In just its first year of play, the Roger Williams University women’s rugby team captured the Division IV National Championship in late November with a 29-7 victory over Gettysburg College to culminate an undefeated season.
“You would have thought we won the Super Bowl,” said Tom Campbell, the team’s coach. “It was a real joy for me—and for the parents—to see the looks on the faces of these young women.”
The team’s formation started about a year and a half ago as a group of players formed a campus club. After some preliminary matches against local competitors, the group worked with the RWU Athletics Department to establish women’s rugby as an official club sport. (Nearly all collegiate women’s rugby teams compete at the club level, not varsity.) This fall, they began their inaugural campaign.
Coach Campbell knew he had a group of good athletes—just one with rugby experience but many of whom were standouts in other high school sports—and he hoped the team could put together a winning season. But to capture the National Championship? That was a bit more than expected.
“Our initial goal was to make sure these women were playing good, safe rugby and to grow the sport at Roger Williams,” Coach Campbell said. “But this is a group of excellent athletes, and they’re smart, bright women. They are a joy to coach.”
Not only did the team excel, it dominated other squads, outscoring opponents 225-27 over the course of a season that included battles against powerhouses like the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and Saint Anselm College.
The championship match was no different, as the Hawks jumped to a 21-0 halftime lead over Gettysburg after scores by Ashley Littleton, Alison Littleton and Ashley Walker. Ashley Seiler was named the most valuable player of the game for a performance in which she set up many of the Hawks’ scores.
“When we were up 21-0 at halftime, we knew we really had a shot at the championship and it was hard to keep our nerves under control,” Ashley Littleton, a senior captain, said. “But at the end when we were up 29-0, everyone was playing with huge smiles on their faces. Once the whistle blew, it was pandemonium—everyone was jumping and screaming and celebrating!”
Prior to next season, the Hawks will jump to Division III competition, Coach Campbell says. Though the team will lose some valuable seniors, he says he has a solid core of returning players and some rookies with potential.