MOON TWP — It is not often that a team would decline an opportunity to defend a state championship.
However, the Moon girls rugby team is anything but your run-of-the-mill athletic program.
Rather than defending their title as the best girls rugby team in the Keystone State, the Tigers have decided to accept an invitation to compete in a national tournament on May 19 and 20 at Middle Tennessee State University.
The invitation to nationals comes in just the program's fifth year. In its inaugural season, the team included only eight girls who were looking to try a new sport. At times, the Tigers were forced to borrow players from other teams just so they could compete in tournaments. Now, with a roster of 46, the Tigers are making it known that they are a force to be reckoned with.
“It is amazing to see how much we have grown in five years,” senior captain Caitlyn Miller said. “To go from barely having a team to a strong group of 40-plus girls is incredible. I am excited to see where we will be in 10 years.”
For head coach Rocky Nurss, the high turnout and rapid growth of the young program is due in some part to the culture of western Pennsylvania.
“Girls grow up cheering for the Steelers and the Penguins, but unlike the boys in this area, there are not many opportunities for them to play a physical sport,” Nurss said. “Those girls who were looking for a real contact sport found that outlet through this team. It was something new that I feel a lot of these girls have always been in search of.”
While some girls joined for the aspect of physical play, Miller said some simply gave the game a try because it was something new.
“I’ve tried many sports,” Miller said. “I have a personality that is different, so I figured why not try a sport that is different, too. As soon as I started I immediately fell in love with the game. The sport is so unique, and our team is one big family.”
For some of the Tigers, the chance to play rugby will continue beyond their high school careers. Moon has six seniors on its roster, three of whom plan to play in college as well. Carly Weiss and Steph Hytla will play at Youngstown State, while Holly Forkey will play at West Virginia.
“Rugby was my backup sport that I pretty much played to stay in shape during my freshman and sophomore year,” Weiss said. “However, after things started coming together my junior year, softball quickly became my second option behind rugby. Now I am in love with the game and will be playing at the next level."
Other seniors include Miller, Cassie Kotvas and Taylor Kanfoush. While they might not be playing the game at the college level next year, Miller and others have expressed interest in competing in a woman’s club league after their high school career is over.
The seniors will be recognized prior to the Tigers next game against State College Sunday at 1 p.m. at Tiger Stadium.
This season, Moon has taken down two of the top 10 nationally-ranked team, defeating No. 7 St. Josephs Academy (Cleveland) and No. 3 Orchard Park High School (Buffalo, N.Y.) in tournaments in March.
Following those wins, the Tigers began to receive national attention and were encouraged to apply for the chance to compete at the national level. Though they knew that, if approved, they wouldn’t be able to defend the Division 2 state title that they won last season, the Tigers agreed that it would be worth it to go all in.
“We all decided as a group that this is what we wanted,” Nurss said. “While we obviously want to win another state title, the chance to compete at nationals was something no one wanted to pass up.”
Moon is one of just 16 teams that have been chosen for the national competition. Next, a selection committee will divide the schools into two classes of eight. With a perfect record thus far this season and two very impressive wins, the Tigers expect to be in the higher of the two groups. Once the brackets are set, a single-elimination tournament will begin.
Weiss said the Tigers are not content with simply making it to the national tournament, they are there to win.
“It has been a great ride,” Weiss said. “We are trying to finish things off by bringing a national championship back to Moon. I think we are going to do it.”
Regardless how they do in Murfeesboro next month, the Tigers believe they have built something that they can be proud of. While many athletic programs struggle to make any sort of traction in the early years of development, the Moon girls Rugby team has become a strong, unified front, from the players on the pitch to their families in the stands.
“We get together, the players, coaches and parents, and watch rugby together,” Nurss said. “It could be our own game film, an upcoming opponents or just a national competition.”
With Moon rugby thriving, Nurss hopes that it will lead to the game further developing in other areas throughout western Pennsylvania. As other schools in the area like West Allegheny follow in the Tigers footprints on how to create a successful program, Nurss said he hopes that the game will continue to spread to other schools.