About Us
The Youngstown State University Women's Rugby Club prides itself by being both a social and competitive student organization. We work hard to better ourselves on and off the pitch while also supporting and befriending each other along the way.
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Student-Run
The YSU Women's Rugby Club is a non-varsity student organization established in Spring of 2017. We are not affiliated with YSU Athletics. We are Division II, and we compete with other universities in the Allegheny Rugby Union, our Local Area Union, for our division championship and (hopefully) for the national championship.
In Fall 2018, our first competitive season, we made it to the finals for our division championship and won second place. In Fall 2018, we ranked as high as 17th in the nation for Division II Collegiate Women. We've made great strides as a club in only two years and look to go further this season. |
Competitive and Fun
Our club is open to any and all female YSU students. Most of us have never played rugby before joining the club, so we don't expect that out of new members. We teach new members how to play while we hone the skills of current players. We also strive to build chemistry among teammates by spending time together outside of practice.
We also offer a limited amount of $2,000 two-year scholarships to incoming freshmen who are interested in the sport. Incoming freshmen are also not expected to know how to play rugby, but are expected to have interest in learning the sport and to put in the effort at every practice. |
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Our Origin
Ja'Kenya Clancy, Angelique Williams, and Donique Marcella established the club in Spring 2017 with the help from Renee Whittenberger and Steel Valley Women's Rugby Club, former Head Coach Jeff Horton, current Head Coach Rebecca Trapp (then our Assistant Coach), and YSU Club Sports.
Team founders Williams (left), Marcella (center), and Clancy (right) created a video encouraging people to join the club in early 2017.
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Team Roster
These are the hard-working women that make this program possible.
Headshots in uniform taken by Robert Hayes: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Redbubble | @RobertHayesPix
Headshots in uniform taken by Robert Hayes: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Redbubble | @RobertHayesPix
Rebecca Trapp | Head Coach
Better known as "Trapp," she has coached rugby for 15 years and played for 21. She has a USAR Level 300/World Rugby L2 Coaching Certification and is also a certified referee.
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Ally Borak | President
Ally is a junior majoring in Biochemistry with minors in Chemistry and Biology. She has played rugby since Spring 2019. She is our president.
President 2020-21 |
Kait Sloan | Vice President
Kait is a senior majoring in International Business with a double minor in Spanish and Criminal Processing. She has played rugby since Spring 2018. She is our vice president.
VP 2020-21 |
Carly Weiss | Secretary
Carly is a junior majoring in Mechanical Engineering. She has played rugby since her freshman year of high school and was one of our scholarship recipients. She is our secretary.
Secretary 2020-21 |
Mollie Lewis | Treasurer
Mollie is a junior majoring in Psychology. She has played rugby since Fall 2018 and is our treasurer.
Treasurer 2019-20 and 2020-21 |
Riley Saunders | Soc. Media Chair
Riley is a senior double majoring in Psychology and Pre-med. She has played rugby for 7 years. She is a transfer student from Quinnipiac University, where she played rugby, and is one of our scholarship recipients.
SM Chair 2020-21 |
Nate Feldhouse | Soc. Media Chair
Nate is a senior majoring in Journalism with a minor in Geoscience. He has played rugby since Fall 2017. He is our assistant social media chair. He also received his L1 Officiating Certification in June.
VP 2018-19; Secretary 2019-20; SM Chair Fall 2020 |
Ja'Kenya Clancy | Co-Founder
Ja'Kenya is a senior majoring in Political Science with a minor in Criminal Justice. She has played rugby since Spring 2017 and was a founder of the YSU Women's Team. She also received her Level 200 Coaching Certification in August.
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Ash Hawryluk
Ash is a senior majoring in Human Resources Management. He has played rugby since Fall 2017.
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Siara Bradich
Siara is a junior majoring in Criminal Justice. She has played rugby since Fall 2019.
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Sebreena Alai
Sebreena is a junior majoring in Dental Hygiene. She has played rugby since Summer 2018.
VP 2019-20 |
Liz Jones
Liz is a senior majoring in Biology with a minor in Chemistry. She has played rugby since Spring 2019.
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Beyonce Smith
Beyonce is a sophomore majoring in Pre-Med. She is one of our scholarship recipients.
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CC Baker
CC is a sophomore majoring in Hospitality Management. She has played rugby for 4 years and is one of our scholarship recipients.
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YSU Rugby Alumni
Allandra Klein | Class of 2019
Allandra graduated YSU with a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice and is currently training at a police academy. She has played rugby from Fall 2018 to Spring 2019.
(Photo: J. Harvard Feldhouse) |
Hannah Hall | Class of 2020
Hannah graduated with a bachelor's in Advertising/Public Relations. She played rugby from Fall 2017 to Spring 2020.
President 2018-19 and 2019-20. |
Saralynn Davis | Class of 2020
Saralynn graduated with a bachelor's in Psychology with a Pre-Law focus. She played rugby with YSU from Fall 2017 to Spring 2020.
Secretary 2018-19; SM Chair 2019-20. |
Copyright (c) 2019-2020 by YSU Women's Rugby Club
