Girls’ rugby thrives in Colchester

By Paul Lamontagne

The Colchester Sun
Colchester Sun, Thursday, May 31, 2007, pg. 1B and 4B

I’ll bet you didn’t know Colchester High School had a girls’ rugby team. I didn’t either until I attended a Colchester vs. Essex tussle at Fort Ethan Allen last week. The final score eludes me but I’m not really sure that even matters. I have seen literally thousands of high school sporting events of all shapes and sizes and I had never seen anything quite like what I saw last weeek. The physical nature of the game and the way both teams were playing was something to behold. The fun the girls appeared to be having and the passion in which they played while crashing into each other at full speed with no pads on was truly unique. It’s like no other sport on the high school landscape.

Although there is much more to it, you can’t talk about rugby without talking about the physical nature of the sport. It’s a game that mixes soccer and tackle football with a little bit of “roller derby” mixed in. Think Mel Gibson in Braveheart playing for the New England Patriots.

It’s definitely a “no wimps allowed” club. But in an age where they don’t let girls check in ice hockey or lacrosse, it was quite an eye opener to find out that there are no special “girl” rules that limit the contact. It’s full on tackling, smashing, and crashing into each other at full speed with no pads whatsoever. If you’ve attended a high school game before you may have heard the old cliche “Just rub some dirt on it an dget back in there” jokingly yelled when a player goes down. Well in this sport, they really do just rub dirt on it and get back in there. It’s character building at its highest level.

Now before I scare away every Colchester parent from ever letting their little girl play Rugby (sic) let me say that these girls are in great shape, train hard to be ready for the physical contact and the sport historically doesn’t have more injuries than any other sport. And from what I saw, all that is secondary when you see the bonding that goes on during the game.

More so than any sport I have watched, the need for teamwork and for having a teammates back is essential in Rugby (sic). It’s a sea of players all working as one unit to try to get a ball past a line while trying to avoid getting crushed by the opposition. You know those “team building” seminars that companies spend thousands on to get their employees to work together? Forget it.

There is more character building in one season of Colchester Rugby than ten of those seminars. High school is supposed to be a time for laying foundations for the furture and sports are often a big part of that. After seeing just one rugby game, I’m convinced that a season of playing rugby is worth its weight in gold as far as building a foundation for future success in life. I know if I’m ever looking to hire an employee and I see “Colchester Rugby” on the resume, she’s hired on the spot.

Rugby started in Colchester in 2001 as an after school club run by current coach Julie Conrad. Last year the team gained “official” club status which means it now has a close affiliation with the school and gets to play on school fields along with some other benefits. It is not a varsity level sport in Vermont simply because there are not enough teams statewide to gain that status.

Conrad has coached all six years and is also a mathematics teacher at Colchester High School. She has played Rugby for nearly a decade and was named a New England Rugby Union All-Star alternate two different years. She is the engine that keeps the Colchester Rugby Club thriving. And thriving it is with over 29 members on the current squad. Coach Conrad is very pleased with both her current team and the direction of the program.

“It’s just such a fun sport and the girls love playing it, ” said Conrad. “It’s the one sport that the rules are exactly the same for the girls and the boys and we take pride in that. We’d love to encourage more people to come out and watch us and with the New England tournament right here in Essex, it’s a great chance for people to come out and see us play.”

The New England tournament will be held at Essex High School this June 9 but before that the girls will play in the State Tournament this weekend. That tournament was scheduled to be held at Norwich University but as of presstime there were rumors of a switch in venue. You can contact the school for more information on that. The team will take an impressive 3-3 record into the State Tournament. The girls’ only losses have come at the hands of a team from Massachusetts and the two biggest Rugby programs in the state in Essex and defending State and New England champion Rutland.

Colchester has a really good team that might be just a notch below the “big” schools when it comes to actually winning the state title but I don’t think it matters. That’s not to say these girls aren’t competitive and want to win every time they step on the field but there just seems to be so much more to it than winning and losing. It’s hard to explain in words but I promise if you watch a game you will know what I mean. If you don’t have plans for June 9, head over to Essex High School and see what I’m talking about. You’ll be amazed at what you see.