By Ryan Trost

It's 1978 in Hanover, NH, and Dartmouth men’s rugby player David Van Wie, no longer playing himself due to injury, overhears some female classmates frustration with a no checking allowed rule in their hockey league. 

“Is there a contact sport for women out there?” Moments later, “The Originals” as they are warmly known throughout the Dartmouth Women’s Rugby family, were born.

Fast forward 40 years, Big Green women’s rugby family is without a doubt one of the class programs in all of college rugby. Male, female, club or varsity, this team is legit and they are in the hunt every year.

Especially indicative of that long-term excellence, this weekend the club hosted their 40^th alumni reunion alongside the current squad’s Ivy League match with Harvard. Results of both events? It’s very good to be green, and a woman.

On the pitch, Dartmouth ran up a 55 – 13 final score over their longtime rivals. Eight different try-scorers for the second consecutive week proves once again Katie Dowty’s prowess as a head coach. This team scores from anywhere. They are efficient, clean handling and can do it in a multitude of styles.

Throughout the match there were periods of sustained possession, but also so many sudden long-distance counter attacks from turnover. “A lot of things really came together for us,” said captain Camille Johnson. “We worked a lot on getting the ball to space and utilizing it effectively, not just going one-hands off the ruck and taking it straight in and I think that came together really well this game. We were moving the ball very well. Good hands.”

It is fun to watch this well-tuned machine go about their business. It is also refreshing to catch their honesty. So often, we hear coaches and players downplay their aspirations. “We’re just taking it a game at time, not thinking about trophies… ”  

Not so in Hanover this year. When asked if the national championship is the goal, Dowty happily responded, “Of course! You know we’re hosting it this year, so it’s always been in the back of my mind that we want to make sure we’re there. Yeah.”

While the match certainly was a runaway, it’s not all bad news for Harvard. The Crimson are in very good hands with the coaching staff of Mel Denham, Kimber Rozier and Justin Moss. It’s highly probable they will get a second bite at the apple with Dartmouth. Denham is as sharp as they come and her charges are dedicated to each other and the goals they’ve also set.

“They’re probably excited to look at film and see what was going on,” said Denham. “I think if there’s one thing this team enjoys it’s being able to see Dartmouth twice in a season. We get to go back, look at stuff, problem solve.”

The icing on top of it all this weekend though was absolutely the 40^th reunion. With well over 100 alumni in attendance, Head organizer Melanie Pastuck, current President of reigning women’s D-1 national champion New York Rugby Club spoke a bit about the gift that Dartmouth Women’s Rugby is. 

“I think that rugby, and especially being a woman playing rugby here has just given me so much more confidence and determination in a lot of the things that I do and I really see how that’s translated into my professional life and my personal life and I think that’s why you see all these people here, that are here to celebrate, because it was a transformational part of their experience.”

That experience encapsulates a lot of great history, both in rugby and in women’s rights. This club got started around the same time as Title IX and God bless the strong persevering nature of the Dartmouth women. Deb Day, class of 1980 summarized the fulfillment that comes with being a part of such a team, through such an era. 

“The sense of history really is amazing… coming up in the shadow of Title IX and having to fight for everything and seeing just how much it’s grown how much women athletes are accepted now. Division 1, scholarships - not at Dartmouth, that (scholarships) is still what we need – but in other places you can get a scholarship to play rugby now for women and that’s amazing. It’s wonderful to see that.”

Overall, it is a tradition that continues to be one of USAR’s shining examples of how to build a program right. 

“We’ve got probably one of the strongest traditions of support and history with us, and that’s not the headline in recruiting, but it certainly is good for the women who come on the team to know that they become part of this," said Laura Murray-Dobbin, class of 1982. "They become part of a group that is going to come back and support them.”