Building a Community On and Off the Field: Women's Rugby Season Preview

Becca Baker might just have something cooking with the St. Thomas Tommies women's rugby team.

The 25-year-old head coach of the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association entry hopes to improve after a 1-6 season in her rookie run as a head coach, a task she shared with her former Tommies teammate Emily Donnelle.

Despite growing pains with a young program – they were outscored 248-87 on the season last year, with their lone win coming in a 53-5 victory over the Dalhousie Agricultural College Rams of Truro – Baker said she "loves" coaching the green and gold.

"I love giving back to a program that I got so much from," who was a stalwart on the pitch for the Tommies, earning All-ACAA and team Most Valuable Player awards as a player.

"Watching these girls grow is pretty unique," she said. "It's a young team, but we've got huge, huge, huge room for growth."

The roster is chock full of first-and second-year players, with only five of the 27 players on the roster in their third season and no one in their fourth. 

Eleven Tommies will get their first taste of ACAA action when the Tommies travel to Charlotteton to face the Holland College Hurricanes Sunday afternoon at 2 pm. Their home opener comes up September 17 against the University of Kings College Blue Devils at the Grant-Harvey turf. Ten more are sophomores.

"We have some phenomenal players that we brought on last year and we brought on more this year," she said.

Alexis Falconer, a speedy second year flanker from Miramichi "is a phenomenal player," said Baker. Veteran Savannah Simon, one of the more experienced players, who played with the New Brunswick women's sevens entry at the Canada Games in Niagara, Ont. in 2022, is also a leader. Maddie Walsh, a rookie out of the Miramichi, "has good physicality to her…she's strong in contact. I'm really looking for her to put some points on the board this year."

She believes building a strong team culture is key.

Part of that is recognizing the diversity within the group.

"The first thing we did was build this community from the ground," she said. "They've got each other's backs on the field and off the field. So we're hoping that will push us over the tryline."

Baker hopes to build on that single win this season.

"Fingers crossed," she said. "A lot of our girls we pushed into summer rugby this year and they've grown as athletes. We're fairly confident we can push our way through."

No predictions though.

"I don't want to jinx anything," she said. "We have a good team coming up. We don't have anyone graduating this year, so we have a really good, set team for the next four years."

UNB, with seven straight league championships – only COVID interrupted their string in 2021 – looms as a powerhouse again. Baker has her eyes on the Mount Allison Mounties, who were 6-1 a year ago.