The Future of Women's Rugby: an Interview

WGR has had a long-running series of interviews with coaches over the years.  This fall's installment is with the head coach of the top ranked women's collegiate program in Division II.  Winona State Professor Roger Riley took a few moments out of his busy teaching day to answer some questions about rugby and women's rugby in America in particular.

1.When did you become involved in coaching women’s rugby?

     I had been coaching men’s teams for a number of years but when I moved to Ithaca College in upstate New York, I was not coaching any team. The women’s rugby club president approached me after the word got out that I was a rugby enthusiast. As a  department chairperson at Ithaca, I was a little hesitant because of the time required by coaching. My first questions was, “how many days per week do you practice” and the answer was “five.” I was impressed that these women were organizing themselves to practice five days per week so I thought I had better get on-board. I started coaching three days per week but felt guilty when they were practicing five. Therefore, I started going every day. It turned out to be a very positive experience and I have enjoyed coaching women’s college teams ever since.

2.How has women’s collegiate rugby changed over the years?

     Women’s collegiate rugby has changed vastly in the last few years. It has evolved from being a social sport to a very serious sporting enterprise at a number of universities. Women’s rugby is seen as one way to address the imbalance between men’s and women’s sports on campus with the 800 pound gorilla being the huge numbers on men’s football teams. There are currently six universities that have women’s rugby as an NCAA varsity sport and many more are heading in that direction. Just a couple of months ago, Harvard announced varsity status for their women’s rugby team and many people expect the rest of the Ivy League to follow suit. These events coupled with the USA Rugby, NCAA Initiative are heading women’s rugby into the mainstream of varsity sports. Right now, women’s rugby is considered an NCAA Emerging Sport and will get full NCAA status when 40 universities grant their teams varsity status.

     On another front, Rugby Sevens has been accepted as an Olympic sport for men and women, starting with the 2016 games in Brazil. Therefore, the United States Olympic Committee have granted eight traineeships to the top USA women’s seven’s players. They get paid a small stipend and train year round in San Diego. More recently, that number was increased to 12 although the extra players have yet to be chosen. Finally, the USA Women’s National 15s team is seeing exciting changes under a new coaching staff and they have been doing very well. They are on a tour of Italy and France right now.  

3. What direction do you see women’s collegiate rugby headed in America?

     I see women’s collegiate rugby becoming a fully-fledged NCAA sport with opportunities at Division I, II, and III schools. At Winona State University (DII) we expect to be varsity within a few years and I have already had talks with our Athletic Director. My next step is to prepare a budget for the first five years of operation. Penn State (and to some extent Stanford) are the perennial powerhouses in DI women’s rugby but they will be challenged by many developing teams. Just this year, a Division III school won the National Collegiate Championship in Sevens, beating many DI schools. That team is a varsity sport on their campus and they have a full-time coach.

     The key problem is finding enough coaches for the growing number of women’s collegiate teams. With parental involvement being big at the high school level, there seems to be many coaches and resources at that level.  At the varsity level, many universities are spread to the distant corners of their states and sometimes they are in locations where there is no other rugby and therefore no coaches.

4. What’s the role of 7’s and Olympic rugby in America? 

     Seven’s will put rugby on the map in the USA! With Olympic exposure on television and the national women’s sevens team already being in the top four in the world, the rest of the USA will get to see our beloved game on an international stage. With Sevens being such a high intensity and high octane sport, the American sporting public will quickly fall in love. My one concern is that a focus on Sevens alone will divert needed resources away from the fifteens game.

5. Do you have a “favorite” rugby player and why?

     Never having been a flanker when I played, I have always loved the kamikaze style, intelligence and athleticism of top flankers. Therefore I have always admired Richie McCaw, the captain of New Zealand, my native country. His pursuit angles are terrific, his tackling is very positive rather than destructive and his poaching of the ball is second to none. He is an absolute pest to other teams when trying to run their respective offenses. Most of all, he is a great leader and one that leads by example rather than words.

     As for women players, I really enjoy the play of Amanda Kingsett and Lynelle Kugler, a flanker and center respectively for the Twin City Amazons. They are strong, intelligent and irrepressible on the field. On my own team our flyhalf senior, Ashley Nelson, has so many skills and determination. She succeeds on the field and also academically. As a professor, that makes me very happy.

6.  Any other thoughts or comments on rugby matters you’d like to share?

     It is thrilling to see the high school girls game develop so rapidly around the country. Just recently I was at the Wisconsin Girls High School Championships to recruit players.  I was with a coach from another university and we turned to each other and remarked that the top teams would beat many collegiate teams right now. The level of individual skill and the precise nature of game plans were marvelous to see.  The same thing is happening in Minnesota although Illinois is coming along more slowly. In Iowa they have just started developing a league in Des Moines.