In growing sport of rugby, ‘underestimated’ Boise State is making a mark
When Kimber Bevens first started playing rugby, there wasn’t a girls team in the Treasure Valley, so she had to take the field with the boys.
But rugby participation has grown exponentially in Idaho — and around the world — in recent years. Many high schools in the Boise area now field teams, and Boise State revived its women’s program in 2020.
The Broncos’ fledgling club program has been uber-successful, qualifying for nationals three years in a row, but its existence remains relatively unknown to those outside the rugby community.
They’d like to see that change.
“I just don’t think people realize how big of a sport this is in Idaho,” said Bevens, a junior on the Broncos’ roster. “We’re one of the biggest pushers of female collegiate rugby athletes, so don’t underestimate the girls in Idaho.
“When Idaho teams go to other states, we’ve seen it multiple times this season. People are like, ‘It’s just Idaho. Whatever.’ We’re always underestimated, and then we come out and show them.”
Rugby reaching more youth
U.S. women’s rugby player Ilona Maher captured the country’s attention during the 2024 Paris Olympics, helping the U.S. win bronze — its first medal ever in rugby sevens — and eventually becoming a contestant on “Dancing with the Stars.”
Maher gained a significant social media following with her behind-the-scenes TikTok videos during the Olympics.
That worldwide notoriety has had a trickle-down effect.
According to Women’s Elite Rugby, women’s rugby’s active registered participants has increased by almost 34 percent, and more than 1.3 million young women and girls came into contact with the sport in 2023. And USA Club Rugby has seen a 64 percent increase in registered members for the 2024-2025 season.
Locally, Eagle High School’s girls team won a national tournament in Wisconsin last May, and Meridian High finished third at the same tournament. And a Boise-area boys summer team took first place at a national tourney in Tampa, Florida, the year before.
What’s brewing at Boise State?
Nine of the 16 players on Boise State’s roster are from Idaho, and first-year head coach Conner Williams hopes to see that number increase.
Before taking over here, he coached at the high school level at Rocky Mountain and Mountain View. The majority of those athletes ended up playing for colleges outside of the Gem State, he said.
“There are so many girls that are leaving Idaho,” Williams said. “I’ve sent countless girls away to other colleges because BSU just hasn’t had a big footprint. I think being able to have an impact on a higher level would help the girls in Idaho not have to leave.
“So if we can start winning national championships. I mean, it’s a hard thing to do, but I think there’s enough talent in Idaho or at Boise State to end up doing that.”
What does being a club team entail?
Unlike Boise State’s varsity sports, the women’s rugby team is a club sport. That means it is almost entirely self-funded, and the coaching staff volunteers their time.
The rugby team has a leadership group made up of a president, vice president, secretary and treasurer who organize everything from funding to road-trip itineraries. They’re all players and full-time students.
“I think a big piece of it is you have to care, you have to want to,” said junior Justice Rupp, who is the Broncos’ treasurer and grew up in Jerome. “We’re not getting funding like varsity sports, and so it is very much like people who want to be here are here because they want to and they love it.
“It’s really overwhelming at the beginning of the season to kind of see how much money we have to make. And so we just try and break it up each month. We have this fundraising event on this week, and then this on the next week. We just try to make that large amount and see them in smaller increments.”
When the Broncos attended a tournament in Iowa earlier this season, it came with a price tag of $15,000. When they travel to the University of Colorado this weekend for another tournament, they’ll be making a 12-hour drive to Boulder to save money.
“Being in the national picture now, it’s kind of pulling a lot of eyes closer to us, which hopefully just keeps growing,” Williams said.
If the Broncos win the tournament in Colorado, they’ll receive an automatic bid to the Collegiate Rugby Championship National 7s, which runs April 25-27 at the Maryland Soccerplex in Boyds, Maryland. Otherwise, they’ll hope to earn one of nine available at-large bids to the 16-team tournament. At-large qualifiers will be announced Saturday, April 19.
But even if they qualify, they’ll need help making the journey to the East Coast. The Broncos have raised a little more than $3,000 of their $10,000 goal through Boise State’s Pony Up campaign.
How good is Boise State?
Some of the Broncos’ bigger wins this season came against Michigan, Colorado State and Colorado. The Wolverines won back-to-back rugby 15s national titles in 2022 and 2023.
Boise State hosted its own Fool’s Gold Rugby 7s tournament earlier this month, beating Montana State, Utah State and the University of Utah to claim the title.
At least year’s national tournament, the Broncos defeated Iowa State 27-5 in the first round before losing to eventual national runner-up Oregon.
“If the girls can see in themselves what the coaches see in them, we’ll be really, really, really good,” Williams said. “I think trying to get that positive thought about oneself is really hard nowadays, especially with social media and all that stuff. As soon as they figure out how good they really are, not in a cocky way but in a confident way, I think we’ll just keep getting better and better.”
