Newberry, SC—The Newberry College Board of Trustees approved Women's Rugby as a new sport for the Newberry Wolves that will begin competition in the 2022-2023 academic year. Newberry College will start a national search for a head coach immediately. 

Newberry College is a liberal arts college in Newberry, SC, which is about 40 miles northwest of Columbia, SC. The college has an enrollment of about 1,100, 43% of whom are women (Source: US News & World Report).

Amy Rusert, Commissioner of the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association, has been in communication with Athletic Director Ralph Patterson.

"NIRA is thrilled to welcome Newberry College Women's Rugby to the NCAA and to the Association's NCAA DII competition for the fall of 2022," said Rusert. "Newberry College will be our second South Atlantic Conference program member and will be a boon to continued expansion and development of NCAA Women's Rugby in the Carolinas and beyond."

Queens University Charlotte is the other SAC institution with a varsity women's rugby team.

"We are excited to add women's rugby at Newberry College," said Patterson. "Women's Rugby is an emerging women's sport in the NCAA. We plan on having a roster of 30 student-athletes for the fall of 2022. It is critically important that we can identify and land the right coach that can deliver the roster number that we need to field a successful team. We have begun our search, and we hope to name a coach soon." 

Assistant AD for Compliance and Senior Woman Administrator, Casey Petrusic, will chair the search committee for the program's first head coach.