The Calvin women’s rugby team has grown into one of the university’s most competitive club programs, built on community, resilience and determination. Many students join the team without prior rugby experience, yet find themselves part of this driven group. This season’s 4-1 record and national ranking reflect the level this team has achieved.
Calvin’s rugby program began in 2007 with the men’s team, with the women’s team following shortly after. Initially, the teams operated as a student-led organization. At the time, faculty advisors would help out with practices, but the team was in need of proper coaching. Since then, rugby has become a club sport at Calvin. The team’s current head coach, Jason Arndt, started as a rugby player for Calvin. Shortly after graduating, he became the coach for the men’s program. Quickly after taking on the coaching position for the men’s team, he also took over as the women’s head coach; he currently splits his time between both teams. When Arndt started with the women’s team in 2018, he focused on implementing a clear offensive structure and developing a framework that allowed the team’s athleticism to thrive. He describes this experience as “giving [the team] some structure, some knowledge, and [an understanding of] flow, process and how the game is played. They already had athletic abilities; I just gave them the space to be athletes in a rugby structure.”
Club sports at Calvin offer students the chance to compete outside of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) programs while still experiencing the benefits of athletics such as teamwork, discipline and personal growth. Many students arrive on campus with experiences in high school sports, and club teams provide a continuation of these activities for those not pursuing varsity athletics. For senior Celia Post, she wasn’t aware that a rugby team existed until her first week on campus. She described the experience, saying, “I had no idea that we had a rugby team. Then, during my first week on campus, I saw an Instagram post from the team about an informational meeting, showed up, and fell in love with the community and sport.” Senior Ashland Sandberg came to Calvin wanting to be part of a team. She said, “When I came to Calvin, I wanted to learn a new sport and be a part of a team again. I missed the team aspect and competition once I got to college. Rugby was the perfect sport to choose, allowing me to play a sport and still focus on academics.”
This season, the women’s team ended with a record of 4-1. Following COVID, many collegiate rugby programs struggled to return, but Calvin has remained consistently strong. This marks the fourth year in a row that the women’s rugby team has been nationally ranked in the Division 3 rankings, according to National Collegiate Rugby. Despite the overall success, this season still came with challenges. Arndt explained that the team graduated seven seniors last year, which led to a much younger team than in past years. He said, “[We] had 10 to 12 freshmen join the team, and the majority of those girls were prior athletes from other sports.” Rather than using the lack of experience as an excuse, this kept the team motivated. Sandberg explained that “we taught over 10 people how to play rugby, and they helped us win this season.”
Although the team is part of Division 3, they often compete with Division 2 teams. Their only loss this season came from Grand Valley State University, which is in the top 20 of Division 2. Reflecting on the season, Arndt said, “The girls had a great season this year … we had a strong turnout of freshmen. Losing that much experience and leadership can affect some things sometimes, but we had a strong leadership class step in, made of juniors and seniors.”
When asked about the success of the team, there were consistent highlights of community, work ethic and determination. Post said that each season, “our newer players are buying into the game and their new community.” Highlighting the adaptability year to year, Sandberg explained that the team develops around the athletes: “[We] tailor specific plays and set pieces to the strengths within our team, leaning on each other to better our overall performance in games.” Though the plays change, a relentless drive to improve has consistently defined this team for multiple seasons. Post says, “our program has worked very hard in the past few years to stay competitive with the teams we play against. Whenever we have a win, it only pushes us to keep working to get that win again.” Arndt adds that, “the ranking is a testament to their hard work, their commitment to learning, commitment to being a good teammate, commitment to their culture and the commitment to just being a competitor on the field and off the field.”
As the Knights wrap up another successful season, their culture of determination and support continues to set them apart. With a young roster and strong leadership abilities, the program is set on building its momentum.
