In commemoration of 20 years of Women’s Army Rugby at West Point, we invite you to learn more about the winningest team at West Point through our three part series, WAR Stories.
“Are you still going to play rugby in this snow?” the Commandant asked. “Yes,” then-Cadet Kafi Joseph said matter-of-factly. She was determined to start a women’s rugby team at West Point and snow was definitely not going to stand in her way. She already recruited a small crew that was practicing in the Eisenhower Hall ballroom. She made her pitch to many higher ups at the Academy and had been denied. It had to be determination that pushed her to talk to BG Leo A. Brooks, Jr. that day. Whatever the impetus, she reminded the Comm of his daughter who played rugby and why shouldn’t cadets have the same opportunity? She invited him to come watch the fledgling team play their first scrimmage.
On that cold November evening in 2002, during the first snow of the season, a group of women cadets met at Daly field. Clad in cold-weather gear under borrowed net jerseys and lit by the field lamps the team played their first rugby match in calf-deep snow. We didn’t know that the team had already been denied. We didn’t know that Kafi had spoken with the Comm. We were just happy to play. Maybe ignorance really was bliss. We barely knew the laws of the game, but we knew that we got to run and hit and throw with a group of cool women that quickly became sisters.
The Commandant and CSM Butts walked across the Plain to Daly Field. The scene had to be amusing. We had very little experience playing on grass, let alone snow. But what we did have was nerve, grit, a determination - all the building blocks for a successful sports team. Kafi walked up to the Comm and CSM and asked, “What do you think?” On the spot, the Comm authorized the establishment of Women’s Army Rugby. This is the legend of the Snow Game and the start of Women’s Army Rugby (WAR), now Army West Point Women’s Rugby.
Progress is rarely linear and the establishment of WAR as a winning program was no exception. Our growth was exponential. In only two decades, this team has won 12 Titles and become a top-ranked NCAA program. The team has produced Olympians, elite players and coaches, as well as decorated military and civilian leaders. Developing the culture of a winning team was an intentional effort from our young leaders. Upon approval from BG(Ret) Brooks, the team set about forming real traditions for future players before we ever won a game. Kafi solicited the help of the Center for Enhanced Performance and led the Founding Forty in team-building exercises.
The product of these exercises were the team’s name and creed. In Kafi Joseph’s words, “The men’s rugby team calls themselves ‘The Brothers’, derived from King Henry V’s speech before the Battle of Agincourt. We knew we wanted something just as powerful. While the thought of naming ourselves the “Sisters” crossed our minds, there was nothing in a simple sisterhood that specifically tied us to being Soldiers, being ruggers…then Gennelle Lee (Class of 2003) looking up at the folder I was holding saw the words ‘Women’s Army Rugby’ [written vertically] and exclaimed, “What about W.A.R.? And that was it for us…We coined the phrase ‘Declare It!’ As our battle cry because each time you step on the pitch you are facing an opponent, you are battling for victory! We affectionately referred to members of the team as W.A.R.riors and we drafted the W.A.R.rior’s Creed. We hammered out the ENTIRE creed to leave behind a legacy, as the beginning of a TRADITION. WAR is not just a name, it IS a TRADITION and we are WARriors now and we always will be.”
The tradition of WAR was set, first in actions than in words. The grit and determination of WARriors are great for leaders, but how would that translate to rugby matches? Very well, it turns out. “What we lacked in skill, we made up for with our athleticism,” says LTC Tia Terry (Class of 2004). In our first game, we tied 5-5 against Columbia University, a more experienced team. Less than a month later, we got our first victory against Rutgers University. By the end of our first season, we’d won MET-NY 15s Championship. By the third season, WAR was established as a winning club program. By the ninth year, the program was traveling to the National Championships. WAR had matured from a young team, to a national contender. That’s another “WAR Story” for another day - stay tuned for Part 2 to learn how the legacy developed.
“WAR Stories” is a multi-part feature celebrating the history and legacy of the West Point Women’s Army Rugby Team. This November, over 20 years of WAR alumni, players, current cadets, and people influential to the team’s founding will gather to celebrate the team’s legacy, and build ties for the future. Visit waralumni.org to learn more.
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