilities and learning a new sport, yet she is confident in herself and is ready for the challenge.
“I believe that I’m capable of managing my schedule and if it’s something I’m interested in this much, like rugby, then I think I can make time for it,” Link said. “I definitely believe it will add an extra, I don’t want to say stress, but that’s the best word I can think of, an extra layer of stress because it’s something new, something more intensive like a sport to an already busy schedule, like I believe I have, but I think it’ll be worth it, for sure.”
Enthusiasm for women’s rugby is not just limited to new players like Link. Experienced players such as Savannah White (10) are also eager to play rugby. White played rugby at Ridgeway Middle School and is and is ready to play again.
“Right now [this women’s rugby team is] my only opportunity just because in seventh grade I didn’t get to do it,” White said. “And then I skipped [playing] in eighth grade and ninth grade. So, I feel like this year is going to be worth it.”
White was first interested in playing football, a sport not commonly available for women to play, yet she discovered rugby. Through playing, White grew to love rugby, and the new women’s rugby team will provide her a chance to play once again.
“I liked football and I wanted to play football,” White said. “So, it started off with track and then they saw I was running fast and they made a rugby team over there at Ridgeway Middle School. And I guess, I kind of just fell in love with it. It’s fun. I like taking my anger out on some of them big girls.”
White has cherished her rugby experience and the generosity of the rugby community. Her time playing rugby has provided her with many fond memories.
“It was when I was in the sixth grade playing. I had my coach[es], Coach Sam and Coach Mariah,” White said. “They were like really nice about everything. They helped me get to practices. They would feed the team. … they [weren’t] even doing much and their kindness really help[ed] me out. The community in general is just really nice, and being able to put [that] impact on people is nice.”
White is not the only person who has loved being a part of the women’s rugby community. Head coach Dalany Duncan has loved her time in the rugby community and hopes to give this experience to her new players. She is enthusiastic about her first official coaching job and the opportunity to bring women’s rugby back to the Spartan community.
“I became aware that White Station High School no longer had a girls team, and I was super interested in getting that community restarted for the school,” Duncan said. “And it was super important to me to just give these kids an outlet like I had. Just because rugby was so important to me when I was in high school. And it really helped me fundamentally be the person that I am … So, it’s my first time officially coaching. I did coach a little bit when I was in college, just when the need arose.”
Coach Duncan plans to prepare the team through practicing the basics of rugby for their upcoming season and building relationships with her players. Improving these concepts will help her build a tight-knit and resilient team for the upcoming season.
“We’re going to be putting a lot of energy into fundamentals and just learning the game, and just who everybody is as people and how we all interact with each other,” Duncan said. “ I’m focused really on team building and just the relationship between me and the players and potential players.”
The establishment of a women’s rugby team at White Station is an exciting opportunity and an example of the recent growth of women’s sports on a larger scale. The growing prominence of women’s sports is something exciting for many young women as it affords them more pathways in athletics.
“I think through the new rugby program and just starting up new things at White Station that can really just help,” Link said. “ I think this is a step in the right direction for women’s sports at White Station and maybe just in general because maybe if we pay more attention to our women’s sports, maybe it’ll help change the community or whatever’s going on in the world right now.”
