Boise State (orange) defeated Utah State 34-33. /// Photo courtesy Utah Statesman •
The Boise State women’s team formed in 2014 but struggled with numbers and competition the first two years. When three Eagle High seniors enrolled at Boise State for fall 2016, their high school coaches, Brad LaPlante and Tom Moroney, were concerned that a malnourished program would erode the players’ interest. So the high school coaches took on their first women’s collegiate team.
But they weren’t looking to be placeholders or to simply keep a team afloat. They want Boise State to become the destination for Rugby Idaho players and attract talent outside of the state. They want to compete against peer schools (enrollment wise) in the right conference, and remain visible to the university. In other words, they have a plan for sustainability.
The duo turned to Rugby Idaho and its eight girls’ teams to establish a feeder, and Boise State’s roster immediately welcomed 8-9 players with high school experience. LaPlante expects 7-10 players from the state high school league to join per year.
“Right now we’re starting 12 true freshmen,” LaPlante said. “It’s our first recruiting class and just something you have to do in the beginning.”
And while beginnings include growing pains, they also serve as markers on which these freshmen will reflect fondly. Should the future evolve well, then the team will have four-year veterans in already-influential players like No. 8 Molly Lutgens, a Capital alumna who’s scored six tries in three games, scrumhalf Kalan Billingsley, who featured on the Mambas for the NAI 7s, and Hawaiian newcomer Lilia DeWilde, who’s made an immediate impact from flanker. They were particularly influential in the Lady Broncos’ 34-33 win over Utah State last weekend.
“The program will be able to maximize anything that comes out of Idaho,” LaPlante asserted.
That local source for players is key, but the coach wants to cast a wider net for talent.
“It’s easy for freshmen to fall through the cracks because there isn’t a tremendous amount of scouting in this area. Central Washington is the only one that offers scholarships,” LaPlante explained. “We’re a little bit cheaper than the other Northwest schools, and out-of-state students can pay in-state tuition if they have above a certain GPA and play a club sport.
“You want to build a good, strong program by offering everyone the most you can,” the coach added. “Our club sports are really good in terms of organization – they televised our game against Utah State. The training and other facilities are nice, too. We practice in the indoor football facility during bad weather.”
The rugby program had a little repair work to do in terms of its relationship with the school. There’s a tier system for club sports, and the competitive (i.e., top tier) programs are eligible for more school funding. But in order to take advantage of such aid, team officers need to attend certain meetings and have its administration in order. That wasn’t happening, and so Hannah Georges stepped in.
“I recruited Hannah from the high school 7s program,” LaPlante said. “She took over as president and has done an excellent job. She got them organized and is doing all the admin. … It’s been an important factor for us, being able to hit the ground running, and she’s doing it as a freshman.”
The final piece for Boise State will be finding the right competition. The Lady Broncos competed in the DII Rocky Mountain this fall but never intended to participate in its post-season. It’s four non-conference games through November speak to some of the research the team’s doing.
“We have aspirations to be DI as soon as we can, because we expect the program to take off,” LaPlante said. “We have to find the right conference, and we want to play peer schools – which doesn’t refer to talent. We can draw from 20,000 students and would feel weird being in division 2.
“We wanted to end up in the conference with the other PAC 12 teams in Oregon and Washington, so we’re getting them the experience of going to the Cascades and playing those colleges,” the coach referred to November matches against Oregon and Oregon State. “BYU is close. They’re a good program and we’re not there yet, but I’ve never shied away from playing teams like that. Everyone helps you get better.”
This weekend, Boise State plays University of Idaho, an independent team that also happens to be LaPlante’s alma mater. Players will have the opportunity to kick off this exploratory phase of their first organized fall with a rivalry match. And if all goes well, Boise State will find itself in the right league with the right players and with solid school support – at least that’s the plan.
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