The coronavirus shutdown affects all teams similarly in that no one is able to play but not all suspensions are created equal. Alderson Broaddus University, for example, needed this spring season – its first-ever season – to build some momentum for its debut in the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA), the NCAA varsity league, this fall. But true to its mascot, the Battlers, the West Virginia team is adjusting and readying for the massive program milestone.
Former Eagle Laura Miller is Director of Rugby and head coach of the men’s and women’s teams, and spent the 2018-19 school year focused on recruitment. The men’s team was able to play a developmental 7s season in spring 2019 but the women had just three athletes training with the program. Miller then recruited 24 freshmen, 11 of which are women, for the 2019-20 school year, and all of the players had high school rugby experience. Cincinnati, Alexandria (Va.) and Maryland are well represented among the women recruits.
“We’re really clear with prospective student-athletes about what our program is: A developing varsity program,” Miller said of recruiting the right players. “Students get excited that they get to impact the culture and have a hand in what this becomes, and we emphasize that it’s exciting but also extremely challenging. We’re looking for people to immediately fill leadership roles and come in and be self sufficient, because we don’t have classes of juniors and seniors to bring them under their wing.
Photo: Jake Zimmerman
“The other prerequisite for us is finding people who want to be on a small campus,” the head coach added. “We have 1,000 students and are located in rural West Virginia. We’re in the mountains and it’s absolutely beautiful, but it’s not for everyone.”
Walnut Hills product Tacoria Mitchell has been a great find and the freshman is one of the captains.
“It’s incredibly hard to build a team from scratch, and some don’t realize exactly how hard it is until they get to campus and realize everyone’s on a level playing field. Everyone’s a freshman,” Miller said. “Tacoria put her hand up as a leader: This is the direction we’re going in as a program.”
On the pitch, Miller noted Mitchell’s go-forward, and even though the team has been playing 7s, envisions the Cincinnati native in the loose forwards come 15s.
“I’m really impressed with her tenacity in the breakdown,” the coach added. “She came in with a higher-than-high-school level of poaching skills.”
Brooke Stewart is one of two on-campus recruits and the junior volleyball crossover has developed into a great asset.
“This will change now that we’re joining NIRA, but we had combined training sessions with the guys,” Miller said. “So the only rugby she had ever played was touch against the guys, and so she learned to play a fast game quickly. She’s picked up the sport really well and has phenomenal handling coming from volleyball.”
Alderson Broaddus hosted and won the Allegheny Conference 7s Championship in November 2019, and then sent six players – Mitchell, Stewart, Jocelynne Benjamin, Rebecca Rossi, Jayla Twitty and Elleah Wilding – to the NSCRO All-Star 7s Championship with Allegheny. Spring 2020 was positioned as the team’s first legitimate season, one that would ideally build to the NSCRO 7s National Championship. The Battlers warmed up with a 4-0 run at the Frostbite 7s and then won the Almost Heaven 7s in Fairmont, W.V. The next fixture on March 29 involved host Queens University of Charlotte, which celebrated its first season in NIRA’s DII with a semifinal trip, and Lander University, which is also joining NIRA DIII in fall 2020. The ARU NSCRO 7s qualifier would have followed on April 4 and that outcome would have determined the league’s rep to the national 7s championship.
Photo: Jake Zimmerman
“At this point, the university has officially moved to online classes for the rest of the semester and cancelled all athletic events, and NSCRO has cancelled its 7s national championship, so our season is over now,” Miller said of the coronavirus suspension. “It’s incredibly disappointing for the players. They’ve done a really phenomenal job so far in building the program and had high hopes about getting into a qualifier tournament and potentially playing at nationals as a first-year program.”
Miller acknowledged that Alderson Broaddus is in the same situation as every other school, but there are unique ramifications for NIRA programs.
“We’re following NCAA regulations, and there’s a dead period until April 15, so that means no campus visits for recruits,” Miller said. “There are still high school students who want to be student-athletes in the fall, so while the number-one priority is that everyone stay safe, we want to make sure they can access us, learn about the program, and get the info they need.”
So Alderson Broaddus is transitioning to webinars until the visitation ban is lifted. On Thursdays, March 19 and March 26 at 4 p.m. EST, the coaching staff and current players will be available for questions and a virtual tour of the campus will also be provided. It’s an important stopgap for the Battlers, which still needs to build in the run-up to its NIRA debut.
“One thing we talked about all year was building a program that has recognition within our community,” Miller said. “Because the women haven’t had a full season yet, we don’t have the same brand recognition as other programs. They were excited to build that and put in the work all year long. They’re just really disappointed not to complete the 7s season, and I think were really chomping at the bit to play good quality, high-level games. But they’ll have the same enthusiasm next fall when we play varsity programs in NIRA with the same resources.”
Miller is still expecting a medium-large recruitment class for fall 2020, there’s just some uncertainty as to the suspension’s impact on the program. For more information, visit http://www.gobattlers.com.
#AldersonBroaddus #LauraMiller NIRA