From MNDAILY.COM

Alumna tries for second World Cup

Christy Ringgenberg is currently trying out to be a member of Team USA’s 15-woman rugby World Cup team. Christy Ringgenberg captained Team USA in 2009.   Andressa Lunardelli

The sport is known around the world as rugby, and one University of Minnesota alumna is trying to put the most recent Olympic addition on the map in the United States.

“You have to have field sense and you have to be competitive,” Tierney said. “You can’t walk into rugby not having done anything competitive and captain an international team.”

Christy Ringgenberg, who is currently trying out to be a member of Team USA’s 15-woman rugby World Cup team, grew up in Madison, Wis. She played various sports in her youth and wanted to play soccer for a Big Ten school. After consulting with the Gophers women’s soccer coaches, she was invited to try out for a walk-on spot. Like many endeavors in Ringgenberg’s life, she saw success, making the team her freshman year as a walk-on. Her stay on the soccer team would prove to be short-lived. Following the conclusion of her first year at the University, where she saw sparse playing time, Ringgenberg quit the team.

“I was burnt out; I didn’t love it anymore,” Ringgenberg said. “I was just tired of working that hard and not loving it.”

Leaving the team did not quell the competitive desires of the then-sophomore. Ringgenberg decided to join the University’s club rugby team.

While she had seen it played before, actually participating in the sport was a challenge.

“That first year [on the club team] I still didn’t know the rules. I had no idea what was going on,” Ringgenberg said. “My athleticism really carried me through.”

Despite not yet knowing the rules, it was clear to Ringgenberg she had found a sport that matched her passion and intensity.

“At least for women, it’s such a brutal sport that you just love spending your energy that way,” Ringgenberg said. “Then when you’re done with it, you ache and you hurt and everybody has a beer together; it’s fun. That shared misery kind of brings everybody together.”

“At least for women, it’s such a brutal sport that you just love spending your energy that way,” Ringgenberg said. “Then when you’re done with it, you ache and you hurt and everybody has a beer together; it’s fun. That shared misery kind of brings everybody together.” Andressa Lunardelli

The success Ringgenberg experienced so early in her career came as a result of what her coaches call a relentless work ethic.

“She’s just a mentally gifted athlete, and she’s really driven,” Minnesota Valkyries coach Jane Tierney said. “Christy’s the best team player that I’ve ever worked with.”

 Ringgenberg joined the Minnesota Valkyries after graduating from the University

“When I started playing some of the upper level stuff, a lot of my friends on those teams played for the Valkyries, and so that drew me in. I already had friends there,” Ringgenberg said.

While soccer and rugby are immensely different in terms of strategy and physicality, the prior experience playing another sport paired with Ringgenberg’s athleticism is what Tierney believes helped her thrive.

“You have to have field sense and you have to be competitive,” Tierney said. “You can’t walk into rugby not having done anything competitive and captain an international team."

“When I started playing some of the upper level stuff, a lot of my friends on those teams played for the Valkyries, and so that drew me in. I already had friends there,” Ringgenberg said.

Seeking to become the newest Olympic sport, rugby’s governing body, the International Rugby Board , went to the International Olympic Committee hoping to add the sport for the 2016 games.

The IOC initially balked at the idea because it felt the women’s side of rugby did not represent a high enough level of development to be considered for addition. To prove they belonged, the inaugural Women’s Rugby Sevens World Cup was held in Dubai in March of 2009 at the same time, location and venue of the Men’s World Cup.

The normal level of pressure during international competition — especially for a team like the United States, trying to prove it belongs at that level — is extremely high. When the performance at the World Cup could determine the success or failures of the IRB to get rugby added to the Olympics, the pressure to succeed in Dubai was at a peak.

“All of a sudden we went from a budget of $5,000 a year … to a budget of $500,000 over a six-month period,” Team USA head coach Jules McCoy said. “The growth of our program in four years was exponential, and so was the pressure and so were the expectations.”

There are two different styles of rugby: sevens and 15s. Each refers to the number of players on the pitch. The length and width of the pitch remains the same; 100 meters long and 70 meters wide. What that means for sevens, which the IRB chose to promote to a World Cup event last year, is that you need seven athletes who are willing to go full speed the length of the game. With fewer players, the fast-paced sevens is more popular with fans.

“The sevens style of rugby really puts athletes under tremendous pressure; you can’t hide,” McCoy said. “The game itself is a challenge mentally because if you make a mistake 60,000 people see it.”

After making the team for the inaugural sevens World Cup, Ringgenberg was chosen as captain of McCoy’s squad.

Led by Ringgenberg, Team USA advanced out of pool play and won its opening game of the elimination round before falling to eventual runner-up New Zealand 14-12.

“[At a] minimum we were playing in front of 20,000 fans, you’re on TV, it was just amazing,” Ringgenberg said. “You were on big fields, people are cheering, nobody boos, it was awesome; I can’t even describe it.”

Following the strong performance of Team USA, a non-traditional powerhouse, rugby was added in October of 2009 along with golf to the 2016 and 2020 Olympics.

This year, Ringgenberg will try out for Team USA’s 15s squad that will compete in the World Cup in England in late August. McCoy likes last year’s sevens captain’s chances of making the team.

“She thrives under pressure, [and] she brings a lot of international experience to that team,” said McCoy who has since retired as coach of Team USA. “I would be completely surprised if she weren’t on the roster, barring injury.”

The success of Team USA helped better its reputation at the international level, but its popularity nationally hasn’t increased at the same rate. Ringgenberg attributes the lack of popularity in the United States to the fact that Americans have many different sports to choose from already and don’t understand the rules and inner-workings of rugby.

However, Ringgenberg does see one market of people that do have a strong chance of picking up the sport.

“Women don’t have a sport that is as physical as rugby and is as brutal as rugby,” Ringgenberg said. “If rugby takes off, I think it’ll be the women’s game that really can take off.”

Ringgenberg currently works for Tierney at Edina WISEguys, an after-school community education program. In addition, she has returned to the University to take prerequisite courses for physician’s assistant school. No matter what the soccer player turned rugby star decides to do, McCoy believes her success on the pitch will translate to her work life.

“Whatever Christy chooses to do with her life after rugby, somebody needs to employ her and get her involved,” McCoy said. “She will not let you down in regards to her abilities to be a good leader and highly effective person.”

Like all sports, rugby has an expiration date for its players. While Ringgenberg hasn’t said when that date will be for her, she did hint that it may not be far off.

“At this level, probably not much longer,” Ringgenberg said. “I’ll probably take a break after the World Cup.”

 “She thrives under pressure, [and] she brings a lot of international experience to that team,” said McCoy who has since retired as coach of Team USA.