The women’s Howard University Rugby Club squad, the only active HBCU rugby women’s team, took a big step forward this weekend. And with a little help, it can go even further.
The fledgling program won its College Rugby Association of America Regional title last weekend in Charlotte. It defeated Charlotte 46-0 and then beat Appalachian State 43-26 to claim the regional title. As the first – and only – competitive HBCU rugby team for women, it was a huge accomplishment. But there is more ahead for these pioneering women.
Claiming the regional title in Charlotte pushed the Howard University squad to the national championship in Houston on May 6-7. However, as a club sport, the Howard rugby team doesn’t have a budget like the school’s athletics programs.
A total of 28 people – 23 players, four coaches and one manager – are hoping to make the trip. The group is looking to raise a total of $14,000 which it expects to include approximately $500 per flight, two nights at a hotel and two 15-passenger vans to travel. A GoFundMe has been started to help fund the team’s trip to Houston.
Dr. Jonah Watson is in charge of campus recreation at Howard University. He’s been involved with the Howard rugby club from day one, including working on a plan to secure the funding for travel.
“They came to me and reached out about starting the club,” Watson told HBCU Gameday in March. “And from that point on, they’ve been very consistent, practicing very hard as we’ve been having a lot of meetings and stuff about how we can fundraise and just bring days and resources to this team. So going towards nationals, we’re starting to prepare to try to do some fundraising efforts.
We’re working on corporate relations at the university and some other corporate sponsors to see if we can raise this funding.”
As of 1:30 PM on April 26, more than $9,500 has been raised to support those efforts.