Rugby — Girls Rugby — is Nothing New to Current and Past Participants in the West Chester Area

What’s that? You didn’t know that girls’ rugby was a featured activity at West Chester High Schools? Or, perhaps you knew, but would still be surprised to learn just how intensely competitive are the teams and the games played.

Rugby has been in the West Chester area since the 1970s, which roughly correlates with the emergence of women’s rugby internationally. According to WC East Coach Marilyn Costalas, the club was started as the Turk's Head Rugby Club, which ultimately became Brandywine Rugby in the 1980s, and has continued to grow ever since. Here’s a brief history tip: the area that is today called West Chester was known throughout the region as “Turks Head” a long time ago, even featuring a hotel and a brand of ice cream bearing the Turk’s Head name. Maps of the area showed the meandering of the Brandywine River which seemed to created the image of a man’s head topped with a turban, and the name became commonly used. Now, back to rugby: Costalas added that in 1999, a group of women started Brandywine Women's Rugby. A select few of these women went on to develop rugby at the high school level, and in 2001, for example, the West Chester East High School girls rugby team was started while WC Henderson was created around the same time. Both East and Henderson coaches had played for the Brandywine team. In 2002, the first West Chester Cup challenge took place. Henderson was the dominant team in the first few years, but East turned the tables more recently. In 2008, Henderson did not field a team, and the Cup match was East vs. Rustin, which was won by East. However, with East graduating almost its entire starting team the previous year and starting a freshman-laden squad, Rustin won the Cup in 2009.

Rugby has been described in Britain as a ruffian’s game played by gentlemen (and women), as opposed to the assertion that soccer is a gentlemen’s game played by … well, the point is that rugby attracts all manner of individuals. As with soccer, the American participation in the sport has been coed to a much greater degree than is the case internationally. Although rugby, in a form we could recognize, was first played in England - and in various forms elsewhere in the late 1700s and early 1800s - its emigration to the U.S. evolved into American football. With the evolution of rugby eventually straying so far from its roots in the U.S., the re-introduction of the traditional form of the sport again has crossed the pond and is spreading throughout the States.

The WC Cup match always takes place locally. The Cup has been played in Embreeville, when Henderson had a home field, and in the East HS stadium as well as the East practice field. This season, the game was held at Rustin’s field on the rolling hills of the Shiloh Road campus. In the days of strong Henderson teams, coaches Deb Yates, Sarah Sall and Melissa King provided critical leadership. Marilyn Costalas and Kevin Marston of East have maintained a potent program at that school, with a large Freshman class now in the system and preparing to became a dominant force for years to come. Joanna McGinnis is the Rustin coach, and Rustin’s future is now, having been crafted through outstanding recruitment. The traditional high school rugby season is spring and the West Chester teams participate in the Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union, with this year being in the same division as Conestoga, Valley Forge and Media. The W.C. East team, for example, also played this year in the Under 19 tournament in Baltimore, Maryland, in conditions generously described as “muddy” – perfect conditions for true rugby enthusiasts. Pennsylvania is a American stronghold for women’s rugby at the collegiate level, with Penn State and Shippensburg earning recent national championships in their respective divisions.

The photo of the scrum includes players Courtney DuBois (as scrummy) and Brittany Shaeffer (at flanker, crouching in front) for the East team. The Rustin team features Nina Bej, flanking; Kira Papenfuss, Scrum half; Alyssa LaVerda, Inside center, and Sam Yakas as the other back, who normally plays Wing but is positioned more at outside center in this shot.

The other photo pictures the wet conditions (referred to by observers as the "Maryland Mudbowl"). Brittany Shaeffer is holding the ball, Tori Crooks is on the right, and Maura McGeever is in the background of the East team.

Coverage submissions for this story appear courtesy of Dr. K.A. Crooks, with photos provided by John Putnam, Jeff Scanes, and Kate Crooks.

For more information contact Rob Partridge / Communications Director / 484-266-1170 – rpartridge@wcasd.net

 

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