A first: UW rugby adds 4 scholarship athletes
What have they got that we don’t?
Why do high-school rugby players, which are few and far between compared to American football players, choose to go to Central Washington and Western Washington instead of the University of Washington?
Chris Majer and other members of the Husky Rugby Alumni Association (HRAA) gathered last year to consider those questions. Not only did these state schools offer rugby scholarships, but out-of-state top-tier rugby programs (University of California at Berkeley, University of Arizona and University of Utah, for example) all offered scholarships. If we want to be in the big leagues, Majer said, we need to step up.
So they did.
This year’s UW men’s rugby team includes these first-time scholarship athletes:
Thomas Williams from Auckland, New Zealand. He was considering colleges in Australia and the United Kingdom but discovered online that the UW offered rugby scholarships. He also liked the academics of the school and emailed Will Wheaton, the UW rugby coach, about his interest. Rugby is THE sport in New Zealand, and Williams has been playing the game for 13 years since he was six. Videos of Williams’ play put him in the running for a scholarship. He’s not the first in his family to come to the U.S.; his older sister is at Princeton.
Xavier Moimoi of Seattle. He started playing rugby in grade school but took a break to play football at O’Dea High School in Seattle. During his sophomore year, he joined his cousins back on the rugby pitch. He played for Auburn’s Rainier Highlander Rugby club, where Wheaton saw him playing. “The chief recruiter,” Moimoi said, got him interested in a scholarship.
Michael Bruin of Oakland, CA, started playing rugby with the Lamorinda Rugby Football Club in middle school and continued at Bishop O’Dowd High School. “My Mom was doing college research for me,” Bruin said, “and found the scholarship at the UW. She made me apply for it.” It became his first choice, and the scholarship helped with out-of-state tuition, he said.
Jsame Fola started playing rugby at age 10 for the West Seattle Wildcats. Then on to the Rainier Highlanders and some select teams before graduating from Federal Way High School. He planned to attend American International College (AIC) in Springfield, MA, but the UW scholarship offer changed his mind. “The scholarship was a big influence,” he said. “I decided to take the deal and commit to UW.”
There are four scholarship athletes on the team, Majer said. They are partial scholarships for four years each.
The scholarships for club sports are vastly different from those for the 20 varsity sports at UW, said Jason Creighton, the recreation club manager at the University of Washington.
“There are no full rides being handed out,” he said. “They are partial scholarships to offset financial burdens. There is no limit to these; it’s up to the clubs on how much they can finance and what they want to hand out.”
Majer was team captain in 1974 for the UW rugby team and is now a board member of HRAA, a group of some 500 former UW players dating back to the 1960s. The scholarship money is all donated with most of it coming from the annual Purple and Gold banquet.
“This event has become the highlight of the social season for many of the rugby alumni,” Majer said in an email, “and is targeted to raise funds primarily for scholarships but also for some of the operational expenses of the club.”
He said HRAA looks at students’ academics since one of the main issues is that players first must get admitted to UW, which is competitive. Then HRAA considers the financial needs of the player and their rugby skills.
“We do a lot of work with the high-school-age players in the region to find talent.”
Most United States rugby players get introduced to rugby in college. So having players who have been playing for years can help with coaching, Wheaton said.
“It elevates everyone when players lead,” Wheaton said.
With more high schools and clubs offering rugby and with scholarships out there for high-school players to look forward to, that college introduction “may be changing,” he said.
Have the scholarships made a difference?
“Last year we were in last place in both the Northwest Collegiate Rugby Conference and the sevens tournament,” Wheaton said in an email. “It may not be due to the scholarships alone, but we are now in third place in the conference after earning two bonus points in our loss to Boise State on April 5. We also finished third in the conference sevens tournament, and our B side was undefeated.”
Creighton says about 10 percent of the 43 club sports offer scholarships.
“I think any club would be happy to have a scholarship system in place,” Creighton emailed, “but it requires some upfront capital and consistent donations throughout the years, which can be hard to find.” Majer agreed.
“It’s been a bit of a rough ride. You may know how easy it is to organize rugby players,” he joked.
Next step would be endowments that would fund scholarships and operations. On the wish list is eventually having a campus facility for the men’s and women’s teams.
The women’s program is independent of the men’s. HRAA’s long term plan is to support both programs, prior to achieving “varsity” status. Having that status doesn’t guarantee funding so HRAA will still need a plan to fund both programs.
“For now, we are focusing on getting a solid financial footing under the men’s club to serve as a model and prove that we can do it,” Majer said.
“That will take some time, but like everything else -- you start with the first step.”
The United States women’s seven-a-side rugby team won a bronze medal in the 2024 Olympic Games, and the Rugby World Cup, for 15 on a team, is being held in the United States for men in 2031 and for women in 2033.
“We want to see some Huskies on those teams,” Majer said.
See the Future of Rugby, Live at Starfire
Come watch these scholarship athletes in action as UW takes the pitch tomorrow night at Starfire Stadium! Don’t miss your chance to witness the next generation of rugby talent.
