Many colleges and universities pride themselves on including some of America’s most popular sports on their campuses. Having originated in England, a sport many don’t hear much about is rugby. Despite the lack of attention to the sport, it is loved by plenty of people, including students within the Bradley community.
Rugby is a full-contact sport played with an oval-shaped ball on a rectangular field called a pitch with goalposts at each end. It can be played with teams of either seven or 15 players. Players aim to get the ball through their opponent’s goalposts. They can run with the ball, kick it or pass to a teammate only sideways or backward, not forward.
The Bradley Girls Rugby Club was founded at the end of fall 2021 by Kiki Fisher, a freshman biomedical science major, who carries a love for the sport from high school.
“I thought I’d just go from being an athlete the last three years of my life to just not doing anything, and I didn’t like it,” Fisher said. “I thought I should start a rugby club since the Peoria Women’s Rugby Club is around, but it’s expensive to [have] a gym membership.”
While unable to obtain an individual membership, the Peoria Women’s Rugby Club contacted Fisher after she started her club about potentially working together in the future, possibly starting as soon as later this semester.
No experience is needed to participate in girls’ rugby, as noted by the club’s committee chair, freshman Autumn Haberkorn-Mendes.
“I’ve played sports like volleyball and tennis, so I’m familiar with them,” Haberkorn-Mendes said. “When it came to rugby, that’s something I’ve never tried [and] I wanted to try something new.”
Paige Mathys, freshman biomedical science research and development major, secretary of the club, said that being a member has already provided many benefits, including strengthening her connection with long-time lovers of rugby in her family.
“My dad played rugby throughout high school and college,” Mathys said. “[The club] has given me a closer connection to [him] because it’s something we can really [start to] bond over.”
While the rugby club is new to campus, Fisher has voiced high hopes for its short and long-term future at Bradley. It’s Fisher’s goal to bring a new club sport to Bradley.
“I’m really excited to get out on a pitch again, whether it be with the Peoria Women’s Rugby Club, or [getting] onto Meinen Field,” Fisher said.
Although girls’ rugby is advertised as a club for female students, members have said that male students interested in rugby would not be excluded.
“We do have some guys that plan to come to our meetings,” Fisher said. “It can be really difficult to play such an intense sport with girls and guys together, but if guys wanted to start a team, I would love to help them in any way [I can].”
The Girls Rugby Club meets Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. Following informational meetings, practice will be held until 7 p.m. on either Meinen Field or Alumni Quad. The club aims to have group conditioning for a few hours once a week at Markin.
More information about the club can be found on their Instagram.
