Resilient Morris Rugby High School Seniors Return Home in Dominating Fashion
Morristown, NJ – The forecast called for rain. One of the area fields had already been closed. The cloud of COVID-19, which had already cancelled countless games since this time last season, lingered like it does. There were still plenty of hurdles to get over before this home game, the first in over a year was going to happen.
Somewhere around 11 am the opponent, Aspetuck HS Girls from Connecticut, began to arrive. A few minutes later it was the bright orange jersey of the referee standing out against the green field and clearing skies at the Mennen Sports Complex which provided some reassurance.
As the seniors, 11 of them in all, began to line up with their families to be recognized by coaches and the growing crowd one could almost feel the collective exhale. It was no longer a story of winter workouts with no guarantee of a season or the juggling required to keep up with evolving return-to-play guidelines. The three promising victories on the road leading up to the day were far in the rearview. This day was to be a homecoming worth remembering and the seniors were going to make sure of it.
From the opening kick-off to the final minutes, the Morris High School Girls Rugby team (U18) showed what strength looks like in 2021.
For the uninitiated, rugby is a tackle sport which certainly earns its reputation as rugged. However, as the modern game has gotten faster and more skilled, this is only part of the story and maybe not even the most impressive.
As the Morris Girls impressively showed en route to touching the ball down a commanding 10 times by nearly as many players (called “tries”), this fast and rapidly growing NCAA Women’s sport is about teamwork, athleticism, skill and above all, resilience. Attributes like these will serve the team well as they work to expand on their undefeated (3W, 0L, 1T) current season. They will undoubtedly also serve the seniors well as they ready themselves to move on to places like Fordham University, The University of South Carolina and The US Military Academy at West Point. Of course, if the college scout standing on the sideline to watch this version of a team known as one of the premier club teams on the East coast has it his way, more than a few next-chapters will be written wearing his team’s crest.
Perhaps it was the girls’ head coach, Bill Dobbs a longtime player and coach for Morris who summed up the day best when he said “This is a special group of seniors. They have never complained about the current circumstances instead showing up ready week in and week out to set the tone for those around them and make it clear that as challenging as the pandemic has been, some things are stronger. Morris Women’s U18 Rugby is one of those things.”
To view photos from the match taken by Ronan McLaughlin and Kris O’Brien, visit Morris Rugby Corporation’s Facebook albums here.
Amanda Belmont Brenna Milligan Chaney Fisher Emilia Monrad Emma Gamboa Emma Morino Grace Ward Kaleigh Ahern Liz Cogan Megan Matthews Sophia Loosemore_______________________
Morris Women’s U18 Rugby team accepts new athletes on a rolling basis. To learn more or attend a practice contact Head Coach Bill Dobbs at [email protected].