Women’s Turf: Brown Turnaround (eRugbyNews)

The Brown University Women’s Rugby team didn’t always enjoy the view from above. It took them 30 years to win the DI Northeast Championship, achieved in 2007 after an undefeated fall regular season.

Wednesday May 14, 2008 in Rugby Magazine By Stephanie Bruce This year, on top of the www.eRugbyNews.com college rankings for most of this year, the team made it to the Final Four of this spring’s National Collegiate Championships (defeating West Chester and UC Davis) before losing 41-7 to a very strong Penn State team in the semi-finals. Head coach Kerrissa Heffernan, who joined Brown in 2003, has been the catalyst behind taking a middle-of-the-pack team to two consecutive Nationals. While that’s not necessarily unique—a lot of colleges can put together a few successful seasons thanks to a core of solid players, before that group graduates and rebuilding seasons ensue—Brown’s emergence has been the result of Heffernan’s coaching style. She continually contours her strategy to tap the caliber and work rate of her Ivy League students, thereby making the most of her athletes’ raw talent.