Women’s rugby club in process of establishing itself at Pitt

Every now and then, one may stroll down Fifth Avenue and notice a conglomeration of husky men… Every now and then, one may stroll down Fifth Avenue and notice a conglomeration of husky men tossing their bodies around, engaging in a game of rugby on the Cathedral of Learning lawn.

That usually happens to be the Pitt men’s rugby club practicing, an activity that has been occurring on campus for a number of years now.

But how many people know of a women’s rugby club on campus?

The answer is probably none, and with good reason. Nobody has ever pursued creating such a team.

Until now.

As of this semester, a new, sporty and all-around fun opportunity for women is developing on campus.

What started out as a group of four girls initiating themselves into the sport through the Pittsburgh Women’s Rugby Club is now breaking away and structuring a team of its own through Pitt.

“We felt that we needed to pull away and make it into a college team,” club vice president Moira Marsden said.

Marsden, a Pitt sophomore, has played rugby for four years. She was introduced to the Pittsburgh Women’s Rugby Club through the help of her high school coach and has been an active member with the club since the fall of her freshman year.

From there, Marsden met three other Pitt girls who play with the club as well. The four grew to become good friends and decided to engage in a persistent effort to create a club of their own.

Arrangements are being made to make the club official and to play competitively by the fall.

So far, numerous women have shown interest. In a recent recruiting effort that lasted three days on campus, 70 students signed up to join the club.

The club will kick things off and establish a team throughout the remainder of this semester. They will hold practices together, but on a limited basis for now.

Right now, the team is in need of a proper facility to practice on. It has limited access to the Cost Center and is also looking for more time elsewhere.

Support from the Pittsburgh Women’s Rugby Club will enable Pitt to join them and have extra practice time. However, the club hopes that it will be able to hold its own practices in the future and have more access to a field.

Marsden and her crew are optimistic that things will fall into place for the club and they will find somewhere to play.

They are also in the process of scheduling games, which would be played at the Division II level. They believe finding teams to play will come soon because women’s rugby is becoming more popular on college campuses everywhere.

Marsden strongly believes that this club can be a success. She encourages women to check out the sport and look beyond the false reputation of this being a brutal sport.

“Rugby is really a friendly sport,” she said. “It’s all about having fun with us.”

With over 70 names on their list, this club, which began with only four girls, certainly has a lot of interest and some room to work with.

“This is a supportive, competitive sport growing for women across the country,” Marsden said. “It’s really starting to get more looked at.”