Words by Emmy Knapp PZ ’27, Photograph by Ashe West-Lewis PZ ’26

When I first arrived in Claremont in the fall of 2022, I found myself missing the one thing I sadly thought I might leave behind forever: organized sports. I ran cross-country all four years of high school and came away feeling I wasn’t fast enough to compete at a higher level. Even as a state-level wrestler who competed at national tournaments, I felt unfulfilled in a sport marked by individualism and shaped by an undercurrent of misogyny and toxic masculinity. 

Overall, it seemed there was no clear path forward for me to live out my days as a student athlete. All of this changed one fateful day at the Pitzer College club fair, when I signed up to join the Claremont Foxes Women’s Rugby mailing list. Never in my life had I considered the sport as a possibility, and frankly, I didn’t even know what it was. 

In recent years, rugby’s increasing global appeal, especially among women, has made it so that nearly every student on campus has at least a rough idea of what the sport entails. As a rough overview, rugby is a contact sport similar to football, where players advance the ball by running with it in hand or kicking it. Unlike football, the time doesn’t stop when a player is tackled, and the ball can only be passed backwards. Teams earn points by scoring tries—placing the ball on the ground in the try zone—and through conversion kicks, taken after a try is scored.

The sport is played in both a 15-person and a 7-person format.

After the USA Women took home Bronze at the 2024 Olympics, national interest and participation in the sport have grown exponentially. Players like Ilona Maher, Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, and Ellie Kildunne have catapulted women’s rugby to the center of global attention by garnering a mass audience on social media. As a result, women’s rugby in particular has emerged as a global phenomenon. This year’s Rugby World Cup Final between England’s Red Roses and Canada’s Maple Leafs was the most attended rugby union match in history, at 81,885 attendees, nearly doubling the 2021 final attendance of 42,579. 

Claremont is a case study in the sport’s significance at a campus-wide scale. At the club fair the fall after the 2024 Olympics, 86 students joined the Foxes’ mailing list and the number of rookies showing up to practice was nearly double that of returning players.

“That kind of momentum hasn’t stopped,” said Ella Grouws (PO ‘28), one of the social media chairs for the team. “More people know what rugby is, and I think that’s the biggest difference.” Grouws’s first exposure to rugby was on social media, after an old soccer teammate posted a clip of her scoring a try. “I had no idea what any of that meant, but I was like, ‘That looks really cool.’ I want to do that,” she said. 

In her posts, Grouws tries to emulate what she sees from rugby influencers. “I think for a long time rugby has been viewed as kind of intense and scary, like it can’t be feminine … It’s important that all of those people on social media are represented and know that they have a space, because rugby is a space for everyone.” 

This sentiment that rugby is a space for everyone was echoed by every single player and coach I talked to. Lily Lisle (SC ‘18), a Fox alum and now coach, emphasized how every single body type and type of athlete is represented on the team. “Rugby is a sport that anyone can play and add value to the team.” Hannum emphasizes, “regardless of the ways you want to get involved – whether it’s coming to socials, supporting us on the sidelines, or playing at a competitive or casual level – there’s a place for you on the team.” 

The Foxes have also always been an important part of the queer community on campus. When I talked to Lisle, she emphasized that when she played, there weren’t as many people ‘out’ as there are now, and emphasized the importance of having queer spaces on campus. “It’s a queer space, definitely, but it’s so much more than that. You don’t have to be queer to benefit from the kind of values and lessons that are instilled in rugby.” This commitment to queer inclusivity extends beyond sexuality. Lisle beamed when she described how players themselves insist on creating a welcoming and supportive environment for any and all gender expressions and identities. 

This culture of inclusivity, and the social media team’s efforts to represent such a culture,is exactly what draws new players to their first day of practice. Samantha Campbell (SC ‘26), one of the Foxes captains, reflected on her own experience freshman year. “I had no idea what rugby was … Now, we’re starting to have more rookies who can name-drop Ilona Maher or have watched a game of rugby before, which has been a really nice transition.”

Like Grouws and Campbell, most of the players on the team started rugby in college. “As freshmen,” Campbell said, “We had no experience with rugby, really no idea what it entailed, no idea what the team vibe was. We all just went to the club fair, showed up to practice, and were taught by the ones who came before us.”

Even so, the Foxes compete at a very high level, moving from the Division II league to Division I for their 2023-24 season. Laila Hannum (SC ‘26) described this transition. “The DII League was kind of falling apart, we were annihilating our competition, and we were like, honestly, our only choice is to move up to DI,” Hannum said. 

The Foxes won back-to-back DII Championships in 2022 and 2023. Having played in the DI league for two seasons now, the Foxes made it to the top eight in 2024 and top four in 2025 amongst heavy hitters like UC San Diego, San Diego State, University of Arizona, Arizona State, Grand Canyon University, and many other schools, all of which have at least 20,000 more students than the Claremont Colleges. 

But that’s not all. Alongside their DI team, the Foxes’ program is large enough to roster an additional DII team for DII tournaments. According to Hannum, “We were the only team in the state to put in a DI and DII team, and actually compete in both.” While competing in DI tournaments, the DII team also delivered an impressive showing against programs like Occidental, UC Riverside, UC Irvine, and Long Beach State –schools whose only focus is on their DII teams. The Foxes DII team is an important part of the DII ecosystem in Southern California and ensures good competition in the league and a competitive training program for our DI team. 

 “It just always blows my mind what this program has been able to do compared to any other college program around,” Amanda Martinez (SC ‘20), another Fox Alum and now coach, adds. “I played club in Texas at the D1 level, and you guys are still more disciplined. You guys train better and have more skills than D1 adult clubs. The Foxes program is not like your average program. It is really a high-level program.” 

Few things illustrate the Foxes’ success more than their alumni-dominant volunteer coaching staff. Both Lisle and Martinez drive over four hours throughout the week to come to Claremont and coach the team. Such dedication greatly contributes to the ever-expanding and thriving team. 

 “I’ve always had so much pride and stayed connected (to the team),” Martinez says. “I want to show that women can lead with empathy, women can lead with kindness and love. I think the leadership that we’re producing and the direction we’re going is very much in tune with how women’s sports are quickly evolving.” 

Lisle told me how she came back as a coach because the Foxes were a safe and welcoming space for her when she really needed one. “I wanted to give back to a team that gave me so much. Rugby is a really special sport, and doing it ourselves and for each other is such a privilege that helps make it so special and different.” 

Evan Wollen, head coach of the Foxes, noted that, “The alumni coaches’ dedication and commitment show just how much the players themselves invest in the team. The level of competitiveness isn’t determined by me, but by the players who show up and put in the work every day.”

 The increase in popularity of the game, along with its alumni support,  has only strengthened the Foxes’ footing as an important community on campus. The Foxes Rugby program has helped me grow from someone who had no understanding of the game to a player who can contribute to a shared field and community vision.It is an extremely unique and empowering community where I have gotten to explore all aspects of my identity in a safe and encouraging space. The Foxes inspire me every day to be a better version of myself both on and off the pitch. I am honored to have the opportunity to build relationships with and learn from talented teammates and coaches.

On September 27th, the Claremont Foxes won the West Coast 7s tournament at Dignity Health Park in LA. I encourage everyone to celebrate and support such an impressive team by cheering us on at our home game on October 18th at Parents Field!