1975 Sexist OSU Newsletter
The Old Man, the newsletter of the Ohio State University Men’s Rugby club announced the formation of the Ohio State women’s team. Note the graphic illustration of a female player.
1977 The Pitch
The Tube and the Pitch, two different Ohio State Women’s team newsletters from 1977 show the grassroots organizing, bawdy nature of women’s rugby at the time.
Meet our 2023
conference speakers
Speakers and information will be added as they are confirmed.
Martha Daines is the Manager of USA Rugby Women’s High Performance Pathway and a USA Rugby/World Rugby Coach Trainer. Involved in player development for over 20 years for USA Rugby, Martha has coached at almost every level of the HP pathway in addition to coaching regional representative, club and college teams.
Calling on her years of experience, Martha will work with participants at this year's conference to demystify the process of player development at the high performance level and help participants develop individualized, strategic plans for teams and players.
Liz Masen is the co-founder and CEO at Athlete Assessments, a sports performance company based in Australia, specializing in helping coaches and teams create and sustain winning results through a range of performance tools.
For over a decade she has also been a key faculty member of the NCAA Women Coaches and the Japanese Women Coaches Academies.
As part of Liz’s PhD research, she will work with conference participants to explore what coaches want in their playmakers, to build an analysis of coaches’ experiences, perceptions, and expectations.
Liz Kirk is the Director of Women’s Rugby and Head Coach of the Seattle Rugby Club. She has been a technical coach with the US Women’s National Team, an Assistant Coach with the 2017 World Cup Squad, USWNT U23 team and Pacific Coast Grizzlies.
Liz earned 23 caps with the USWNT including 2 World Cup appearances (1998 and 2002). Liz will work with participants to develop coaching philosophies as well as strategic plans for teams and players.
Becky Carlson enters her 12th year at the helm of the Quinnipiac Women's Rugby team in 2022-23, leading the transition from a new varsity program into a three-time national champion. Carlson has been a key advocate for women’s NCAA rugby and equality in athletics for over a decade.
An author on issues in coaching and team culture development, Carlson’s most notable piece, “An Open Letter to the Athlete We Must Stop Recruiting" is currently one of the highest viewed articles on the business and networking platform, LinkedIn.
Outside of equality within athletics, Carlson’s mission continues to be education in the area of supporting coaches and returning accountability and high standards to the responsibility of the student-athlete.
Ros Chou
Head Coach Brown University, PR7’s, Life University, Women's Premier League All-Star head coach and Southeast region coach for the U.S. Women's 15s National Team.
Amanda Cox
USAR and World Rugby Referee Coach Educator
Chelsea Garber
Faculty, Duke Economics, a law student, Level 200 coach, player Raleigh Venom
Alex Goff
Founder, Goff Rugby Report
Emily Hsieh
Women's Referee Development Manager, New Zealand Rugby, World Rugby and USA National Panel Referee
Katie Hunzinger
Post doctoral researcher, University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, USA Rugby referee, World Rugby Educator for referees and strength and conditioning, USA Rugby Strength and Conditioning Educator
Lisa Jackson
Coach, US U 23, US South Regional, Rhino Rugby, ROOTS Rugby, NC State Men, Eagle Eye Scout and winner of 2022 WPL Heart of the Champion Award
Mikayla Miller
Assistant Director of Competitive Sports, University of Minnesota, Head Coach, University of Minnesota Women's Rugby Club
Angela Smarto
National Collegiate Rugby Women’s Director and D1 Commissioner, Head Coach, Women's Rugby Robert Morris University
Mary Swanstrom
ATC, CAFS, Athletic Trainer with Airforce Fighter Pilots, Coach educator for World Rugby, Athletic Trainer, Houston Sabercats
Becky Worley
Correspondent: ABC News /Good Morning America, Youth Rugby Coach, San Francisco Golden Gate Rugby Club
Katie Wurst
Assistant Athletic Director, Warren Wilson College, Former Head Coach Queens University of Charlotte
Wendy Young
Founder, Your Scrumhalf Connection, referee, referee coach, developing referee coach for the WPL and MLR, Administrator, Texas Rugby Union