In the U.S., there are approximately only 8,700 to 10,000 high school girls who play rugby, which makes up just over 0.01% of all high school girls in the U.S. Participation is growing rapidly, and among those new players is Camryn Mazzarella, a Senior at the Morgan School.
“I joined because I wanted to play a contact sport. I played lacrosse, but there were a lot of rules and not really any contact,” said Mazzarella.
This is her first season playing on the Shoreline Spartans Rugby High School Girls club team. This is a Shoreline Club that has different age group teams in Youth Flag, Youth Tackle, High School Boys and Girls, and, new this spring, a Middle School Girls team. They were founded in 2015 and have players from the shoreline, including Clinton, Westbrook, Old Saybrook, Chester, Deep River, Essex, Haddam, Killingworth, Madison, and Guilford.
“I thought it would be fun, and when I went to accepted students day at Roger Williams, another girl that I met there, and I signed up to play on the club team there in college because we thought it would be fun, so I thought I would learn to play this year,” said Mazzarella.
She had heard about the team through a member of the boys’ team and joined this Spring. Right now, she is on the High School Girls team, and she is the only girl from Morgan, though there have been some recently who graduated last year, including Aleia Aleman and Skyla Ortiz. The team practices every Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday at the Ethel Peters Field in Clinton, and has a game every Thursday.
Though there is supposed to be 15 players on the field, the league plays with 7 due to a lack of a completely full roster. Rugby can be described as a “less complicated version of football,” said Mazarella. Players move the oval-shaped ball down the field to score, five points by touching the ball over the opponent’s goal line or by kicking for a point. You can only pass the ball backward and tackle opponents below the shoulders.
“I didn’t know what it was like before I started playing. I have learned a lot in practice, and everyone has been very helpful. I have specifically spent a lot of time learning how to tackle safely, which is definitely the hardest part, and we have to learn how to try to prevent concussions,” said Mazzarella.
There are a lot of rules, due to the dangerous nature of the game, in place to try to keep people safe. The team runs like a travel or club team and has to transport themselves to games, but because of how dangerous players are, they are not allowed to drive there by themselves, because it is very likely they would get hurt.
“It is very common to get concussions in rugby. All we have are mouthguards and cleats, no pads or anything. Someone gets a concussion almost every game,” she said.
Because of the dangerous nature, a lot of their practice time early in the season is spent practicing how to do everything safely to hopefully prevent such injuries, which are inevitable.
Her mother, Brooke Mazzarella, an English teacher at Morgan, said, “I was really excited to see that she wanted to get involved in clubs at Roger Williams and start this spring. But as a mother, I never stop worrying bout her, and it is very physical, so I do worry about her getting hurt sometimes,” she said.
This year, the team is undefeated so far with only a few more games left in the regular season before the playoffs and tournament.
“I’m glad I joined the team. I’ve made a lot of new friends, and they are all great. It has been a very fun experience, I wish I had started sooner, and I’m excited to join the team in college as well,” closed Mazarella.
