The magic number for the GW Women’s Rugby Football Club is four.
The Colonials are one of 16 teams in the USA Rugby Division II playoffs in San Diego, Calif. leaving only four victories between them and the championship.
With a handful of games still left ahead of them to define their season, members of the team said four is an important number, because it both determines their future and is a part of their past.
When Kenny “K.P.” Pope took over as head coach for the team four years ago, he inherited a small group of players without much schooling in the finer points of rugby. But Pope had plans for his young team.
“I had a vision to take this team and turn them into what they wanted, which is a championship team,” Pope said. “My goals and their goals came together.”
The team had only 23 girls and lacked the necessary funds to play outside of the D.C. area when Pope arrived. Undeterred, Pope decided to teach a new style of rugby to the team, focusing on the aspect of play he sees as crucial.
“I am a coach that lives and dies by defense,” Pope said. “Defense wins championships. If no one can score against you, you always have a chance.”
Four years later, the club has nearly 45 members, enough to field an “A” team and a “B” team, and has played across the East Coast and into the Midwest. This season, the Colonials dominated their opponents in the Potomac Rugby Union, with a 7-0 fall record, qualifying for play in the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union. The ladies continued their success in that spring league, finishing second and earning the No. 9 seed in the USA Rugby Sweet 16.
“We have learned a lot about how to keep pace with a championship level team,” senior captain Marielle Buccilli said. “We don’t want to just show up, we want to win and reach the final four.”
True to his coaching philosophy, Pope has continued to emphasize defense. Last Sunday, the Colonials shut out Wittenberg University with a 5-0 victory and this week in practice, Pope forbade his team from playing any offense at all, driving home his defensive mindset.
“We just want to go out there and play GW rugby,” sophomore club president Michelle Perna said. “We don’t have big size. We have a lot of talent and skill and we work together. We mesh so well, our game comes through when we are working together as one. Our entire team is what shows, not just the individual.”
The tournament begins April 16, when the Colonials will face Lee University in their first round match. The tournament is a single-elimination, with the winner moving on to play another game on Sunday. The four remaining teams will compete in the national championship April 30 in Pittsburg, Pa.
“Even if we don’t make it to the top four, we know we’ve won because we’ve accomplished so much and come so far,” Perna said. “No matter what happens, nobody will be disappointed.”
