Girls are playing rugby…and loving it!

from Rivals High:

The ball is different: Think of a lopsided football – or is it an overinflated soccer ball?

The rules are new: So new, in fact, almost no one knew any of them.

The pace is stunning: How does non-stop running sound?

And then there’s the action: Hard-hitting and bone-jarring.

It would be a challenge to get any group of high school kids to come out and play rugby. But Sebastian (Fla.) River High School was willing and eager to do just that.

With girls.

Yes, that’s right, girls rugby is an officially sanctioned varsity sport at Sebastian River – the only such team in the country.

It’s rough and tough … and if you ask the competitors, a lot of fun.

“I didn’t really know anything about rugby, but I am always up for new things,” senior Christina Kellerman said. “I was always scared to try sports because people judge you so much on how good you are, but I figured no one else has played this sport before and if I didn’t like it I could stop. But now I love it and I don’t think I could stop.”

Head coach Allan Dobson – who coached female university teams in Europe previously – has been thrilled by the response at the school, which began the team last fall.

“They were very nervous, but very excited coming into it,” Dobson said. “They listened, and for three practices a week, they learned. The same is true of the novice girls this year. They are unsure of what they are doing, but one thing is, they are not afraid to tackle now. Once they get that first adrenaline rush of contact, it calms them down.”

That rough-and-tumble play is perhaps the biggest drawing card for some of the players, but Dobson said players don’t realize just how much contact there actually is until they get into it.

“It was overwhelming at first because it was a lot different than I thought it would be,” Kellerman said. “I didn’t expect as much contact and as much aggression, but I like it. … You can take all your stress and anger out with it.”

How did all this get going – at a time when schools are cutting back sports and in a state that already offers flag football for girls? Credit USA Rugby and the progressive thinking of Sebastian River athletic director Michael Stutzke.

To read the rest of the article, go here.