The San Jose State women’s rugby team is always ready to tackle the competition with strategy and team spirit.
The rugby team is an all-female and student-run club sports team, competing for the National Collegiate Rugby Championship trophy in April.
“[They’ve been] building it up, and we’ve had some really good success lately,” said James Fonda, the team’s head coach.
Fonda said after the restrictions for COVID-19 were lifted, the team came back together and had an undefeated preseason, before winning the West Coast Conference in 2022.
He said winning the conference made them the number one team in their region.
This includes competing against numerous schools like California Polytechnic State University, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara University, University of Nevada, Reno and more.
Communications disorders and sciences senior Meghana Narravula, the team’s president, said winning the conference gave them the opportunity to compete in the national championship in Atlanta, Georgia.
She said it was crazy and fun when they were competing in nationals, even though her cleats melted from standing and walking on the hot turf in Atlanta.
Narravula and Fonda said the team continued to practice rugby during the COVID-19 restrictions to keep in shape.
Fonda said it was difficult for some of the players because a number of them went back home and left the Bay Area, but the rest of the team was still able to meet up.
He added he felt it was important for the team to keep meeting up because he noticed the team’s morale was decreasing.
“We would go ahead and try to get an hour’s practice . . . and that just, you know, made their day,” Fonda said.
Narravula said the practices during the COVID-19 restrictions helped keep the team members close and bonded with one another.
“I think honestly, [our relationships] grew stronger [during the COVID-19 restrictions],” she said.
Biomedical engineering senior Aimee Ramos said the team was recently revived between 2016 and 2017.
She said when she first joined the team, the players were not playing in major conferences or championships.
However, Ramos said at the end of her first year on the team, she, along with some of the team’s previous leadership, decided they wanted to compete and eventually signed up for conferences.
She said the team received the opportunity to compete when they reached out to Fonda, who was previously a coach for a men’s team.
Ramos said after hiring coach Fonda, the team signed up for its first rugby competition: the West Coast Conference.
“We got into a conference and kind of just been, like, on the rise since then,” she said.
Fonda said when he first took over the program, there were barely enough players to fill the team.
He said after the players started doing more recruiting, the team grew.
Ramos said the team now continues to have a strong sense of community.
“If you were to show up to practice or even just a game, like, you’ll get the sense of community just being there,” Ramos said. “It’s very lively, everybody talks to each other.”
Forensics science senior Lindsey Murnane, who is also the team’s captain, said she feels the sport carries a sense of respect, even between teams on the field.
“It’s, like, competitive but then after it’s very much respectful, like, everyone talks to each other,” she said.
Murnane said she always tells people to join the team if they want to make new friends in a diverse group.
“This is, like, the family basically for me,” she said.
Narravula said though the sport looks “rough and tough” on the field there is still respect between different teams.
“We'll leave it on the field. . . We'll tackle you, we'll help you up afterwards and then, like, we'll go hang out,” she said.
Ramos said rugby is a competitive sport, but not to the point where players put each other down.
“Yeah, you lose . . . on the field, but then afterwards, you’re going out for a bite to eat and, ‘Oh my gosh, that was such a great hit when you knocked me out almost,’ ” Ramos said. “I think everybody can agree it’s one of the biggest, most like, coolest things [about] rugby.”
Kinesiology freshman Joireen Orcine said it was scary to join the team at first, but now she loves the team’s energy.
“I never, like, once felt, you know, out of place,” Orcine said.
Orcine said her teammates always made her feel welcomed, and she never feels uncomfortable making mistakes when they are together.
“It just made it easier to learn everything,” Orcine said.
Film freshman Moana Faleofa said she first discovered the team on Instagram when she was still playing for her highschool’s rugby team in Hawaii.
Faleofa also said that it was scary coming to San Jose on her own, but the team was welcoming and nice.
“They don’t make me feel embarrassed when I’m confused,” she said.
Math freshman Thanh Tang said she had a similar experience when she joined the team.
Tang said she moved out of her hometown of Claremont, California, and then moved to San Jose on her own when she was 17.
She said in her hometown, she remembered seeing people play a similar sport known as powder puff football, but girls were not allowed to join the sport.
After coming to SJSU, Tang said she considered joining the wrestling team, but decided to try a new sport.
“I saw the table stand and I was like, ‘You know what? Might as well,’ ” Tang said.
Narravula said students who want to join the team can go to their practices at the beginning of the season to learn how to play the sport.
“I always tell [students], ‘No strings attached,’ ” Narravula said. “Come check it out first before you say, ‘no.’ ”
