If all goes as planned, DePauw will have a women's rugby athletic team by next Spring semester.
Currently, the group of 11 women are working on making their women's rugby club one of DePauw's many official student clubs and organizations. Once approved, the club will start to order jerseys and prepare to compete in organized play across the nation.
Two DePauw students, first-year Kayli Schaefer and junior Erin Dinn spearheaded the efforts to bring the club to the University. The club was last active half a decade ago, before a general loss of interest. Schaefer, who played a winger at Columbus East High School (Columbus, Ind.), contacted Dinn earlier this summer about getting the club back together. For Dinn, who ran track for the University since she was a first-year, Schaefer's e-mail was the final motivation she need to go about the club renewal process.
However, Dinn has been encouraged to bring women's rugby back to campus since she arrived at the school in 2011. DePauw Student Body President Walker Chance, a member of DePauw's men's rugby club, ran the idea by Dinn in her first year at DePauw. Since then, she has witnessed the success of men's rugby in establishing a solid program.
In terms of regulations, women's rugby has identical rules to the men's team, pitch (field), and equipment as the men's sport. Although not as prominent in the United States, women's rugby is played in over 80 countries worldwide. Closer to home, Indiana University, Indiana State University and Purdue have established women's rugby sporting clubs.
The sport has such a close-knit community that Dinn and faculty advisor Sarah Ryan have received calls from Penn State University, Miami University, and Indiana University about potential contests in the upcoming months. The biggest problem, Schaefer said, is getting interest at such a small university to compete with the likes of the Penn State.
Before competing with more established programs, the rugby club is motivated to get more women on the squad.
"It's just as important as any other sport," Dinn said. "There's a team aspect, you really get to know the people who play, even if they're on the opposing team."
Ryan is confident there is enough athletic talent among the roughly 1,300 women that attend the University to establish a successful program within the next year.
The Tigers' men's and women's lacrosse programs are good examples of recent student body clubs that have become competitive varsity programs at the school. The men's lacrosse coach, Carl Haas, has brought in one of DePauw's largest recruiting classes despite going 0-14 in the programs inaugural season. The men's team recruited over 20 first-year players for the 2013 season. Last year, the team had 18 athletes total on their roster.
Ryan expects a similar trend for the women's rugby club in the next few years.
"Rugby is a beautiful sport to watch, and an interesting one to play," Ryan said. "The fact that were already being contacted shows how easy it would be to establish a competitive schedule."
In preparation for organized competition, the team meets Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 5 to 6:30 p.m. every week for field practice. On Tuesdays, they lift weights. Dinn says women who are interested can directly email the two, or find the DePauw women's rugby group on Facebook.