March 2, 2007

Kingston, RI (CSTV U-WIRE) -- 03/09/07 - Three years after a one-year suspension from its league, the University of Rhode Island women's rugby team is headed to the Division IV National Championship. The team will travel to Philadelphia on April 28 to face Ursinus College after winning the New England Rugby Football Union Championship in November.

The Rams dominated the previously undefeated Springfield College in its regional championship, 41-17, to cap off an undefeated season of their own.

"We went into the championship game and the team we were playing was undefeated. We won 41-17," junior Maura O'Keefe said. "It wasn't even a game. Once we got the confidence to go with our skill, we were unstoppable."

The team will carry its confidence to the National Championship.

"I actually think we have a great chance to win," O'Keefe said, "We're playing Ursinus, who have won the last two years, but the team is really confident."

The recent run of success for Rhode Island is all the more impressive considering last year's 1-5 record. The team only had 12 players the year after its suspension for a sport that puts 15 people on a field. Three years ago, the team was successful in Division II, but was suspended for one year and demoted to Division IV after complaints were made about an incident that occurred on a bus ride back from a match.

Several members of the team left to join a club in Providence. O'Keefe joined the team the year it was suspended when she was a freshman.

"The team kind of disbanded after the suspension," she said. "There were three seniors who didn't want to let go. They wanted it badly. When I joined the team my freshman year, the team only had 10 or 12 girls and by the end of the year we had 15 people."

The team hired a coach last year, but struggled through a 1-5 campaign and a lack of commitment.

The turnaround for the team came by a stroke of luck when a few of the players ran into four coaches who had met with the men's rugby team. The men's team wasn't in need of their services, so the girls approached the coaches and the four agreed to help them out.

"By some miracle we got in touch with these four guys," O'Keefe said. "It was a stroke of luck. We saw them leaving and asked for their help and they stayed for practice. I guess we're just a charming group of girls. It was a complete turn around and we're really excited about that."

The team had the money in its budget to pay the four coaches, but the coaches refused to be paid.

"They're doing it just because they love rugby," O'Keefe said. "They love being around it. They saw the potential that we had and they just genuinely wanted to help us out."

The team showed vast improvement in every aspect of the game this year under the guise of their new coaches. For O'Keefe, the most important things that the coaches did for the team were bringing discipline, fitness, structured practices and game planning.

"Just their experience was amazing," she said. "Each one specialized in one aspect of the game and could really help us."

The turn around was nothing but miraculous for O'Keefe. "I think that some of the girls that graduated that were on that first team are like 'Oh my God,'" she said. "We went from no girls, no practice, no space and not winning to having discipline, structure, coaches and winning. I would have never thought this would happen.

"In the fall we had more people than we had before. It was great not just to have parents on the sidelines, but also to have friends on the sidelines, especially when you win. You have no idea how great it feels to win."

The team continues to practice four times a week in preparation for the upcoming championship. Members of the team are also in the middle of fundraising for their trip. As a club team they need to match the small budget provided to them by University Club Sports and need about $6,000. The team will carry around 25 players in addition to the coaches to the championship.

(C) 2007 The Good Five Cent Cigar via CSTV U-WIRE