Seniors on the women’s rugby team broke a two year losing streak following their promotion from club to varsity this fall in their third season at the varsity level. The current seniors joined the team in the fall of 2021 following an undefeated season at the club level, then entered the varsity field as sophomores in 2022 followed by two winless seasons.
This year, these players returned to their newly finished pitch in West Windsor Fields, the same location as their freshman season, as an emerging force among varsity women's rugby teams.
“We’ve realized our true potential and really come into our own,” senior front row Elizabeth Polubinski told The Daily Princetonian.
Polubinski is an associate head Copy editor for the ‘Prince.’
“It feels like we just gained our footing a bit more and found our stride.”
Seniors on the team have now undergone the varsity transition first-hand, and the difficulties of facing harder competition. These players recognize this mental transformation as a jarring shift from their previous experiences of success at the club level.
“I think of the whole sophomore season as a wake up call, because we didn’t really know what we were getting into,” senior captain and outside back Sofie Grouws told the ‘Prince.’ “We didn’t think we were going to be the best necessarily, but we were so used to winning that we thought we’ll still win some, and that was just not the case.”
“It was a tough transition, realizing we weren’t the big fish in the little pond anymore,” senior utility forward Erica De San Jorge continued to the ‘Prince.’ “It's nice to now have this new challenge, but it was definitely a re-awakening.”
The team struggled their first two years as a varsity sport, as most of their competitors had been at the varsity level for many years. Additionally, Princeton women’s rugby only recruits three players every year, meaning the team was primarily composed of those who were not recruited, but decided to “walk-on” to the team and try out. For rugby, many of these walk-on players had never played the sport before their first day at tryouts.
“You’re playing against people who play on the Olympic team, and go to [National Team] U.S.A. camps every year,” De San Jorge said. “I think sometimes it can be really tough for team morale.”
As Princeton players learned to play the sport mid-minutes throughout the season, losing matches became the norm for the developing program that went 0–13 in its first two years.
“It’s tough to be on a team that’s losing all the time,” Grouws said. “The Princeton athletics teams in general are so incredible and so amazing … so it’s hard not to feel like the ugly stepsister.”
The rugby team clenched their first win earlier this year against Bowdoin, an emotional and important victory to prove the team was capable of walking off the turf with success.
“[We’re] finally getting some of the fruits of our hard work.” Grouws said. “It wasn’t the most winningest season, but we’re starting to see the hard work that we’re putting in paying off.”
The squad followed this with a second win, securing their first in-conference takedown against Mount St. Mary’s a couple weeks later.
This success has shifted the mentality of players on the team and coaches alike.
“We have a mentality that we never give up, no matter how hard it gets, no matter how far the score lines are,” women’s rugby head coach Josie Ziluca told the ‘Prince.’
The promotion of the women’s rugby team at Princeton represents a wider growth of the sport across the country. Rugby is experiencing participation increases following the United States sevens’ performance in the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics earlier this year. The Princeton team echoes this growth, and speaks about the importance of this sport for girls and women.
“We’re on a platform at Princeton to be able to communicate that to the world and say women are powerful, and there's a space for you,” Ziluca told the ‘Prince.’ “Especially in uncertain times for some folks, all women in that community, I think sport can be such a powerful social device to open up connections between people.”
Many players emphasized this nature of the sport in reflecting on their personal experiences joining rugby at Princeton, including how the team often supports diverse affinity groups across campus.
“Rugby around the world is a community for people who don’t necessarily feel safe and included in other sports communities,” Grouws said. “So that’s really important to us as a team.”
Unlike most other varsity sports, rugby matches often feature a social with the opposing team after a match. Players feel such events contribute to the overall inclusivity of the sport and foster connections between opponents.
“After you’ve spent an hour or so hitting each other, you sit down, eat a little meal and get to know them,” Polubinski told the ‘Prince.’ “It’s a culture of mutual respect.”
Although the team will compete in sevens matches and tournaments in the spring, the fifteens season for this team is over for the academic year. Princeton women’s rugby hopes to continue to grow the sport, and improve their own skills as a program in future years.
“The last two, three years were building years,” junior captain and utility row CJ Maguire told the ‘Prince.’ “Next year, we just want to show everybody what we've got, that we can compete with you, and that we are a challenge.”
Devon Rudolph is a Sports and News contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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