Maggie Flanagan | Sports Editor | mflanagan6@mail.smcvt.edu
The St. Michael’s College rugby fall season is ready to resume after a five month hiatus. Beginning Oct. 7, the rugby club will have access to an athletic trainer, allowing them to begin their season, said the president of women’s rugby, Ariel Kilgore, ’26.
“It was really obvious over the last year that systems were not in place to support club sports,” said Dawn Ellinwood, the vice president of student affairs and dean of students. “At the end of spring, we paused club sports,” Ellinwood said.
The lack of athletic trainers available for all St. Michael’s College student-athletes led to a disorganization in club sports. “We had three athletic trainers, and they were working with varsity sports. They did not have room,” Ellinwood said.
“I don’t think, since I’ve been here, we’ve had an athletic trainer, and that’s also not something the rugby team knew that we were supposed to have,” Kilgore said.
The president of men’s rugby, Jacob Gaudet, ’26, said, “We have a new president, President Plumb, when he started to oversee everything with both clubs, he saw that there was a big issue where the teams never really had a structured safety system put into place.”
Administration is requiring the team to have an athletic trainer, and until that position is filled, the club sports are on pause and coaches positions’ have been paused.
Women’s rugby huddle last season.
“Dr. Plumb came in, he’s overseeing everything, and he’s saying this is very unsafe. Students’ safety is our main concern right now,” Gaudet said.
Emily Morgan, the head coach of the women’s rugby team, said the school informed the coaches that the season was canceled and their positions were removed. Morgan had to cancel all scheduled games and scrimmages.
“I didn’t want to let down other schools. So the actions that the school has taken have affected the entire division and possibly the future of our club,” Morgan said.
“I have received no official communication from the school since I was told that my employment was paused because club sports are paused,” Morgan said.
The delay in restructuring safety systems left students, alumni, and players questioning what the future of the rugby program would look like. Gaudet said, “With that little bit of news spreading all across alumni networks, hundreds of alumni, not even rugby alumni, just normal general alumni, of people who had friends on the team, voiced their opinions with the school.”
The men and women’s rugby teams took to their Instagram platforms to voice their concern about the future of the club.
Alumni responded to the social media posts about the club sports pause. One comment said, “Playing rugby at SMC was the absolute highlight of my college experience. Taking away this opportunity for others is heartbreaking. As an active SMC alum, do better.”
With large numbers of passionate former players, rumors circulated quickly. “There were several times where we had to make it very clear that this is not a situation we want to be aggressive in. We want to be very peaceful about things, where we see a solution happen,” said Gaudet.
Ellinwood said, “All summer we heard from alums. It’s been an ongoing conversation.”
Kilgore had her first in-person meeting with Kerri Leach, the director of student activities, and Lou DiMasi III, ’11, the assistant director of student activities recreation and fitness on September 6.
Cassie Lathrope, ’26, last season.
“At this point, they’re letting us be kind of a big part of it, which is good, compared to the summer, where I didn’t hear anything. This is the first time I’ve met with them for the whole situation,” said Kilgore.
“There’s been a lot of misinformation, I’ve been told by incoming freshmen, like, ‘You don’t have a season. Is rugby still a club? Are you guys suspended?” said Gaudet.
“It’s been tough recruiting. I’m hoping once we start playing, and once we develop like a little bit of a presence on campus, the rumors die down,” said Kilgore.
Morgan looks forward to returning to her coaching position as soon as possible. “I’m just lucky to be part of it,” said Morgan. “The men’s team is 52 years old, and the women’s team is 32 years old,” said Morgan.
Ellinwood said, “I’m very excited. What the future holds is a robust club sport experience that has very good safety measures in place.”