Photo: Krista Ewing
It’s always a joy to see a new women’s club join the scene, and it’s even more enjoyable to see that new team win games. Ambition, collaboration and a little bit of luck have helped Indianapolis-based Circle City Tempests, which has combined with the Evansville Vandals, win its first three league games in the DII Midwest’s East 2 pool.
RELATED: Women’s Rugby Results: Sept. 22-24 • Midwest East 2 Schedule & Standings • Circle City Tempests Home Page
Amanda Albers, Jessica Isaacs and Jazmyne Spear were playing for the DII Indianapolis Hoydens. But after the spring 2017 season, the trio broke away to form Circle City. The new entity played summer 7s and then considered the DII Midwest 15s league this fall.
“We wanted a more competitive team that was more open to ideas and just had a different culture than we got on the Hoydens,” Spear spoke to the breakaway from Indianapolis. “More recently we fixed that little bit of tension [with the Hoydens] that was there. There were hurt feeling but overall they know it wasn’t anything personal. This was the move for me and in the end, they understood that we’re all just growing women’s rugby.”
The founding trio hunkered down on recruiting. They drew graduates from Albers’ alma mater Indiana University, Spear’s alma mater Purdue University, Ferris State, to name a few. They promoted on Facebook and canvassed the Indiana state fair. And then they teamed up with Evansville, a one-year-old club located approximately three hours southwest of Indianapolis.
The Vandals formed last fall, didn’t have the numbers to join the 15s league, but remained active with friendlies and tournaments. The Circle City founders were familiar with the team from the tournament circuit and summer 7s, and so joining forces for the 15s season made sense. Now both entities could play in a legitimate league.
“We promoted it more that Circle City joined the Vandals. The first two games we wore their jerseys,” Spear explained the nuances of the union (the team is registered with USA Rugby as Circle City). “We just wanted to get both names out there.”
Photo: Krista Ewing
The two entities practice separately, too. Spear is Circle City’s player-coach, and the natural center is supported by Aly Gamble and Tiff Nguyen in the forwards. They lead a young team that 23-year-old Spear estimated was 24 years old on average. Ashlyn Chambers leads Evansville, and the two player-coaches are in constant contact.
“We weren’t really sure what to expect,” Spear said in advance of the combination team’s first game. “I was nervous about how that would play out – us not practicing together – but it hasn’t been too bad. We clicked well together.”
The team has clicked to the tune of three-straight wins thus far. The Tempests defeated Dayton 27-14, Indianapolis 41-10 and Louisville 51-17. Spear leads the team with 25 points on five tries, while Albers has 22 on 11 conversions. Jaila Cunningham has also been an effective finisher on the wing and has four tries over three games.
“There’s this one girl in particular who is just a natural,” Spear said of rookie Suphansa “Soupy” Gunn. “She ended up starting in her first rugby game; that’s just how it played out [with player availability]. She earned her keep as a starter that day. There are others, too, and we’re lucky. No one is afraid to go into contact and they’re all very coachable.”
Spear indicated that the team has modest goals. Yes, it’s 3-0 but the top-two teams are still to come.
“We knew that being a new team in its first season that we wouldn’t end up qualifying for playoffs,” Spear explained. “We wanted to get off the ground and at the same time we wanted to play competitively and see where we stand. The top competition will be Scioto Valley and Cincinnati, and those games will show us what we realistically need to work on. And then maybe we can make it all the way next season.”
#CircleCity