A few more notes in the WER rugby women’s professional league:
—we omitted WGR and Harvard alumn, Ollie Wright. She’s playing lock and eight for the Boston Banshees. Good luck!
—Hannah Pfersch starts at tighthead prop for the TC Gemini in their 7pm game tonight against TC.
—Games are a streamed live and free. Click here for all the streaming info: https://www.womenseliterugby.us/watch
Female student athletes from WGR continue to achieve great things. This year's M.A. Sorenson award winner nominees for the most outstanding women's collegiate player include two such alumni. While not the first WGR alums to be nominated, both have had remarkable careers, in each her own right.
Aly Cunningham started playing flag rugby in first grade and never stopped. A standout for Catholic Memorial HS as well as a frequent USA under-age rep, she continues to excel at the highest of levels. Her nomination comes on the heels of being nominated as an NCAA 1st Team All American.
WGR's other nominee has taken a more circuitous path towards recognition. Following in the footsteps of an older sister, Alexis Dallas played rugby for the Bruisers. She then pursued playing opportunities at various institutions including Long Island University, Lander University, and now Wheeling Jesuit. The now well-traveled Dallas excelled in high school as a basketball player at Tosa East and as a leader for her Brookfield Bruisers teams.
It's reassuring to see voters recognize student-athletes from NCAA and non-NCAA programs. In an ever-changing landscape of collegiate athletes, where institutions do not always support women's sports or rugby equitably, some student-athletes do not always get the support they should. This calls to mind the treatment of the USA's first NCAA program at Eastern Illinois, a program that no longer exists. See here for the details of this sad tale. NCAA women's rugby has progressed significantly since this story, yet the cautionary tale remains as programs come and go.
The new women's professional rugby league kicks off Sunday. Playing 15's rugby, there are several players with Wisconsin roots, including Hannah Pfersch, the WGR and Hamilton HS alumn.
The league schedule can be found here:
The Chicago Tempest play at Northwestern inside the beautiful, new Martin stadium in Evanston, overlooking Lake Michigan.
USA age-grade level coaches will be in the Chicago area for a talent ID camp. This event is highly recommended for anyone with high-aspirations in women's rugby. A link with registration details is here
LLW is able to announce two spring 2025 Wisconsin Girls Rugby Dates:
The annual James Foley Memorial Tournament takes place Saturday May 3rd, 2025 at Bill Young Stadium in Waukesha. A 10's tournament in the past, organizers are not yet certain if that format will continue or if the event morphs into a 7's series event. Either way, expect matches to begin that morning inside the stadium.
As has occurred the last several years, the Wisconsin State All Star Select Team will hold their annual camp the next day at the same field. The Select Camp takes place Sunday May 4th at Bill Yong Stadium. New and experienced players are encouraged to attend. In some years, the Wisc-All-Stars have take two full 15's sides (V and JV) to their summer tournament. New on the agenda: several WGR alumni of collegiate varsity and high-level club programs are joining the staff as assistant coaches. They should bring some excellent energy and coaching IP to the program. The future of the program is looking bright. Interested players should contact Coach Alexandra Glorioso: aglorioso@catholicmemorial.net with questions.
In concerning news, the WGR 7's series has shrunk to five participating teams over three events, all starting after the Midwest HS Girls 15's Championship in Elkhart at the end of April. The three stops on the WGR 7s Series take place May 10th, May 17th, and May 31st. The final tournament is help in conjunction with the high school boys state tournament at Madison United Rugby in Cottage Grove.
Letters of interest to compete in the high school girls national tournament (aka "single-school" or one-community teams) are still being accepted. Organizers are working with any teams that wish to compete, whether that be in the top tier or the more developmental second-division bracket. Please contact the list of volunteers below if your team is interested in the event held May 17th-18th, 2025 at the Madison United Rugby Complex in Cottage Grove, WI.
Organizers wanted to clarify their willingness to work with teams. The separately managed "club" tournament at the same location has a march 1st due date for applications. This is not the same as the school or one-community pathway for participation.
Nationals (Single School) Volunteers:
Contact: John Klein jklein@sdsm.k12.wi.us
Kraig Smikel ksmikel.ks@hotmail.com
Kelli Vannover kelli.vanover@farmersinsurance.com
MUR Contact: Brad Dufek murugbydirector@gmail.com
2025 is proving to be a momentous year.
It's the year a Wisconsin native, someone who helped start a single school girls rugby team at her high school, became one of the founding professional athletes of the WER Women's Elite Rugby League. As a varsity high school athlete, Hannah Pfersch found much success on and off the field. She progressed to a note-able 4-year NCAA Division One athletic career, graduating with honors from Quinnipiac University. Now, she transitions to professional athlete with the TC Gemini up in Egan, MN. Check out their Grape Bowl Stadium, a 7000 seat stadium connected with the MN Vikings management facility. The Wisconsin connections don't end there, as Hannah's head coach is Sylvia Braaten, who got her start in rugby playing for Marquette University back in 2003-2004. Braaten eventually earned 14 caps as a center, representing the USA in two World Cups. We hope some of the current high school girls get a chance to see on of Pfersch's games in person! Huge congrats to her!
In more great news, Green Bay native Cece Rose committed to play varsity collegiate rugby at Life University outside Atlanta, Georgia. As one of the top women's collegiate programs in the country, it sounds like a great fit for a student-athlete who has played on several top sevens select teams in her short, but vaunted career. Life University is a unique institution of higher education: first built around their chiropractic college, they've expanded in the last ten years to include nursing. One former Wisconsin Rugger, Tom Katzfey, who was in the USA player-pool at one point, attended Life for his pre-med studies. Best of luck to Rose on her next step!
For the last several years DSHA and the Iowa Hawkettes have played a spring 15’s scrimmage. For most of the Iowa girls these games were their first exposure to 15’s rugby.
This spring things are developing in two directions. For Iowa, it’s no longer a select team playing. A scrimmage with existing teams is another step in exposing more girls to the wider format of the game.
In addition it appears Nebraska will also participate in the spring cross-state friendly matches: a great step for growing the game in other parts of the country. Here’s hoping for good weather!
As girls high school rugby continues to expand, bringing new programs into the event is a huge part of what makes the competition unique each season.
This year's news that possible expansion could include an Oregon single-school program represents an important expansion of the tournament, adding another West competitor. Building off Idaho's strong involvement and growth, adding a rep from a long-running league in the Pacific Northwest would rekindle memories of the competition's busiest seasons when teams from Seattle (Kent HS) and Antelope HS and another team from Oregon whose name escapes our archivist at this moment, all participated. While not a sure-thing, including team's from places like Oregon might lend even further momentum to two and three divisions of single school competition. This is also big news as Oregon had pulled back from national tournament competition two decades ago to focus on local growth.
Last year's big story of two Chicago area girls teams participating in school competition was a first. Now Oregon's re-inclusion could mark a watershed moment of participation. Could this be the year the event returns to 16 competing teams?
Coaches are reminded to contact organizers for the Spring 2025 championship events.
Midwest HS Girls Championships: April 26th-27th, 2025 @ Moose Rugby Grounds
Three Divisions, including a JV / B bracket
Contact: Bob Cronquist: mwyouthrugby@gmail.com
National High School Girls Tournament May 17th-18th @Madison United Rugby (Cottage Grove)
Two Divisions
Contact: John Klein jklein@sdsm.k12.wi.us
Kraig Smikel ksmikel.ks@hotmail.com
Kelli Vannover kelli.vanover@farmersinsurance.com
MUR Contact: Brad Dufek murugbydirector@gmail.com
