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The annual Ruggerfest has been a staple in Aspen for more than half a century, bringing teams from across the state — and even the country — to town to ruck it out, whether they’re young or old, men or women.
But significantly lacking from the history is an Aspen representation on the women’s side. A small group of players is trying to change that and make the Ladies of Aspen a reality at Ruggerfest in just a few weeks, and beyond.
Mav Hopkins, a native of Buffalo, New York, discovered the sport last year and brought a love of it with her to the valley when she moved here in November to work for Aspen Skiing Co.
“I was really missing rugby and I was really sad that there wasn’t a women’s team in the valley,” Hopkins said. “The Gents have such an incredible program and they’ve been around for such a long time, and I just thought there’s so many athletes in the valley, why not start a team?”
She reached out to the Gents several months ago. Fast-forward to Aug. 10 — the Gents’ last game of the summer season, where she handed out flyers on the sidelines of the team’s last game of the summer season.
Hopkins already had hosted a few practices, with a high-water mark of up to eight people. She said that up to 15 people are now in a group chat to coordinate practices.
It’s certainly not enough to field a full team, especially at the 15’s level at Ruggerfest, but it’s a start. The plan for Ruggerfest is to team up with Vail to field a full team against the three other sides at the tournament this year.
As longtime Gents administrator Cameron McIntyre noted, there’s hope in that it’s only the beginning. The effort mirrors the launch of the Junior Gents high school program, which won a state championship last spring.
“When Mav first came, I said, ‘Look, you’ve got to start somewhere.’ If you get three (players), you get three. Next year, we might get five and seven,” McIntyre said. “Same as the Jr. Gents after COVID, I think we started with three and we went from there. … So that’s the message we wanted to say to the ladies: Get going and something will happen.
“We want to encourage them and try to support them as much as we can and help them where they need it and let them develop how they want it to develop a little themselves, as well,” he added.
The Gents have supported the launch of the team with equipment and some coaching. The hope is that they’ll be in black and red kits for Ruggerfest, for which their team will have registration fees waived.
But beyond that, given continued interest in developing, they’ll formalize an Aspen-based women’s team for competition in Rocky Mountain Rugby league play — the same organization the men’s club is in, albeit with varying levels and divisions. McIntyre added that the Gents also will support any league teams financially by assisting with things like entry fees if they can.
Hopkins said Vail and Steamboat Springs are registered with RMR and that many of the teams are on the Front Range.
McIntyre said that in the past, there have been women’s players from Aspen that have put on a couple of games, but that preceded his time.
“It’s been quite a long hiatus,” he said.
Recently, a high school team based in Glenwood Springs called the Valley Valkyries has given women an opportunity, but it doesn’t appear that the team has competed since at least 2022.
Corianne Lambert said that there was some organization of social touch rugby before the COVID pandemic and the players would jump onto teams when Ruggerfest rolled around. Efforts to get more organized beyond that, however, were unsuccessful.
“It’s hard to get people to want to even come try it because they see it at such a high level (at Ruggerfest),” Lambert said. “I’m like, ‘Well if you come to practice, we’re not going to beat you up. Everyone starts somewhere.’”
But women’s rugby is on the rise in the U.S., as evidenced in the past few weeks. Team USA took home its first-ever medal in sevens in the Olympics, winning bronze in dramatic fashion over Australia in Paris.
Hopkins and Lambert credited the win with stirring up a little interest. Hopkins noted that only two or three people were turning up for practices before the Olympics, but more people started reaching out after the win.
Their practices have drawn out enthusiasts — like Lambert and Hopkins — and women who have never held a rugby ball before. They’ve also reignited some interest for some former players, like Carbondale’s Mellie Test. Her son was on the Jr. Gents squad that recently won state.
“I grew up with eating disorders. I went to college for dance and my professors told me to quit because I’m not the traditional dancer body type,” Test said. “So I quit and got into fitness and rugby and stuff, and it was the first time in my life that I ever felt good about my body.
“Having an opportunity for something like this where there is a place for everybody, I feel like it’s so much more welcoming as a sport and as an environment than some other teams,” she continued.
It resembles some of the strategies enlisted by the Gents to build their team: Lean on the local affinity for exercise and bring in some athletes, then teach them the game. They’re welcoming all interested parties with open arms, regardless of experience.
“I’ve played on teams with true rookies who have never played sports before,” Hopkins said. “It’s always been a very inclusive and welcoming environment. I think a really beautiful thing about women’s rugby is how communal it is and how accepting it is.”
More information on women’s rugby can be found at @Ladies_of_Aspen_RFC on Instagram; Ladies of Aspen Rugby Football Club on Facebook or by emailing LadiesOfAspenRugbyClub@gmail.com. No experience is necessary.
The 56th Aspen Ruggerfest is slated for Sept. 19-22.