Kelly Griffin @ the 2016 Olympics / Photo: World Rugby
The Santa Barbara Rugby Academy is a National Development Academy and officially launched its women’s program in January 2017. The team completed a full summer 7s schedule, finishing third in SoCal overall, and is making a push for club nationals this year. That road begins at the LVI Women’s Elite 7s competition later this week.
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The women’s program is still growing and recruitment efforts haven’t extended too far beyond Santa Barbara. But the athletes who have committed are meeting at 6:00 a.m. four times per week for field sessions and another three evenings per week in the gym. It’s a long run-up to the summer 7s season, so some players are pulling double duty on local 15s teams.
The academy has received a big boost in gaining Eagle Kelly Griffin as a player. The 7s Olympian is back after an ACL injury and will serve as captain in her first fixture back on the pitch. The squad also includes two USA Falcons coming off of the Okinawa 7s tour – WCAP’s Ashlee Byrge and Stanford graduate Dani McDonald. Everyone else has represented the academy in the past year.
In addition to the aforementioned, watch Cornell University grad Mara Jacobs and two of UC Santa Barbara’s standouts: Lauren Thunen and Amanda Schweitzer. Thunen has scored 15 tries and kicked 20 conversions for the DI Gold Coast conference leader, while Schweitzer has scored 14 tries in five league games.
“For us it’s really a learning experience,” Battle said of LVI goals. “We want our ladies to come out and play hard, and learn the 7s landscape and where we sit among high-performance clubs. We’ll take that knowledge and spend the next several months improving and upping our game so we can hit the ground running in June.”
Looking into the future, Battle can imagine evolving the women’s program to include 15s, but that would depend on the wants of the players. At present, the men’s program plays 15s and will add a 7s component this year. The men’s academy also focuses on undergrads, college freshmen and sophomore who attend Santa Barbara City College. Learn more about the academy.
The Women’s Elite 7s division will contest pool play on Thursday, March 1 on Silver Bowl field #14. On Friday, the knockouts move to field #15, and the Saturday final will be contested in the stadium. For more info, visit www.lvirugby.com.
SANTA BARBARA ACADEMY @ LVI
Hannah Ball
Elise Bonfiglio
Ashlee Byrge
Kelly Griffin
Mara Jacobs
Dani McDonald
Amber McEldowney
Harley Moeller
Amanda Schweitzer
Victoria Serrano
Lauren Thunen