Maryland Stingers Continue Rugby Tradition in College Park

The Maryland Stingers, a Division 2 competitive women's rugby team based in College Park, once again began their fall season at Duvall Field this month. According to coach Pam Heimann, the club has been in existence since the early 1980's.

An early member of the Stingers, Heimann helped transition the team from its collegiate roots at the University of Maryland to its current status as a regionally-competing club team. Heimann stuck with the squad as a player for 14 years before leaving to coach at several different levels including youth, high school and college.

After returning to the Stingers last year, she is now entering her second year as head coach. Having experienced several different generations of the team, she has seen many of its incarnations.

"The team has been highly competitive and then somewhat less competitive," she said after a practice last week. "We've been on a bit of a rollercoaster. Right now we're in Division 2. We compete with teams from as far north as Frederick and as far south as Raleigh."

The fall season, which has just begun, consists of several matches along the mid-Atlantic region. Teams with the best record in each competing territory will advance to a national championship tournament in November. Last year the Stingers placed seventh overall in the national tournament.

This year's event will take place in Arizona—surely providing many of the competitors with a welcomed dose of vitamin D just as the gloom of late autumn becomes monotonous along the east coast. The Stingers' potential participation in the tournament will not be known until later this fall, when final season standings have been decided.

The team is led by a pair of captains—Kelley Brown, 28, of Washington, D.C., and Lindsey Nugent, 24, of Silver Spring. Before her tenure as co-captain began this season, Nugent served as the social director for the team.

"I planned socials and did all sorts of fundraising," she said. "Since we went to nationals last year we had to do a lot of that. We did a magazine sale and we held bar fundraisers. The rugby community in this area is really supportive. There are teams in Maryland, D.C. and Virginia so we all try to support each other and go to different events."

Brown, who has been with the team for five years, and played rugby at Michigan State prior to that, has helped recruit new players and encourages as much participation from the surrounding area as possible. According to Brown, any adult female with interest in rugby is eligible for inclusion on the Stingers.

"All you have to do is show up," she said. "We practice here (Duvall Field) on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. unless it's raining. You even get a t-shirt and a water bottle and some sweatbands."

One player recently recruited into the ranks is 19-year-old Christina Animashaun, a UMBC student who played rugby at Eleanor Roosevelt High School for coach Heimann. According to Animashaun, the Stingers not only show great promise this season as a unit, but provide her with tools to improve her individual game.

"Right now as a team we're trying to get to know our new abilities. We're a really fit team and we have some great talent," she said. "Individually I've gotten better just being here. Playing with new players and in new positions has been a great growing experience for me." 

 The Stingers' current roster sits at over 30 players. While just 15 are needed on the field at any time, 23 are allowed on the roster for official matches, and according to Nugent, secondary "B matches" are often set up for any players not on the primary roster.

For more information on the team, including further details on joining, visit www.marylandstingers.org.

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