Photo courtesy Central Washington University Women’s Rugby •
Entering its third year as a varsity program, Central Washington University has officially joined the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) for the 2016-17 season. The Ellensburg, Wash., program is the first West Coast team to join the varsity league, which is entering its second year in existence.
Central Washington will play its first NIRA match on Sept. 24, when Army travels to Washington, and then return to the East Coast for back-to-back games against American International College and Norwich. Reigning NIRA champion Quinnipiac travels to Central Washington on Oct. 15, and then NIRA quarterfinals begin Nov. 12. The fall schedule leaves plenty of room for competitive friendlies, and the Wildcats will see British Columbia’s University of Victoria, Alberta’s University of Lethbridge, as well as DI Elite finalist BYU this fall.
“Our department has always been supportive of varsity matches, and until some west coast teams make the leap to varsity, an east coast trip is required to get them,” Central Washington coach Mel Denham spoke to the travel budget. “There is also a lot of support among the NIRA programs and coaches to ensure every team gets home games and can meet the NCAA dates of competition count. For example, Quinnipiac will be visiting Ellensburg this fall for the second time, joined by Army who will traveling out here for the first time. Without this camaraderie within NIRA programs, our budget would be more stressed.“The true stress on budget is and always has been seen in the post-season travel for all competitive programs,” the coach added. “Until we reach 40 teams and an NCAA-sponsored championship with paid post-season travel, that will not change. This again emphasizes the importance of more institutions around the country elevating women’s rugby to varsity.”To make post-season travel more predictable, Central Washington has adopted the fall 15s/spring 7s championship format.
“Program advancement and forward movement is why we are going in this direction,” Denham explained. “Having a set season and schedule that can be planned for, especially with 15s and 7s segments, provides a more well rounded and healthy student-athlete experience. It allows an off-season for 15s-only athletes, and a focused 7s season for those who love and are pursuing 7s.”
Central Washington is currently training on campus and has welcomed close to 50 players. The published roster currently shows 13 new players, eight of which are incoming freshmen. They include Women’s Junior All-American Michel Navarro (Fallbrook, Calif.), Girls High School All-Americans Sui A’au (Grant, Ore.) and Alex Sedrick (Herriman, Utah), and several well known Californians with all-star experience: Jaida Kafovalu (Sacramento Amazons), Bianca Ortiz-Pallen (Bishop O’Dowd), Mikayla Roberts (South Bay) and Kathlena Truong (Alameda). Watch for Battle Ground, Ore., standout Holland Derby as well.
The Wildcats have added some powerful transfers, including Davenport’s Ashlee Byrge and AIC’s Kayla Clark, both of whom hail from western states. Fumie Reyes of Kahului, Hawaii, comes in as a junior and was last seen helping Scion Rugby Academy to a club 7s national championship. Sophomore hooker Keola Kanahele Pacheco represents Hill, Hawaii, while sophomore flanker Hannah Fallon hails from Vancouver, Wash.