Women’s rugby is new to NMT

While the men’s rugby program at New Mexico Tech has been an ongoing success story for some time, there was nothing for the women.

Until this semester, that is.

And the fledgling women’s program has been growing rapidly, said coach Jason Oliphant, who has enlisted the aid of former star Miners player Milaan Van Wyk to help coach as he looks to get into that end of the sport more.

“It’s very new and we’re trying to get the ladies up to speed,” Oliphant said. “We played two or three tournaments after starting from scratch.”

Getting the women up to speed is a bit of an understatement as the Miners went 3-0 in their season-ending Conchas 7’s Tournament in El Paso, beating the El Paso A and B teams 26-7 and 26-0, as well as a team from Ciudad Juarez 17-5.

“It started with three ladies and it’s grown to 16,” Oliphant said. “Basically it was just ensuring that we have equality. However we treat the guys, that’s how we treat the ladies and whatever the guys do, the ladies will do, as well.”

Among those original women, Serena Richardson, who is just finishing her freshman year at Tech, said it was a way to get involved in school life.

“For most of us, it was about the community that came with it,” she said. “We have a great sisterhood and we’re close with the guy’s team, as well.”

Richardson, who is from Taos and attended high school online, said she did not play sports growing up.

“I’ve never done any sports, rugby was my first, which was kind of intimidating at first,” she said. “It has definitely pushed me past what I thought my limits were.”

And rugby’s appeal to women is undeniable despite the physical nature of it, Richardson said. Or perhaps even because of the physical nature of it.

“It’s very empowering,” she said. “It’s a full-contact sport. You take some big hits but you get back up. But getting back up is a great feeling knowing that you can get back up and still show up for the team on the field.”

It started out as more of an experiment, Richardson said, but it very quickly was one that was working out quite well.

“We started up in February with three or four of us,” she recalled. “But we had a lot of growth this semester and we actually were able to play games. None of us had ever played rugby. None of us had even touched a rugby ball before. But we ended up winning our last tournament. That was a great feeling seeing all of our hard work pay off.”

Richardson actually had some prior exposure to the sport as she watched her older brother, Edan Richardson, play for the men’s team.

“Personally, I’ve always been intrigued because it’s such an interesting sport,” she said. “It’s unlike any other. My brother used to play and I would watch his games. That’s where my interest sparks from.”

It’s also a great way to let off a little steam after a tough day hitting the books.

“For me, rugby is my outlet for any stress with school or work,” she said. “It’s my go-to place even with a tough gym session or on the field, even though it’s hard, it’s a way to let out all of my stress.”

And rugby is a sport for anyone, Richardson added.

‘Rugby is a male-dominated sport and we want to prove that we can do it, too,” she said. “We all come from different backgrounds but at the end of the day, we share a deep respect for the sport and each other.”