Back in the Day
The original UNCC Women's Rugby Club existed from 1996 until 2001. Unfortunately, the team folded in '01 and remained dormant until fall of 2008.
The Revival
The Revivers
April Simmons (left) and Lisa Parris (right) decided to start the team up again, and began to practice with the men's team. They soon managed to recruit a few more ridiculously awesome ladies like themselves to come out to practices and spread the word about the team.
April gets lifted for a lineout by men's team players Josh (left) and Nii (right)
Awesomeness is Contagious
Experienced player Maddy Clark also joined the team very soon after its reinception, gladly sharing her expertise with the other players. She began to play a crucial role on the team, and is pictured here with April as the most sought-after girls lending themselves on to other teams at Rucktoberfest 2008.
Taking it to the Next Level
By spring semester, there was a few more girls, plus two ferocious coaches to help pull the team together. The women's team started practicing separately from the men and really stepping up to make the team work. We played a preliminary game against a local high school, Myers Park, to help us all get a little more comfortable in the game. We also played against Western Carolina, and managed to have our first annual alumni game as well. Since we were short a few players, some of the great ladies from the local women's team, the Charlotte Mayhem, stepped up and gave us a hand so we could get a few games under our belt.
Today...
After working hard all year to get the team up and running, the team won the Outstanding New Student Organization Award as well as the Best New Sport Club Award from the school.
April & Nat at RecFest
The ladies also busted their butts all summer - Coach Allie Pickett attended intense coach training sessions and Coach Amber Perry came back with a hardcore weight training schedule. The team did their part by recruiting girls at all the summer SOAR sessions as well as at RecFest, which paid off incredibly - this fall took on the world with thirty awesome girls at practices.
We have played in tournaments and games this year, and after some bad luck, we're finally winning them all. The twenty-five new girls we recuited this year learned the game and now they are kicking ass at it. We all know it's because rugby is the game in our blood.