Sativa Tarau-Peehikuru captains the varsity team vs. Life / Photo: Alex Ho (hoiho.net)
Having aligned with the College Rugby Association of America (CRAA), the DI Elite is now DIA, to mirror its male counterpart. This stage of the competition’s lifetime brings some benefits – most notably free live-streams – and has already seen an expansion with the re-addition of BYU (and talks of near-future adds LINK). But some things will remain the same, and those expectations start with Lindenwood University. The reigning national champion has been the standard for the last few years, and the rugby community is eager to see the Lions open their season against Life on Feb. 20.
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Lindenwood University head coach Billy Nicholas explained that the team’s fall resembled other DIA and administratively supported programs. While the St. Charles, Mo., school transitioned to virtual classrooms and offered limited in-person options, it attempted to build community through online resources. The rugby team was able to hold socially distanced training sessions. Players wore masks during practices and on campus, worked in mini-pods, constantly sanitized equipment, and tracked daily temperature checks and other symptoms.
“We have a great group of personnel that are involved in our university’s pandemic response team that have been working hard in coordination with local, state officials and doctors for best practices within our school and athletic protocols,” Nicholas noted.
“Rugby wise, it was a good opportunity to focus on bringing up our individual skills in a distanced setting,” the coach continued. “Since the abrupt stop whilst in the middle of our season last March, we were just happy to be out throwing a ball around. We ended the fall with a scrimmage against each other and it was a good opportunity to test a bit of what we had been installing within a full-contact game setting.”
Lindenwood head coach Billy Nicholas / Photo: Alex Ho, hoiho.net
The fall protocols have carried over to the spring, and now 25% of the roster is tested every two weeks. The entire squad is tested when it leaves the state for travel, which brings another layer of precautions. The staff is deliberate in how it groups players into accommodations, configures bus seating charts based on where players live on campus, prohibits meals at restaurants, individually packages nutrition on the road, and more.
While the program is moving forward during the pandemic, Nicholas indicated that no one is taking these gains for granted. Being a student-athlete is a tough ask to begin with, especially as some players tack a part-time job on top of school and rugby responsibilities, or experience their first stay away from home. New, daily Covid-19 protocols have added a new layer of stress, and so the staff must be super sensitive to the players’ capacity to cope.
RELATED: 4 Lindenwood Reps in RWC 21 Performance Squad
“It’s a process that is fluid, and I commend all our student-athletes here and elsewhere working hard to adapt to that new normal,” Nicholas praised.
“This year becoming acclimated to a new environment as a first-year student and a new program looks a bit different here and across the country,” the coach continued. “The large group gatherings and usual team events on campus are on pause, and there are limitations to what student-athletes can do both on and off campus. Building connections and camaraderie organically, it’s something they are all excited for during home matches or on the road and very much looking into next season as well. It’s something that team-sport athletes value as part of that overall experience and it’s an area in which coaches have had to continue to think creatively to foster that. It’s a slower process, and we may have modified our expectations, but our standards remain the same. At the end of the day all our student-athletes and coaches are making the best of it and appreciate the journey and opportunities that are to come ahead.”
Demi Allen / Photo: Alex Ho, hoiho.net
2020-21 has been an obstacle, and it’s amplified the importance of experienced leadership.
“We are very much relying on leadership from our large number of veterans this season to take ownership of the program,” Nicholas confirmed. “We have our highest number of seniors, at 17, earning their diplomas this May and every one of them played a major role in developing and contributing to the culture within our program.”
Of those impending graduates, the coach highlighted Richelle Stephens, Caring De Freitas, Morgan Freeman and Meg Gold in the backs, and Nina Tuilaepa, Natalie Gray, Isabel Manu, Alia Ah Far and Kate Yeomans in the forwards. Nicholas also shouted out four-year seniors like Sativa Tarau-Peehikuru, Mckenna Strong, Destiny Arena, Charity Tenney, Samantha Tancredi, Moira Dillow, Selena Tuilaepa and Annie Rolf, who will return with one more year of eligibility and continue to make a big impact on the squad.
“That’s a lot of talent and leadership departing over the next year,” Nicholas surveyed the squad. “With a class that large moving onto the next step of their journey, I can’t say enough about the potential and talent of the first- and second-year players. It’s been great to see them grow over the past months already. The opportunity is there for that cohort and for any incoming recruits next fall to compete and contribute quite early on within the program, and I’m equally enthused to see them continue to grow from that opportunity and develop into leaders and uphold the standards the senior players have set as they pass that torch on all whilst adding their own flair.”
Caring De Freitas / Photo: Alex Ho, hoiho.net
The rugby community will have a good look at the squad during the J.V. and varsity matches against Life University on Feb. 20. Lindenwood’s Facebook page will live-stream the J.V. match at 11 a.m. CST and then For The Fans will show the varsity match at 2 p.m. CST. Replays will also be available. The Lions travel to Marietta, Ga., on March 6 for the rematch, host Penn State on March 14, then play back-to-back road games against Central Washington (March 20) and BYU (March 27). The semifinal play-in occurs April 10, the higher seed hosts its semifinal on April 17, and the national championship will occur at the higher seed on May 1.
Barring Covid-19 complications, the DIA will play the most spring 15s of any women’s college competition in the 2020-21. And while there is hardware to win and legacies to extend, Nicholas is attempting to preserve a quality student-athlete experience for his first-years and returners.
“We will take it all day by day, without a ton of buildup,” Nicholas acknowledged the impermanence of the season. “The focus remains on us and our annual goal of playing to our collective potential. The goal is to compete in a few matches this spring with our fellow D1A women’s programs, as of now we are just focused on the next.