The East High Girls Rugby won the Iowa Girls State Rugby Tournament 21-14 on Oct. 22 against Valley at Bondurant  High School’s stadium at the state rugby tournament. The Girls Rugby team finished the season with a 11-1-1 record. The team is made up of 12 players, along with head coach, Nick Sawhill and Assistant coach Victor Mayes.
“My goal going into the season was for us as a team to prove that we were contenders for the state title and that we were the powerhouse team,” junior Bailey Gladson said.
In previous seasons rugby wasn’t as popular and even this year they struggled to find girls to play. They had plenty of talent, but the issue was finding girls to go in when  others needed some time the breathe. After picking up a few more girls, the team grew together and became the “powerhouse” they had planned to be.
“Before we even got to the championship the whole team had it in our minds that we were going to win it, so going into the championship we just had the mind set that we needed to leave it all on the field and bring home the trophy,” sophomore Marisa Anderson said.
Going into the champion game, the team had to clear their minds and get into a mindset to win. With the mindset they came in with, they took the title and won state for the first time. Following the game there was a ceremony to give the team the gold trophy that they had their eyes on. This moment was a long time coming for the seniors who stuck with Rugby for their time during high school.
“I look up to Cam Carpenter because she was one of the people who got me to play in the first place and she always works hard she also had the assist to every score I had except for one,”  Anderson said.
The East Rugby team, included five were first time players, which can be very tough.  Anderson was selected as a second team all-state player during her first year of Rugby. Junior Carly Reynolds was also selected for second team all-state. There were also two first team all-state awards given to seniors, Camryn Carpenter and Patience Murray. Being selected gave these girls a chance to play for the Hawkettes and will be traveling to Colorado to play other states.
“During rugby season I live rugby because that’s all I have time for… I want to be the best coach I can possibly be,” Sawhill said.
Rugby is not a school sanctioned sport which means coaches are not paid at all. Too add the athletes are not given credit for playing a varsity sport. All coaching is done fully off of volunteer. Coaches like Sawhill give up much of their own time to teach teenagers to play the sport they fell in love with as a high scho

oler. Sawhill spends much of his time out of season working with the IAYRA (Iowa Youth Rugby Association), being on top of insurance for players, fundraising, giving kids and parents information, hosting tournaments and organizing and setting up the practice field.
“I’m excited for what the future holds for the rugby community and next year’s team. I encourage girls and boys to come out and try the sport I fell in love with and has made me the person I am today,” Sawhill said.