Anderson Women's Rugby Scholarship

Rugby became part of my life during my freshman year, and from the moment I joined, I felt something I never expected, which was a sense of belonging. Growing up, my mom and I moved constantly. I never stayed in one place long enough to feel like I had a home. But with rugby, I found consistency, support, and a family that stood beside me no matter what. Joining the Engage Foundation in high school helped me see what I was capable of. I started as a player, but soon, I was coaching younger kids, mentoring teammates, and serving on the board. Leading practices became a passion of mine as I focused on teaching skills like character building, teamwork, and sportsmanship to the young athletes we worked with. I also helped lead community outreach that grew our league from 50 to over 140 kids. I saw how rugby could create a space where kids felt valued, safe, and seen. Just like it did for me. Outside of Engage, I've continued growing as both an athlete and a leader. I played for the Big Dawgs under the Arizona league, where I earned Forward of the Year, Golden Hammer, and Ruck Star. These awards represent more than athletic skill. They reflect the energy and commitment I bring to every match and every teammate. In 2023, we won the Rugby Arizona U16 Championship, a moment that reminded me how powerful a team can be when we truly trust each other. Then, I moved to the Ravens Girls' High School Rugby team, where I developed further by transitioning from 7s to 15s. This showed me how much every player matters. It helped me grow in how I think, play, and lead on the field. I never thought that my enjoyment of rugby would lead me to be selected to represent the U.S. with the Rugby Texas Girls in the summer of 2023, competing in the Heidelberg Sevens in Germany and the United World Games in Austria. I also joined the Arizona Bobcats Rugby Academy in 2024, a select-side team for top players across the state. Traveling and playing on these platforms taught me how to stay grounded while pushing my limits. I learned how to lead under pressure, respect the culture of every team I joined, and rise to the challenge of representing more than just myself. This year, I was honored to be accepted to play rugby at Penn State. That opportunity is proof of how far rugby has carried me and how much further I want to go. I plan to study finance, inspired by the financial struggles I experienced growing up. I want to use what I learn to help build programs and opportunities for youth who, like me, need someone to believe in them. To me, being a part of a rugby family means more than just teammates. It means showing up with consistency, caring like siblings, and building each other up when things are hard. It means leading by example and never losing sight of the mission, which, to me, means growing together, serving others, and lifting the next generation higher. Rugby didn't just teach me how to play. It taught me how to lead, how to give back, and how to believe in something bigger than myself. And that's exactly what I hope to carry with me into college and beyond.

Rugby is more than just a sport to me, it’s a family. I first realized this when I was struggling to find my place. Before COVID, I got caught up in the pressure to win and prove myself. I pushed myself to the limit, trying to lead by example, believing that my worth depended on being in first place. Losing felt like failure, and over time, I lost sight of what I truly loved about rugby: the freedom, aggression, and the community. When the pandemic hit, I realized how much I missed rugby, practices, and my teammates. I started to mature and understand that rugby isn’t just about victories, it’s about the bond it creates and the connection it fosters. That’s when I rediscovered my love for the sport, not for the scoreboard, but for the way it made me feel part of something much bigger. A coach noticed my passion and invited me to train at a rugby academy. At first, I was intimidated. Back at my club, I had been one of the top players, but here I was starting at the bottom. I wasn’t the best anymore, but I embraced the challenge. Surrounded by athletes who shared the same drive and passion, I learned that rugby is about more than individual performance. It’s about being part of a team where the strength of the group lifts up each member. Rugby became my anchor during a time when my family couldn’t fully support my journey. Growing up in Riverside, my parents weren’t able to attend my games or practices, and they didn’t have the resources to help me chase my dreams. My dad worked long hours, and with only one car, I often ran to practice. I didn’t ask for money for gear or travel because I knew my family was doing their best. But my rugby family stepped in. Teammates gave me rides, their families made sure I had meals during tournaments, and they celebrated every victory with me as if it were their own. When my parents couldn’t be at my graduation, my rugby team surprised me with a celebration. Those moments showed me what rugby family truly means by support, love, and lifting each other up when it feels like the world isn’t giving you much. This community of people has shaped who I am today. Now, as a sophomore in college, I’m living a reality I once thought was impossible. Growing up in Riverside, where many kids fall into the same cycle, I never imagined playing rugby in college. But thanks to rugby, I’ve experienced new places, met incredible people, and opened doors I never thought would be there. I’m now playing at a high level with a scholarship, a testament to all the hard work and dedication I’ve put into the sport. Rugby has shown me that there is so much more than the life I knew in Riverside, and it’s given me the courage to reach for dreams I once thought were out of reach. Looking forward, I want to carry the values I’ve learned from my rugby family into my college career. My goal isn’t just to play rugby at a higher level, but to continue growing in an environment where teamwork, discipline, and hard work are celebrated. I want to be part of a team that holds each other accountable, challenges each other to improve, and builds each other up, just like my rugby family did for me. I know that being part of such a team will help me succeed both on the field and in the classroom.

I’ve always wanted to play a high‑contact sport—rugby, football, or lacrosse—but growing up, the closest I came was as a goalkeeper on my high school soccer team. My single mother discouraged me: it was simply unheard of for girls to take part in such “dangerous” activities. When I arrived at UNC–Chapel Hill, however, rugby quickly became one of my greatest passions. I joined the team right after training camp, excited to finally test myself in a sport built on strength and teamwork. From day one on the pitch, I found my rugby family. During our very first practice, I noticed teammates who, like me, had more masculine features, spoke loudly, and refused to be confined by traditional ideas of what it means to be a girl. Our three coaches, club alumni who identify as transmasc or butch, welcomed us with a promise that this would be a safe space. They taught us, among many other things, to never apologize for making a tackle or missing a lineout. Coming from an environment where I was always taught to say “sorry,” I found it liberating to learn that in rugby, we own every hit, every mistake, and every success together. That sense of belonging made it easier to navigate the steep learning curve of six hours of practice a week, plus games every weekend. By November 2024, I scored my first try in 15s, and the team marked the moment with a brief induction chant—“Hail to the Warrior”—that instantly felt like a rite of passage. Beyond the thrill of scoring, it was the shared celebration that convinced me rugby was more than a sport, it was home. Playing on the college team has given me confidence I never expected. There’s something empowering about knowing you can tackle someone twice your size or hold firm in an eight‑man scrum as a flank. Looking ahead, I hope to leverage that confidence into community outreach: coaching youth clinics in underrepresented neighborhoods and, eventually, joining an adult league after graduation. I want to show boys and girls alike that strength, resilience, and teamwork aren’t limited by gender. Balancing classes, lab work, and rugby hasn’t been easy. Some days I’d move straight from morning lectures to a work‑study shift in the lab, then to practice, stretching my day from 9 AM until 10 PM—still needing to fit homework in whenever I could. Because I rely on work‑study to afford my education, I’ve often had to choose between extra shifts and extra reps on the pitch. Missing practices or games to earn money has been one of my hardest sacrifices. This scholarship would relieve much of that financial pressure, giving me the flexibility to remain fully committed to the team without jeopardizing my grades or living expenses. It would mean trading a work shift for an extra strength session or recovery day—time I could use to grow both as a player and as a student. Rugby has become the place where I can be myself—expressing a more masculine side without judgment, learning to communicate clearly under pressure, and caring for my teammates in ways I never anticipated. I’m grateful for every tackle, every try, and every moment I’ve shared with my rugby family. With your support, I hope to continue building that community on and off the field, using the values I’ve learned to lift others up long after my college career ends.

As someone who grew up an athlete--started with picking dandelions on the soccer field at 4, and continuing to this day--I can say I've been a part of my fair share of families. It's something people who don't play team sports wouldn't understand. The bond created when you struggle, physically and emotionally, with a group of other girls' you'd otherwise never talk to is unparalleled. I struggled to find a team, or rather a family, that would truly accept me before I entered college. Because of that, I switched sports constantly. Soccer, lacrosse, flag football, swimming, sailing, tennis, basketball, volleyball, cross country--all of them with their own comforts, but none that would really accept me as I was. I wasn't a product of my town like the rest of my teammates. I was black and gay and raised in a single parent household. To my teammates, no matter where I went, there was always something off about me. I wasn't white enough or rich enough--they couldn't relate to me, and so I was outcasted. I grew to resent the sports I'd played, and by the time I graduated high school, I'd decided that I wouldn't join any sports in college, for fear that I'd end up being the third-wheel on my own team. I'm embarrassed to say my resolve crumbled rather quickly. I was approached by the captains--MY captains--of the women's club rugby team at my college, and I was intimidated enough to accept the invitation into their team-chat (they asked if I knew what rugby was, and if I knew how to play: I did not). 3 weeks later, I found myself getting tackled, run over, and stepped on in my first ever rugby game; it was the most fun I'd had in months. What really made me decide to stay after getting rocked was my teammates, who I'd barely known at that point. There was such an intense sense of community I witnessed that day. Screaming out our teammates names, cheering them on when they made a good play, losing their minds when we scored a try, passing out water and answering the many (MANY) questions us rookies asked. It didn't end when the game was over though, afterwards I attended my first rugby social, and that was when I realized that most of my fellow teammates were fully committed to fostering relationships with ALL of their teammates, not just the ones who looked like them. Over the course of the semester, those 22 strangers ended up becoming my best friends. Rugby family to me is a place of unparalleled acceptance and laughter. It's driving to a random frat house at 1 in the morning to go fireman carry your drunk friends out. It's watching lego batman and having sleepovers. It's running faster than you thought possible, dog tired after 45 minutes of straight running and tackling, and scoring a try. It's having your teammates circle you after a try, singing the Try-song, and then doubling down. My rugby family is as solid and important to me as my blood family, and there is little I wouldn't do for those girls.