Rusert (left) with Air Force after the DI fall final win. /// Photo: Jacqueline Hamby •
Many components affect the on-field product, not the least of which is the give-and-take between coach and player. Coaches give their players the tools to succeed, and then it’s up to the team to execute on the pitch and inspire each other. That’s what we saw with Air Force this year, and that’s why Amy Rusert is the College Coach of Fall 2016.
“Last season was indeed a whirlwind,” Air Force’s Senior Cadet in Charge Tatiana Wynder reflected on fall 2015, when Amy Rusert and husband Scott filled coaching positions that had been absent into the start of the season. “We were so grateful for them for taking us on and giving us a chance, but we had to get used to each other. We’re a vocal, energetic team, and once we got to know her we found that she was the exact same way.”
Coach and team sped into the season, as league was underway and games needed to be won. But Rusert did the lay the groundwork for future success.
“Last season Amy had to teach us from the ground up,” Wynder recalled. “Her goal for the season was to make us all ‘students of the game’ and at practice every day she’d ask us game-play questions, run by scenarios and even had us take an online laws test.”
Air Force made a lot of progress last season, advanced to the DI fall final, but just didn’t have enough time to get the entire team playing at the same standard.
“At times it was frustrating,” Wynder confessed. “I think a lot of people that watched us last December [in the fall final] saw that in the high number of penalties. We humbly walked away from the finals knowing that we lost … the opposition hadn’t won.”
Like all good teams, the experience incentivized the Air Force Academy to improve. Players spent their time between summer military programs with an off-base lifting coach and continued to strength train off-campus during the season. Rusert and Air Force reunited for their first full fall season, but a new set of challenges threatened the continuity of the team. The school year began without any Officers in Charge (OICs) to handle the administrative side of the military academy team. That caused issues with funding and approvals to travel. The team did eventually secure some OICs to ease the paperwork load, but the process remained an issue and nearly derailed Air Force’s post-season.
“I remember the Thursday before that weekend, we didn’t know if we were going to make it to Cincinnati at all,” the center recalled the DI fall quarterfinal/semifinal weekend. “Our team split up into multiple groups –some players even purchased their own tickets to be able to make it. The six players that were stuck in [Atlanta Friday night] due to weather were all starters … but we just had to hope that something would pull through once again.”
The players were also billeted across multiple Air Force Academy parents’ homes, further stressing the situation. Coaches and captains began crafting contingency plans, but some behind-the-scenes scrambling and a dose of luck saw the team reunited an hour before kickoff. (read more)
“Throughout all of the craziness, Amy confided in me at times, and we ran some contingency things to each other back and forth,” Wynder relived the anxiety. “You could see how invested she’d been [in Air Force] rugby and into developing our program further. She kept it cool and collected so that the team would continue to press on as usual, but the wave of happiness and relief that took over her disposition when she found out our players would make it, made it real for all of us. She’s definitely a coach that sets the tone for her team, in the best possible way.”
The team was energized and went on to win both games for the berth to the DI final. As the players prepped for the return to Furman University, the team didn’t care that UCONN was awaiting in the DI fall final or that it was a rematch of the 2015 title match. That Dec. 4 match wasn’t about redemption.
“Furman was an opportunity to play the rugby we knew how to play and ultimately win,” Wynder explained.
It was a game that grew out of obstacles, including opponents like Army and BYU, and tests of character. It was a game that coach Rusert introduced and fostered, and the players flourished as students of the game – all the way to the title.
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