The 2023–24 rugby season brought the Slugs new challenges and opportunities for growth, with both teams battling hard in their respective conferences. Both the Women’s and Men’s sides have built strong, knowledgeable teams who are dedicated to achieving rugby excellence.
This year the goal has been rugby first, regardless of club. The Women's team has had a very transitional year, working with the Men’s rugby coaching staff for the first time to learn a completely new game system. Over the course of the season, it has been exciting to watch veteran players flourish in newfound leadership positions and rookies step up to the plate as key players on the roster. Our team bond remains stronger than ever, and we are confident that the foundation we have built this year will be vital in future seasons. This year the Women’s team built a new team from the ground up, with an incredibly young back line and some ferocious new forwards. They scored well in our season opener against Santa Clara, and gave Cal Poly SLO the most challenging match they have faced all season, as well as scrimmaging many D1 teams such as UC Berkeley and UC Davis. The Men’s team continued their efforts in the D1A conference and put up a strong fight against fierce rivals, securing a win in a grudge match vs. Santa Clara. The Slugs are looking to carry the skills forged over the 15s season to the spring 7s circuit. We are excited to reap the rewards of our hard work as we build into the 2025 season!
With the combined efforts of the Women’s and Men’s teams, UCSC Rugby had its most successful Giving Day ever this past fall, raising $46,000 and leading the entire Athletics & Recreation Department. These funds ended up being imperative for us to have our seasons, as weather and maintenance issues forced us to rent the field at Cabrillo College for nearly the entirety of the winter. Without your support, UCSC Rugby would have been unable to play in our conference seasons at all.
This year more than ever has proved that the biggest factor in the success of UCSC Rugby is the community support of current players, alumni, coaches, family members, and supporters. While we remain committed to our fundraising efforts, we largely rely on your generosity to meet the majority of our needs. Your donations during this time would help establish funding for the early rugby season next year to allow both clubs to compete in preseason tournaments and order new training gear. Together, we can gather the funds to continue building our Slugby community and pushing our teams to the top of collegiate rugby.
Go Slugs!
