The Long, Ultimately Rewarding, Journey of Amanda Berta
The Long, Ultimately Rewarding, Journey of Amanda Berta
As the USA vs Canada women’s test match looms for this coming Sunday, there’s a lesson in perseverance to take from one of the players.
Amanda Berta, a standout at Penn State and a player who has continued to show well for some years, got her first cap against South Africa this month, and she may well earn her second this Sunday. It’s been a long time coming.
“I’ve had so many friends and teammates go from college to the Eagles, and my journey definitely felt long,” said Berta. “I thought it would happen closer to 2020 but we all know what happened then. I felt my performances, particularly around 7s, in 2019 and what I could play in 2020 and 2021, were at the level for national teams. But unfortunately with COVID I was just a little bit out the pool for that.”
Berta’s versatility as a talent in both 7s and 15s may well have made it more difficult for her. Certainly she didn’t have the same chances to showcase herself in time for the Olympics (in 7s) or the 15s World Cup. And it was frustrating.
She didn’t give up, however.
She looked for playing opportunities everywhere, including the Phoenix 7s program out of Atlanta, and with the Rhinos Academy team in Dubai and elsewhere. Then she signed on with the Experts in PR7s starting in 2021. Wherever she could showcase her talent she did. In fact, with her drop-kicking ability and her finishing, she is the all-time-leading points-scorer in PR7s with 66 points (by our count at least).
“I was using PR7s as a way to showcase that, look, I’ve played in club, I’ve played overseas with Rhinos. Now we’re bring it domestically and I wanted to show that I am there, I am at the level,” Berta explained.
Her performance brought her into 7s camps and while she didn’t get into the program full time, her Pr7s performances most definitely put her back on the radar.
Some athletes would have thrown up their hands and decided it wasn’t going to happen, but she has been hard at work trying to be an Eagle.
“That was ultimately the goal; push forward both domestically and internationally. COVID kind of plonked my international plans when I wanted to showcase overseas, in Australia or New Zealand or wherever I could go. But they shut everything down. PR7s was what we had domestically so I threw myself in that.”
The PR7s experience was enormously beneficial, she added.
“The growth year over year in PR7s has been phenomenal. Last year with the New Zealand and Canadian players coming in. We’re going to start seeing a lot of young talent coming in [from overseas]. There’s always growing pains but I am really excited for what’s coming.”
Still, that’s 7s. Playing 15s at an international level is a different animal.
When Berta didn’t make the USA 7s team she was living in South Carolina and started to commute to play in Georgia. COVID once again shut down tryout opportunities.
“I kind of gave up on 15s … but I broke into the pool for a hot second in 2021 and I figured I’d just stick to 7s. But then I got an email from Rich Ashfield looking for availability for WXV.”
In a wonderfully real moment, Berta emailed the US coach back saying she was sure he’d sent the email by mistake. But … on the off-chance he hadn’t, could they meet? It was audacious, and it worked.
“He said, ‘oh no it wasn’t a mistake. We watched you at PR7s and we’re looking for back three players.”
A family wedding interrupted that callup, but Berta had made her impression.
“I was now in the pool; I’d surpassed whatever bridge or hump I had to get over. I was invited to the next camp and I was just honestly glad I didn’t have to pay my way!”
And this was a perfect opportunity for someone looking for a way in. New camp, new coach in Sione Fukofuka, and a new slate.
“Sione did a really good job just communicating,” Berta said. “He met with every single player that was in our player group chat. We had an hour-long chat. It was not this superficial thing. He did a good job getting to know everyone and understanding where our player pool is.”
Berta made a good impression and was brought into the recent camp in the UK and finally … finally! … got a cap. She ran on for 15 minutes and had three things happen—a kickoff, a missed tackle, and a chance to score off a chip kick from her old Penn State teammate Gabby Cantorna. The ball bounced a little weirdly so no try for Berta, and she wasn’t happy about the missed tackle.
Coming onto the field after a South Africa score, she didn’t even know she was responsible for the restart.
“My parents didn’t even know I was on the field because I wasn’t announced coming on and if you were just watching the game on the screen they were showing a replay when I kicked,” Berta explained with a rueful smile. “I got onto the field and went over to my position, and I get on the field and I think it was Rachel Johnson who said ‘oh, you’re taking the kickoff?’ News to me. I had no warmups. I was just praying the ball would go far enough. But it’s not 7s where the ball has to land on the 10. So I just kicked it and I kind of blacked out!.”
Interestingly, the idea of playing as an international didn’t really intimidate Berta. She’s been playing all over for years, so the players weren’t strangers to her.
“It was just another day at the office for me. Half the team I played with or against in college,” she said. “The rest I played with or against in club. Some of the South Africans I’ve played with. know they aren’t superheroes.”
Perseverance is a very admirable quality in a rugby player, and that is exactly what Amanda Berta has shown. She didn’t let little setbacks kill her dream, but at the same time she worked hard and grabbed any opportunities she could. PR7s was a huge thing for her, but only because she played well., but she’s the most prolific scorer in the competition.
“I’m really ready to show that I am a threat on the field. I don’t feel that in open space there are many players who can run me down.”
