Tacoma Tsunamis program director Mark Sullivan saw an opportunity. The boys’ varsity rugby team won back-to-back Washington state championships (DII in 2016, DI in 2017), and there was momentum to be harnessed. He gathered the right personnel, and a diligent recruitment effort saw five age grade teams result. The club grew from 24 high school boys to 140-plus youth members in a single season. [Photos: Dave McHugh]
For the girls’ varsity team, Williams turned to former boys’ coach Steve Chanfrau (2002-14), who also helped form Rugby Washington and served as its president for five years; and Larry Renas, who has been serving as head coach to the University of Puget Sound women’s team the previous five years.
“I knew what was going on with the girls, that they needed more competition. And I saw that other clubs were benefitting from having girls’ and boys’ teams,” said Chanfrau, who reactivated his coaching career specifically for the girls’ team.
During fall 2017, the club attended recruitment events, set up booths, played Saturday touch just to get seen.
“There’s a pretty big Polynesian community here and we kind of marketed to that,” Chanfrau said. “The kids in this community are already exposed to rugby through their moms and dads, so if you get into the community then word of mouth does the rest.”
Girls’ High School All-American Lolo Makaafi was key. The graduating senior had been playing with Kent but she lived only minutes from Tacoma’s home pitch. She brought in some players from her high school, but more importantly set a fantastic example as a leader and in cultivating the right culture.
“Lolo, she’s quiet, but her actions and steadfastness and focus – everyone wants to be like her,” Chanfrau praised. “She does not pull punches in practice. She is a hard worker, and she’s always on time. If she was going to be late to training, I always got a text from her, and she’s one of the only players who did that. Having someone with that talent and attitude – we wouldn’t have been able to win without her.”
But there were a lot of boxes to tick before the team started thinking about wins and state championships. In fact, two weeks before the first league game, Chanfrau wasn’t certain that Tacoma could field a team. The numbers came, but that first game against Shelton was chaotic, as players with zero playing or scrimmaging experience took the pitch.
“The biggest issue was not understanding that it’s rugby and somebody is going to hit you, but you don’t take it personally. After they understood that, it was fine,” the coach said of the 34-5 win.
And with that win, the team had checked one of its seven goals: 1. Field a team; 2. Don’t forfeit any games; 3. Win a game; 4. Win more games than we lose; 5. Win the division; 6. Win our state semifinal; and 7. Win States. Chanfrau would have been happy accomplishing the first two goals as a first-year program, but surprises were in store.
The second game pit Tacoma against Budd Bay, whose girls’ team has a long history. The Tsunamis were nervous – Makaafi was absent – but additional leadership found its voice and the squad rattled off a 67-5 win. That’s when Chanfrau knew the team had the potential to achieve beyond expectations.
The season continued with 10s and 15s games, and Tacoma continued to win by healthy margins. Coincidentally, the season flowed so each game was a little more difficult that the last, allowing for a steady build throughout the spring.
“They always had confidence – some of it was misplaced – but they had to keep their feet on the ground because we always knew that the last game of the season was going to be against Kent,” Chanfrau said.
But Kent forfeited its regular-season game against Tacoma, and so after a “bye” week, the Tsunamis faced Liberty in the semifinals for a 74-5 win.
“We didn’t score any more tries than we had been scoring throughout the season, but one of our players, junior Andreya Hall, had been practicing her kicking, so we hit a lot of our conversions where we weren’t hitting them before,” Chanfrau said.
That set up a state championship final between Tacoma and Kent. Although the teams had never faced each other, the Tsunamis knew what to expect.
“[Kent] will get the ball all the way out to the wing and get around you,” Chanfrau recited during team training. “Before, they could come up strong [on defense] and stop the ball from getting to the wing, because [the opposition isn’t] getting the ball out fast enough. … It’s hard to practice staying on your wing when you don’t have a full complement of players on both sides.”
The team was able to run against the boys to practice a faster defense, but the nerves were still there heading into the final.
“I didn’t think they were [nervous] but then you could tell just before kickoff that they were emotional, nervous and excited,” Chanfrau said. “And it showed on the field – they were definitely out of sorts. They eventually got into their groove but it took the whole first period.”
Kent did not disappoint in moving the ball quickly and exploiting outside speed, and scored the opening two tries. Tacoma settled into its forward pick-and-go game, followed by hands wide, and second row Praise Avealalo – who would play No. 8 for Tacoma’s 15s side – scored back-to-back tries.
The exchange continued from there, and Makaafi directed play from flyhalf. As the final 10 minutes evolved, Tacoma held a one-point lead over Kent, whose continuous line-breaks were met by continuous tackles. At the very end of the match, Makaafi added a final try for the 34-28 win and state championship.
“They definitely knew what it meant,” Chanfrau referenced Kent’s legacy as state champion.
It was a special day for the whole club. After regular-season losses to Liberty, the boys’ varsity team won its second-straight DI Washington state championship with a 31-29 victory.
“We started with a core group of girls and they were really dedicated, but at the same time they had fun,” Chanfrau looked back at the memorable season. “We made a point of making the practices fun and joined in. They were great, and they could turn it on, be all-business, and turn it off.”
Tacoma is graduating a big senior class, but have no fear: Another planning session on how to parlay the momentum of these two state championships is shaping the next recruiting strategy.