Life Univ Gears Up for DI Elite Season

Life University held its second intra-squad scrimmage last Saturday, offering a first look at the diverse squad this season. The DI Elite 15s season officially kicks off on Feb. 20, when the Running Eagles travel to Lindenwood University (Mo.) for the first of two games. The match is significant for many reasons, but notably, it will mark the start of the first non-virtual regular season for any women’s college league since Covid-19 arrived.

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Life University head coach Ros Chou knew the 2020-21 school year was going to be a lesson in adaptability. She watched as athletic departments shut down sports, and schools invited students to campus only to send them home as the virus proliferated. So Chou delayed the rugby players’ start date by a month, in hopes that a clearer path forward might solidify.

She also offered her student-athletes three options for the fall: be completely remote, train in a full-time environment like ARPTC while attending school virtually, or live and train on campus. Those who reported to Marietta, Ga., were put into training pods, adhered to Covid-19 protocols, and played mostly intra-squad 7s. During team meetings, 15 student-athletes would report via Zoom.

“How do you become a team when all the pieces are not physically together and training together? How do you build team culture through all that,” Chou said of the most difficult aspect of the fall. “Nothing beats seeing each other every day.

“There was so much anxiety over the unknowns,” the coach added. “It was uncertainty with the pandemic and not having everyone on campus together [that made the fall tough].”

But once the majority was able to assemble in person, the captains and coaches were “incredibly and pleasantly surprised,” per Chou, how quickly everything came together. The cohesion wasn’t an accident. She acknowledged new forwards coach, Daemon Torres, a Life alum and Rugby ATL player, for his expertise, and called out team leaders Sylina Flowers, Sydnee Cervinski and Jess Keating.

“It was hard to say, ‘These are the standards we have as a team. This is how we operate,’ when you’re not all in-person,” Chou said. “Sylina, being the most senior, has seen it all. And she knows about adaptability because we talk about it every year.”

Cervinski has been dealing with an injury so while her playing time has been limited, her experience and presence continue to be impactful. Keating is the youngest of the three captains but is a vocal example-setter.

“We were on a high last March,” Chou said. “The past two years, our scores against [reigning national champion] Lindenwood have gotten closer, and by March last year, the scores were looking fantastic. There was a lot of anticipation for playoffs, and then when everything was taken away, everyone went through a grievance process. We couldn’t celebrate Spiff Sedrick winning the MA Sorensen Award – or any of the seniors! Everyone had to grieve, but Keating has really just stepped up [since then]. She reminds everyone that we could lose all of this at any moment because we don’t know what will happen with this new variant or something else. Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed, so be here, be present.”

On Saturday, the Life squad – minus people like Alex Wantlin, who was still in Chula Vista with the USA 7s team – assembled for its second intra-squad scrimmage of 2021. The team had only been playing 15s for two weeks and Chou was impressed with what took shape during three 20-minute blocks, notably the lineouts and decision-making off the scrums.

“There wasn’t a ton of tactical kicking because they were so eager to run around with the ball in their hands,” Chou laughed. “They have hit the ground running and everyone is so grateful to train together – you can just see them smiling and laughing.”

There were many new – or rather, new to the Life University kit – players on the pitch, and they change the dynamic of the team.

“Especially the back line, it could very well we have All-Americans sitting on the bench because the skill of our first-years is exceptional,” said Chou, who indicated that “first years” refers to any player – not just freshmen – who is debuting with Life. “Alex Wantlin, Queennette – she goes by ‘Pepe’ – Toomalatai, Amaya Moala, Brooklyn Vaifanua and Lyric Greenhill-Casados, the South Bay players. Their skill level and the pressure they’re putting on veteran players is incredible. … It’s going to be a real problem figuring out how to get everyone on the field.”

Vaifanua, like Aaliyah Moala, had been out of the game for a couple of years but followed the South Bay (Calif.) migration to Georgia this season. Sophomore Kayla Pemasa from Maui was a big influence in getting freshman Susana Ngalu to also boot up on the mainland. They all inject a new wrinkle to Life’s game.

“We’ve always been known as a fast team – that has always been associated with us – but what we hadn’t had was size and power,” Chou said. “I now have players who are more sizable in the pack but can be extremely mobile with skill.”

The forwards have also brought height to the lineout and no longer field five-foot jumpers. Chou praised USA U18 Angelina Niu as one of the most coachable players she’s ever had, and Eckerd University transfer Emerson Allen as an immediate competitor – who also has a perfect pass.

“The new class is blending really well, but honestly it just seems like a huge increase in skill and game understanding across the board,” Chou reviewed the squad. “I’m really hoping we’re looking like a rapid-pace kind of team that has a little bit of flash – which you’re always going to get with someone like Sue Adegoke out there. They’re all doing so well.”

Transfer students also aid the uptick in rugby IQ. In addition to Allen, Jojo Skucek relocated from Lindenwood, and Penn State graduate Sophie Pyrz is pursuing her master’s at Life. Pyrz joins a growing list of seasoned rugby players who have used their final year of eligibility to play at Life while enrolled in a graduate program. Haley Langan (Harvard), Summer Harris-Jones (UVa), Hannah Fallon Suka (Central Washington) and Bridget Kahele (AIC) are recent examples.

“We’re becoming a destination,” Chou said of the graduate players.

And then there are the players who spent the fall in professional training environments. Chou supported players’ decisions to enlist in American Rugby Pro Training Center’s fall residency program in Little Rock, Ark., while attending school online. Pyrz, Wantlin, Allen and Autumn Locicero all took advantage of the bubble life.

“I wish you could have seen Autumn Locicero [play Saturday],” Chou said.

The junior wasn’t supposed to play in the final 20-minute block with the JV team, but an injury necessitated a sub at fullback. Locicero had played the position before but quickly showcased her versatility while tracking down Coco Mendoza and then Adegoke, planting try-saving tackles and forcing knock-ons in both situations.

“Sue is a two-time All-American. Coco played in the 7s world cup. Autumn chased them down,” Chou said. “She has the biggest heart and ARPTC gave her more time, more work, more skills, and that gave her the extra umph to go and do that.”

Saher Hamdan – also of the transfer ilk (Notre Dame College) and an ARPTC alumna – spent the fall in Glendale, Colo., training with the USA Women’s National Team and benefitted from the Daily Training Environment.

“Saher was just an impact player,” Chou said of the junior’s performance on Saturday. “She had three tries on the weekend and created five turnovers just on her own – literally exposing weaknesses. We’re moving her to the forwards because she’s in the USA pool for hooker.”

Keating was a top hooker when she was playing in Ireland’s U18 ranks and the duo really pushes each other in that role. Chou envisions a day when the two are staring across the scrum at each other, representing their home countries in an international test match.

Fortunately for Life, the team has an active league that will provide 15s competition this spring season – a true rarity in the time of Covid. The DI Elite has even expanded to five teams and now includes BYU, which was a founding member of the league before dropping to DI and winning those titles. Chou also shared that the league is currently courting Grand Canyon University in Arizona.

Life isn’t playing BYU this year but it does have a home match against Central Washington on March 27. The teams agreed to a three-year cycle where each team hosts and then a neutral site is also picked for one year. Penn State is penciled in for a March 20 trip to Georgia. The Nittany Lions have had to push back their start date due to the college’s medical procedures, and those schedule adjustments might effect new dates for the playoffs, currently set to begin on April 10 (#4 v #5), April 17 (semifinals) and May 1 (national championship).

The Running Eagles’ first two games occur against Lindenwood, first in Missouri on Feb. 20, followed by the rematch at home on March 6. The former will be live-streamed through FTF (For the Fans), a perk of CRAA membership, and the latter will be available on FloRugby.

“They’re so excited for Lindenwood,” Chou said. “Might as well start off with the most competitive team you can play. Everybody’s pretty excited and trying to put their hands up. I’ll bring 40-42 … and everyone wants to be one of the chosen, and of course play in the top-side game.”

The varsity match will air at 11 a.m. CT and the B side will follow at 1 p.m. CT.

“It’s always a build-up to April and May,” Chou said of expectations. “We’ll see what we need to work and build on. But what’s going to be great is you’ll see a bunch of folks playing with joy.”