Developmental Division Broadens HS Nationals Opportunities

On May 17-19, the Girls High School 15s and High School Club 15s national tournaments will be filling the Wisconsin Rugby Sports Complex in Cottage Grove, Wis. The event is a showcase for the top 15s programs in the country and the type of rugby that this specific  age grade is playing today. It’s a truly important event that draws scouts and fans alike. And there is also a place for teams that want to partake in that experience but maybe not vie for a Division I title. The developmental brackets provide that opportunity and build out the festival feel.

RELATED: Learn more about Single-School & HS Club 15s nationals

The opportunity is not lost on Lassen Fleege, an English teacher and girls’ head rugby coach at Hononegah Community High School. Rockton, Ill., is approximately 50 miles south of Cottage Grove, making John Waliszewski’s pitch to attend 2024 nationals a real possibility. Waliszewski is the administrative force behind the National Girls Coaches Committee, which organizes the annual single-school championship, and he approached Fleege with the developmental tier at nationals.

“I was interested in the two levels of competition,” Fleege said of the original hook. “I still consider us relatively young, so we’re not ready for a national [DI] competition, but I think it could be a great learning experience. I’m signing us up for hopefully the less intense, more fun tournament, and then watching the other level will be really eye opening for them.”

Fleege started the team in fall 2018, building on a rugby career that began junior year at Univ. St. Andrews in Scotland and continued at Yale University. She became a teacher after graduation and focused on rugby coaching, starting co-ed middle school teams in Scottsdale and Tucson, Ariz. After seven years in the Grand Canyon State, Fleege moved to northern Illinois and immediately started talking rugby to students.

In a school of approximately 2,000 students, the girls’ rugby team rostered 14 players in its first season (spring 2019) and was permitted to play 10s/12s in the Rugby Illinois season. The team features Hononegah students only, joining Taft High School as the only other single-school team in Rugby Illinois.

“It’s a little complicated because Illinois hasn’t recognized girls’ rugby as a high school sport, so that means the school can’t technically call us a sport,” Fleege said of the team’s status on campus. “But we’ve gone through the school board to get a higher status than other clubs, so we’re an athletic club. … That was a big step for us, and the girls had a big part to play in that.”

The distinction brought support from the athletics office. The team trains and plays games on campus, and in 2022, the girls’ rugby team was granted access to the stadium for matches. The school pays for things like referees and busses, and players are eligible for PE waivers, which allow athletes to opt out of a semester of PE class due to participation in a sport.

“We’re in a stable place,” said Fleege, who rostered 24 players for the developmental season in the fall. “And we definitely have interest in the school. Kids coming in from 8th grade know that rugby is a sport at the school and they come in eager to sign up.

“The girls overall feel more equal to other athletes in the school,” the coach continued. “That’s one thing that has grown – a lot of pride and confidence in playing rugby. From being a club that not everyone in the school knew existed, to being pretty well established and having their friends come watch the games – they feel successful.”

Hononegah has rebuilt since covid, and two years ago, the program graduated its first group of players who started as freshmen and played all four years.

“That was a huge game changer – to have that amount of experienced players help teach the newer players learn the game,” Fleege said. “The first two years, we didn’t have any models, except watching videos. Now we have several players who are fourth-year players.”

In particular there are two seniors who stand out and serve as dedicated leaders on the field: scrumhalf Yves Smith and utility back Mekenna Gibson.

“Yves was our top scorer last year,” Fleege said of the nine. “She’s small and quick and oftentimes underestimated on the field because she’s so small, but she does a great job taking opportunities and leading as a scrumhalf.

“Mekenna is an incredibly hard worker. Probably the fittest on the field,” the coach continued. “We’ve played her in several positions and she’s really stood out in all of them – fullback, she filled in for scrumhalf for a while, flyhalf, inside center. Just very flexible. And she probably has the strongest knowledge of the game. Very intelligent and studies things. She understands more about the options in those leadership positions than many other players.”

Ella Holmstrom is a junior but has also distinguished herself as a dedicated, smart utility player. She’ll move in concert with Gibson – if one’s playing fullback, then the other is at flyhalf, or somewhere else in the back line. The effect is that the duo have a good grasp of the overall game.

“She was a surprise,” Fleege said. “When she joined as a freshman, she was the sweetest looking and sweetest person in the world. She doesn’t look like rugby should be her sport, but she’s definitely made it her own. She’s got a strong technical knowledge and also a really hard worker. She comes to every winter workout, every practice, and another one who’s played multiple positions.

Holmstrom has served as captain at times but next year she’ll be the main leader for the team.

Hononegah will start pre-season practices next week and ready for the six-team regular season in Rugby Illinois. As mentioned, Taft is a single-school team, and the four other teams are clubs – some of which are the combination of multiple clubs.

“Our league suffered a bit,” Fleege said of the pandemic’s impact. “We lost a couple other teams that weren’t able to restart after covid. We were on the outskirts before – the new people with not enough players – and now we’re one of the teams that always has enough to play a full [15s] match, and we’re a little more established compared to some of the other teams that were more established before [covid].”

Internally, Fleege is happy with the length of the season, which parallels many of the other spring sports in the school. Then of course, there’s nationals in nearby Cottage Grove.

“I think they’ll be excited, and glad that we’re not at the highest level of the competition,” Fleege anticipated the players’ reaction to the additional fixture. “It’s something new for us and this opportunity isn’t going to happen probably again for a while, as they probably move locations every year. So even to be present will be big for us.”

Fleege explained that a handful of players each year go on to play rugby college, but that generally, it’s not a priority after graduation.

“I hope the other teams in the developmental league are at a competitive level with us and it’s not a complete mismatch,” Fleege said of goals for nationals. “I hope it’s a learning experience and broadens what they’ve already seen. Again we compete in a small league – just six teams in northern Illinois – so this should be inspiring.”