The University City HS rugby team’s first victory of the year was off the field, as the Honey Badgers were able to reach the 70% threshold to qualify for SoCal’s Varsity White playoffs.

(Varsity White requires at least 70% of a team to be from one school.)

And while UC moved to 2-0 this past weekend, perhaps the biggest victory there wasn’t the fact that they defeated rivals Alta Vista, but that they did so on a school field. It’s taken four years of campaigning to get UCHS to allow the team to play on school grounds. This past weekend, they got that honor.

“It was a huge moral victory for us,” said Honey Badgers Coach Jason Lee. “It probably wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for advocates like Pamela Madden, who work tirelessly for the team.”

This was the 5th attempt by the team to get use of the field, and they did so this time by applying through the Aztec Youth Rugby club, and getting an advocate on the football coaching staff.

As it turned out, Alta Vista was short on numbers and ended up bringing in some players from Mission Vista to round out their squad. So it was technically a forfeit, but a good, tough game was played anyway, with University City winning 35-20.

Patrick Madden, playing flyhalf for the Badgers, scored two tries and kicked four conversions. Lole Veimau and Ben Lolly-Wilson scored the other two tries. 

“Lole is our workhorse,” said Lee. “He’s a bit of an unsung hero for us and is strong defensively, too.”

University City lost four starters from their forward pack of a year ago, but the youngsters have stepped in ably.

This coming weekend, UC takes on Mira Mesa, a team that could easily knock them off. 

“We need to clean up our play,” said Lee. “We’ve playing relatively well, but we need to execute a little better, and we’re working on that this week.”

Victory would be another step to the SoCal Varsity White playoffs, but they’ve already notched a couple of program victories this year.