The Traverse Bay Blues have been the high school state champions for the past four years. The girls rugby team hopes to defend its title when the season kicks off this Saturday, April 5, despite the fact that two-thirds of this year’s team has never played the sport before.
The gym at Traverse City High School is full of rugby players getting ready to head outside for practice. Members of the club team are tying their cleats and putting on thermals and jackets. Head coach Stephanie Kehrer is taking them outside for their first tackling practice.
A Rebuilding Year
She says when coaching teenage athletes there is always a high level of turnover. This year’s team is without its usual depth of experience.
“Our best girls are off playing college now. We need to get some new girls becoming the best rugby players. And that’s the challenge right now,” she says.
Past teams that led the club to victory demolished opponents with lopsided scores of 40, 50 or 60 points. In their first three years as reigning champs, the Blues never lost a game. They even beat a university rugby team.
Training new players is crucial. Stephanie’s husband, Jim Kehrer is the forwards coach. He says the coaches got complacent after years of working with highly skilled players.
“We had half a dozen players that were among the most elite players in the country, and I have to say we got kind of fat and sassy having that there,” he says. “When they left, we still won by a lot that following year, but then the wheels kind of fell off last year a little bit.”
Game Play
A team roster is usually about 30 players with 15 players on the field. This year’s team has just 10 returning players.
“So most years we have to train maybe seven players into a new spot. This year we have to train 15 players into a new spot, which is a big deal,” says Coach Stephanie.
That’s because the starters play until they’re tired. Once they sub out, they cannot return to the match.
Rugby, the game that American football comes from, has a similar objective: Advance the ball down the field into the opponent’s end zone and stop the other team from doing same. Play is continuous, so the same players play offense and defense, unlike football.
Tackling The Opposition
Members of the Blues trudge through the snow onto the field behind the high school.
Claire Denton is a returning player and a sophomore at Traverse City West Senior High. She remembers last year’s first tackling practice.
“This senior was the first girl to tackle me, and she was a hefty girl, so it was terrifying,” she says. “But it was in the snow, nice padding and it didn’t hurt that bad.”
Because of the weather, the team has practiced inside more this year than previous years, according to Coach Stephanie. Once outside, the coaches will finally be able to teach tackling. And the drills are a defining moment for the girls.
“So being outside today is the first time they'll be able feel what it’s like to hit somebody,” Coach Stephanie says. “They don't know. They've never played football. And soccer and other sports, you can't hit. So, this is the first time a third of those girls have come into contact with another girl.”
The coaches set the bar high for their players. Coach Jim wants a fifth state title, and an undefeated and un-scored upon season, which all begins with their style of coaching.
“We don’t dumb down the game. We don't gloss over the fact that this is a violent, ground acquisition game and the whole point is to knock somebody else over,” he says. “These other girls, I don't know what they're taught, but they're not taught the same. And they panic and they freak out, and they’re like, ‘That girl just hit me.’ Well, of course she did, it's rugby.”
Plenty Of Blue, Not Enough Green
While the new players may be learning quickly, the coaches have another hurdle to face. For the first time, the teams have no sponsorship money. They need $20,000 to run the boys and girls teams.
“This is the strange thing this year, we have no sponsors,” Coach Stephanie tells the team. “I have like $300 in sponsorship money. That’s it. So that means, girls, you will not be getting new jerseys this year.”
The girls are visibly and audibly upset by the news.
On Saturday, the Blues will go on the road to face Livingston County in Howell. Returning player Claire Denton is eager to start the season.
“I’ve got a countdown on my phone to the first game…like first rugby game with 18,000 exclamation points.”