.png&width=24&type=webp)
Photo by: Beverly Schaefer
Josie Ziluca Named Women's Rugby Head Coach
December 07, 2021 | General, Women's Rugby
A national search for the first varsity women's rugby coach at Princeton University has ended back at home.
Â
Josie Ziluca, who has led the women's rugby team as its head coach since 2019 on the club level, will remain the head coach as the team begins to compete on the varsity level in 2022-23, Ford Family Director of Athletics John Mack '00 has announced.
Â
"We conducted a very thorough and inclusive search as we looked for the right person to lead our women's rugby team into this new era," said Mack. "Josie was so impressive from the start, with the way she has done so much for the women's rugby players during the difficult last year, her vision for the future of the program and her obvious love and passion for the sport and our student-athletes. We are thrilled to have her be the first women's rugby varsity coach and look forward to having her guide our newest team."
Â
Princeton will become the fourth Ivy League school to have varsity women's rugby, along with Brown, Dartmouth and Harvard. The women's rugby team, who will compete in the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association, will become Princeton's 38th varsity team and 19th team for women.
"I am really excited for this next chapter for our women's rugby program," Ziluca says. "With the success we have had in the past and with the support of our strong alumni group, we have a bright future in front of us. It will take a lot of hard work, but the whole group is excited about it. Going through the search process with Princeton, it was great to meet other coaches in athletics and of course with John Mack. I'm definitely looking forward to working with him and with all of the coaches. This is such a great group to be a part of, and I'm so happy that they've accepted me into the team."
Â
Ziluca started her college athletics career at Longwood as a lacrosse and tennis student-athlete, but she found her real athletic love as a member of the club rugby team. In the 10 years since, she has gained considerable coaching experience on the college, professional and national team levels, and she has also established herself as a player, coach and advocate for women in sports.
Â
As the Princeton coach, she has helped her team navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping the Tigers connected through remote team activities and training. She also spent that time with the Philadelphia Women's Rugby Football Club as an assistant coach.
After a year of playing club rugby at Longwood, she went on to play at the Northern Virginia Women's Rugby Club (NOVA) and toured domestically with Atavus All-Stars as well as internationally with Atlantis 7s. She played on the San Diego Surfers teams that won Club 7s Nationals twice and played on the national level with USA 7s in 2014. Currently, she plays on the USA Touch Women's Open Team and the San Diego Galaxy Women's Touch Team.
She also has considerable experience in strength and conditioning, most recently at the American Rugby Pro Training Center in Arkansas, where she spent the summer of 2021 leading the fitness programming for the senior and U-18 women while also coaching a U-18 team. Her focus in strength and conditioning performance work has focused on training athletes in sprinting mechanics, agility, game conditioning and strength, as well as in building team culture.
In addition to her playing and coaching, Ziluca is also the founder of Women In Rugby, a nonprofit organization that aims to use rugby to work with women in all avenues of the game and to advance equity around the world and domestically.
Â
Â
Â
Â
Â
Josie Ziluca, who has led the women's rugby team as its head coach since 2019 on the club level, will remain the head coach as the team begins to compete on the varsity level in 2022-23, Ford Family Director of Athletics John Mack '00 has announced.
Â
"We conducted a very thorough and inclusive search as we looked for the right person to lead our women's rugby team into this new era," said Mack. "Josie was so impressive from the start, with the way she has done so much for the women's rugby players during the difficult last year, her vision for the future of the program and her obvious love and passion for the sport and our student-athletes. We are thrilled to have her be the first women's rugby varsity coach and look forward to having her guide our newest team."
Â
Princeton will become the fourth Ivy League school to have varsity women's rugby, along with Brown, Dartmouth and Harvard. The women's rugby team, who will compete in the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association, will become Princeton's 38th varsity team and 19th team for women.
"I am really excited for this next chapter for our women's rugby program," Ziluca says. "With the success we have had in the past and with the support of our strong alumni group, we have a bright future in front of us. It will take a lot of hard work, but the whole group is excited about it. Going through the search process with Princeton, it was great to meet other coaches in athletics and of course with John Mack. I'm definitely looking forward to working with him and with all of the coaches. This is such a great group to be a part of, and I'm so happy that they've accepted me into the team."
Â
Ziluca started her college athletics career at Longwood as a lacrosse and tennis student-athlete, but she found her real athletic love as a member of the club rugby team. In the 10 years since, she has gained considerable coaching experience on the college, professional and national team levels, and she has also established herself as a player, coach and advocate for women in sports.
Â
As the Princeton coach, she has helped her team navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping the Tigers connected through remote team activities and training. She also spent that time with the Philadelphia Women's Rugby Football Club as an assistant coach.
After a year of playing club rugby at Longwood, she went on to play at the Northern Virginia Women's Rugby Club (NOVA) and toured domestically with Atavus All-Stars as well as internationally with Atlantis 7s. She played on the San Diego Surfers teams that won Club 7s Nationals twice and played on the national level with USA 7s in 2014. Currently, she plays on the USA Touch Women's Open Team and the San Diego Galaxy Women's Touch Team.
She also has considerable experience in strength and conditioning, most recently at the American Rugby Pro Training Center in Arkansas, where she spent the summer of 2021 leading the fitness programming for the senior and U-18 women while also coaching a U-18 team. Her focus in strength and conditioning performance work has focused on training athletes in sprinting mechanics, agility, game conditioning and strength, as well as in building team culture.
In addition to her playing and coaching, Ziluca is also the founder of Women In Rugby, a nonprofit organization that aims to use rugby to work with women in all avenues of the game and to advance equity around the world and domestically.
Â
Â
Â
Â
Inside Training Camp: Princeton Football 2025
Thursday, September 04
Trench Talk - Episode 1: Jason Gallucci
Thursday, September 04
Princeton Named USTA Facility Of The Year
Tuesday, September 02
PVC 360
Monday, August 25