Under new leadership the past two years the University of Arizona women’s rugby club team was one game short in participating in the playoffs ending their season 3-4.
The women’s D1 rugby club team, competing in the Pacific Desert Rugby Conference, playing against teams such as, Arizona State University, Grand Canyon University, University of California-San Diego, San Diego State University, University California-Santa Barbara, UCLA, and Claremont College.
“I definitely see us competing in the playoffs to get a spot in the national bracket playoffs,” said assistant coach Judith Gramajo.
Gramajo and Head Coach Tatum Quimby took over the women’s rugby program in 2022 with just six players. “The past few seasons have been rebuilding years for our program,” said Quimby. Coming into this season, their goal was to be more competitive, Quimby said.
“I feel that we achieved that goal,” Quimby said. “We’ve improved quite a bit and I’m really excited for all of our returning players to hit the ground running next year. What’s the most important was the girls developing and really being the best players, they could be.”
The women rugby team has a tight knit and supportive community.
UA women play their home matches at William Davis Sutton Field at the campus Rec Center. The sport of rugby has been on the campus of the University of Arizona since the 1970s. The sport first originated in Warwickshire, England, in 1823, but didn’t get to the United States until 1874.
For those who don’t know the sport of rugby, it is 90% football and 10% soccer. The sport involves two teams of 15 or 13 players using an oval ball to score points by grounding the ball in the opponents try line or in goal area. Like soccer, the clock runs continuously.
Because the UA program is a club team, players have to pay fees.
“As a club sport, there’s a large amount of effort required on the student side to keep the club running. Our players are here because they want to be,” Quimby said. “They’re dedicated to the team and passionate about playing rugby.”
Team president Talia Shir Ben-Yosef found this club more as a home for herself. “I feel like my body type and athletic ability will be recognized in a way that it had never been before because I feel like people who are thicker or bigger are kind of pushed out if women sports from a young age you need to be thin,” she said. “You need to be fast, but I was able to excel in a sport (that) accepted me for how my body was.”
Ben-Yosef played rugby in high school but didn’t want to participate in the sport in college. She ended up going to practice and never left.
Due to the lack of funding the team hosts a lot of fundraisers including the Tackle-a-Thon, where each player finds sponsors to pledge money for every tackle made during the last game of the season. This year they raised just short of $1,900. They also have percentage night partnerships with local restaurants and sell team merch through an online store.
The team has four seniors that would will be graduating this spring but still have great hopes for next season.
The recruiting process is a bit different due to it being a club sport. Most of the recruiting happens on social media or through events including Bash at the Rec. Everyone is allowed to participate no matter their skill level as long as they are a full-time student. But when it comes to playing time during the competitive season, everyone has to earn their spot. The team also hosts B team games to allow some of the girls to gain playing experience.
Quimby said her hope is to “see our program continue building in numbers and gain a larger presence in the Southwest.”
“In the future, I’d like for us to consistently qualify for playoffs and provide resources to players looking to get exposure to higher level playing opportunities,” she said.
If anyone wants to participate in the club, you could head over to their websites https://www.arizonarugby.org/ . Or email them here. [email protected]
Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.
