By Jackie Finlan

Bowling Green State University is undefeated in the Women's Great Lakes D2 conference, and has a new confidence thanks to an old-school coach.

BGSU had experienced some success, but the Ohio school needed a long-term coaching solution to sustain it. They found it in Jim Akroyd, an Englishman considering the end of his player-coaching days with the Findlay Scars, and brought him on as head coach. Five weeks later, Bowling Green is 3-0 in Great Lakes and circling the calendar for Grand Valley State.

Watch The USA Rugby Fall College Championships LIVE on FloRugby Dec 1-2

“It’s like we have one voice, one direction now,” said Akroyd, who’s been involved with rugby for 42 years. “Before, with no official coach, there were multiple voices, and even though they experienced success, they were disjointed and dysfunctional. But everyone has bought into my rugby vision – from training to match day – and we’re very analytical as well. Even though we had a good result last weekend, the first training session was: What do we do to get better?”

Akroyd arrived at the end of August and close to 30 players are now registered. The group ranges from first-semester rookies to vets with 4-5 years’ experience, and Tanja Vierrether and Michaella Lowe are the example setters.

“Tanja is in a class of her own, based on my experience with team presidents. She is a very good leader, very organized,” Akroyd said of the former soccer player. “Our other team captain, Michaella, is very passionate and very much wants to win – in a good way. They’re a big factor in why we’re successful.”

The newcomers are moving along, and players like Annika Schempf and Maddy Spirnak have shown tremendous promise.

Shoutout to @BGSUWRFC for winning their season opener 41-7 last Saturday! Interested in Rugby or other Sport Clubs? Check this out: https://t.co/VBErXE4dJh pic.twitter.com/GUGkyOeD1b

— BGSU RecWell (@BGSURecWell) September 20, 2018

“Annika is an incredibly intense competitor. She puts 100% effort into everything and is fearless. There is zero intimidation when sizing up the player in front of her,” the coach commended. “Maddy is the same way – a fierce competitor. She’s very analytical, too, and keeps asking what she can do to get better.”

After two conference wins, Bowling Green lined up against Oakland University, which had fallen 22-10 to perennial leader Grand Valley State the weekend prior. Bowling Green ran out a 53-10 win.

“They had this belief that they were going to win, but not by that scoreline,” Akroyd said. “They were actually more disappointed in the two tries we conceded than the nine tries we scored.

Such a great weekend in Bowling Green!! We celebrated BGSU Women’s Rugby 40th anniversary! Thank you to all the alumni who helped make Saturday possible!! ❤️? pic.twitter.com/kFY6gEbjKN

— BGSU Women's Rugby (@BGSUWRFC) September 3, 2018

“It was knowledge; simple as that,” the coach explained the difference between teams. “The way we’re training, it’s not so much around skill set – because many of them have the skills already – it’s more about decision-making and understanding positional awareness. We were more organized. It was a new concept for the players, and I’m blessed to have a group that immediately bought into it.” 

The leaders honed in on the defensive lapses that allowed the tries against and funneled those lessons into upcoming training sessions. That analysis is an important part of the growth process and hopefully pay off against Grand Valley State on Oct. 20.

When asked whether the team is pumped for the Lakers game, Akroyd said: We’ve had a daily countdown.

“It’s an outstanding group of individuals. The attitude is very professional,” Akroyd concluded. “The talent pool is significant; it’s just the rugby knowledge that they had never had. Everyone’s on the same page now and understands what we’re trying to achieve. We’re aiming for the stars.”

Will those stars align with the D2 College Fall Championship? Find out on Dec. 1-2, as FloRugby live-streams the D2 semis Dec 1 and final on Dec 2.