NEWBERRY— The Newberry College Board of Trustees approved women’s rugby as a new sport for the Newberry Wolves that will begin competition in the 2022-2023 academic year. Newberry College will start a national search for a head coach immediately.

Amy Rusert, commissioner of the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association, has been in communication with Athletic Director Ralph Patterson.

“NIRA is thrilled to welcome Newberry College women’s rugby to the NCAA and to the Association’s NCAA DII competition for the fall of 2022. Newberry College will be our second South Atlantic Conference program member and will be a boon to continued expansion and development of NCAA Women’s Rugby in the Carolinas and beyond,” said Rusert.

Queens University in Charlotte is the other SAC institution with a women’s rugby team.

“We are excited to add women’s rugby at Newberry College. Women’s rugby is an emerging women’s sport in the NCAA. We plan on having a roster of 30 student athletes for the fall of 2022,” said Patterson. “It is critically important that we can identify and land the right coach that can deliver the roster number that we need to field a successful team. We have begun our search, and we hope to name a coach soon.”

Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance and Senior Woman Administrator, Casey Petrusic, will chair the search committee for the program’s first head coach.