This continually updated list is tracking both coaching and competition changes for the impending 2023-24 women’s rugby collegiate school year. Links below provide more detail. Post will relocate to the top of the news feed when updates are made.

COACHING

NIRA

• Bowdoin College – Laura Miller of Aquinas College replaces MaryBeth Mathews, now retired, as head coach (HC)
• Newberry College – Eric Enright of Austin/Berkeley/Tampa Bay replaces Emily Roskopf (now asst coach at alma mater Quinnipiac) as HC
• Guilford College – Christine Newcomb of Brown Univ. replaced Jeff Horton (Frostburg State) as HC
• Mount St Mary’s – Maggie Myles of Queens/Scion replaces Farrah Douglas as HC
• Norwich – Baylee Annis will replace Austin Hall (now asst. coach) as head coach
• Angelica Rodriguez named head coach of Warren Wilson College
• New Haven – Quinnipiac grad Madi Gegeckas joins the Chargers as an assistant coach
• Army West Point – Former Iowa State head coach Kelsie McDowell has joined as an assistant coach
• U.S. Naval Academy – Former Olympian Abby Gustaitis has joined as an assistant coach
• Manhattanville College – Dylan Aldrich named as HC Frank Graziano’s replacement on Sept. 26
• Vermont State Univ. Castleton (formerly, Castleton) replaced HC Denver Divens with Erin LaMountain but that athletic department has not released an announcement (Oct. 3)

NCR

• Iowa State – Greg Rodrigue of Indianola HS replaces Kelsie McDowell (who has joined Army West Point staff) as HC
• UMaine Farmington – Ali Banks (’22) replaces Emily Gray as HC
• Notre Dame College – Vanessa Marsh of Baldwin Wallace replaces Jack Nece (HC)
• Baldwin Wallace – Shannon Hustosky replaces Vanessa Marsh (NDC)
• Wayne State College – Bryn Chivers of Univ. South Dakota replaces Darrin Barner as men’s and women’s teams head coach

CRAA

• Long Beach State – Rudy Bautista is the new head coach
• Stanford Univ – Richard Ashfield has been promoted to Director of Rugby and Irene Gardner comes on as assistant coach

COMPETITION

• NCR has absorbed the majority of CRAA DII fall 15s programs, as well as teams from the former DI Blue Ridge, DII Carolinas and DII Capital conferences [the full extent of transfers won’t be known until fall schedules start going live, but we’re tracking moves here]. That means a more robust 15s championship season for NCR.

• CRAA’s DI Elite has added BYU and the competition will contest its championship in the spring. Grand Canyon Univ. is playing some exhibition games against DI Elite teams. Life’s Ryszard Chadwick is the new commissioner.
• There is no CRAA DII Fall 15s Championship; however, the Rocky Mountain and Northeast will feed into a DI Fall 15s post-season, details TBA (last updated: Oct. 3)
• CRAA has created a new competition: Division 3 fall 15s. More to come … so far, New England Wide is contributing teams.

• NIRA‘s at 28 teams. Forty is the magic number. Navy, Frostburg State, Emory & Henry and Warren Wilson are new members this school year. But Alderson Broaddus and Colby-Sawyer College lost their athletic department’s sponsorship. Read more.

• Marywood (Pa.) was not a NIRA member but its athletic department did support the program – until this year. Marywood will now continue as a club program.