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PROVO -- Last year the BYU women's rugby team was one win away from reaching the collegiate final four for the first time in their history. When they learned that playing for that win would have to take place on Sunday, they made the decision not to play.
"It was heartbreaking. I won't sugarcoat it at all. It was hard," says fly half Kara Remington. "We wanted it so badly and felt that we had such a good shot at it and to have that pulled out from under us wasn't fun."
All 35 members of the team were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They made the decision to observe the sabbath instead of chasing their final four dream.
It was a decision that made national headlines.
"We were shocked," says flanker Samantha Wright. "We got off the plane and our captain said the New York Times called and wants to do a story and we're like, what? Our school doesn't want to do a story on us but the New York Times does?"
The team received e-mails from around the world. Support from strangers who found their decision inspirational. It's given them an opportunity to share their story and their faith with others, an opportunity they never would have received without the making the difficult decision.
"We've learned that it's important to stand up for what you believe in," says assistant coach Kirsten Siebach who was a senior on last year's team. "While it was difficult, and it's still difficult, what we gained out of it was much more important."
One year later the Cougar women have qualified for the final four which will take place this weekend in Palo Alto California. They will face Army on Friday and if they win they will earn a chance to play for a national championship.
"We finally get our chance to show the rest of the nation and the rest of the rugby world what we can do," says Remington.
With the title game scheduled for a Saturday their is nothing standing in their way.
"We have the ability to win it," says Kayla Ellington who plays lock on the team. "We have the ability to move on and bring home a national championship and it's a very cool experience."
The team still faces one last obstacle before they can compete for a title. Because women's rugby is not a sanctioned sport at BYU they don't receive funding from the school. The team relies on fundraising and donations to fund their program including the trip this weekend to the final four. They are currently $1,000 dollars short of the amount they need for the trip.
"Anything anyone can contribute is definitely helpful," says Siebach.
CLICK HERE if you would like to donate and support Cougar women's rugby.
Email: jjensen@ksl.comTwitter: @JJSportsBeat
