{"id":24364,"date":"2019-05-27T17:52:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-27T23:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/vail-womens-rugby-ready-for-its-first-season\/"},"modified":"2019-05-27T17:52:00","modified_gmt":"2019-05-27T23:52:00","slug":"vail-womens-rugby-ready-for-its-first-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/local-news\/vail-womens-rugby-ready-for-its-first-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Vail Women\u2019s Rugby ready for its first season"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery\" readability=\"6.7040650406504\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-366474-69\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/VailWomensRugby-VDN-052719-4-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/VailWomensRugby-VDN-052719-4.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Photos special to The Daily | The Vail Women's Rugby team is starting out its first year and is registered with USA Rugby.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>The Vail Women&#8217;s Rugby team is starting out its first year and is registered with USA Rugby.<\/strong><br \/>Photos special to The Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/VailWomensRugby-VDN-052719-4.jpg\" alt=\"The Vail Women's Rugby team is starting out its first year and is registered with USA Rugby.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/VailWomensRugby-VDN-052719-4-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/VailWomensRugby-VDN-052719-4-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Photos special to The Daily | The Vail Women\u2019s Rugby team practices with the men\u2019s Vail Rugby team at Ford Park in Vail, with views of the Gore Range.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9\">\n<p><strong>The Vail Women\u2019s Rugby team practices with the men\u2019s Vail Rugby team at Ford Park in Vail, with views of the Gore Range.<\/strong><br \/>Photos special to The Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/VailWomensRugby-VDN-052719-4-1.jpg\" alt=\"The Vail Women\u2019s Rugby team practices with the men\u2019s Vail Rugby team at Ford Park in Vail, with views of the Gore Range.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/VailWomensRugby-VDN-052719-4-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/VailWomensRugby-VDN-052719-4-2.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Photos special to The Daily | The Vail Women\u2019s Rugby team is just starting out its season and looking to add more players. The team is looking to play some teams from the region as well as tournaments.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9\">\n<p><strong>The Vail Women\u2019s Rugby team is just starting out its season and looking to add more players. The team is looking to play some teams from the region as well as tournaments.<\/strong><br \/>Photos special to The Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/VailWomensRugby-VDN-052719-4-2.jpg\" alt=\"The Vail Women\u2019s Rugby team is just starting out its season and looking to add more players. The team is looking to play some teams from the region as well as tournaments.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/VailWomensRugby-VDN-052719-4-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/VailWomensRugby-VDN-052719-4-3.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Photos special to The Daily | Vail Women\u2019s Rugby will help teach those playing for the first time how to tackle.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Vail Women\u2019s Rugby will help teach those playing for the first time how to tackle.<\/strong><br \/>Photos special to The Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/VailWomensRugby-VDN-052719-4-3.jpg\" alt=\"Vail Women\u2019s Rugby will help teach those playing for the first time how to tackle.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/vail-womens-rugby-ready-for-its-first-season\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/vail-womens-rugby-ready-for-its-first-season\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">It took one year of living in the valley for Abby Loucks to help fill a void she saw needed filling.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">After competing against men locally and traveling two hours to Denver to compete with a women\u2019s team, Loucks was tired of commuting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cBut I love rugby,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">And, \u201cWhen you have more than one person, it\u2019s a lot easier to get something going,\u201d Loucks said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">With the help of Nicholle Jackson, the two helped launch Vail Women\u2019s Rugby.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The first-year team is registered with USA Rugby, \u201cso we\u2019re official, but we could definitely use more people,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cExperience not required.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">So far, the Vail Women\u2019s Rugby team is made up of 12 women, just starting their practice schedule heading into a summer season. The team practices at Ford Park in Vail and is looking to play against teams in Denver and Boulder as well as tournaments in Steamboat, Breckenridge and Aspen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe\u2019ve got one of the best views of any rugby field I\u2019ve ever played at,\u201d Loucks said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">\u2018There\u2019s a spot for you on the field\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">While both Loucks and Jackson are experienced rugby players \u2014 having played for teams in the Northeast before coming to the valley \u2014 some on the team are first-timers, and the two are adamant it\u2019s a sport for everyone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cYou\u2019ve got to be tough because it\u2019s a physical sport, but it\u2019s a sport for every body size and shape,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t really matter how small or how big you are, there\u2019s a spot for you on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Jackson said she\u2019s 5-foot and 110 pounds. Loucks said she\u2019s got about 10 inches on Jackson.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cBut she can still take me down,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve played on a team in Boston with a woman that was 50 years old and she tackles with the best of them. There\u2019s really no age limit, it\u2019s just the mental limits you put on yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">\u2018Rugby culture\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">As with any rugby team comes the rugby culture.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThat\u2019s very typical of rugby culture \u2014 you play together, you drink together, you socialize together. And that even goes for the team you tried to beat up on the field,\u201d Loucks said. \u201cWe\u2019re working adults and some of us are moms, so there\u2019s a lot to juggle but we try to have fun together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The local men\u2019s rugby team has been around for about 30 years and serves as a pipeline to the professional team in Denver, Loucks said. However, a rugby team in the mountains for women has been lacking, Jackson said, which is a shame because of the power of the game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt gave me confidence that I didn\u2019t know I had,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cI think it does that for a lot of women, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Tackling, they say, can be intimidating, but not overwhelming.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWhile it might be a little bit scary to think about tackling at first, it\u2019s so much fun to learn and I think really empowering,\u201d Loucks said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The youngest member on the team is just out of college and the oldest is in their 30s, Loucks said, adding that she learned the game after being a rower in college.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">For women \u201cnot ready to be done\u201d with rugby or looking to try it out, join Vail Women\u2019s Rugby on Facebook or email <a href=\"mailto:vailwomensrugby@gmail.com\">vailwomensrugby@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The season\u2019s just getting going.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/vail-womens-rugby-ready-for-its-first-season\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Vail Women&#8217;s Rugby team is starting out its first year and is registered with USA Rugby.Photos special to The Daily The Vail Women\u2019s Rugby team practices with the men\u2019s Vail Rugby team at Ford Park in Vail, with views of the Gore Range.Photos special to The Daily The Vail Women\u2019s Rugby team is just [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-24364","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-11 06:30:54","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KIFT - The LIFT FM","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24364\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}