On a damp Saturday March morning at William A. Bush Park in Lacey, dozens of female rugby players of varying experiences gathered to show their skills at the USA Rugby Talent ID Camp.
Athletes ranged from the transition zone between high school, college and the senior international level, and then those under 18. The vast majority of competitors at the camp were aged 15 or older.
And then there was Ella Moynihan, a 14-year-old freshman from Olympia High School.
Moynihan was likely the youngest competitor on the field vying to impress a handful of USA Rugby coaches during the camp that featured drills such as a 100-meter sprint, the Bronco drill, broad jump, passing, tackling, tracking, and live-action scrimmages.
Moynihan heard about the local camp from coaches within her home club, Tsunami Rugby based out of Tacoma, and her travel team Pacific Northwest Loggers, who helped her get accepted to the camp despite being just 14 years old. The March 21 camp in Lacey was one of several Talent ID Camps held around the country as a scouting tool for players to put their skills on display for USA Rugby scouts.
When Moynihan arrived, she admitted feeling nervous and overwhelmed being around players with much more experience, size and speed, but she fit right in and thrived. She eventually worked her way onto the USA coaches’ radar, earning an invitation to an invite-only training clinic held later that afternoon from the coaches of the national program.
“I really noticed a difference in the intensity with the players that were there. There were players who were more committed and played with a higher intensity,” Moynihan said. “Being around those kinds of people makes you work harder and raise your intensity, and it’s really fun to play with people like that.”
Moynihan was familiar with many girls at the camp through travel and local competition. She held her own against older competitors, breaking off multiple impressive runs during scrimmages and playing sound defense.
Moynihan first tried flag rugby as an elementary schooler before playing “traditional” rugby in seventh grade. She learned the game from her father Dan, who played rugby in college. She is also an all-state flag football player for the Olympia Bears, collecting over 1,700 yards and 17 touchdowns in her freshman campaign and helping the team qualify for a state bid.
But rugby is Moynihan’s true love. It started as a hobby but is becoming a passion and a possible career path.
“It started off as me playing for fun, and I think over the years, I’ve found out that, ‘Heck, I’m pretty good at this,’” Moynihan said. “It would be great to play for Team USA, but that takes a lot of effort. I feel like I could do it. That would be a dream. When I went to Vancouver, Canada, for a tournament, we got to watch the professionals play and meet all of the players. In that moment, I got to envision what my life could look like if I was one of them.”
When she’s on the field, whether as a linebacker in flag football or as a fly-half/center in rugby, Moynihan’s mantra is “attack the ball.” She has a nose for the ball and flashed her tracking skills, seemingly coming out of nowhere to make a tackle both during the camp and the flag football season.
“I like playing with sort of an electric mindset. You’re waiting for the other team to make a mistake, and you want to play off of their mistakes,” Moynihan said. “You always want to have the mindset to play explosive and play with your eyes up.”
Despite her young age, Moynihan already represents the future of local rugby and the importance of clubs and travel teams, of which there are many located in Thurston County. Since rugby is not offered as a Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA)-sanctioned sport yet, local athletes must resort to playing for clubs in the fall and spring seasons.
Moynihan believes that girls rugby can make a similar trajectory as girls flag football, which became a WIAA-sanctioned sport before this past winter season.
“We have to try to keep growing the word about rugby. Anybody could try it and fall in love with it. It’s such a good sport, and there’s room for anybody on a rugby team,” Moynihan said. “It doesn’t matter how strong or fast you are. I’m not even that big myself. There is a place for everyone on the field.”
