Charger Rugby Club won Rugby Indiana’s Girls High School 15s Championship (read more), but it was the girls’ middle school team that first brought a state title to the Carroll-area club this year. To boot, the middle schoolers won their first trophy in their first season of play, continuing a tradition of “winning from inception” first set by the high schoolers in spring 2018.
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Kris Carroll runs the girls’ high school team but the head coach wanted to layer the means of investment in the club. So current high school seniors run the elementary flag program, and similarly, former player Allison Reid runs the girls’ middle school team.
Reid is a founding member of the Charger girls’ high school team, and started playing as a junior in spring 2018.
“One of my friends Tweeted about this new sport and I thought, “Hey, why not,'” Reid retraced her entry into rugby. “I had just quit softball and wasn’t particularly looking for something new to do, but rugby seemed like something new and exciting.”
Reid helped Charger to its first three state titles and served as 15s captain during senior year.
“During the summer 7s season, I competed in tournaments in Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina and Las Vegas, to name a few, winning all except the Vegas tournament,” Reid added. “This year is my first year as a coach, which admittedly had me pretty nervous in the beginning, but now I’m incredibly grateful to have had this opportunity.”
Today, Reid is 20 years old and a current student at Huntington University. She isn’t playing currently but she is dedicating herself to the rugby community. She signed on as head coach of Charger girls’ middle school head coach and was supposed to initiate her coaching year last spring, but Covid-19 canceled the season after just two practices.
“It was a major disappointment for sure,” Reid asserted.
But the team was ready to get back at it after a long year away from the game, and Reid was pleased to teach the game to a diverse group of athletes.
“I take pride in the fact that our team has girls with varying sport backgrounds and athleticism,” Reid surveyed the team. “I think when brought together, all of our girls bring something different to the table, which allows them to be so versatile on the field. Wrestling, soccer, softball — you name it, we’ve probably got a girl who has done it.”
Layla Antu and Delaney Wiard served as team captains.
“[They are] two players who definitely showed great leadership and adaptability when learning the sport,” Reid praised the duo. “These two understand the game extremely well. Layla is great at reading the field and seeing opportunity. Delaney is amazing when it comes to tackling, rucking, and scrums — the girl definitely has some power.
“Another one to watch is Adele Schlotterback,” the coach continued. “The speed of this girl is unmatched. She’s faster than any girl in the league and definitely has a high school wing position calling her name.”
After a spring’s worth of 7s tournaments, the top four teams advanced to the state championship on May 23 in Elkhart, Ind.
“The final tournament was definitely a little more nerve wracking for the girls than the rest of the season had been,” Reid reflected on the competitiveness of the season. “In the beginning, our team had been able to hold our own over the rest of the teams in the league, but as we approached state, it became obvious that the other teams really had it out to defeat us. All the teams played wonderfully and showed incredible growth over the course of the season, which I think is really gratifying as a coach.”
Carmel (#1) defeated North Central (#4) 52-0 in the semifinals, and second-ranked Charger topped #3 Warsaw 42-15. That set up a Charger vs. Carmel final – a match-up that was mirrored in the girls’ high school final.
“In the championship, Carmel definitely held their own for awhile and gave our girls a challenge for sure. In the end, though, we were able to pull through and compete the season undefeated,” Reid recapped the 56-20 trophy win. “As this is the first year for our middle school team, we have only one state title. However, our high school girls’ team just gained their sixth state title a few weeks ago.”
And thus the legacy grows. Much more important than the number of titles, Charger alumnae and even current high schoolers (the seniors coach the elementary flag program) have the opportunity to reinvest in their club. They are grateful for the playing experiences they had as high schoolers and wish those experiences on the upcoming generations. And so the club thrives.
“Our high school program works insanely close with our middle school, which allows for a great connection between coaches and girls,” Reid closed. “The high school head coach, Kris Carroll, attends a number of our practices to assist and guide the middle school program to operate in a similar manner to the high school to allow for an easy transition between levels.”