Doylestown claimed the 2019 Rugby PA Fall 7s Championship and was a leading candidate for the spring 15s trophy. The Dragons were also looking to test themselves at the Girls High School Club National Invitational Tournament, signaling the self belief that 2020 was meant to be a special season. The team didn’t have a chance to test its full potential, but senior captains Amelia Fisher and Merrin McSorley set up the Pennsylvania squad for continued success next year.
Fisher, who celebrated her 18th birthday last week, started playing rugby in 6th grade.
“What drew me in about the sport was the complexity and how there were so many moving parts to the game, and no two games are alike,” Fisher explained.
Fisher learned the game through Doylestown’s middle school program and continued playing once enrolled at Villa Joseph Marie High School.
“Nearly four years ago my team had this major influx of players that joined the team, and I felt like they were my team,” Fisher reflected. “I feel like that group of girls that all joined at once forced me to become a better player because suddenly I was no longer the newest player, I became one of the more experienced ones. From that, I forced myself to become better and better of a rugby player.”
Part of that process involved playing with the Rugby PA All-Stars, and the lock sampled next-level 7s and 15s alongside some of the state’s best players.
“From that level of play, I learned to trust my teammates more, as strange as it seems,” Fisher explained. “So on the all-star team, there are some incredible athletes and at that level, many players tend to showboat a little because they are so used to being a one-player team. But being on a team with these other incredible players I learned to have a deeper trust for my team because so many of my teammates were also selected.”
Mother’s Day 2019 ranks among Fisher’s top rugby memories. It was raining and there was standing water on the pitch.
“I love rainy rugby games, they are simply fun,” Fisher reminisced. “My one teammate, Eli Miller, who is a second row with me, we would joke around with each other throughout the whole game. We spent the whole game running like slugs with water in out cleats and literally giving up on staying dry, and after the game sliding through the water just for fun.”
When considering captains for the 2019-20 season, Doylestown U18 head coach Stacy Mancuso marveled at Fisher’s six years of development, and tabbed the senior as head of the forwards.
“Amelia is a natural leader and offers much direction to the new and younger players,” Mancuso praised. “She is very knowledgeable in the pack positions and has developed a strong sense of confidence in her role as team captain.
“Amelia has amazing technique in her rucking and tackling, and often causes turnovers during the game,” the coach continued. “She has developed her rugby IQ as well as her physical ability on the field over the last six-plus years, and we will miss both her leadership and ability to keep a calm composure on the field next year.”
Mancuso selected senior Merrin McSorley to lead the backs. The outside center took a different path to rugby, and yet, the future Penn State player’s origin story is familiar. McSorley was playing basketball, field hockey and lacrosse, but her aggressive nature kept producing cards and penalties, and that got old. As a sophomore at Harridan High School, McSorley found rugby and joined White Horse.
“I was really nervous at first but everyone was super welcoming and not intimidating,” McSorley said of her first fall 7s season. “There was one drill where we were almost punching each other’s hands. ‘This is going to be so much more fun than lacrosse was.’
“You’re really allowed to play out the sport,” McSorley continued. “In lacrosse, for example, you have these weird little rules, but in rugby – you can’t do anything – but at some point you just play. In my first game in the first two minutes I high-tackled someone and got a card and sat out for bit. But when I came back on, one of teammates set me up with a good pass and I scored a try.”
McSorley joined White Horse when players like Alex DiMarco, Ariana Ramsey and Julia Riekena were leading the way, and they powered back-to-back fall 7s titles in 2016 and 2017. McSorley ramped up her exposure with Atlantis and represented the select side at the 2017 New York 7s, but then suffered an ACL injury that knocked her out for a year.
McSorley with her first team, White Horse, in 2017
“I was supposed to play with Atlantis at the [2018] LVI, but the day before we were supposed to leave, I found out I tore my ACL,” said McSorley, who flew to Las Vegas anyhow. “I was convinced it wasn’t torn because I could still kind of run around but it would give out and I’d fall sometimes.
“It was a tough time,” McSorley reflected on the yearlong recovery that took her out of the 2018 15s and 7s seasons. “I was super excited to play with Atlantis and White Horse and be around the game more, so I watched a lot of rugby and focused on rehab. It made me appreciate the sport a lot more, and I couldn’t wait to get back out there and play.”
But by the time McSorley was fit for play, there was no White Horse team and so she joined Doylestown for the 2019 spring 15s season, her junior year.
“The transition was seamless because all the Doylestown girls are awesome,” said McSorley, who knew a bunch of the Dragons from the tournament circuit. “And I love Stacy [Mancuso]. [White Horse coach] Wayne [DiMarco] was the foundation; he was my first coach. But Stacy gave me a lot of detail and skills, and has taught me a lot.”
There were still some nerves, however, as McSorley tested her ACL. Carrying the ball wasn’t an issue – she was ready to run – but there was still some lingering concern around the tackle area. Nevertheless, she kept pushing herself and joined Fisher, Ayla Bleznak, Tamia Freeman, Sophia Linder and Isabella Poole on the summer 2019 Rugby PA All-Star varsity team. That selection was followed by Mancuso’s nomination as co-captain for the 2019-20 season.
“Merrin has been such a bright addition to the Dragons. She has a more positive outlook than almost any player I have ever coached,” Mancuso lauded the senior center. “Merrin is a natural athlete and is able to find gaps in the defensive line with ease. She is not only a threat on the offense attack, she always strives to improve herself on the field and does so with a smile on her face. She has been a key player for us and her leadership in the backline will be missed, along with her fun-loving and spirited personality.”
“I was definitely excited and a little bit surprised because I’d only played one season with them,” McSorley said of being named co-captain. “I feel like I get along with teammates super well. There’s no stress at practice. We’re working hard but we’re having fun. And Amelia is really awesome and we worked well together.”
Fisher considers herself a reliable, consistent player, and paired her own goals with the growth of the team.
“Individually I have always wanted to be the upperclassman that people looked up to and trusted,” Fisher explained. “Being better is great, but the team growing stronger is the best.”
The duo set a standard for hard work and encouraged the team to push itself outside of practice. The squad also made good use of strength-and-conditioning coach Monica Montone.
“Everyone commits to fall 7s,” McSorley said. “And Monica was super helpful getting the girls to come to practice early and do a 45-minute circuit, and then practice. It was awesome to see them come early for that.”
Doylestown won the 2019 fall 7s title, and Fisher and McSorley hoped to roll that momentum into the spring 15s season.
“Everyone on the team, you couldn’t change their mind that we would win 15s,” McSorley said. “I think we would have been as strong a 15s team as a 7s team. We were playing with a lot of confidence and got a big boost from last season.”
Obviously there is a lot of disappointment around the canceled spring season, especially as Doylestown had plans to compete at the high school club NIT. The team is staying in contact and hoping to plan some team events when social distancing is lifted. McSorley is heading to Penn State for college and rugby, and Fisher intends to study civil engineering and play on a collegiate club.
“I think next year we will be even better, because we are so focused on the team growing over just the individual growing,” Fisher closed. “We are only as strong as our weakest player, and we know that, so next year I know we will be in a great place.”
“I’m super excited for them to pick up right where we left off last 7s season,” McSorley added. “They have a super strong senior class next year and I’m excited to come to the games. I know they’ll win both championships because they’re insanely talented. Me and Amelia are leaving the team, but they’ll be totally fine next year.”