Last weekend, the Women’s Club Rugby team made their annual trip to Nashville, TN to play in the Nash Bash tournament.
Some of the players spoke about their experience. Kayla Hendrickson, a fifth-year biology major and president of the club, shared her thoughts on the weekend.
“Competing in Nashville is always the highlight of the season for me,” she said. “We get to play against teams from all across the country with many different areas of expertise which is always new and exciting.”
Makyia Ford, a fifth-year rehabilitation medicine major, agreed with Hendrickson.
“We play against teams we’ve never played or even heard of before,” she said. “It’s a great experience and a cool opportunity to show our team’s talent.”
Amelia Hoag, a third-year business management major and planner of the Nashville trip, felt confident playing this year.
“Competing in Nashville this year was different for me than years past,” she said. “It felt comfortable for me as [it’s] … my third year at Nash Bash with SVSU Women’s Club Rugby. I knew what to expect, which I love as a planner.”
Hendrickson agreed. “I feel we had a very strong and powerful group of players this year with many returners,” she said.
“Our 2/3 wins was huge for SVSU and our team,” Hendrickson added. “Being able to win both our games on the first day only made us more encouraged to fight harder on Sunday as we had the possibility of winning the entire tournament.”
Makayla Ford, a fifth-year rehabilitation medicine major, was proud of the team’s offense.
“Our offense was the strongest part of our performance,” she said. “We were able to move the ball quicker and get the ball to our scorers.”
Hoag felt that the team did well with communication.
“The strongest parts of our team’s performance [were] communication and chemistry on the field,” she said. “We know how to treat each other right and flow nicely while all doing our part on the field. We had good communication specifically on forming pods and shifting to make sure we spread on the field.”
The team also spoke about their setbacks.
“One major challenge we faced over the weekend, especially on Sunday, our last day in Nashville, was injuries,” Hendrickson said. “The competition was fierce and tough causing many players to get hurt on Saturday.”
Hoag added to Hendrickson’s remarks.
“These matches were physically demanding … and accidents happen,” she said. “While the injuries did slow us down and affect performance on our third game Sunday luckily they were not super severe.”
Every year, the team does a waterfall hike on the way to TN. Hoag shared about that.
“Other than the matches my favorite part of Nash Bash had to be the … hike to Cummins Falls that we do every year on the way down,” she said. “It is a good warm up for the weekend to come.”
Makyia Ford shared why this is important.
“Nashville is [about] being able to get together with the whole team and just hang out,” she said. “We spend so much of our time together playing rugby it’s fun when we get to just hang out outside of practices and games.”
It’s important to note that most players in club rugby came in with no experience, meaning new people can join at any time and be taught what they need to know.
“Rugby … is a really great team sport, you get physical activity while making some new friends,” Makyia Ford said. “I came in with absolutely no experience and am grateful I did.”
They are always looking for new players to join the team.
“With ten seniors leaving the team this year, our club could definitely use … new players,” Hendrickson said.
Hoag concluded by explaining that the team could use any support possible.
“Rugby means a lot to a lot of us,” she said. “We … love any support we can get as a club team … we want to spread the word about rugby as much as possible to get as much participation as we can.”
More information about practices and matches can be found on the team’s Instagram, @svsuwomensrugby.
