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03/16/2023 08:09 AMBefore girl’s rugby came to North Haven High School (NHHS) in 2016, its founder, Owen Davis, was inspired by an exchange student taken in by his brother from New Zealand.
“My wife and I got to know the exchange [student]; it was over Easter. She was just explaining that she’s been playing rugby since she was six years old, and she was actually so good that she played on the boys’ team,” Owen says.
Rugby is one of the most popular sports in New Zealand, and, seeing the enthusiasm surrounding the sport, Owen saw how it could be more than just a sport, but foundational for young women interested in competing and building confidence.
“I thought, ‘Wow, I didn’t know anything about it, this is a neat sport!’ Especially I think young women have a knack for building self-confidence.
There’s also “a position for everyone on the pitch,” according to Owen, where players “can be big, you can be tall, short; everyone can play this. We get a lot of girls that have never played a sport before. And this…they can finally find their home there.”
Rugby at NHHS started as a club sport and was something for which Owen made his case before the Board of Education on behalf of supporters.
“They invited me to make a presentation, so I told them what we wanted to do, [that] we want it to be a sport for young girls, the benefits they would get from it. Just to make a general statement,” he says.
Recognizing the stereotypes concerning violence and the potential for major consequential injuries, Owen took the extra steps to bring in a rugby-enthused pediatrician, who “explained that rugby is not the violent sport people think it is,” compared to American football. He also addressed any other safety concerns and those related to insurance and other financials of which the school would need to be aware.
Owen gave kudos to NHHS Athletics Director Steve Blumenthal for supporting the rugby program, even when starting out as a club not officially part of the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference.
“He did not look at it differently. I think he saw what a great sport it was for the girls,” Owen said.
The team is now entering its eighth season with new head coach Cassie Bishop, and according to Owen, is their first season as a “fully funded varsity sport” at NHHS. The team has come this far by building and sustaining its teams from the ground up. That ground being their first field owned by the North Haven Fairgrounds, which they jokingly referred to as “the hay field.” Owen reflects back on how the girls of North Haven rugby persisted in their goals to become athletes representing their hometown.
“It wasn’t perfect: no turf, it was grass. We managed it just fine. We had to do our own line marking on the field; [we] put up the goalposts.”
Fundraising played a significant role in paying for just about everything that went into organizing games, from bus transportation to hiring their own athletic trainer to treat any physical issue that can arise from a contact sport.
“Just to get a bus from here to Greenwich, you’re talking three, $400. So we did a lot of car washes. In the first few years…until last year, we had a participation fee. So each kid had to pay $150 to cover the expenses. But we had great support, everything was volunteer; the coaches were volunteers.”
Broadly, regardless of gender, one of rugby’s distinctive characteristics is its cultivation of athlete camaraderie not just out on the pitch, but in the dining hall as well. And that tradition is inclusive, a gesture of friendship towards all opponents.
“After a game, it’s a custom to share a meal with the other team. I don’t know any other sport that does that,” Owen says. “For me, the pleasure’s seeing these kids out [on the pitch], tackling, being assertive, and then after the game, getting together. And that’s the tradition: when we share a meal together. It’s unique.”
Sports and the achievements within them are often viewed metaphorically for overcoming challenges, persisting against the odds, and becoming a more confident person. That is certainly how Owen views what the game of rugby can do for young women: it demonstrates girls can play a contact sport that builds their self-esteem as competitors and people.
“What the girls get out of it is feeling good about themselves. You can go out and tackle somebody,” he says. “A lot of kids that age…they’re kind of shy; they don’t put themselves out there. I’ve had parents come up to me, [they ask], ‘What happened? What did you do with my shy little girl that’s never said two words?’ For me, that’s what it’s about. Ten years from now, they’re not going to remember who won this game or who won that, [but] they’re going to come away thinking, ‘Wow, rugby gave me that self-confidence; I can do pretty much anything in life.”