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The Women’s Rugby Club is preparing for their upcoming 2019 season.
The first match is a friendly game against Kansas State University in Manhattan on Saturday, March. 2.
The club currently has 22 members and does not compete in a conference yet.
Although the club will be competing in matches against other universities, it is not yet an official club sport at Pitt State, according to senior Kallie O’Keefe, Women’s Rugby Club President.
“We are not officially a club group yet until next year,” O’Keefe said. “I do not remember how all of that works. We are a Pitt team, but we have to go a year of being a team before (we) will officially be a Pitt club… So, we just play friendly (matches) right now and a couple of us will contact the other schools and just schedule (games)… Since we are not officially a school club yet, we have a couple of players who do not go to Pitt (so) next year they will not be able to play but right now there is about three or four of them. So far this semester we have (got) three or four new girls too.”
The club has support from the Men’s Rugby Club, family, and friends of current members.
“… I don’t want to say that we have super big numbers for us playing but we have the guys (rugby) team who support us a lot and then just a bunch of our friends and family know and supports us and help us when we need it,” O’Keefe said.
O’Keefe is looking forward to this season, despite being unsure of whether or not she can play due to an injury.
“This is my last semester playing,” O’Keefe said. “I am not sure if I can play yet because I am injured but (I look forward to) hopefully just having fun, enjoying it, (and) hopefully getting some more trys before the season sends.”
O’Keefe hopes to see new members join the club and everyone enjoying the sport.
“We want girls to show up and work hard because it is something new and right now I think we have such small numbers that any new girls we get are going to play,” O’Keefe said. “So just figuring out the sport and the rules as they come and honestly just having fun and enjoying it.”
According to O’Keefe, the club is more about building lasting friendships and playing rugby.
“I am hoping that we will have more people come out and join the sport and just get people more experience,” O’Keefe said. “It is kind of something that not a lot of people know about and whenever girls think of rugby they think they have to be big girls and they have to be tough, but it is just more of a community having fun and making those connections to get future jobs…”
The Women’s Rugby Club will start practicing next week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They can be contacted through the Pitt State Clubs and Organizations website or through Facebook.
“If people want to come out, message us,” O’Keefe said. “We are super friendly, and we have a super diverse group of girls playing. It is a good way to make new friendships and honestly to just join a new family between the girl’s team and the guy’s team.”
