A new opportunity for female athletes
Women’s Club Rugby provides new opportunity for female athletes
Lauren Ceballos / Feature Editor / The USD Vista
USD Women’s Club Rugby will officially be established as a USD club sport this spring. Lauren Handy and Delaney Arkell, co-presidents and founders, envisioned the club for women, specifically after seeing the men’s club and wanting to partake in their love for the sport as well. The club is run by the co-presidents with the help of Alex Fant, finance manager, and Sofia Morales, risk manager.
USD sophomore and co-president of the club Lauren Handy shared how the new team has cultivated a sense of community within the group.
“We have created a family of women who appreciate the sport and each other,” Hardy said. “The club also accomplished their goal of providing a new athletic opportunity for the women of USD.
The club establishment process involved two separate approvals. The executive board went through ASG Torero Orgs and Campus Recreation, where they had to submit an application with their constitution, stating the goals of their club which then was presented to ASG. Campus Recreation helped with the next steps. The club had to recruit at least 10 players, create an executive board, establish a budget and set dues, as well as continue the process of finding a coach. These processes were fulfilled last semester so that women’s rugby could branch off as their own club.
The women’s team originally made its debut as part of the men’s club. During that time, Handy and Arkell worked to establish a club of their own. The teams partnered together to help build a community around the sport.
Arkell explained how the support from men’s club rugby helped them to officially get the women’s club up and running.
“[The men’s team has] been incredibly supportive of the women’s team as we’ve been getting started,” Arkell stated. “Rugby is a game that is traditionally dominated by men, so they recognize the importance of encouragement and support for women’s rugby.”
According to Historic UK, “The roots to the modern game of rugby can be traced to a school for ‘young gentlemen’ in the Midlands of England.” The sport soon expanded to universities such as Oxford and Cambridge, but solely for men.
As rugby grew in popularity, more men began to play, and women’s curiosity and love for the sport surfaced as well. The women who wanted to play had no choice but to play rugby in secret, due to societal pressure surrounding public issues. One of the first charity matches for women was not documented until the early 1900s, according to Champion’s Rugby. Women were encouraged to be submissive, whereas rugby idealizes both strength and assertiveness for men and women.
In the athletic realm, men who play sports receive more publicity and a greater salary than women. UNESCO states, “Outside the period of major sporting festivals, statistics claim that 40% of all sports participants are women, yet women’s sports receive only around 4% of all sports media coverage.” Aside from events such as the Olympics, women do not receive as much athletic recognition as men. Despite female athletes dedication and training, male athletes are made more prominent in the public eye.
An article from The Women’s Sports Foundation shared that high school boys have 1.3 million more sporting opportunities than girls. While the statement is not referencing college students, expanding the availability of athletic opportunities for women in college can encourage high schools to do the same.
Title IX, which helps to protect sex based discrimination in school, states, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” This applies to USD and other colleges and universities, binding the school’s to this law as a result of receiving federal funds. Handy and Arkell took the initiative to further apply Title IX at USD with women’s club rugby.
The executive board of the USD women’s rugby club team agreed that women are often not given as many athletic chances as men, but that this club provides the opportunity for fellow Torero women.
“I think generally, women are often denied the opportunity to play more physically aggressive sports… [Rugby, however] encourages you to be tough, strong, physically aggressive and gritty, which I find is not always encouraged in female athletics,” Arkell expressed.
USD’s women’s rugby club hopes to become a source of strength, competition and community for women at the collegiate level, through their scrimmages this spring before they officially join a league to play teams in fall 2023. The scrimmages this spring will be played against other, local club teams. This will help the USD women’s team to become gameday ready, practicing with “full-speed contact” prior to joining a league.
While some view sports as solely competitive, whether in terms of player-against-player to get the best stats, or team vs. team during a game, or girls vs. boys, there is a bigger purpose, as shared by USD women’s rugby executive board.
The comradery is not exclusive among the women of USD Rugby. Instead, it is shared with men’s club rugby too. The co-ed rugby club team saw the same love of the sport in its female athletes and wanted to help them have an outlet for it. Handy explained that the women’s club could not have been where they are without the help of the men’s team as well.
“I would like to shout out to the entire men’s team and coaching staff for helping us on our journey, we could not have done it without them.” Handy emphasized. “We hope to see [USD students] at some of their games this semester and some of our games, in Fall 2023.”
The club has equipped their players to embrace their strengths while joining the university’s already existing community of rugby players.