When rugby returned to the 2016 Summer Olympics, the U.S. community hoped that exposure would be felt in rising interest and participation numbers, among other boons. There are no statistics that measure the general impact of the Games on rugby in the U.S., but that’s not to say that individuals weren’t spurred into action after watching the Eagles compete in Rio.
Abby Fearey is a standout example. In summer 2016, the San Marcos, Calif., native was a rising high school freshman, who was also transitioning away from soccer and looking for that next athletic pursuit. Family friends who played rugby endorsed the sport but it wasn’t until Fearey saw the 7s game come alive in Rio that she decided to try it out.
“In most sports, you’re limited to these specific things, but in rugby it’s the opposite,” Fearey said of her initial attraction to the sport. “You can do everything and anything you want – everyone can run, pass, kick – and the only things you can’t do are simple things, like no going out of bounds or high tackles. That’s a big reason why I chose rugby. That and the adrenaline rush.”
Southern California Youth Rugby hosts separate high school and club seasons that run back-to-back to each other, and so Fearey first started playing with San Marcos High School. That team folded a year after Fearey joined and she played the rest of her high school seasons with Rancho Bernardo. There were no interruptions during her club career, however, and Fearey is wrapping up her fourth year with the Coastal Dragons, the team with which she identifies most.
“My biggest influences, early on and now, are Hannah Harper, who was my coach up until last year, and then Kate Zackary and Mandy Wagner,” Fearey said. “All three were on Coastal Dragons and had a huge impact on my first club season. I just love the culture and team environment they’ve created. It’s really positive and feels like family.”
Fearey is a lean 5’7” and was tabbed as a flanker early in her career. Fortunately, the Coastal Dragons coaching staff included a loose forward expert.
“During my first club season with the Coastal Dragons, Kate Zackary was the assistant coach and she took me under her wing,” Fearey said of the USA 15s flanker and captain. “I had never played flanker and she does it at an international level. I saw how much fun and love she has for the sport, and at the international level it’s even more passionate as far as the love of the sport goes. I idolized her.”
One couldn’t have asked for a better mentor, and every time Fearey returns from an assembly or tour, her first stop is Zackary.
“I love that it’s really versatile, and you’re given the responsibilities of high tackle rate and heavy contact, while also being more mobile and aligning with the backs and getting involved in plays,” Fearey elaborated on her love of flanker. “It’s a combination of forward and back player. It’s the best of both worlds.”
It didn’t take Fearey long to start thinking about what was next, both in the near term as far as select sides were concerned, but also after high school and what college rugby programs offer. At the end of freshman year, she started getting involved in SoCal all-stars, which led to the Griffins and the RCTs. She was involved with Institute of Rugby and played on that first invitational side to the NAI 7s, and then connected with Atlantis.
“Coach Josie [Ziluca] has become an important coach for me the past couple of years,” Fearey said. “She always helps me with tracking and more of the playmaking stuff, and Kate helps me with the positional things for flanker.”
Comfortable in both 7s and 15s and pushing for elite opportunities, Fearey entered the Girls High School All-American (GHSAA) system as a sophomore. Her very first exposure to the USA Rugby age grade program occurred at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center, where a selection camp for the Youth Olympic Games qualifier squad took place.
“That was the most intense high school camp for sure. I was super overwhelmed and it was a tough transition,” Fearey recounted. “After that camp the High School All-American level was a lot less scary and threatening, and I’m really grateful I started with that one because it gave me something to grow from. Since it was so difficult and I didn’t make the selection, it allowed me to really grow as a player and bounce back. I think that’s what helped me get to where I am today.”
Fearey came out of that selection camp with a set of work-ons, but the most important one had nothing to do with skills or ability.
“Confidence,” Fearey said of her own feedback from camp. “I was very intimidated by the level of everyone else around me and I was so focused on how good everyone else was. So I didn’t really show my skills as well as I should have. I needed to have confidence – that I was there for a reason and not to count myself out early. When you play with confidence, your skills show.”
Those lessons paid immediate dividends. There were three months until the next GHSAA assembly, and Fearey went back to work in preparation for the Can-Am 7s series in summer 2018. The rising junior was named captain of the Red team, which included several players who did make the Youth Olympic Games qualifier squad.
“That was a big step, going from being ‘cut’ and then picked as a captain the following summer,” Fearey said. “There was no intimidation that time because [previously] it stemmed from me being inside my own head and not giving myself enough credit. I fixed that by then.”
Outside of SoCal, Fearey became a familiar face on the 7s scene, specifically with Atlantis. She and Kate Buzby helped get the Redshirts, which Ziluca coached, together and won the 2019 LVI 7s HS Elite championship. The larger rugby community got a better look at Fearey’s 15s persona during the 2019 Winter Camp, when the GHSAAs played the Canada U18s in Chula Vista. The senior came on during the second half at flanker.
“The direction I got [from staff] was that I needed to be an impact player and my goal was to lift up everyone’s spirits and make sure no one was losing determination or grit to beat Canada,” Fearey said of game-time directives. “The rucks were pretty impressive. Normally people are pretty cautious in rucks but in that competition they were throwing themselves in there with no regard for their bodies. It was tough to defend and took some adjustment.”
Fearey fulfilled her role as an impact player and injected energy onto the pitch even as Canada surged.
“We do self assessments,” Fearey said of feedback after the Canada U18s match. “[The coaches] try to limit what they say because they want you to reflect on yourself. But I was told I made an impact, especially on defense and I changed the pace of the game. I was leading the charge off the line.”
When Fearey reported to the GHSAA Winter Camp, she had already been informed of her invitation to the USA U20 camp in February 2020. She and Hannah Pfersch, who coincidentally shares the same birthday with Fearey, were the only two true high schoolers in Marietta, Ga. [Other youngsters hadn’t aged out of the GHSAAs and were freshmen in college.]
“I was trying my best to avoid [repeating] the situation in the Youth Olympic Games training camp,” Fearey said of mental preparation. “You can’t go in there and be intimidated because these are adults who are playing for DI colleges. I did my best to focus on myself instead of who I was playing with or against, and just absorbed as much information as I could from the coaching staff. I had fun, and it made a huge difference in my performance.”
With that said, Fearey wasn’t completely immune to a little hero worship.
“I was pretty starstruck by Cassidy Bargell,” Fearey confessed. “I follow her on Instagram and she’s always playing with the Eagles and is a phenom. It was really awesome to play on the same team with her and she was one of my captains. It was great to experience how someone can be at that level and yet stay humble.”
Fearey has one more season with the Coastal Dragons during the SoCal high school club 15s season, and then two big rugby-life benchmarks await.
“This summer I’m playing 7s with the San Diego Surfers alongside coach Zackary, which is a really huge deal for me because she’s been my idol throughout my career,” Fearey said.
In fall 2020, Fearey will relocate to Ellensburg, Wash., to join DI Elite Central Washington University.
“It was their sense of community and family that really brought me in, besides having an awesome emerging program,” Fearey said of the Wildcats’ attributes. “Plus, I like underdogs and I think they will be [a contender] in the near future. It’s a strong program with a ton of potential and a lot of talent, and everyone’s so kind and humble. At the DI levels, I’ve noticed that girls had larger egos and looked at each other as competition instead of teammates. I definitely want to be part of the change that gets Central Washington on top in the near future.”
There’s much in store for Fearey and when asked for closing thoughts, she emphasized:
I couldn’t be where i am today with out Hannah Harper, Josie Ziluca, Kate Zackary and Mandy Wagner. They really lifted me up and brought me forward, and got me the tools I needed to progress and achieve.
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