Snappin’ into action
Womenís rugby gears up for tournament season
With all the Bison sports talk centered around the basketball team lately, the club teams tend to be forgotten.
One such team, the women’s rugby team, has been up to plenty, even after the fall season ended.
“ We are still very busy,” Meaghan Herdina, a four-year member of the Snappers, said. “We’re doing our off-season workouts and indoor practices. Most of all we’re recruiting new members.”
Just like any other team, recruiting is the most important part of the rugby season.
“ We lost a lot of good players after the fall semester,” Herdina said.
Fifteen players are required to compete in a tournament; however, 30 are recommended to allow for subs, and in case of an injury.
NDSU had to pull out before a game last semester due to a lack of sufficient players. Another team also pulled out of a game with NDSU for the same reason.
“ We’re looking for people who are ready to have fun,” Herdina said. “Some people sign up and don’t stay. That’s OK. Those who do stay, though, usually play for a long time.”
Herdina said many want to sign up but don’t due to a lack of understanding of the game itself.
“ Nobody knows what to do when they first start playing,” Herdina said. “I sure didn’t … it’s a learning experience.”
An easy way to learn the game is to check out the NDSU rugby team’s Snafu Tournament that is tentatively scheduled for April.
It provides a learning environment for prospects to learn how to play alongside the current team.
The season is split into two parts: the fall league and spring league. The fall league includes games against other colleges such as UND and the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
The spring league is mostly made up of tournaments. The first of which is this weekend at UND. The tournaments then continue to the end of February and run through April.
“ We play in tournaments at St. Cloud State, Winona and Mankato state,” Herdina said. “We also have one in Missoula Montana against some league teams that are not affiliated with colleges.”
The competition level varies greatly among colleges.
“Tournaments are fun; you get to meet a lot of people from other schools, and they’re not too competitive,” Herdina said.
Although every game is enjoyable, the women seem to look forward to one game a little more than the others.
“ We look forward to most games … but the UND game is pretty fun,” Herdina said.
Who said the UND vs. NDSU rivalry is dead?
The rugby rivalry is not intense as other sports made it out to be.
“ It’s not as big of rivalry as you might think,” Herdina said. “They have some nice people on the team.”
A true Bison can’t help but boast, even if only a little.
“ We do beat them most of the time though,” Herdina said.
There are currently open spots on the Snapper roster, even for those who have never played.
As Herdina said, they are “always recruiting.”