It’s fair to say that the speed and strength of development in women’s rugby is only matched by the speed and strength of the games they play. There has been a huge surge in the popularity of women’s rugby, particularly in the action packed 7’s series. Recently it was announced the New York based Old Blue RFC is aiding this growth with the inclusion of two newly established women’s 7’s teams to compete this summer. To find out more about the new club, and their plans, I spoke with one of the coaches, Billy Nicholas.
Billy brings a huge passion to the game, which is evident in the way he talks about the high school team’s he has coached as well as Old Blue. Firstly though we looked at how he found rugby in the first place. “My background was American Football. So growing up it was all American Football, the high school I went to in Buffalo didn’t even have a rugby program. I had no idea about it. Then I started teaching in the New York City Department of Education. Going in to teaching I was [thinking] Oh I’m going to go into a really big school, turf fields, really nice. As a first year teacher though I ended up where I did in a neighbourhood that needed a lot more than just sport. I was at a school that didn’t really have it’s own facilities, didn’t really have it’s own gym or fields. I’ve been there the last five years, and Play Rugby USA actually approached me, wanting me to start up a flag rugby program for age grade. I said sure, but didn’t really know too much about the sport, I got introduced to it initially coaching middle school kids. But from there it’s kind of been rugby 24/7 for the past five or six years of my life. I’ve developed such a love and passion for the game, and what it’s been able to do with the kids I directly work with. We wouldn’t be able to raise the 15 to 20,000 required for American Football equipment, but give us a ball and a couple of mouthguards, and we were out at the public park having our practices every day. Gravel field, pitch field, it doesn’t matter, we’re just out there playing the game. That I think is what I developed the passion for, working with high school aged kids, and watch them have the opportunity to go to college, and do something no one else in their family may have done, using rugby as the tool to get there.”
The successes in Billy’s coaching are huge. One of the 7’s teams he started in the Bronx two years ago currently has a 52 – 0 – 1 record “technically haven’t been beaten yet” he declares happily. This alongside winning the last two New York City public school championships in a row. “We had our first graduating class of High School students last year, out of that class three out of our five senior rugby players are currently playing college rugby right now. To say that three kids from the South Bronx from one high school, let alone a small high school, would be playing college rugby wasn’t something I’d have believed a couple of years ago.”
Women’s rugby has seen a huge push from USA Rugby’s network, particularly in areas such as the live streaming of the College 7’s series late last year. Advertising and other resources are all helping to drive the growth, I asked Billy how this has affected women’s rugby from his point of view ” Given the national success that I feel the womens program has had at USA Rugby I feel there’s been this group of exceptionally talented younger women out there that we’re going after, and that have a huge potential that hasn’t been tapped into yet. That’s the niche we want to hit at Old Blue with the women’s program.”
” The women’s team [at a national level] is great…this will give those women who have come out of the college system and have that summer off [a chance to] increase their skills and go back to that college even better. We’re also targeting those recent college graduates who don’t have a club yet. There’s a lot of great programs out there, but we don’t think it’s enough.”
Old Blue are looking to field two women’s teams, an Elite Level team and an open team, with a view to developing their 7’s based teams in the New York metro area. “ At the moment you could be playing for a D2, D3 or even a D1 club in the fall or spring and still come out and play with us in the summer, at the Elite level, then go back to a collegiate level or other club in the fall and spring.”
Currently the Old Blue 7’s teams will be competing in a series against four other local clubs, in the Empire/NRU circuit throughout the summer. ” We know there are some great teams on the West Coast, and down in the Nova area and DC. We really feel like, after talking with the Old Blue Staff and the girls in our team, that there is a huge, not gap, but maybe a huge population of younger women that really need to get together with other younger women that have those great skills that deserve to be on the national and international stage.”
Old Blue have recently joined the Empire union, Billy advised they will be following the same training plans as the men’s teams. Old Blue has a great structure and facilities which will certainly benefit the teams when their training begins, Billy suggesting a mid may begining for training camps. ” I’m looking forward to being the new team in that bracket [the Empire union] and facing all of those NRU team. I think a lot of the women who are coming out for this team will create a team bond really quickly being the new kid on the block, I think they’re really going to take up that challenge.”
As Old Blue increase their respective strengths and move forward with the season I can’t help but think this can only benefit women’s rugby, USA rugby and rugby in New York. I’m looking forward to following the team to see how their season develops, you can also keep in touch with what the Women’s Old Blue 7’s are doing here on their twitter and here on their Facebook page. Also look out for the #GrowTheGame hashtag on Twitter.
My thanks to Billy Nicholas for his time this morning, and all the best for the upcoming season.
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Main Photo Credit: Supplied by Women’s Old Blue 7’s
