Despite having only eight returning players and 26 rookies, the Kent Crusaders girls rugby team exceeded coach Rex Norris’ expectations finishing the season with a 21-1 record, earning second in the national championships and winning the state title for the 16th straight year.
“There have been other seasons where we have had some amazing players and our expectations have been pretty high,” Norris said. “This year was a surprise…. For us to do what we did is pretty incredible.”
Norris said opponents were impressed by the young team, made up of students from about a dozen high schools in the area. He said after a game, the teams would often get together to discuss the match and would ask first-year players to raise their hands.
He said most teams had five or six rookies and would be surprised to see 26 Crusaders put up their hands.
“The other teams would just be in awe of that,” he said.
Norris attributed the team’s success to the tight-knit bond the players formed.
“They got really close early,” he said. “We work really hard on getting our team to play for each other.”
The players were motivated to come to practice and learn about the sport, he said.
One of the biggest challenges was teaching the girls to tackle, Norris said.
“You are having to teach girls that have never tackled before to tackle, and that is not easy,” he said. “That is the one big thing you have to get over.”
But, he said, his players did a good job of encouraging one another while practicing tackling.
“A girl would tackle another girl and they would say, ‘Oh, you can do way better than that,'” he said.
The Crusaders are no stranger to the national tournament, having appeared there nine out of the past 11 years, and finishing fifth or better each year, including playing in the title game five times. Last year, they placed fourth won the national title in 2002.
In the year’s title game, the Crusaders faced Fallbrook Rugby, reigning national champions since 2011 from Southern California, in Pittsburgh, Pa., in May.
The Crusaders lost 41-0, but Norris was pleased with how his team played against its challenging opponent. He said many of the players on Fallbrook have been involved with rugby for several years before competing at the high school level.
“We were their closest match,” he said.
Rugby has risen in popularity during the last few years.
“It is the fastest growing sport in the country right now,” he said.
When the Crusaders started competing at the national level in the early 2000s, there were only about 20 or 30 high school girls rugby teams in the county, Norris said. The number of teams has grown tenfold since then.
“For us to still be competing at that level is quite an accomplishment,” Norris said.
Rugby is also growing at the collegiate level.
“In the next two to three years, the number of universities that give scholarships for girls rugby is going to triple,” he said.
In the past three years, 14 members of the Crusaders have received scholarships to play college rugby.
This year’s team has a handful of players who plan to play rugby in college next year.
Norris said 15 of his players made the Washington state girls all star team this year.
This season both the boys and girls Crusaders teams traveled to Kamloops, Canada, to compete in a tournament, Norris said. The Crusaders boys rugby team finished second in state this year.
Next year, the teams plan to play in New Zealand.
For Norris the international travel and competition is a unique aspect of the program.
“You just don’t hear about that in high school sports,” he said.
For more information on the Kent Crusaders, visit kentcrusaders.com.
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