On August 18th, Pete Steinberg and current players Alyssa Boff, Sadie Anderson and Deven Owsiany met the Tailback Club at their weekly breakfast. The Tailback Club meets every week and gets a chance to learn about a different sport at Penn State. Below are the minutes from the meeting.
Tailback Club Member:
Well! We just concluded another very successful Tailback Club Season this morning with an excellent presentation from our Women’s Rugby National Championship Coach and three team members. WOW! I don’t believe I have ever listened to a more dedicated group of athletes in all my years in sports.
Pete Steinberg, PSU Head Coach,Womens Rugby team along with Deven Owsiany, Sadie Anderson and Alyssa Boff, presented us with informtion regarding our Women’s Rugby Team.
Women’s Rugby began in 1979 as a club sport. During 1991 women’s rugby became an undergraduate team. Charlie Smith was their coach at the time and Pete Steinberg replaced Charlie in the Fall of 1995. The women have won 6 National Championships with the most recent being in 2010 which made two in a row. All of the National Championships have been held at Stanford. Stanford’s program is over 100 years old.
We have had a national caliber program for quite some time. Penn State Athletics embraced Rugby and it is now one of two team sports at Penn State. Health Insurance, Trainers, weight room training and administrative support has increased since Rugby became a Team Sport. Rugby is one of the growing High School Sports Programs. Presently there are over 10,00 High School women participating in the sport of rugby. This of course helps with recruiting. We will have 16 freshmen on this years team. Penn State is the place for women rugby players to come to school. The women rugby players are not required to do anything. It becomes the players choice to participate in practice and train. Of course, if they want to play regularly, they soon realize that in order to play, they need to choose to practice and train. They learn to manage their time and make choices very quickly. The team has academic support available, similiar to other varsity sports. There are 60 players and a no cut policy for the team. Some players have never played rugby prior to coming to Penn State. These young women develop a bond of committment which helps them develop a positive team attitude. During the winter they are permitted to practice in Holuba Hall at either 10 p.m. to midnight or 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. We usually have 50 plus at all of our practices. There is no accountability, but most of the young ladies are always there.
Deven Owsiany:
Senior
played soccer all of her career, until arriving at Penn State, where she took up Rugby
Spring break she traveled to France and participated in 5 games
stress is placed on getting to know your teammates; everyone cares for each other and supports each other
The spring break trip is completely funded by the players. They hope to travel to Italy this spring. They travel for spring break in order to help prepare for the tournament season and get coverage on TV and in newspapers. In the south of France Rugby is bigger than soccer. Deven has been invited to try out for the USA 7, which will participate in the 2016 Olympics.
Sadie Anderson:
from Colorado
participated in the under 20 National Team on three tours
Captain
chose to come to Penn State to be surrounded by the best players and coaches
am playing for my teammates
three players from Colorado on the team, as well as one from Washington, Indiana and Guam.
gained so much more than wins, the team is bigger than anything
Alyssa Boff
players have varying skill levels
younger player are teaching seniors
we have established a tremendous bond
we come to practice for each other and to support each other
during the final four, those of us who did not get to travel watch the games together
we camp out waiting for the team to come home after the tournament
we are part of the team
25 players travel, and there are 60 on the team
I am the President of the Club
we select our captains and selectors who in turn pick who is going to play in the games
I am responsible for welcoming our recruits
our treasurer is responsible for collecting the dues from the players
my role has taught me responsibility and leadership skills
we have a huge alumni base
This Saturday, beginning at about 12:30 p.m. we will play a game at our field on the West Side of Atherton Street and have a barbecue after the match. Please feel free to come and view our match.
our alumni feel very much connected to our team, it is “family”.
We should have about 150 men’s and women’s alumni returning this weekend. Our operating budget is between $40,000 and $50,000 per year. The University provides $7,500 of that operating expense. We raise money cleaning the stadium after home football games and the women pay $155 dues each semester. The players are responsible for volunteering to help raise funds to support our program.
Questions:
1. Is there weight training for our women like we have for other sports? Formally, we do not have that type of program. We have position for every size women, short, strong, tall, thin and fast.
2. Do you have men practice players? We do occasionally have some of our men’s team players join us for practice.
3. Are the rules for men’s and women’s rugby different? The rules are the same for both. Rugby is the only sport where women tackle each other.
4. Are there any special tricks for recruiting? Generally, our women are our best asset when it comes to recruiting. The support from the University also helps with recruiting. There are 5 schools which have varsity rugby. None of them are very good. The academic programs at Penn State also help us with recruiting.
5. How are the schedules determined? We have recently changed leagues. We are now part of the Eastern Pennsylvania League with Princeton, Delaware and West Chester in the fall. During the regionals it is the Mid Atlantic with Navy, VA, etc. then the group of 16 and then the elite 8 followed by the final four, usually at Stanford. The crowd at Stanford is between 4,000 to 5,000 depending on how good Stanford Program is for that year.
6. In order for the NCAA to recognize Rugby as a Varsity Sport we will need to expand to 40 Varsity Programs.
7. Where do you play your matches? We play on the West side of Atherton on West Campus. We also have our Rugby Field next to the old flower gardens available for play.
8. How do we find out when and where you play? Please go to rugby.psu.edu for more information regarding our Rugby Programs. You will find all the information which you need to keep informed!
We will be playing Indiana, Michigan, Princeton and Delaware this fall.
Please check out rugby.psu.edu website!
If you would like to attend the alumni match, the Women’s Rugby Team and Alumni will be playing on Saturday, August 21, about 12:30 on the West Campus Field. Get excited, come and support the Rugby Program.
Respectfully submitted,
George Weigand
PS: See each of you the first Wednesday of December! December 1, 2010 at 8:15 a.m. We will inform you of our speaker as we get closer to the date!
