The growth of the Carleton Ravens rugby program from competitive club to varsity program may seem rapid, but coach Denis Blondin assures the process has been gradual.
“It’s been a huge transition for us, and a lot of work went into getting us where we are today,” he says. “We’ve seen a lot of progress from our first couple seasons, and I’m excited to see what happens going forward.”
Blondin, who has been the program’s head coach since 2010, says women’s rugby has been played at Carleton since 1995, but the team is only now entering its third season as a varsity program.
According to Blondin, the Ravens team played as a competitive club dating back to their first varsity season in 2012, meaning they competed in a league with non-university club teams.
But Blondin said that goal of becoming a varsity program—and playing against fellow university competition in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) play—always gave him and his team the motivation to take the next step.
The Ravens stopped playing against inferior club teams in the few years leading up to becoming a varsity program, and instead prepared for joining the higher ranks by organizing scrimmages against stronger CIS competition and even some American schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
While Blondin has been one of the architects behind the team’s growth since the beginning, he said there are plenty of other people to thank for where the team is now.
One of these individuals is Chelsea Heuff. She not only spent four years playing on the Ravens club team, but says she also served as club president while playing in her last two seasons.
“It sucks I never got to play varsity, but it’s amazing for the program to see everything we’d been working towards come true,” she said.
Blondin says there are some current players who have also been crucial to program’s growth, namely co-captains Natasha Smith and Lina Hanhan—both of whom have been a part of the Ravens program for five seasons, dating back to the competitive club days.
“Once we got varsity status, we started having more girls come back and want to play, so having that stability is huge for us,” Hanhan said. “We were training like a varsity team and playing exhibition games when I was in first year. It’s crazy how much better we are now.”
Smith said she’s drastically improved her game from her time at Carleton, which is reflected by her multiple appearances suiting up for Team Canada at the international university level.
“I just appreciate how we have so much more now than when I first started,” she said. “Now that we’re varsity, now have nutritionists and athletic therapy . . . And all of these things are making us into better players.”
After finishing with a 3-4 record in their first season in the CIS’s Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec division, and following it with a 1-6 record in the 2013 campaign, Blondin says his team hopes to break new ground in 2014.
“Our goal this year is to make playoffs,” he says. “Last year, we had some major injuries that hurt us. But this year, we know that if we make the playoffs, we’ll surprise a few teams.”
When it comes to the future of the program, Blondin is not shy about his dreams for the school.
“We aren’t interested in being a good team. We want to build a great team here,” he said. “Ever since I became the head coach, my focus has been on bringing the right players to Carleton—not necessarily the best athletes, but the right people who want to work hard and embody the high-performance attitude.”
After being at the helm of the Ravens program for several years, Blondin said the growth of the team will continue and he hopes it results in bringing home a championship one day.
“I don’t think we’re far off [from winning a title],” he said. “It would be huge not only for me, but more importantly, for the girls who have helped us get to where we are.”
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