Last week, Idaho’s West Ada School District kicked off year three of the girls’ high school fall 7s season, and Rocky Mountain High School leads both the JV and varsity standings in the Rugby Idaho-supported competition. Round 2 was postponed due to unhealthy air conditions produced by wildfires in the area, but the league and teams are primed to roll with the roadblocks given life under Covid-19.
Jeff Harward is in his third year as head coach of the Grizzlies 7s program, which holds the 2019 JV and varsity championship titles. His rugby career began in 2012, when the then-21-year-old moved from Meridian, Idaho, to Seattle.
“It was pretty amazing to be able to walk into rugby with that level of player around me,” Harward said of his three years with the now-named Seattle RFC. “There were tons of Eagles playing up there. Waisale Serevi was up there and coaching. It was an awesome experience.”
Harward moved to eastern Washington and created a boys’ high school team. That’s where his coaching career began, and he spent another two years in The Evergreen State before returning home.
“I’m not playing anymore. I got old pretty young,” Harward said of injuries. “But I found coaching to be 100% more rewarding and enjoyable than playing.”
When the West Ada School District created a high school girls’ 7s competition for fall 2018, Harward applied for the unique opportunity.
“I had a little bit of concern going in, probably the same concern everyone would have of a younger guy coaching high school girls. There’s always a little bit of awkwardness,” Harward said. “It was an easy transition though. I pretty much set expectations. Now, one thing I always say is: If I had a choice between coaching girls or boys, I pick girls 100%. Girls listen a little bit better, though it might not seem like it at times. They listen and do what you ask, and there’s not a lot of ego. It makes coaching so much easier.”
Harward started with approximately a dozen players and advanced to the West Ada semifinals in 2018. The roster grew to 27 players in fall 2019, when both the JV and varsity teams took home the district championship. This year, even under pandemic conditions, the squad has grown to 32 players and the Grizzlies are running three full squads (two in the JV competition).
“We’re definitely heading in the right direction,” Harward said of the program’s trajectory. “We’re building something that players enjoy and want to bring their friends to. At our training camp, we had five or six that came from soccer and lacrosse. They get hooked, they love it, and then they tell their friends.”
All of the teams in the West Ada/Rugby Idaho competition are sponsored by their schools, so there is financial support, and coaches are overseen by athletic directors. The sport is visible at school and legitimized in the eyes of fellow classmates. But the competition hasn’t lost its rugby spirit. Harward indicated that if an opponent can only field six players, they’ll match numbers. Fewer than six players results in a forfeit, but then a friendly will evolve and teams will share players, so everyone gets game time.
During Round 1, Rocky Mountain’s two JV sides faced each other in the very first game of the series. Only two players had ever played before, and everyone else is brand new.
“A lot of the time when you see a game where people have never played before, it can be rough. The game doesn’t resemble rugby because it’s so scattered,” Harward said. “But they played so well and gave 100% and it looked good! They started the series right. They both won their second games of the day and I thought they really brought their level of play up.”
The JV Purple side won 29-5 and later beat Meridian JV 42-5. The JV Black side beat Eagle JV 12-0 in its second match. Harward gave high marks to Bryn Carter, “a try-scoring machine,” as well as Brynlee Buchmiller, who made some nice breakaways and tackles throughout both matches. Grace Mason, who is one of the returners, is really coming into her own and added phenomenal dropkicks to her arsenal.
“I’m excited about all of the girls but there are a couple who stand out,” Harward said. “Lucy Christiansen, she comes from soccer, and also has a really good drop. She’s athletic and can move. She goes with the flow, and that’s what I look for the most in new players: How much can you adapt? Because with rugby, you learn while you play.”
Mountain View JV also ended Round 1 with two wins, beating Meridian 22-19 and Eagle 10-5. The following day, the five-team varsity competition convened for Round 1. Rocky Mountain had graduated a solid senior class from its championship team, and the 2020 squad started a little slowly.
“There was some hesitation,” Harward set up the team’s opener against Meridian. “It’s a new side playing together, so there were some jitters, but they pulled it out. With no time left, Kennedy Pabst ran back a kickoff and converted her own try for the [19-17] win.
“It was a learning experience for the girls and myself,” the coach continued. “We had talked about the game, they said they knew what they were doing to do, but those [game-time] reactions aren’t second nature yet.”
Harward didn’t have to say much during the debrief. The team understood what needed correcting and then executed against Centennial in a 45-0 decision.
“They decided they wanted to play,” Harward said. “They turned it on, the offloads were good, they were hitting it. They told me afterward that they were thinking too much in the first game, and in the second game they loosened up and had fun, and that opened it up for much better game play.”
Captain Pabst led the way with 34 points on four tries and seven conversions. To boot, the prop put in a stellar performance at flyhalf during the second game.
“Our regular flyhalf had rolled her ankle in the first game, but she’s also knew,” Harward explained the position move. “So we sat her in the second game so she could recover and moved Kennedy to 10, because she’s so dynamic and can play anywhere. It was like the Golden Ticket. As soon as we started, it was: OK, this is where she’s going.”
Junior center Teuila Nawahine also had a good outing and scored two tries.
“She is just killer,” Harward said of the third-year player. “She’s a natural, has a great step, reads the field and can hit. It’s fun to watch her play.”
Dillyn Hadley, Annie Steenblik, Abree Franklin and Cleo Hathorne also scored a try apiece for the Rocky Mountain varsity team.
Harwood expects Mountain View to be the team’s toughest competition this fall, although he’s not discounting Eagle. The former beat Meridian 22-10 and Eagle 17-0, and the latter beat Centennial 26-0 before the shutout loss to Mountain View.
But the strength of the competition is not the only concern this fall season. ASide from the wildfires delaying play, a lot of energy is devoted to the social distancing and sanitization that Covid-19 requires of team sports and events. Additionally, remote schooling has not been a seamless process, so that’s more anxiety and disruption piled onto student-athletes.
“We are super excited to be able to play,” Harward said. “The attitude around here has really been that everybody’s ready to move forward. … This is an opportunity for them to have some normalcy, to play a sport and get out and practice, and be with friends. There are precautions and rules that we’re following to the best of our ability, and we’re hoping that’s enough to let us get through the season safely.”
If the season does evolve as planned, then league games will occur weekly until Oct. 6. The playoffs begin Oct. 14, and the district champion will be named Oct. 17. The high school scene then shifts into club mode and the Grizzlies will align under the Rocky Mountain Rugby club umbrella. In recent years, the club has expanded into 7s and the girls have featured at tournaments in Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. The springtime brings club 15s, and Harward also coaches the girls’ team.
“It’s been great to take these girls out of Idaho,” Harward said. “It was a real eye-opener for the girls to see different standards of play and to know there is a next level out there. It’s not just playing here and then you’re done after high school. There’s college, there’s scouts, there’s a lot more out there.”
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