Read the full story, published by Dartmouth Athletics. The Dartmouth women’s rugby team will compete as a varsity sport beginning in the 2015-16 academic year, announced Director of Athletics and Recreation Harry Sheehy on March 30.
Women’s rugby will become the Big Green’s 35th varsity sport, the 17th for women. The Big Green has 16 men’s varsity teams and two co-ed varsity teams. Dartmouth will become the third Ivy League institution sponsoring women’s varsity rugby—joining Brown and Harvard.
“Dartmouth has a proud tradition of opportunities and success in women’s sports, and we are excited to embark on this latest chapter with our female athletes,” says President Phil Hanlon ’77.
The Dartmouth Women’s Rugby Club (DWRC) was officially founded in the fall of 1978. The program has produced six U.S. national team players, 13 All-Americans, and numerous Wearers of the Green—Dartmouth’s athletic hall of fame.
Dartmouth will be the 14th member of the National Collegiate Varsity Women’s Rugby Association (NCVWRA). In addition to Brown and Harvard, the association includes American International, Army, Bowdoin, Central Washington, Eastern Illinois, Norwich, Notre Dame College, Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart, the University of New England, and West Chester University.
The Big Green will continue to compete in the Ivy Rugby Conference, a mixture of varsity and club teams. If five Ivy schools sponsor varsity women’s rugby, it will be eligible to become an official Ivy League sport.
