The Women’s Premier League (WPL) season now occurs in the spring, and the country’s top clubs are piecing together fall schedules against each other and against local sides. The western teams have returned to the pitch a bit faster than their eastern conference counterparts, and San Diego has been the busiest of everyone.
That said, “busiest” is a relative descriptor.
“We’re trying to reach out to local clubs, but nobody really wants to play against a WPL side,” San Diego Surfers head coach Jarrod Faul said. “We’re searching high and low to get games so our players can get minutes.”
San Diego started assembling in June, running player-led skills sessions and touch, and competed in some summer 7s tournaments. Faul came on in late July.
“Initially we started training as one squad, but then we got numbers and were able to split into WPL and DI sides,” said Faul, who works alongside DI coach Derika Legg. “I was well surprised by the numbers, but maybe the time off from rugby got people interested in playing again.”
The teams train separately and test each other during intra-squad scrimmages. There’s a nice injection of recent collegiate graduates, and some are already putting their hands up for WPL consideration.
“We have some veterans who came back – Megan Foster, Hunter Griendling, Julie Buescher, Teigan MacDonald, Evi Ashenbrucker,” Faul talked leadership. “But we lost some leadership, too – Kate Zackary, Jam Reinhardt, Tia Blythe and Liz Trujillo. We did gain a few players from other WPL teams – like Cathy Cai from Berkeley, Elona Williams from Life West and ARPTC, and Bailey Johnson from Minnesota – and those three have made an impact.”
The team’s first run-out occurred on Aug. 21 against the Vipers, a NorCal-based select side that emerged this year. Win Shortland runs the team, and has intentions for a professionally run entity that travels around the U.S. and internationally, but the pandemic has temporarily halted that growth. When Faul was waiting for senior club rugby to resume, he started a youth program under the Vipers umbrella, bringing kids together in more of an off-season, skills-based format that met twice per week.
“The whole club played against the Vipers,” Faul said. “The DI side got the first half, and the WPL got the second half. We played in quarters so everyone got at least 20 minutes on the field.”
San Diego then played its first WPL team on Sept. 11, traveling to ORSU for the Jesters’ first run-out of the fall. But the Surfers didn’t actually get to train in the week leading up to the match, as Covid protocols prevented the Tuesday assembly and Thursday’s practice halted after 20 minutes due to lightning.
“So we didn’t train that week and traveled with 16 players,” Faul said. “Half of the forward pack were backs that we had to slot in there. We ended up doing uncontested scrums against ORSU. They had good numbers and were still looking at players, too.”
The game was a proper scrimmage, and Faul was happy to put two full-40-minute halves in the bank.
“It was a high-scoring game in the end, but it was a good chance to test ourselves against a WPL side,” the coach said of the 63-22 win. “Up until that point we were still trialing our players, just trying to get them on the field and get a decent look at them. But now the team’s starting to take shape.”
On Saturday, San Diego held a double-header as the WPL side played another new side – the East Palo Alto Razorhawks – and DI took on local team Oceanside.
“The game against the Razorhawks was really about building off of our last game and giving our combinations time together,” Faul said. “Then it was also a chance to test out a few players who are on the fringe at the moment and that we haven’t seen enough of. The first half was what might be considered our top side together.”
A mostly familiar team took the pitch, and recent college graduates like Ashley Torrecillas (St. Mary’s College) and Alyssa Collins (Cal) got the start. The former was a leading scorer for the Gaels, and the latter captained the Bears as the program was making a solid turn-around in the DI Pacific Mountain. The Surfers won 94-19.
The DI match was much more even, and the Surfers led 17-10 after 50 minutes. The game was then called when a player broke their leg.
San Diego’s WPL side will travel to Las Vegas Strong on Oct. 2, and then host Life West on Oct. 16. The top side’s fall season ends on Oct. 23 with a trip to Berkeley. The DI schedule is less firm, but Faul mentioned Santa Monica and Tempe as potential opponents.
“We’re just trying to build from week to week,” Faul said of fall goals. “Everyone’s excited about the Life West and Berkeley games coming up, and to play quality rugby. This is all in preparation for the spring.”
In the eastern portion of the country, New York – whose game against Atlanta was canceled last weekend – is scheduled to play Beantown on Sept. 25. Twin Cities hasn’t released any WPL fixtures but is still running an active DII team (which won its Sept. 18 match 72-5 vs. Menagerie). On Oct. 2, Chicago North Shore is supposed to host the Colorado Gray Wolves, and the team that beat the California Grizzlies on the road will host Lindenwood University this weekend.