Occidental’s Womxn’s Rugby team continues to expand its international connections as the team attended the latest International Rugby Sevens tournament and plans for a potential trip to Fiji.
According to Sarah Titcombe (junior), the Sevens tournament is part of a world series where the best international teams play in different countries. Titcombe said that it was super inspiring to see international players that she follows online play on the field right in front of her.
“People are complaining like: ‘Oh, why did they go to the US; look at how there’s no one in the stands,’ which is fair,” Titcombe said. “But at the same time, if you don’t start putting games [here] then you’re never going to get engagement.”
A fully self-run and self-funded club according to Stapley Curwen (senior), Womxn’s Rugby team has connected with the international rugby scene in more ways than one.
The team has current students and alumni playing rugby all over the world — Elina Woolever ‘22 at King’s College in London, Ellie McKinney ‘23 in Vietnam, and Grace Meadows (junior) at her recent study abroad semester in Samoa, according to Curwen.
Last spring, the team organized a trip to London. Curwen said that with each member of the 45-member team required to create their own fundraiser, the team was able to rack up a total of $40,000. Titcombe said that besides fundraising at least once a week, the bulk of that money came from donations.
Titcombe said that in terms of support from the school, Womxn’s Rugby only gets $5000 from ASOC (Associated Students of Occidental College) once a year, which pays for one coach; everything else — referee fees, equipment, tournaments fees, transportation, trainers — are paid for out of the team’s own budget.
“[It] really sucks because we’ve had periods where we just don’t have a trainer and then [we] just hope someone doesn’t get hurt,” Titcombe said.
Titcombe said that one of her favorite parts about having the opportunity to play rugby abroad is experiencing how dominant rugby culture is overseas.
“[In] Rugby culture [in London] […] you will play with another team and then go out with them afterwards,” Titcombe said. “We would do a clinic with them and then we’d shower off and go get a drink with them, which is so fun.”
Curwen said the United States is unique in that rugby is typically only offered starting at the college level, whereas children in other countries start playing rugby when they are as young as 5 years old.
Titcombe said that while she does appreciate how the rugby community in the US is tighter knit due to being so niche, she said she also appreciates how she doesn’t have to explain the sport to people abroad.
“There’s so much more conversation about the actual game itself, than like: ‘How is it different from American football?’” Titcombe said.
Meadows said that while she did not initially apply to her program because of rugby, it became a big part of her experience while she was there.
Meadows said that as a Christian country with not a lot of spaces for queer people, the rugby team in Samoa served as a place for queer women to explore their identity. According to Meadows, in Samoa, it is stigmatized for women to play rugby, even though it’s popular.
“I think that because they are sort of forced into these sideline spaces, they start to fall in love with each other,” Meadows said.
Meadows also said that she wanted to emphasize the fact that rugby is productive for women not just because of queerness. Besides embracing queerness, Meadows said her Samoan teammates developed strong and robust female friendships.
“[It’s] just the nature of the sport, you’re literally like all over each other all the time in rugby, and if you don’t support each other, you could get hurt,” Meadows said.
Meadows said that while she came into Samoa with much less rugby experience than the local team she played with, all of the locals were supportive, encouraging, and above all, grateful for her showing up.
“There was no reason for them to put so much time and effort into making sure that I understood what was happening and that I felt part of the team, but they did,” Meadows said.
According to Meadows, Samoans care about their community in a way that she has never seen anywhere else, and that she is trying to bring a similar culture to the team at Occidental.
At the recent Rugby Sevens game, Meadows said that she was able to connect with a Samoan family and even discovered a mutual connection, which she owes to her time abroad.
“Having that world connection has been so world-changing,” Meadows said.
As someone who grew up in England briefly during her childhood, Curwen said that she feels a similar way.
“What I’ve learned — and what our coaches always tell us — is that you’re going to find rugby everywhere you go,” Curwen said.
*Grace Meadows was a media editor for The Occidental
Contact Michelle Teh at teh@oxy.edu
