New girls rugby team in Rigby reflects on first season ahead of weekend game
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IDAHO FALLS – The second girls rugby team in eastern Idaho is earning a lot of support from locals during its first season.
The Lady Royals Rugby team started practicing in January but wasn’t officially organized until Feb. 18. It’s affiliated with Rigby High School, but is part of the Rugby Idaho League. Its footprint encompasses areas north of Idaho Falls. Of the 19 players, one attends Madison High School, one is from Hillcrest High School, one from Idaho Falls High School and another attends Thunder Ridge High School.
“Now that we’re here, a lot of other girls said ‘I want to play.’ It was so exciting to see the support and they came out of the woodwork. Now we have an amazing girl rugby team,” Head Coach Marshall Davis tells EastIdahoNews.com.
The Lady Royals kicked off its seven-game season in the Trojans football stadium at Rigby High School on Feb. 24. Despite a zero-win season so far, Davis is impressed with the girl’s progress and he considers it a major accomplishment that they’ve been able to compete with established teams on the other side of the state.
“We played Meridian on April 6. They demolished us on the field, but they were kind. They were laughing, we were laughing. The ref would stop the game and teach us what we had missed. It was so cool,” Davis explains. “They’ve come so far and we are so pleased with these ladies.”
Kayleigh Nelson plays the 8-man position, which is like a forward in soccer. She is also the team captain.
For her, being on the team is the highlight of the school year and she’s seen a lot of personal growth on the field.
“I’ve played rugby before but this is my first time playing a consistent position,” Nelson says. “The first game, I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing entirely. I’ve learned how to see the field better.”
The 18-year-old Rigby High School senior started playing for the Idaho Falls team last year and has enjoyed being on a team closer to home.
She was initially recruited by an old coach to play for the Idaho Falls team. Nelson declined at first but decided to give it a try when her sister joined the team.
“I ended up loving it more than my sister,” says Nelson.
As Nelson reflects on the Rigby team’s progress over the last several months, she recalls how raw they were when they “got destroyed” by a Boise team during a pre-season game.
They’ve come a long way since then, she says.
“We’ve learned so much and every time we play, we score more,” Nelson says. “During my first year, our entire team was new and we didn’t score at all during a single game.”
Nelson won’t be able to play next year because she graduates in May, but she plans to continue to support the team and cheer on the players from the sidelines.
Rugby teaches athletes to experience mental and physical pain and push through it, Davis says, and he hopes being a part of this team helps build the girls’ self-esteem so “they can handle life’s problems in the future.”
“These girls on this team are incredible. They are becoming very resilient physically and mentally and I’m super proud of them,” he says.
The Lady Royals are gearing up for a game in Boise this Saturday and another home game at Rigby High School the following weekend. Davis is encouraging people to attend.
