When Jetta Owens received an invitation to the USA Women’s National Team (WNT) residency in Glendale, Colo., the Virginia Tech student viewed the opportunity with a nothing-to-lose mindset. But after eight weeks in the Daily Training Environment (DTE) and a solid performance during the Stars & Stripes match, Owens knows she belongs in the player pool and is hungry for the next step in her progression.
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Owens has represented the Collegiate All-Americans (now USA U23s) 7s and 15s teams since 2018, and prior to attending the DTE had one interaction with the senior team: a weekend selection camp in summer 2019. In February 2020, she reported to what turned out to be the final USA age grade assembly of the year – a U23 7s camp at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center – and performed well. As March approached, Owen’s rugby life began to accelerate, until it halted completely.
“I was supposed to go to Atlanta for a training weekend with the [USA] 15s team,” Owens said. “So right when Covid hit, it was supposed to be the first day [of camp] and they were thinking of canceling the first day, and then a few hours later it was, ‘Yeah, it’s canceled. Don’t come down. It’s over.’ [Virginia Tech was] about to host a qualifying 7s tournament, but school was done, too. It was all very strange because we were on spring break and school was saying, ‘Don’t come back.’”
Virginia Tech transitioned to remote learning, which is a tough ask for a material science engineer major like Owens. There was no rugby, and while she was receiving some information about workouts and the like, there wasn’t much communication with the USA 15s program.
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“And then the summer rolled around and I got a Zoom link for a meeting, and I was not supposed to be on the meeting at all,” Owens said. “Everyone’s on this meeting. [WNT head coach] Rob [Cain] is talking, [Women’s High Performance General Manager] Emilie [Bydwell] is talking, and so in the middle of this meeting I chime in. ‘I don’t know if I’m supposed to be here. I haven’t been on any of these calls recently.’
“’Alright, Jetta, I’m going to call you after the meeting,’” she easily transitioned to Cain’s English accent. “We talked and I told him that I’ve been training and was really bummed that he didn’t get to see me play again in Atlanta. I’m not part of the WPL so he rarely gets to see me play. I had only made it to 1-2 camps that he was even present at. He goes, ‘I don’t think anything will come of it but you can definitely stay on these calls if you want to and just learn.’”
Owens was intrigued and tuned into these strategy sessions, but made her presence known.
“I tend to talk a lot during meetings, so I think he knew I was there,” she laughed.
At the end of the summer, Cain invited Owens to a mini-camp, which would occur in conjunction with the WNT 15s DTE. She was shocked, but immediately accepted. Two days later, Cain revised the offer: What about the full eight-week DTE experience? The head coach would later revisit this conversation when cataloguing Owen’s growth during residency.
“It was kind of crazy. I didn’t expect it because he literally said in our first call, ‘I wouldn’t expect anything to come from this but feel free to listen in,’” Owens said. “At this point, we [Virginia Tech] already knew our season for the fall was canceled. And my whole school was online anyway – except for my senior design, but I was able to work that out with my team. ‘Sure, I’ll go out there.’”
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Owens had to clear the relocation with her department head at Virginia Tech and then coordinate tasks with her three senior design group members. They were working on a year-long project with a company and advisors, and so the trio handled the lab work while she was responsible for the data analysis and literature review.
“It really worked out,” Owens said of her department. “They were really supportive of me going. ‘It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You absolutely should go.’”
But Owens didn’t feel any sense of pressure. This unexpected opportunity started with an errant invitation to a Zoom meeting, but she was happy to take advantage of good fortune.
“Obviously it would be amazing and everyone’s end goal is to go the World Cup, and that’s so cool to think about, but I went to Glendale thinking I had nothing to lose. [Cain] didn’t know me at all,” Owens said of her intentions in Colorado. “I love rugby. I wasn’t going to be able to play it if I didn’t go out there, so I took it as, ‘O.K., if nothing happens this is still an amazing time. And if something does happen and I do end up playing well, then that’s just a bonus.’”
To boot, no one heading to the DTE was entering a familiar environment. Covid-19 protocols necessitated small group living and training, and players were isolated from each other for the majority of the residency. Fortunately for Owens, she really clicked with her group, making for a fruitful, enjoyable experience.
“I really didn’t notice the Covid conditions other than having to run the Bronco with a mask on. That wasn’t super fun,” Owens said. “But other than that, just being able to do a long-term residency – talking to the other girls, it is rare that that happens. And just getting to work with the whole staff for a long period of time – getting to know them, having them get to know you – it was just really amazing.”
Owens indicated that it would have been nice to interact with more of the team, just being a newcomer, but there were big benefits to concentrating time with fellow backs.
“The only one who wasn’t in my group who switched over for the backline was Mack,” Owens said of McKenzie Hawkins and game day. “I got to play with [flyhalf] Megan Foster and [captain] Emily Henrich and really in detail get to know how they played. And we got to build that chemistry and I think it ultimately helped us in the game.”
Owens said there was a definitive adjustment period when the group expanded to include the forwards.
“The biggest thing was getting used to the structure with pack people in it again,” the center/fullback said. “We were just running hands and lines and doing drills with just backliners – that’s a totally difference pace and speed and passing distance than when you have pack people in. … It was definitely like, ‘This is 15s rugby. Welcome back. There are a lot of people on the field now, so how are you going to find the little spaces? Here we go.’”
Players needed to know whether they would be departing Glendale at the end of the eight-week DTE or whether they would remain another two weeks for the Stars vs. Stripes matches. Staff checked in with players approximately three-quarters into the residency, providing individual feedback as well as selections to the games. Owens was named to the Stripes.
“My feedback was to keep working on my passing and getting that form down,” Owens said. “Kicking is definitely a huge part of my game. I was working on that all through camp because I can kick with both my feet so being able to do that and do that accurately was a thing I was working on the whole time.”
An eight-week build-up to game day helped abate nerves, especially in terms of chemistry. Owens indicated that the overall team vibe was positive and excited.
“Although we did lose the Twitter poll so that was a little annoying,” Owens said of social media predictions of the Nov. 18 outcome.
“As a fullback, you like to know and trust the people in front of you,” Owens added to her preview of the match. “For me, I come from Virginia Tech. We’re not a varsity rugby program and so a lot of times I have to worry about other people doing their jobs right. So the cool thing for me was, ‘I have my job and I ‘m going to do that right. And I can trust these other people and know that they’re going to do their jobs and I don’t have to worry about them.’ That was very comforting, especially going into a roll like fullback, which can be stressful.”
In the end, the Stripes pulled away in the fourth quarter to win 34-12. Owens was solid in the back field.
“The pace for sure was very quick but I liked it. I felt like I was able to meet it so that was fun for me – being able to play in that environment and then being able to step up my game to play with people that play that fast,” Owens said of notable characteristics of the game. “For sure, how strong everyone is in their tackles. When you’re getting hit, you’re getting hit hard. It is never a light tackle and honestly everyone knows how to make their tackles, so it’s never, ‘Oh, I’ve got this.’”
But overall, Owens felt well prepared for the game, thanks to the high-intensity, high-tempo training sessions that marked her fall.
“I think I performed well enough but I know that I can perform way better than that, so that’s super exciting for me as a player,” Owens said. “Getting to go back and watch film and being like, ‘Oh, well, I’m going to make this choice next time,’ or, ‘I could’ve done that better.’ Now I know. … That was my first game, and I want more. I’m ready to go again.”
Had the second Stars vs. Stripes match come off then Owens would have played outside center. She would have liked to have a run in the line, especially on defense, but didn’t declare a favorite position just yet. She’s just happy to get on the field, but her goals might sharpen in the near future.
“Do you remember what you said to me when I invited you to the eight-week camp,” Owens quoted Cain. “I didn’t remember. He said, ‘You asked, “Why?” I hope you know why now. I hope you feel like you belong, because you do, and you’re performing well.’ Even that little confirmation from a head coach – I don’t have coaches [at Virginia Tech] – is so great.
“When I break a tackle or score a try or I’d win an aerial ball, I’d think, ‘Heck yeah, I did that,’” Owens continued. “Those are just little personal things that make me feel more like I’m winning these little battles and if I can keep winning these little battles then I’ll start to win the big ones. … I’m just taking it little by little, but as I started getting it, it was, ‘I belong here.’ And the team made me feel like I belong, too.”
The 2021 calendar is generally TBD, but Owens indicated that as soon as the WNT staff get information, they relay it to the players. Owens is concentrating on school right now and has her Hokies teammates to push her in training. When she’s back home in Maryland, she’s able to lift at her dad’s high school gym (he’s the wrestling coach) and play touch with Rocky Gorge, her dad’s former club. She takes it easy, though, only spills blood if chasing down a would-be try, perhaps practicing for the opportunity to do it on the international stage.