aswanny@unm.edu
Even on a team ranked among the top 20 women’s rugby teams in the U.S. during eight of the last 10 years, Jade McLaughlin stands out, said head coach Shannon Robinson.
“Jade was an all-star in her first year,” he said. “She’s got tremendous speed, she can kick the ball very well, she’s very courageous and she’s a fierce tackler. What she has is the ability to be elusive when she runs; she’s very hard to catch. She scores touchdowns that are 60, 70 meters long.”
McLaughlin said she’s played on the all-star team every summer for the past five years. UNM was her first rugby experience; she’s played basketball since second grade, and though she couldn’t play Division I at UNM, she didn’t want to give up sports. She said she had seen her cousin play in a couple of rugby games, and she and a friend decided to try out for the team.
“Everyone was super friendly when I first started, and helpful, so it’s like a community,” McLaughlin said. “Then, just knowing that there are tons of opportunities that come with playing rugby — like getting to travel and stuff — that was really encouraging.”
McLaughlin said she’s starting her third year as team captain, and aside from leading the team on the field, she said she hopes to be a role model for girls. In addition to being a skilled player, she said she disciplined herself to balance school, work and rugby without neglecting any responsibilities.
“I never miss a practice unless it’s absolutely necessary,” she said. “The more experience you have, the more confidence you have on the field, and I was able to project that and try and lead the other girls to perform at that level.”
The game is more of a stress-reliever than an added burden for McLaughlin, who said it gets her adrenaline pumping so intensely that she ends games covered in bruises that she doesn’t feel until much later.
“It’s a really good release,” she said. “School’s so stressful and work’s so stressful and rugby is one of the most intense games I’ve ever played. When you get out there, you really just go all out, full contact, and run as hard as you can.”
Robinson said the UNM women’s rugby team is formidable to its opponents, which have included Army and Navy teams, and not just because the high schools have athletic programs that prepare girls for rugby.
“New Mexico girls are unusually tough, I mean, let’s just understand that,” he said. “So they can endure and they’re good at hitting, they’re good at endurance and they’re up to the challenge; I mean, we’re in the West.”
Robinson said based on McLaughlin’s performance thus far, he can see her following the footsteps of another former UNM women’s rugby player and compete in the 2016 Olympics. But McLaughlin said that by then, they’ll be looking for women who are at the peak of their game, or about where she is in her career now. Regardless, she said she’ll play as long as she can, likely while she goes for her master’s in paleontology at Colorado University, which has a flourishing rugby community.
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“It’s kind of one of those sports where you can’t leave it,” she said. “All the coaches I’ve known, they’re addicted to it.”
