GIRLS’ RUGBY TEAM: SECRETS TO SUCCESS
The Poway High School girls’ rugby team has been a fan favorite for some time now, and have been dominating their opponents. They have mustered up many new teammates this year, with new players across every grade level. The team has been growing and expanding on the daily; Some members continually practicing since the end of last season. Poway’s rugby teams operate as a club, because rugby is not recognized as an official Poway sport.
“Our team is filled with talent, from kids who have been playing since they were 9 years old to newcomers who have great loyal hearts and great attitudes. Our seven people strategy will dominate their competition, this is because the other teams use 15 people and are used to a full field,” girls coach Joe Sorenson said.
When it comes to rivalry, the Broncos vs Titan face off is not as highly anticipated as other sports.
“The thing with rugby is that we don’t really have rivals. We are kind of all friends with everyone unlike other sports’s teams,” sophomore Kendall Anderson said.
In rugby, communication is very important. So much so, that one sport cannot be played without it.
“It’s like we are a flock of birds, and you need everything planned out for each other to work together as gears in a machine,” Junior Kailee Fitzgerald said.
Rugby is a very intense sport with tons of physical contact. There are not as many injuries as football though they do not wear any protective wear. This is because they train on hitting a person correctly and how to take a hit correctly.
“Be positive, have patience, don’t be scared to be tackled. It’s not that bad, and we are all in it together, we will be there if anything happens,” Fitzgerald said.
Rugby practices many drills, especially before tournaments. They call them walk throughs, and plan out every play there are going to do. After games, they eat, bond and serve the other team.