PRESS RELEASE - Hanover, N.H. — Dartmouth Director of Athletics and Recreation Harry Sheehy announced Thursday the hiring of Katie Dowty as the new head coach for women’s rugby.

The women’s rugby program will be elevated to Division I status as the Big Green’s 35th varsity sport for the 2015-16 academic year. It had operated as a club team since its inception in 1978 with Deb Archambault coaching the squad for the past 28 years.

“I’m very excited to be joining a program and athletic department so focused on growth and a well-rounded student-athlete experience,” Dowty said. “Dartmouth has such a rich rugby history and is now poised to be a leader in the NCAA women’s rugby movement. This group of athletes is determined to succeed, and I can’t wait to help them make the most of this new opportunity.”

A 2006 graduate of Harvard, Dowty is a former player and captain with the Crimson. After graduation, she moved on to the Beantown Rugby Club from 2006 to 2011, where she served as a player, captain and fundraising chair. 

Dowty brings a wealth of international experience to the Big Green as well. A member of the USA Rugby national team from 2010 to 2014, she played with both the 7s and 15s in her four years and made 12 tours as part of the IRB Women’s Sevens World Series.

In that time period with Team USA, Dowty was named the Goff Rugby Report’s 7s Player of the Year in 2011.

“Katie presented a fresh, creative approach to coaching rugby that really resonated with our players,” Sheehy stated. “As an Ivy League graduate, she’s lived our commitment to academics and has personally demonstrated that excellence on the pitch and in the classroom go hand in hand.  We are thrilled to welcome her as the first head coach for our varsity women’s rugby program.”

One of eight original women in the U.S. to sign on professionally by USA Rugby to play 7s and train full-time at the Olympic Training Center in California, Dowty helped lay the foundation for individuals to enter the newly established program in the years to follow.

Dowty first began coaching as a volunteer with her alma mater in 2009, but it wasn’t until after her time with the national team that she really started making the move into the coaching field. During the spring of 2014, she worked at American International as an assistant working with backs as the Yellow Jackets’ playoff run culminated in a third-place finish at the Division I USA Rugby National Championship.

Most recently, Dowty has been in the Pacific Northwest, working as an assistant at Central Washington University where she and her fellow coaches have established the first high-performance varsity women’s rugby program on the West Coast. Not only did she help cultivate and advance a program to full NCAA status, but also built a winner in the process as the Wildcats claimed second place in the 7s national championship in May, falling to Penn State in the title contest.