DENVER — When it comes to running across a pitch to score tries, lots of Coloradans may not know what that means, let alone how to do it. But following the excitement of Team USA’s women’s rugby players winning their first Olympic bronze medal earlier this month, girls across the Front Range are more eager than ever to learn the skills of the sport.
At a pre-season practice session in Denver’s Central Park, girls under the age of 14 show the passion of professionals — while getting started in flag rugby, a no-contact introductory version of the game.
“It’s like a learning experience, and it's really fun,” said Reba Shaffer, who first got into rugby at 6 years old. Now 9, with three seasons under her belt, she’s excelling.
Her dad, Matt Shaffer, played rugby in college. His smiling face beams with pride as he cheers on his daughter in practice.
“She's exceeded my footsteps. Let's be clear about that,” he said. “What she's learned about being a teammate, being a competitor. She's made great friends. She's had great coaches.”
And she’s even meeting her heroes.
“It was amazing,” Shaffer said. “We got to meet and talk with Naya Tapper, who helped USA win bronze as captain.”
Reba even got a selfie with Ilona Maher, whose body positivity message is catapulting her into internet fame. Reba said she’s watched USA’s winning Olympics match on repeat, looking closely at their techniques so she can prepare for her future ambitions: Taking home the gold medal against the toughest opponent on the world stage, New Zealand.
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“It was such an inspiration to our members and our girls,” said Erin Kennedy, who helped create the Girls Rugby league in Denver six years ago.
Team USA’s historic bronze medal win “really put rugby on the map, and we're getting a very big influx of parents who are interested in putting their daughters into it,” Kennedy said.
In the past, there have been significantly fewer opportunities for girls to participate nationally and globally in rugby than there were for boys, Kennedy said.
The Girls Rugby league creates opportunities for girls in grades 2 through 8 to get started in the sport. Registration is open for the fall season starts on Sept. 9 and runs through Oct. 27. Teams play across the Front Range, including at parks in Denver, Boulder, Broomfield, Aurora, Littleton, Parker and Westminster.
The Girls Rugby program in Colorado continues to be the biggest in the country, and it’s inspiring growth in other states like California, North Carolina and Washington.
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“We're building that pipeline of girls that are playing rugby who are going to continue with the game, and eventually they'll be putting on that red, white and blue jersey and representing our nation, which we're just thrilled about,” Kennedy said.
Flag rugby, which follows all of the rules of the game minus tackling, helps “instill all the great values of the game,” she said.
“They get to learn about things like leadership and confidence building and inclusion and respect,” she said. “We’re trying to build just really strong, confident young women.”
Young women like Reba who knows it’ll take grit to make her Olympic medal dreams come true. Her advice to other girls getting started in the sport: “Don’t give up and then keep trying.”
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