Former WJU Recruits Form Club Team

In January 2016, Wheeling Jesuit University (W.V.) announced that it was adding a varsity women’s rugby program beginning in fall 2016. The program, as detailed by the athletic department, would include a full-time head coach, the availability of competitive scholarship packages, and “all the other benefits of every other varsity sport.” In the meantime, then-men’s head coach Tal Bayer was to assume recruitment duties for the incoming class.

Bayer found Emily McHugh at the Maryland Exiles youth tournament in spring 2016. The Morris (N.J.) senior was in her first season of 15s and impressed at inside center.

“That was really exciting for me, to be approached by somebody, because I had just started playing rugby and thought it’d be awesome to play in college,” McHugh said. “That’s pretty much when my recruitment process started.”

Bayer explained that Wheeling Jesuit would be a first-year program, and for McHugh, the prospect of being a founding member drew both excitement and hesitation. The university’s academic reputation helped McHugh with the final decision, and she committed to the Class of 2020.

Over the summer, she continued to play 7s with Morris, and accompanied the Play Rugby Community Olympic Development Program to the NAI 7s in Salt Lake City.

But then a week before she was due to move on campus, McHugh received a call from the university that the program had been canceled.

McHugh with her high school team, Morris

“They didn’t really give me much of a reason, because I think everyone was confused,” McHugh remembered the early-August conversation. “I heard rumors about funding, but to be honest, I’m not completely sure as to why the program never happened.”

At this point, Bayer had already relocated to New England College, where he currently serves as the men’s rugby team’s head coach (a post he accepted in May 2016). Wheeling Jesuit’s athletic director, Kevin Forde, did not respond for comment, and other attempts to contact university employees were fruitless.

“I was very upset, and angry, because I had never heard of that happening to anyone,” McHugh said. “I had just graduated, had my graduation party. Everyone was so excited that I was going to play rugby in college. It was shocking.”

McHugh considered her options. She immediately called her high school coach, Tom Feury, who was equally upset with the turn of events and started calling other college programs for vacancies. But after the initial shock and the calming influence of her mother, who introduced the prospect of a college club team in the future, McHugh decided to attend Wheeling Jesuit for the academics.

She took a glass-half-full attitude to campus and was quickly encouraged to pursue a women’s club team on campus. The Wheeling Jesuit men’s team and coach Tommy Duffy, DI club Pittsburgh Angels (which she joined in the fall), and former teammates playing college ball offered physical and moral support.

McHugh has been playing with DI Pittsburgh until the college club team takes off

McHugh found Sierra Titus and Tori Wilson from Texas, two recruits who also decided to attend despite the program’s disbandment. Life University star Deshel Ferguson had also relocated to Wheeling, W.V., as a graduate assistant, and brought with her an intimate knowledge of how to build a program from the ground up. The four women wanted to establish a club team, and so they sorted out their paperwork for the school and started recruiting.

Today, after approximately three weeks of practices, Wheeling Jesuit has about 10 members. That’s enough for a 7s team, but McHugh isn’t committing to any fixtures yet. It’s all about introducing the game to newcomers, building numbers and raising money.

“Everyone is super excited, and it makes me feel really good when others realize that you can start up a sport, be good at it, be excited to play other teams,” McHugh said. “But right now – we’re lacking money because we started from scratch. We don’t have anything. The men’s team is providing us with balls and pads, but we’re fundraising so we can register with USA Rugby, get balls for ourselves, and have actual equipment so we can start playing.”

The quartet has many fundraisers planned – Chipotle percentage sales night, t-shirts sale, car washes, etc. – as well as a GoFundMe campaign. McHugh’s plan is to start playing in fall 2017 and hopes to arrange an early arrival on campus for a pre-season. In the meantime, McHugh herself is still playing 15s with Pittsburgh (and will compete against DI NOVA this Saturday) and benefits from the many Penn State and Pitt alumni on the squad.

“I was so excited when I saw your message,” McHugh said of her first interaction with The Rugby Breakdown. “I read it, and for me it meant that we were getting out there. We were going to be known for something. That was awesome for me. I picked up a rugby ball one-and-a-half years ago, and now I’m here in college and coming up with a team myself, and I take pride in it. I love the fact that people are going to love the game the way I do. It’s really great being able to wake up in the morning knowing that I have rugby here in school, and they can’t take that away from us now.”

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