Please read the following document for important information regarding the Single School HS National Championship and the Club National HS Championship.
Wisconsin Girls Rugby (and the HS Boys) are proud to announce that Atavus & USA Rugby will be hosting a Co-ed HS camp on March 12 and 13th. We have USA National team coaches coming, including:
Every once in a while we do player profiles of successful women Rugby players who started out playing in the Wisconsin High School Girls Rugby League. Talia Carrasquillo is one of our most accomplished alumni. She started out playing for the Kettle Moraine Knightmares for Coach Jeff Noe (currently WI U19 Girls All-Star coach and Head Coach for Winona State Men). A four year starter for KM, she played Inside/outside center her first two years but moved to flanker her Junior and Senior years. Coach Noe stated, “Talia was a pleasure to coach. Fast enough to play wing but tough enough to be my open-side flanker”. She was a 3 year starter at Flanker for the WI U19 team and also played 3 years for the Midwest U19 team under current USA Rugby Youth Director Kurt Weaver and Denison University Women’s Head coach Garrett Fisher. Weaver remembered, “Talia was the player who first walked up to camp and I wondered if she knew it was a rugby tryout. She looked diminutive and smiled a lot, but ended up being a terror on the field. She was one of the few players that impacted every game of the national tournament, while leading the other players by example”. After High School she contemplated going to school in California but Northern Iowa & Midwest U24 Head Coach Steve Murra was able to convince her to stay in the Midwest. She was a 4 year starter at Northern Iowa, mainly at Flanker with some hooker and #8 thrown in. Northern Iowa was a Midwest powerhouse at the time, reaching the Final Eight and Final Four in consecutive years in the USA Rugby D1 championships. Murra stated that, “Talia is the only player I ever recruited that sent me a 5 min highlight reel of her hitting players. No, clips of ball in hand, just her making tackles. She was great to have on the team, early in her college career she loved playing defense but in her junior and senior year she really emerged as an offensive threat. She was a great teammate on and off the field. Her presence has been sorely missed this fall at UNI.” Talia played for the Iowa U24 and the Midwest U24 for all four years of college and went on tour with the Midwest U24 to Canada and Wales. She holds the all-time record at try-outs with a 5.3 second 40Y dash and a 57 second 300Y shuttle. Midwest U24 Forwards Coach roger Riley stated, “Talia was the most fit forward I have ever seen on a women’s collegiate team. Whilst small in stature, she was very strong at the breakdown and an absolute pest for other teams when contesting for the ball. She had an engine that did not stop”. In 2014 Talia graduated from UNI and moved to California to play for the San Diego Surfers. The Surfers are a member of the Women’s Premier League, the top Women’s Rugby league in the country. Along with San Diego the Western Conference consists of the Glendale Raptors (CO), Oregon Sports Union and Berkeley All Blues (CA). The Eastern Conference consists of the Twin Cities Amazons (MN), Atlanta Harlequins, NY Rugby and DC Furies. This is the league that USA Eagles play in when they are not representing their country. The Surfers finished 5th in this league this past Fall season and Talia was the starting open side Flanker for them. Alexandra Williams, Surfers Forwards Coach, stated “Talia is the kind of athlete I love to coach - an absolute worker bee who listens, learns and is continually improving her game. She’s a positive force for the Surfers on the field, with great support lines and a power-pack running attack, as well as very physical defense. Off the field, Talia is a good teammate and a good person, always ready with a smile and support for her teammates - she’s been a great addition to the team”. On a personal note, Talia is 75% Puerto Rican and 25% Greek. Her favorite person in the world is her abuelito (grandpa) as he is the most kind loving person she knows. Her sister plays roller derby for the San Diego Renegades. She did Muay Thai kick boxing for 7 years growing up and has now played Rugby for 9 years. She graduated with her degree in Movement and Exercise Science with a minor in coaching. Her current day jobs are as a Trainer/Coach at the UFC gym (kick boxing), a personal trainer for the Navy gym on Coronado Island and a group fitness coach at crunch. Lastly, she was just named head Rugby coach for Cathedral Catholic High School. Sleeping must not be on her to do list!!!
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AuthorRick Bellis is an Alumni of the Milwaukee RFC and currently serves as an Assistant Coach for the Brookfield Bruisers. In addition he is the Director of Sevens for the WGR league. Archives
August 2016
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