The USA Club Rugby 7s National Championship marks the end of the rugby season*, awarding the final domestic title before the country resets with fall rugby and a new cycle. The caveat (*) is the Women’s Premier League (WPL) championship, which carries into September, but generally speaking, the U.S. has a couple of recovery weeks before the 2024-25 season begins end of August. [lead photo: Pat Moroney]

The USA Rugby Women’s 7s Team and its bronze medal performance at the Olympics has brought a different energy to the landscape, which feels poised and ready to accept new interest in the sport. So before indulging in what might be coming this fall and beyond, TRB is reflecting on its top-10 favorite moments, in no particular order, from 2023-24 before forecasting the pivotal moments to come in 2024-25.

RELATED: TRB’s Women’s Rugby Calendar

RUGBY SAVES

In an incredible display of humanity and rugby camaraderie, Traci Schmidtke Young donated a portion of her liver to USA Rugby Hall of Famer Mike Tolkin. Rugby is life. Your Scrumhalf Connection’s Wendy Young, wife to Traci, documented the process, procedure, recovery and more. Read more.

 

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FIELD OF DREAMS

I finally got to visit the Wisconsin Rugby Sports Complex in Cottage Grove, just outside of Madison, for the girls’ high school and high school club 15s national tournaments. Heaven on earth. The facility hits all of the notes — beautiful pitches, centered clubhouse with locker rooms, upstairs bar (try the local New Glarus Spotted Cow!) with TVs and a big projector screen, upper deck with armchairs, and AC! There’s also a playground on the grounds and the cutest Little League ballfield that you’ve ever seen. Hustling back for the WPL semifinals on Sept. 7.

 

MUSTANGS BACK THEMSELVES

CRAA held its spring-based championships on May 3-5 in Houston, Texas, and it featured 7s and 15s competitions. It made for a nice event, but there was a potential conflict for the team that wanted to vie for both its 7s and 15s championships — since they were occurring on the same weekend. Earlier in the spring, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Women’s Rugby Head Coach Zach Markow anticipated a tough choice ahead, and once the Mustangs did in fact qualify for both championships, he let the players decide how to move forward.

The players chose both opportunities, as captain Abby Jens explained, and fortunately, the program had the numbers to field two separate squads for the 7s tournament (Sat-Sun) and DII 15s final against Eckerd (Sun).

 

The gamble paid off. A younger and less experienced squad got nationals experience in the Club 7s division, which included both DI and DII teams, and finished atop the DII participants. The 15s team won the DII spring title handily against Eckerd, and the whole club got to celebrate together. Big!

PRO 15s!

Up until now, the only professional rugby opportunities for women’s rugby players in the U.S. have been in 7s — Chula Vista residency and Premier Rugby 7s (which took a hiatus in summer 2024).  In April, Women’s Elite Rugby (WER) announced the creation of a 15s pro league in the U.S., set to launch in spring 2025. There been lots of behind-the-scenes work since then, but an important follow-up hit headlines in July: Boston, Chicago and Denver are the first three cities to adopt pro entities.  The goal is 6-8 teams in the inaugural year, and it’s expected that contracted players will announced in January 2025. It’s happening!

WHALES TOP THE FOOD CHAIN

 

The Belmont Shore Lady Whales were my favorite U18 team of the year, and anyone who saw the SoCal side go to work at the Girls’ High School Club 15s National Tournament would understand. The team had to earn its invite, since it had only been playing 15s for approximately a year (SoCal girls’ rugby is predominantly 7s these days) and hustled for games against notable opponents to build its resume. And then when they arrived at nationals, they absolutely balled out, and won the title with class. it with class. There’s a core of players who have been together since the touch rugby days, and that continuity and connection were a pleasure to watch.

But 2023-24 was a lot of hustle for Belmont Shore. The SoCal team also competed at Global Youth 7s in New Zealand, traveled to Hawaii, played touring Canadian teams, and won the NAI 7s U18 Elite. The leadership has also been key in creating the West Region Girls 15s circuit, which begins with tournaments in Utah, NorCal and SoCal between October-January.

ROCKET-FUELED ROCHE

 

Kat Roche has been steadily climbing the rugby referee ladder, and 2023-24 saw a number of firsts for the American who first discovered the sport in North Carolina. She was center ref for two Women’s Six Nations games (France vs. Ireland, England vs. Wales). She did her first HSBC 7s final in Canada. She was the first woman to serve as lead referee in a Major League Rugby match. And, oh yeah — she was at the Olympics and oversaw the gold medal match between New Zealand and Canada, among other games. Here’s to more firsts!

FAVE FINAL: BLUGOLDS v BREWERS

This was my favorite college final of 2023-24. There were five lead changes in the NCR Division II 15s National Championship between Univ. Wisconsin Eau Claire (UWEC) and Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.). The Midwesterners won the 32-29 title match, and it was gripping, anxiety-ridden rugby through and through. Relive it.

 

This match also represented the merging of women’s DII college rugby. For the past several years, CRAA operated a women’s DII fall 15s competition that ran simultaneously to NCR’s national DII competition. But in fall 2023, nearly all of those CRAA teams moved to NCR. It was a massive reunion for this sector of the game, and the NCR final pit the 2022 NCR national champion (UWEC) against the several-years-running CRAA fall champion (Vassar) for a mouth-watering comparison.

RELATED: Review the 23-24 collegiate champions

A SUMMER ABROAD

 

It was so good to see teams take advantage of the touring season and travel for new and different competition. In the summer alone:

• USA Falcons played two 15s matches against host Brazil (interview: Sarah Chobot);
• the USA U18s and USA U20s both enjoyed 15s tours in Wales;
• Midwest HS Thunderbirds took 100 people to New Zealand;
• EIRA went on two different tours to Spain and then Ireland;
• USA South won RAN 15s in Mexico City and played a stellar match against Mexico (which included two U.S. players);
• North American Lions returned to Germany and Heidelberg 7s; and
• North Carolina Youth Rugby all-stars played in Japan.

The USA Women’s National Team is currently in Japan and awaiting round two in its series with the host on Aug. 17. The Eagles tied Japan 17-17 on Aug. 11.

USA WIN BIG DOWN UNDER

The USA Women’s National Team is 2-2-1 in international tests in 2024. Arguably the most important game occurred on May 17 in Melbourne, Australia. It was the Americans’ final round in the Pacific Four series, and a U.S. loss would have meant a return to Tier 2 competition in the WXV that fall.

A tall order awaited, as the hometown Wallaroos took a 20-8 lead into halftime. A pair of Hope Rogers tries and Gabby Cantorna conversion knotted the score at 20 with 30 minutes to play. Australia put up on fourth try in minute 55 (25-20) before the Eagles responded with Lotte Clapp and Mata Hingano scores. Cantorna’s second conversation capped a 32-25 win for the U.S.

It was a great comeback win for the players, new coach Sione Fukofuka and the fans. Captain Kate Zackary said it best, ” … [W]e’ve finally found the team we’ve been looking for … ”

USA WIN BRONZE

Saving the best, and most obvious, highlight for last: The USA Women’s 7s Team won bronze at the Olympics. Just bonkers — not that the Highwomen didn’t have it in them or weren’t considered title threats — just holy crap, they did it, and in fabulous fashion. People in my Contacts, whom I might have messaged once and with no link to rugby (outside of me and my phone number), texted me: Spiff Sedrick!!! Obviously it’s a full-team effort, but that full-length, breakaway try with virtually no time left on the clock was memory burning. And then! After collapsing on the turf and embracing her teammates, Sedrick turned around and kicked the conversion that actually sealed the two-point win. Because that’s rugby!

 

I’m so excited what this could mean for our sport, but first and foremost, I’m so proud of the players and staff that all of their hard work paid off and that they’re getting their due.

Many thanks to photographer Alex Ho, who was on the ground in Paris on his own dime, and just working hard, like he always does. He not only captured images like the one above, but also provided them to media and players for free. His only request for payment: photo credit. Ho also helped me medal in the one-women-rugby-news-site Olympics with this message from France: