From Juniata Alfarata 19811: Row 1: J. Rose, W. Meek, C. Heaton, M. Manion, M. Pluta Row 2: R. Peachey, L. McClure,
S. Kidder, S. Casparian, R. McNaughton, J. Barrett, C. Mapes (Missing: R. Suri, P.
Tonsetic, L. Forsythe, A. Tanoun, J. Amidon, B. Hansson, C. Means, M. Long, D. Yannacci,
L. Chellel, M. Burns, D. Henry, M. Mengel, L. Malia, K. Campbell, C. Herrera, A. Ketchum,
L. Volle, L. Singleton, C. Baldessar)
Jim Kiely, class of 1981, established Juniata College’s women’s rugby team in the fall of 1980. Originally, the team had no name. Over the years, the team adopted Juniata’s original mascot, the Indians, and then in 1998, the officers of the team decided to rename themselves the Hellbenders. The Hellbenders are a member of the Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union (EPRU). Games consist of fifteen players in the fall or seven players in the spring, the size of the team and the number of games they play vary by semester. Some usual opponents include Susquehanna University, Gettysburg College, and Franklin & Marshall College.
A traditional Hellbender game is the Formal Tournament. Since 1999, usually during the spring semester, the players don used prom dresses to raise money for Huntingdon House to support domestic violence survivors.This tournament strengthens women’s empowerment beyond rugby, while also providing an entertaining spectacle.Another Hellbender tradition is defending the Arch during Storming of the Arch. Every year in the fall since the 1940s, new freshman try to run past the women’s and men’s rugby teams to Cloister Hall’s Arch. The Juniata community gathers to watch the Hellbenders and the mens River Rats Rugby team protecting the impenetrable Arch. Each year, the Hellbenders also participate in a Homecoming Alumni Game during Homecoming Weekend and help the men’s rugby team with their fundraiser, Pig Roast.
All of these traditions formed because a few individuals established the women’s team. During Kiely’s senior year, other men's rugby teams frequently asked Juniata why they lacked a women’s team. Kiely and a few other male players organized a meeting on campus to gauge how many women were interested, and about seventy women showed up. Some of these women, including Sue Kidder ‘83, brought a rugby guidebook from the library because they were serious about learning the sport. This first team, approximately twenty members, played about three matches, the first against Penn State, and they practiced behind Ellis Hall.
The women’s team has had low attendance periodically throughout the years, but the love for the sport and culture surrounding rugby has persisted at Juniata. Rugby culture extends far beyond the stereotypes around it; while some stigmatize female players as “butch, manly, undesirable, and overly assertive,” rugby is a sport that allows women to challenge these assumptions. One major advantage, as expressed in personal interviews and studies, is the ability for rugby to positively shape women’s identities. One study found that female rugby players rethink the idea of femininity. The Hellbenders don’t subscribe to these “regular adjectives” of femininity or the negative stigmas mentioned above; instead, they focus on sportsmanship, strength of mind and body, inclusion, and self-expression.
Sue Kidder, as well as Matthew Ezzell, discussed the immediate and long term effects of playing rugby. Ezzell made the point that rugby provided some meaning in life to many players. For Kidder, who later became a supervisor and administrator, this meaning involved camaraderie and teamwork. Because of rugby, Kidder valued strength, working together with people, giving pep talks in work environments, and “being a good loser.” All of these, and other values, combined to form Kidder’s “rugby lessons for life,” and Kidder has played rugby for thorty-two years, the majority of her life. She was “thrilled” when the name Hellbender came along because it projected these values of strength and teamwork.
The 2017-18 Hellbender president, Sirah Javier, said:
“Rugby allows women of all body types on campus to express themselves in a healthy, active way. Being a part of a close team allows us to understand others’ emotions. As the president, this understanding provides an effective way for me to guide them. I see the growing feminism on our team.”
Javier had experience with rugby before Juniata, but the Juniata environment sparked a new value for her: trust. This trust is built every semester for incoming students and players. Trust is “getting on the field and knowing my teammates are there for me when I turn around.” Javier also values how rugby forms a player’s identity. One tradition of Juniata rugby is giving each member a nickname that is specifically their rugby name. For instance, Javier’s nickname is Tyson. She said, “These nicknames become a whole new identity. Professors and peers know me as Tyson, not Sirah. And that will resonate with me every time I step onto campus.”
The Hellbenders are “unapologetically strong.” Values like trust, teamwork, togetherness, and inclusion help form this strength that resonates through current and past members. However, another outcome of rugby that should be taken seriously is the high risk for injury. The Hellbenders are focused on safety and teaching exercises, like tackling, the safest manner possible.
For many, though, rugby culture is like a family. The team is always supportive and will help anyone in need, but sometimes they “piss you off.” This camaraderie is “indescribable” and unique to rugby, especially the Hellbenders. Their strength and identity are undeniable and quite evident in one of their favorite rugby songs:
“Cocksucker, motherfucker, eat a bag of shit
Douchebag, cuntrag, bite your mother’s tit
We’re the greatest rugby team all the others suck
Juniata Hellbenders Ra Ra Fuck!”
Mara Revitsky ‘20
Bibliography
Clark, Taylor and Kaitlyn Roth. Confidence and Self-Image in Women’s Rugby Players, Video Production, published on youtube.com, April 2015.
Erin Long (Alumni Women’s Rugby 1995-99) in discussion with author, February 2018.
Ezzell, Matthew B. 2009. “‘Barbie Dolls’ on the Pitch: Identity Work, Defensive Othering, and Inequality in Women’s Rugby.” Social Problems 56 (1): 111–31.
“Formal Tournament - Juniata College’s Women’s Rugby.” n.d. Accessed February 7, 2018. https://sites.google.com/a/clubs.juniata.edu/wrugby/formal-tournament.
Giana Picozzi (Hellbender) in discussion with author, February 2018.
Gill, Fiona. 2007. “‘Violent’ Femininity: Women Rugby Players and Gender Negotiation.” Women’s Studies International Forum 30 (January): 416–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2007.07.007.
Jim Kiely (Founder of Juniata Women’s Rugby) in discussion with author, February 2018.
Juniata College. Alfarata (Huntingdon, PA: 1981), 113, Beeghly Library, accessed on February 9, 2018.
“Juniata College’s Women’s Rugby.” n.d. Accessed February 7, 2018. https://sites.google.com/a/clubs.juniata.edu/wrugby/home.
Sirah Javier (President of Hellbenders) in discussion with author, February 2018.
Sue Kidder (Alumni Women’s Rugby 1981-83) in discussion with author, February 2018.
“Traditions - Juniata College’s Women’s Rugby.” n.d. Accessed February 7, 2018. https://sites.google.com/a/clubs.juniata.edu/wrugby/tradition.