by Grace George |

“Crouch, touch, pause, set,” a term most rugby players know, including the rugby athletes in Liberty.  The Liberty United Girls Rugby Football Club is a school sports club with students participating from LHS, LNHS, and the two junior highs. The team is full of athletic girls who love everything about the sport.

For some, rugby may be an unfamiliar thing. Rugby is a game played by two teams going head to head in a rough battle for two 40 minute halves. The game is played on a field which is no more than 100 yards long, and 70 yards wide. The goal of the sport is to score more points than the other team by kicking, carrying, or passing an oval ball down the field. There are four ways to score: a try/penalty try which is worth 5 points, a penalty goal worth 3 points, a drop goal worth 3 points, and lastly a conversion worth 2 points.

Though people may not think of rugby as a favored sport, some girls live it and love it.

“This is my third year of playing and I love it. I think it’s cool that we’re on a team with Liberty North,” junior Hailee Ames said.

There are also a lot of great things about playing on a team that has players from both Liberty and Liberty North High School.

“I like playing with North because it gives me a chance to see people that I usually wouldn’t get to see. I think more people should join the team because it is a lot of fun and it’s like a big family,” sophomore Nina Hawkins said.

Head coach, Tracey Davis, is an expert at the game.  Having played in college and on the USA national team, rugby is no joke to her. Not only does Davis coach the Liberty United Girls Rugby Football club, she is also the head coach of the Kansas City Jazz women’s rugby team and the Kansas City Dragons Club, a club team for young girls who have an interest in playing competitive rugby.

It is disappointing to everyone involved that rugby is not recognized as a school sport, only a club.

“In order for rugby to be recognized as a school sport, it would have to meet MSHSAA’s requirements,” Davis said.  “At some point, we do hope that rugby will be a varsity sport because universities are starting to offer scholarships and it will be in the 2016 and 2020 Olympics.”

Players agree with Davis’ opinion on the topic.

“It is disappointing that it’s a club sport and not a school sport, because we don’t get the recognition that we know we deserve and people don’t come out to our games like they do the other sports,” junior Noelle Prideaux said.

Even without the formal athletic department support, they had a successful season. They finished strong with a state title on October 18. They played the Kansas City Dragons at Hodge Park Athletic Fields and came out victorious. The state trophy will be visiting LHS, LNHS, and the two junior highs. It is now time to “crouch” down to realize what the girls have accomplished, “touch” the trophy of magnitude, “pause” to embrace the moment, and “set” themselves up to prepare themselves for another impressive season in years to come.