BYU women's rugby steps up ahead of championship bout with Penn State


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PROVO — Three BYU teams will play for national titles Saturday.

But this story isn’t about the three-time national champion men’s volleyball team or five-time champ men’s rugby squad. It's about the BYU women's rugby team, which has only been formally recognized by the university for eight months.

BYU seniors Jordan Gray and Jessie Beck remember the old days of practicing in the rain before home games near Fort Utah Park on the city’s west side — an eternity away from campus and BYU student life, it seemed.

With the official sanctioning of the program as an extramural sport in October 2015, future women’s ruggers won’t have to go through that at BYU — which makes Saturday’s USA Rugby Division I Elite national championship in Moraga, California, as much a game for the past as for the present of BYU women’s rugby.

“Before, we would abide by the same rules as every BYU team, but we never got a chance to wear the ‘Y,’” said Gray, whose team will kick off against perennial power Penn State at 1 p.m. MDT on the Rugby Channel. “Now our actions get to match what we wear on our shirts; it’s been cool … just to be able to fully say ‘I play for the Y.’”

The 6-foot All-American and sister of former BYU volleyball star Alexa Gray has already graduated, and she’s excited for life after BYU. But in the middle of studying for grad school and training with the USA Eagles women’s national team Super Series in Salt Lake City this summer, Gray is focused on one final task with her current club.

BYU flanker Heidi Galster battles opposing tacklers. (Courtesy Photo: BYU women's rugby)
BYU flanker Heidi Galster battles opposing tacklers. (Courtesy Photo: BYU women's rugby)

That task involves going up against the defending Division I national champion Nittany Lions, a program the Cougars — like any women’s rugby team in the nation — know well.

“That’s what I’m hoping that we’ll become,” said Gray, a native of Calgary, Alberta. “They go out and recruit, and they have all the strong facilities. All their players have played before; I know a lot of them (from the national team, etc.). I’m excited.”

When BYU suits up Saturday morning at Saint Mary’s Rugby Stadium, the Cougars won’t only be representing themselves or the current student body. BYU, led by seniors like Gray, Beck and All-American Rebekah Hebdon, will represent all of those who have gone before.

Cougar women’s rugby was founded in 2004, but it was always outside the periphery of BYU extramural club sports. Since October, women’s rugby remains a non-varsity sport at BYU (i.e. no scholarships, et al), but before being classified as an extramural, the privately funded club team wasn’t allowed to formally train, practice or play on campus, except in public areas like the fieldhouse track. Medical support involved buying ice at a local gas station to pad injuries, whereas now a student athletic trainer and adviser is assigned to the team every semester.

“We stand on a lot of shoulders who have sacrificed a lot of time, money, dedication and hard work,” said Beck, a native of Pleasant Grove. “I’m grateful to be a part of this moment. For the team, it means that we’re finally there, in a sense. We can still improve on a lot and keep growing.

“But to get to a national championship game means a lot, and to have the school backing us means a lot. I think it’s a culmination of a lot of positive things that have happened recently.”

Head coach Tom Waqa has led the program since 2004. But when the school announced its decision to back the club as an extramural sports program last October, he knew it meant a different era for his players.


Before, we would abide by the same rules as every BYU team, but we never got a chance to wear the ‘Y.' Now our actions get to match what we wear on our shirts; it’s been cool … just to be able to fully say ‘I play for the Y.’

–BYU women's rugby All-American Jordan Gray


He’s seen it in the way they play, too. The Cougars knocked off Stanford 70-5 in the opening round of the eight-team USA Rugby Division I Elite playoffs. A week later, BYU stunned Central Washington 24-10 — its first win over the Wildcats in program history — on the road.

Extramural sanctioning played a big part in the playoff run.

“The support we are getting from the school is huge,” said Waqa, a native of Fiji and former rugby team captain at BYU-Hawaii. “It affects performance in a lot of ways. To get that kind of support and blessing from the school is big for us; we are able to do some things that we normally wouldn’t be able to do when we were just privately funded.”

Because BYU’s coaches and student-athletes are still non-scholarship volunteers, Waqa and the Cougars spend three days a week in organized practice. In the past, if snow or detrimental weather forced the Cougars indoors, they’d have to be content with using the track at the Smith Fieldhouse to run windsprints.

This season, inclement weather merely pushes BYU women’s rugby to the school’s Indoor Practice Facility — a building they couldn’t use until this season. Outdoor practices are conducted at BYU’s Helaman Field, the same field the five-time national champion men’s rugby team uses.

Games are played at South Field instead of the nether regions of Fort Utah Park in Provo.

“That has been such a blessing, to be able to practice instead of just run around a track three times a week,” Beck said. “That’s good, but you can’t hit or tackle; we had a lot of muddy practices at Kiwanis Park.”

As a sponsored program, travel accommodations have also helped the Cougars stay in upgraded hotels prior to road matches, Waqa said.

“It’s a benefit for performance,” he added. “You can see at game time the difference in performance when the team is well-rested and well-prepared for the game.”

The BYU women's rugby team practices in the Indoor Practice Facility in Provo, Tuesday, May 3, 2016 before Saturday's USA Rugby Division I Elite national championship against Penn State. (Photo: Sean Walker, KSL.com)
The BYU women's rugby team practices in the Indoor Practice Facility in Provo, Tuesday, May 3, 2016 before Saturday's USA Rugby Division I Elite national championship against Penn State. (Photo: Sean Walker, KSL.com)

Saturday marks the culmination of a long journey for BYU women’s rugby — but also a look at where the team can go in the future. Penn State has won 10 national championships, and sits in a position comparable to fully funded, varsity sports teams across the sporting landscape.

It’s a position BYU and many other programs in the nation hope to one day become.

“We’re going in as an underdog, and it’s always good to be an underdog,” Waqa said. “It means a lot to us; we don’t want to be under pressure. To be in the final for the first time means a lot to these girls. You can see it.”

The Cougars will give such a team the respect they need, even deserve, Beck said. But when the whistle blows, there will be no holding back.

“It’s been a blessing to get this far, and they have a reputation that we need to take into account,” Beck added. “But I’m confident in our game.

“I think we are better than we’ve ever been, with all the training and conditioning we’ve done. I’m excited to face our opponent. It’ll be a good game; two great teams playing each other for a title. I just hope to come out on top.”

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