Rugby is back: RR Club to put on girls' clinic this Saturday

RIO RANCHO — One of the biggest teams in Rio Rancho is hitting the field this weekend.

Storm football? Rams soccer?

Nope, the Rio Rancho Rugby Club.

The Rio Rancho Rugby Club, founded in the 2000s, is putting on a touch rugby showcase for high school girls on Saturday at Haynes Park. The club welcomes all skill levels, as it looks to grow even larger with the popularity of this year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup.

“I think they saw over 400,000 people in person attendance, with over 7 million people watching worldwide,” club member Dave Bracken said. “Tuning into the sport and seeing these women compete for their countries on the global stage.”

United States star Llona Maher and the rest of the World Cup participants have caught the nation by storm, but here in Rio Rancho, the club is looking to channel that attention into participation.

“I helped plan this event with two of the other girls from the team,” Eva Reeves, member of the high school level rugby team, said. “We planned it to give girls a space to learn without having any concern, or the main point being centered around guys. This event is going to be specifically for girls, and it was planned by girls, and I'm really excited to see who turns up.”

Rio Rancho Rugby Club is not just another after-school activity. The club has grown consistently since 2020, as the club’s 165 participants across all age ranges make it the largest rugby club in all of New Mexico. RRRC offers teams for boys and girls from ages 5-19.

Outside of growing their numbers, the club’s biggest target is breaking perception. To many people, all they know about rugby is how violent and aggressive it can be. Bracken says that's not the case, as RRRC has several different variations of rugby that prioritize safety.

The club offers contactless rugby leagues, along with flag rugby, which is similar to the contact-free variation of football in flag football. All of the coaches at RRRC are certified in SafeSport, concussion protocol and contact mitigation.

“Fighting a little bit of a perception, I think I've seen some articles in the past talking about how girls playing contact sports created a perception out there that when you're more aggressive, it's less feminine,” Bracken said. “One thing that I love about Llona Maher is how she is setting those trends, that it doesn't matter your body type, it doesn't matter how people perceive you. She calls herself 'Beast Beauty Brains.' You can be smart, you can be strong. You can be you.”

Bracken and the club not only prioritize players being themselves when playing sport, but also set the young athletes up for life outside of rugby and their futures to come.

"We had just over 14 seniors graduate from our program; every single one of those seniors accumulated financial aid in some form,” Bracken said. “We stress academics, but also how to be able to leverage academics with athletics. So your scholarship is not dependent upon how you move a ball. Your scholarship is based upon your education, and then it's supplemented by moving the ball and giving you opportunities to be able to represent your school, your community, your regions, or even your country.”

The club has hosted events like this before, but never have they put one together for just the girls’ teams. Reeves is excited for the first-ever girls’ rugby “open house” as she looks for the group to grow even larger.

"My goal for the growth of girls' rugby is to have a full team roster, which, for sevens (7 vs 7 rugby), is typically 12 girls or so,” Reeves said. “I would even like to be able to push it to a full 15 (player) roster, which would be about 25 girls. I just would like to be able to give more ladies the opportunity to play rugby and see all the benefits that it can have.”

RRRC’s Saturday showcase at Haynes Park is from 2-4 p.m. For more information, visit rioranchorugby.com or their Instagram page, riorugbyclub.