Norwich Cadets moving up to Division I

from Norwich Athletics:

NORTHFIELD, Vt. – After winning their first USA Rugby Division II National Championship this spring, the Norwich women’s rugby team has elected to advance to the first division for the 2012-13 season.

The promotion moves the Cadets into the toughest division in all of college rugby, which consists of an elite group of approximately 80 colleges from around the country.

Norwich will be the smallest school in Division I.  With just under 600 women enrolled at NU, the Cadets will challenge schools with female enrollments of up to 10,000-20,000.

This is nothing new to the Cadets who have been playing NCAA Division I schools who have a rugby program playing in the 2^nd division.  With the move to Division I, what was the exception of playing a large school will now become the norm.

Along with moving to the first division, the Cadets are joining a newly formed conference that will run parallel to the men’s rugby team.  The New England Collegiate Rugby Conference (NECRC) will be Division I on the women’s side and will be led by Commissioner Nate Godfrey of the University of Rhode Island.  Norwich head coach Austin Hall will be in charge of scheduling and competition structure for the conference and Frank Caruso of U-Mass-Amherst will head the disciplinary committee.

The NECRC is working with USA Rugby to form official conference status and should have an automatic qualifying bid to the national championships beginning this upcoming academic year.

Joining Norwich in the new conference (NECRC) are: Boston College, Boston University, Northeastern, U. of Connecticut, U. of Massachusetts and U. of Rhode Island

Schedules and more information regarding the conference will be forthcoming in the next few weeks.

“I am thrilled about the jump to Division I,” said NU head coach Austin Hall.  “From day one with this program, we’ve set an incredibly high standard for success.  We have practiced like a Division I team, we’ve played like a Division I team, we’ve lived around the clock like a Division I team and athlete – the move won’t change the way we do business, but it will bring added attention from the national rugby community and hopefully the regional sports scene as well.”

Coach Hall believes that Norwich will continue to be successful in Division I and that the move will help individual Norwich players garner awards such as All-American honors and national team selection.

Norwich won the Division I National Championship in 7’s rugby, the Olympic variation of the sport, this past winter and will now play Division I for both codes.