Author: Dean DeChiaro
Sophomore Danielle Siegler has only played women’s rugby for one year, starting when she joined the Oxy women’s team as a first-year, but come this Thanksgiving, she will be playing on a much bigger stage, with much higher stakes.
Two weeks ago, Siegler succeeded in joining the Griffins, a select side of players from around Southern California. The team serves as the all-star team for SCRFU, the Southern California Rugby Football Union, which is the governing body of most rugby in the region. In November, the team will represent California in a national tournament in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
Siegler, who is the co-captain and president of the Women’s Rugby Club on campus, decided to try out for this team after receiving e-mails about the tryouts. “I started getting e-mails because I was President of the club, and they were for all these opportunities and stuff, and then I read this one and decided to try and get on the team,” she said.
Siegler said she will most likely stick to her normal position, fly-half, when she takes the field for the Griffins. In addition, she will probably start for the team at the beginning of each game, a high honor for a player who just joined the team.
Speaking of honors, just a few days ago Siegler found out that she was in the running to be named one of the Griffin’s captains. She hopes to bring a lot to the team, both on and off the field. “The top eight teams in the country go [to the national tournament], and the Griffins usually do okay, but this year I want us to do really well,” she said.
When asked what she what she hopes will come out of the national tournament, she said, “Well, I’d like to come in, I don’t know, first place.”
Siegler’s love for the sport and tenacity on the field are clear to her friends and teammates. “Although she has only played one season with the Oxy Blackshirts, her dedication to the sport and rigorous training must have been a factor. I have not met another Oxy rugger who was so committed and excited about rugby,” Meilani Bowman-Kamaha’o (junior) said, also Siegler’s co-captain at Oxy.
Even some of the players on the men’s team are in awe of Siegler’s passion. “Her commitment to the girls’ team, and to some extent the guys’ team, is awesome. She has almost been to more practices for the guys’ team than I have,” Ian Boehme (sophomore) said, a starting prop for the men’s team.
Siegler also has a reputation of holding very high standards for herself and others on the rugby pitch, and according to her teammates, this can only help her when she plays for the Griffins. “Danielle is high- spirited and eager to work with other players, especially if it means executing nifty plays. She is loud and encouraging and always willing to give advice,” Bowman-Kamaha’o said.
To prepare for her tryouts with the Griffins, Siegler trained rigorously all summer long to make sure she was in peak condition for the fall. “I played 7’s all summer, and whenever I could I would go out and kick a ball around,” she said. “I had to bug a lot of people to come out and play with me, but in the end it definitely paid off.”
For now, Siegler will continue to practice with the Griffins every Saturday in Fullerton until the Thanksgiving tournament in Florida. Siegler, a native Floridian, couldn’t be more excited to play in her home state. “The tournament is literally half-an-hour from my house, and I usually don’t get to go home for Thanksgiving anyway, so this is a big treat,” she said.
Everyone who plays Oxy rugby has supported Siegler through this endeavor, and they all are very excited for this tournament to commence. “Despite me weighing in at like 265 pounds and being faster than Danielle, she is pretty legit,” Boehme said. “The fact that she has only been playing rugby for a year and is one of the better players on the U-19 Southern California All-Star team speaks for itself.”
“I’m sure she will be as enthusiastic and tenacious as ever. And those are the qualities that infect teams and make them strong,” Bowman-Kamaha’o said.
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