Entering The Scrum: Women's Rugby Makes Varsity Debut Saturday

The relationship between the sport of rugby and Princeton University arguably dates back to 1869 when Princeton and Rutgers met in a mish-mash of rugby and soccer that is now referred to as the first-ever collegiate football game.

This weekend, Princeton will make more history on the rugby field when the Tigers compete against Sacred Heart in Princeton's first-ever varsity women's rugby match.

The elevation to varsity status happened in May of 2021, an announcement that, like most things at that time, happened via Zoom.

"It was a fulfilling moment," said tri-captain Kathryn Alexa-Kennedy of the moment then-Ford Family Director of Athletic Mollie Marcoux Samaan gave word to the student-athletes that the 2022-23 season would be their varsity debut. "It was also honestly a little bit surprising. With all that had happened during Covid and many teammates experiencing personal hardship, many of my past teammates leaned on each other to get through very difficult times. Seeing that their hard work had been validated and recognized, and envisioning the legacy I'd be able to experience because of their diligence and commitment to the team made me feel very grateful."

Now, those alumni who helped lead the drive to varsity elevation will see their efforts live and in living color this Saturday in Fairfield, the following week for the program's home varsity debut at West Windsor Field, and six more times during the team's inaugural NIRA season.

From that moment on Zoom in May of 2021 to their final practice this week before their historic varsity debut, the focus on the team has been on preparing for this moment.

"Our captains, Sydney Hsu '22 and Ange Ndayishimiye '22, fulfilled their duties in echoing to the group the importance and the opportunity of the journey ahead," said head coach Josie Ziluca. "Last season we had a large senior class and many rookies, so we followed their leadership and took the opportunity to advance our rugby knowledge as best we could to be ready for this fall."

Now, that leadership responsibility falls on a new group who carries forward the belief instilled by those who have come before them.

"As a team, we were determined and willing to push ourselves all last season knowing how important it was to our growth as players ahead of this move to varsity competition," said tri-captain Sophia Villacorta. "There has been so much support from the Athletics department and other student-athletes who share in our excitement."

To outsiders, the move from a club sport to varsity may seem daunting or it may seem rife to cause undue pressure on the team. For Kennedy, those thoughts never crept into her mind or the mindset of her teammates as they put together a 2021-22 season that resulted in a third-place finish at Nationals.

"I don't know that the mindset of the team really changed that much with the transition to varsity," she said. "We have always been a group that takes our competition and commitment to the sport seriously and that won't change whether we're playing 20 minutes down the road, or at Nationals. We've worked really hard to maintain a team culture that is inclusive and welcoming of everyone, regardless of athletic experience or background, because everyone who wants to be a part of our community and is willing to devote their time to achieving the same goals that we work towards at every practice is welcomed with open arms on this team. Being a varsity program will not change that."

Still, there has to be some expected emotional adjustment stepping on the field as varsity student-athletes for the first time, right?

"I expect some nervousness on Saturday," said Villacorta. "But overwhelmingly we are all excited and determined to enjoy this experience and play to the best of our capabilities."

Kennedy concurs, saying "I expect emotions to run high, for sure. Any time you play a rugby game, it is an intense experience. You are always reacting to what is happening around you and there isn't much time to process what is going on. I'm sure there will be some moments of shock, but what I like most about our team is that we are an adaptive one. We will be ready for anything that comes our way."

Outside of adaptive, one word that constantly comes up around the rugby team is inclusion. And while inclusion comes in many ways, the most important version for the rugby team on the field over its history has been the one that pertains to welcoming athletes from all levels of experience. The 2022-23 squad is made up largely of veteran players who were brought in through the traditional club sports "recruiting" methods – word of mouth, friend of a friend, sign-ups at the Club Sports Fair on campus. Only three first-year students are part of the official first recruiting class, the other 21 spent at least one season with the club program and most of that group had little to no rugby experience before joining up.

Now, they are Princeton varsity student-athletes.

"I was very new to the team when we learned we were moving to varsity," said tri-captain Leilani Bender. "I had maybe been to one practice. You could see the excitement in the upperclass players who worked so hard to make this happen. That feeling was contagious and carried through last season. All of us rookies threw ourselves into learning the sport as fast as we could. There's a clear commitment from everyone to savor this opportunity to be a part of the first varsity season and set the tone for the future of the program."

For an athletic department with such a long-standing and historic track record, there aren't many "firsts" left to have or precedents left to set. The members of the 2022-23 Princeton Women's Rugby team relish the chance to leave a lasting legacy.

"The group has been open to the challenges we've put in front of them, and they've propelled themselves forward through their own dedication," Ziluca said. "I can say that morale is high and the group is feeling electric. The first week of preseason, we jumped right in, immersing ourselves in the details of the game and hardening our bodies for the battles ahead."

What's truly ahead is the chance to set the tone for a brand-new era of Princeton Rugby.

"Everything we do sets a precedent," said Kennedy. "The nuances, the terminology, the morals and values will all come from this group. We have such an inclusive and supportive culture engrained from the years of tradition as a club program, and the foundations of a healthy and welcoming mindset hopefully do not change with the addition of a varsity label. It is up to us a group to reinforce all of these values and culture to make sure they are prioritized from class to class as this program grows."

Flash forward to the middle of the afternoon on November 6. The Tigers are just completing the final game of their first varsity season… what do the players envision as a successful season?

"Our first season is an accomplishment by itself," said Bender. "Our expectations are to grow as players and as people while having fun and playing rugby with our favorite people."

Kennedy echoes those sentiments.

"Our individual goals are to put 100% into everything we do, to put the team and teammates first, to be supportive of each other and to have fun. That's what matters most to us, if we leave this season feeling like we accomplished those goals, we will have accomplished what we set out to achieve."

For the first-ever varsity coach of rugby, the anticipation and excitement are palpable ahead of the team's debut.

"The primary goal I have for this team is for them to play to their potential and power," said Ziluca. "We're only at the beginning of seeing what this group is capable of, and I cannot wait to see what they do with this platform."

It's a platform the entire Princeton Athletics community is proud to see unveiled this weekend.

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