Courtsey of Brian Beard

Last weekend, the women’s rugby team competed in the inaugural National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) 7s Championship in Greensboro, N.C. The Polar Bears went 4–0 with victories against Guilford College, Warren Wilson College, Emory & Henry University and the University of New England to win the championship title.

Traditionally, the NIRA has been a 15s league, meaning there are 15 players on the pitch at a time. Bowdoin competes in 15s in the fall season and 7s in the spring against a mix of Division I, II and III schools. Head Coach Laura Miller explained that, as the NIRA has grown, 7s rugby allows newer programs to develop and compete with smaller recruiting classes.

“We’re getting to the point where our league is going to be able to support both [15s and 7s],” Miller said. “This was the first time ever that our league has run a championship for 7s, and it was only for Division III and provisional teams.”

The Polar Bears got off to a powerful start in the tournament with a shutout 40–0 victory over Guilford, followed by a 38–5 win against Warren Wilson. Malia Petelo ’28, who scored six tries in the first two games, explained that the team found success in decision-making and carrying out plays.

“We saw a big improvement as a team with our decision-making on the field and our tackles. I felt like we were able to execute a lot more plays than we were the past weekend. We’ve grown a lot,” Petelo said.

Compared to 15s, 7s places less of an emphasis on position. As a result, conditioning, speed and communication are especially important, as seven players must work to cover the entire field instead of focusing on individual placements.

“It’s about, ‘What is your role on the team?’ Versus you’re a prop, you’re a scrum-half,” Miller said.

This was especially evident during the tournament’s most challenging game against Emory & Henry, a provisional DII school. The Polar Bears won the game 25–12, with Rebecca Vakarau ’25 scoring two tries.

“Sevens is very much a game about speed. Because there’s so much space on the field, you have to attack it differently,” Vakarau said. “That’s why we’re so concerned about aggression and speed, just being able to decide what to do with all the space. How can you create plays, be creative and attack the space, knowing that there’s only seven players on your team.”

Following a 29–0 victory over the University of New England in the final game, the Polar Bears were crowned NIRA 7s champions. Captain Runa Katayama ’25 reflected on participating in the first year of this tournament.

“Honestly, [we’re] very honored,” Katayama said. “It was really fun in the sense that, when we say DIII  NIRA, we’ve always played in the northeast DIII division. So it was really cool to go down [to the south] and see how they do rugby, meet their players, their coaches and expand our community a bit as a NIRA DIII group.”

Coming off of a challenging tournament the previous weekend at the Crimson 7s hosted by Harvard, in which the team faced several DI schools and suffered multiple injuries, the players came into the NIRA 7s with clear goals. In particular, they wanted to focus on effectively making tackles and being connected on defense. At the same time, the trip to North Carolina also presented a valuable opportunity for team bonding.

“We definitely knew what we wanted to work on. So it was just a matter of executing as a team,” Petelo said. “And also, Crimson wasn’t the most fun, so I think it was definitely a chance for us to get in the warm weather and spend some time together.”

Katayama also emphasized that the players approached this tournament with a confident and focused mindset.

“It’s having everyone with the same confidence, that, we’re all here to play rugby and play the best rugby that we can, especially at a place like the NIRA 7s Championship,” Katayama said.

The team has three tournaments remaining this season: the Polar Bear 7s in Brunswick, the Colby 7s in Waterville and the Collegiate Rugby Championship in Boyds, Md. Over the next few weeks, the team will face a wide range of competition in these tournaments, from club teams to DI schools. Throughout this, the players hope their strong team culture and desire for improvement will help them succeed.

“I want to keep the vibe we had at NIRA 7s, but then polish it up to the point where we could be competitive and we can win against other top-tier teams,” Katayama said. “I think right now we’re at a really good culture. We’re at a really good teamwork standpoint. So, if we can just continue that, but then polish up our rugby, I think we’ll do really great.”