From the sidelines, Bellomy Field during a Santa Clara Women’s Club Rugby practice appears to be senselessly overtaken by a charged chaos of tackling and sprinting—not a match, but a raw battle caught in an electric push and pull.

After a closer look, the practiced grace of each play becomes impossible to ignore. Trained to synchronize their aggressive campaigns, the team not only approaches their matches with honed power and adrenaline, but strategy and teamwork as well.

Then, a whistle blows, and the same intimidating athletes that just demonstrated brutal strength and split-second calculation on the field are hugging and joking with each other, casual and relaxed.

“I think controlled chaos is a good way to describe it. There is a lot going on, but everybody has their part and plays it,” said athlete Molly Fleming ’29.

Fleming didn’t come to Santa Clara with a passion for rugby; she was spontaneously recruited by two athletes who approached her one day in Benson Memorial Center.

“I barely heard of the sport,” said Fleming. “I don’t think a lot of people really know what rugby is, so that’s a challenge. People don’t understand how controlled it is, because it does look like everybody’s throwing bodies at each other, throwing the ball around. It can be graceful.”

Despite being a small team, their strength lies in the coordination of 21 athletes working in harmony.

“Everyone has each other’s backs, win or lose. The team is still super fun to be on,” said recruitment and alumni chair Marisol Shukie ’29. “We’re a team in and outside of practices and games.”

Although Shukie joined the team having prior rugby experience in high school, she has continued to improve as a result of the supportive environment. Whether or not new athletes have rugby experience, beginners like Fleming can still excel, while returners such as Shukie have the opportunity to refine their skills.

One of the team’s core values is learning through collaboration and exercise. “That’s why coming out to practice is so important. We can get those drills, so we can know what to do in a line,” said Fleming.

Most practices consist of ball drills, passing and conditioning, all completed side-by-side on the field. Even when practicing tackles, teammates have built bonds where they are still able to laugh and cheer each other on.

“When you fall in love with a sport, it’s not a challenge,” said Shukie.

Rugby is not a sport where athletes want to hold back—the beauty of play is leaving everything on the field to fight hard for a win.

However, rugby’s intensity does not diminish its capacity for bonding opportunities. On the contrary, many athletes find that its grit and rawness have actually inspired a mutual sense of solidarity across teams.

“It’s the only sport in the world where you’ll play against other teams, you’ll tackle each other, you’ll get hit, you’ll get smashed, and then you go out. You hang out with the team that you just played with,” said head coach Di-an Duong. “You have a drink, you eat together, you have fun, you laugh about it. That’s the culture of rugby, and that’s very unique compared to any other sport.”

As a former college rugby athlete herself, Duong has coached the team for the past three seasons. From a coach’s perspective, she watches physical toughness coexist with care and empathy.

“They’ve built something just so special, so unique, that you just have to join to see. They make everybody feel like family the first day that you walk in on practice,” said Duong.

The coaching staff does not shy away from challenging the team, as difficult practices bring out athletic improvement and camaraderie.

“I think being in a strong community like that helps a lot, because we’re doing something really tough, but we’re doing it all together,” said Fleming. “Especially when we have to run, or we’re doing tackling drills. It’s tough, and it hurts. We’re all in it together, and we’re all working towards a goal to be better as a team.”

The sport is unique in its ability to cultivate each athlete’s distinct strengths while simultaneously building a cohesive group.

Reflecting this concept of individuality driving overall team development, the club encourages as many Broncos as possible to play.

“Rugby is a very inclusive space in general, and you’ll hear it often, but there is a spot, there’s a position for every player, no matter your size, your height. Every person has an important role in the team, and that’s what makes this sport so unique,” said Duong.

Making an effort to understand women’s rugby reveals how deeply the ideas of sisterhood and support are ingrained in team culture. Without their push for recruitment, many athletes in the rugby community feel that uninformed misconceptions distract from the sport’s underlying inclusivity.

Despite the online visibility of women’s rugby stars like Ilona Maher or Portia Woodman-Wickliffe attracting an exponentially growing fanbase throughout the past few years, many college teams have not received the same attention as professional leagues.

Santa Clara Women’s Club Rugby president Olivia Del Rosario ’28 described how fears of tackling, size, inexperience or concussions stop young women from joining the sport, when in reality, team training and preventative measures make these unlikely.

“This is a beginner-friendly team and a majority of our ‘vets’ started playing at SCU,” said Del Rosario.

Del Rosario explained how learning proper tackling and falling procedures protects athletes from injuries or concussions. She also stressed how size is not a defining factor for an athlete’s skill.

At 5’0, Del Rosario has built her own confidence on the field and welcomes athletes of all sizes to diverse roles on the team.

Santa Clara Women’s Club Rugby is open to all, welcoming Broncos looking for a community built on embracing the unique strength each athlete brings.

“We teach from basic, from most of the players knowing nothing, and we build all the way up until they feel comfortable,” said Duong. “We love to win, and we want to be a good team, but my goal is always to help make these young athletes just better people and stronger-minded, being leaders in whatever field that they choose to go into, and in life. I think that’s what women’s sports does: it makes us better.”