Lindenwood Women's Rugby to go NCAA
Lindenwood Women's Rugby to go NCAA
Lindenwood University's women's rugby team is joining NIRA, the NCAA varsity competition.
Lindenwood University moved to NCAA's D1 in 2022 and while its rugby programs are run by the athletic department, they are technically referred to as Student Life Sports. This will change for fall 2024 for the women's team, as they will be fully NCAA Varsity and will play within the NIRA league.
Lindenwood has been competing in the D1 Elite competition for the past nine years, winning every D1 Elite championship from the 2016-17 season through the 2022-23 season. They lost this year's final 44-41 to Life University on April 14.
Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Jason Coomer made the announcement today, naming women's rugby the 22nd Division I sport currently offered at Lindenwood.
"Today is an exciting day for our Women's Rugby program," said Coomer in a statement. "This group of young women along with those student-athletes who set the course for the program to get to where it is today, have been viewed nationally and internationally as a blueblood of the sport. Lindenwood University is looking forward to doing our part to continue to grow the game with a goal of emerging to an NCAA championship sport."
"It has been a pleasure to work with Jason Coomer and his staff during this very deliberative process and their determination to sponsor Women's Rugby as Lindenwood University's newest NCAA sport for women is momentous," said NIRA Commissioner Amy Rusert. "Lindenwood Women's Rugby has been a standard-bearer in the game and will be a tremendous addition to our Association and the campaign towards becoming an NCAA Championship sport."
"We are thrilled to welcome Lindenwood University to our growing NIRA varsity women's ruby community," said Tim Ryan, Ashmead White Director of Athletics at Bowdoin College and Chair of the NIRA Executive Committee. "The future of NIRA rugby is bright and we look forward to partnering with Lindenwood as their program transitions to membership in the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association."
Trevor Locke will continue to serve as the women's rugby head coach in its transition to a varsity sport. Locke has led the Lions at the junior varsity level for the past two seasons as head coach and has been part of the Lindenwood staff since 2020.
"We are honored to be a part of the transition of Lindenwood Women's Rugby into a NCAA Division I emerging sport," said head coach Locke. "We are grateful for the governing bodies and divisions that have driven us over the past 10 years at Lindenwood. This new chapter at Lindenwood will aid in the growth of women's sports. I want to thank every athlete, coach, athletic trainer, and administrator for their dedication and work put into this program to make it what it is today."
Last season, Locke led the women's rugby program to a 13-5 record including victories over Dartmouth, BYU and Penn State. The Lions made it to the D1 Elite Championship game last season under Locke. Lindenwood star Freda Tafuna will, this coming weekend, receive the MA Sorensen Award as the top women's collegiate player in the USA at an event at the Washington Athletic Club.
"I would like to thank Commissioner Rusert and all of the NIRA member institutions for the opportunity to join such a prestigious group," added Coomer. The opportunity to join NIRA and work alongside those institutions who have demonstrated a commitment to the sport of women's rugby was important to our program and university when making this decision to elevate to NCAA Emerging Sport status."
