Captain Tahtiana Buckley makes a breakaway after a scrum against Bell.

Now that the weather has warmed up, rugby season has started. The Eleanor Roosevelt Raiders Girl’s Rugby team had their first scrimmage of the season against Bell Multicultural High School on Sunday, March 6. Just two minutes into the game, they were up two tries. Captains and seniors Tahtiana Buckley and Dianna Jimenez, and seniors Liza-Kelly Mbah, Gabby Bonilla, and junior Favor Dimelu all scored tries. Gabby Bonilla and junior Anna Sava made several conversion kicks. At the end of the game, the Raiders had dominated the game, finishing with a scoreline of 65 to 0. Prior to their first match official league match of the season, Buckley said that they “played hard last Sunday” and that she expected them to “play hard again” on the upcoming “Sunday and take this win.” Junior and new member Jada Young said that she’s “new to the game” and that “this upcoming game” would be “kind of intimidating.” She expected the game to be “grueling” and “a new experience”.

And it certainly was a grueling experience. On Sunday, March 13, the girls went head to head in clash against a team that they’ve failed to defeat for the past several years. It was their first official league match of the season, against North Bay Rugby Club. They lost. However, there were definitely signs of improvement as compared to seasons past. The scoreline was only 22-0, a big difference from their loss of 67-0 against them in 2014. They took it as a motivator for their upcoming rematch against Bell.

The girls won that match with a score of 40-5. Captain Dianna Jimenez said she thought the team, composed of mainly new members, “did really well for being together for  a short time.” According to her, everyone gave their best in this victory, “whether it was for tackling, passing, or giving support.” There are several challenges in a match, such as “communicating on the field and keeping a clear mind.” “When someone is running at you at full speed it is hard to resist the urge to toss the ball to another  player to avoid getting hit.” They’re working on getting “rid of that urge and gaining confidence in taking the ball into contact.” She said that she expects “more communication” and nothing less than a victory and in their upcoming match against the Maryland Exiles in Rockville on April 10 and for the rest of the season.