NMT Rugby Eyes Double National Sevens Titles

New Mexico Tech Men's Rugby made it to eighth place at the 2025 Collegiate Rugby Championship, losing to Slippery Rock University in the quarterfinals. They look to get much farther in this year’s edition. And the newly resurgent women's team hope to make their debut appearance at the national rugby sevens tournament. 

“Sevens” is the condensed form of rugby. Normally 15 players take the field for each side. Although the number of participants is more than halved in sevens, the size of the pitch remains unchanged. That small change transforms the game from a physically confrontational 80-minute chess match into a 14-minute lung-busting game of checkers. The winning strategy is simply to pass, catch, kick, run, and tackle as perfectly as possible for every minute you are on the field. 

This spring marks head coach Jason Oliphant’s third rugby sevens season with New Mexico Tech’s rugby teams. “What I love about coaching rugby,” notes Olipant, “is the parallels to life itself, teaching young men and women to overcome adversity, to show grit, and pick themselves back up when the going gets tough." 

The spring season will certainly be tough. “The challenges for New Mexico Tech are always geographic,” adds Oliphant. “Most of the competition is outside New Mexico, which presents big budgeting problems.” Last year the side came into the national tournament feeling underprepared, lacking game experience with varied opposition. 

At the same time, Oliphant sees a lot of strengths with his current roster. “We have a lot more players now who are suited to the fitness demands of rugby sevens. Plus, they have a never-quit attitude and fully recognize that they are playing for something bigger themselves.” 

Oliphant’s focus for the spring season will be on developing the player’s softer skills, namely the ability to make split second decisions as the game progresses. In a sport without stoppages, it is the players themselves who decide what plays to execute, not the coach. “The players can call and execute the plays, but we’re still working on getting them to make the right calls at the right time.”

The ladies’ efforts will once again fall on the shoulders of graduate student Milaan Van Wyk. The native Namibian first came to NMT as a player in 2021, transitioning into a coaching role in 2023, while awaiting Oliphant’s arrival. “What I enjoy most about coaching rugby,” shares Van Wyk, “is seeing the impact it has beyond the field.” In his view, “rugby creates pressure, adversity, teamwork, and accountability in the same way that it is in relationships, work, and life.” 

Following the men’s example, the women’s team will begin before classes start with a weeklong intensive training camp. Van Wyk’s goals are to “establish a team identity and create an environment built on trust, one where players feel safe to be themselves.” Assisting this spring in working toward these goals are biology professor Paris Salazar-Hamm, Parkview Elementary teacher Brittany Salazar, and yours truly.

Athletic excellence and physical conditioning also play a big role in Van Wyk’s plans. Turning the relatively inexperienced side into a contender for a national title is no small ask. Many of these young women first touched a rugby ball in August. And now they need to learn to pass farther, tackle more aggressively, and more quickly recognize scoring opportunities–all while being more exhausted than they ever imagined to be possible. But Van Wyk has been struck by the team’s dedication: “Their willingness to work and grow together has been impressive.”

Like for the men’s side, the ladies’ match schedule is still developing. The sides will host an opening home tournament on Feb. 21, with the annual “Battle of the Rio Grande” to follow later in the spring. Otherwise, they will be looking for high-level competition wherever they can find it, and hopefully without breaking the bank. The moment of truth arrives on April 4 through 5, when both the men’s and women’s national qualification tournaments take place in the Denver area. 

Oliphant and Van Wyk’s goals for both of NMT’s rugby teams are to “play a hard-hitting and exciting brand of rugby”, to book a spot at the national championship tournament, and to represent not only New Mexico Tech but also the town of Socorro and New Mexico rugby as a whole. They recognize that sport isn’t just about competition but about raising well-rounded young people. “We want to develop confident young men and women, who are prepared for life,” notes Van Wyk. “Rugby is just the vessel.” 

NMT Queens:

Aleigha Romero, Delilah Villareal, Keyanna Montoya, Emma Sandusky, Kaleena Essbomba, Serena Richardson, Erica Eaton, Desiree Richmond, Manasi Movva, Monica Esmaeili, Salinda Stallings, Cassandra Ibarra, Malila Deschiney, Sofia Moores, Abby Adams and Liliana Sequeira.

NMT men’s team:

Theodore Shearer, Leon Sutulov, Brody Atkinson, Samuel Medve, Adrian Sanchez, Jaime Terrazas, Joan Guerra, Adam Pacheco, Noah Lynch, Tristen Herrera, Bishop Ortega, Malachi Mitchell, Ty Caldwell, Seth Cowan, Akong Chungong and David Vaquera.