The Regional Cup Tournaments (RCTs) unearth promising talent, but they also provide snapshots of high school rugby’s status in each state. Those organizations that have been playing all-star ball for years have no problem fielding varsity and junior varsity teams, with no need for eligibility waivers. And that’s important. The RCTs are more than identifying individuals and winning all-star trophies. Fostering higher-level rugby and engaging regional competition are means to growth generally.
Jeff Noe began coaching the Wisconsin U19 all-stars four years ago, and assistant coaches Neil Grintjes (Brookfield) and Alex Glorioso (Catholic Memorial) have been by his side throughout his tenure. In their first year together, Wisconsin lost the Midwest All-Star Challenge to Ohio, by a conversion, on the last play of the game. Fond du Lac’s Amanda Pohle joined the staff the following year, and the quartet have been building numbers and continuity ever since.
“Last year, when USA Rugby gave everyone a month or two notice that there would be JV and varsity brackets, we already had that in mind,” Noe said. “We always wanted to build toward those two teams – a developmental side and varsity, for lack of a better term – and that has always been our goal.”
Player retention has been good, too. More than half of this year’s 25-player varsity team played together last year. Eighteen were juniors, and several sported three-straight years of all-star experience. Six of this year’s 19 JV players were veterans and became the hinge around which the team operated.
“The difference this year was the depth of player we had and overall talent of the 15 we could get on the field,” Noe explained. “It gave us a comfort level and ability to be flexible putting players in the best position to be successful as individuals and for the team.”
That experience came in handy when Wisconsin traveled to a new venue: the South RCT in Charlotte, N.C., to face Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia. Last year, Wisconsin was able to send teams to the Pittsburgh and Midwest RCTs, but Noe focused this year’s energies on one big trip. There was some strategy behind the decision – two days in a coach bus engenders a lot more cohesion than two-hour car rides to and from Indiana (Wisconsin’s more local option this year). And when it comes to all-star teams, unity is a difference-maker.
Wisconsin played Virginia to a 12-12 halftime score, and then put up 31 unanswered points for its RCT-opening victory. Similarly, the varsity side played Ohio closely in the first half of game two before running away with a 36-5 win. The team experimented with positions against Tennessee, knowing it had to lose by 35 points in order to miss the final’s berth, and Tennessee took advantage for the 22-21 win.
“I was pleasantly surprised how well we did against Ohio on day one, because we knew they had a fairly strong representation from St. Joe’s,” Noe referenced the presence of the single-school national champion. “Those players have experience in high-level games at nationals, and we don’t have that. We have one from [Divine Savior Holy Angels], a few from Catholic Memorial, but our juniors with 2-3 years’ experience are starting to get used to that higher-level competition.”
The coaching staff was pleasantly surprised with how well both teams gelled on day two. On Saturday, the JV team played Virginia and Tennessee to single-digit wins, but Sunday saw two big shutouts (29-0, 24-0) for the 4-0 record and trophy. The varsity team capped its championship weekend with a 60-7 win over Ohio in the final.
“Winning the championship game against a long-time rival has been many years in the making and is a spectacular accomplishment for this program,” Wisconsin varsity captain Meaghan Schmitt enthused. “I have been blessed to have learned from an amazing group of coaches and to play with extremely talented young women in the Wisconsin all-star program the past three years.”
Megan Bird was outstanding on the weekend. The junior is a three-year veteran and has played for select sides like Atlantis and Atavus. She was named MVP of the Wisconsin state 7s invitational, which her home club, Oak Creek, won (read more).
“She’s always been fast, but she’s put in a ton of work,” the coach praised. “She has the muscle now to create separation in contact and finish her runs. She scored 10 tries.”
Kaitlyn Schoepel (Appleton), Crystal Jehly (Brookfield) and Emily Becker (Knightmares) had multi-try weekends as well, and accounted for three of the 10 players from seven teams that banked points. On the JV side, Brookfield’s Areliz Rivera led with six tries, while Lauren Buchholz (Oak Creek), Savanna Roeder (Fond du Lac) and captain Jenna Lewaren (Pulaski) scored more than once.
In addition to All-American scouts, there were collegiate coaches cataloguing players. From Wisconsin, Brookfield prop Aiyanna Primer, Catholic Memorial scrumhalf Ellie Metz, and the JV halfback pairing of Brittany Willett and Lexi Engelhardt got a nod.
The weekend’s successes are trickling through the player, coaching and league levels. On the bus ride home, players started talking about entering a motley side at the Lakefront 7s, just to keep this summer joy in motion.
“It doesn’t matter where in Wisconsin you came from, because we play for the name on the front of our jerseys,” Fond du Lac sophomore Engelhardt beamed. “We increased our rugby skills and created more friendships with this amazing experience in North Carolina.”
“To have two full sides and be as successful as we were – that has been the program’s biggest accomplishment,” Noe widened the scope.
But as Wisconsin league president Chris Kurth explains below, the U19 varsity and JV all-star wins are a product of how the state values its high school rugby:
Wisconsin rugby is tremendously fortunate to have 10 high school girls’ teams consistently fielding 15-a-side teams, playing both a fall and spring schedule. … The on-pitch experience that the girls receive is augmented by the developmental opportunities that girls have outside of their teams. Participation in ATAVUS programs, clinics put on by Wisconsin club and college teams, and the Wisconsin Girls Select Side teams that play in both 15s and 7s competitions have all elevated the play of our athletes. That, combined with the quality coaching provided by Jeff Noe, Amanda Pohle and Alex Glorioso this past weekend, led to the results we saw.