Raising a ruck-us

Local women find intense competition, camaraderie on rugby pitch

What do an accountant, a civil engineer, a construction worker and a former ballerina have in common? They all play for the Vipers - a Kalispell-based women's rugby team.

The Vipers (formally called the Virus) were established about 10 years ago, and Cyrena Canfield began leading the team as a player-coach in 1999.

According to Canfield, women's rugby arrived in the Flathead Valley in the early 1980s with the Glacier Goats. The Goats eventually disbanded, but the Moose - Kalispell's men's team - remained, and the Vipers were formed by a group of their female friends.

Canfield's first few squads had 15-17 players, but those numbers have since dwindled.

Canfield said the Vipers' primary obstacle in luring players is simply their location. Most of the teams they compete against are based in larger cities, including Missoula and Calgary. But other challenges exist as well.

"A lot of people don't like the pain," Canfield said. "They don't like the mud - it's cold. A lot of people can't handle it. It's the same thing with the men's team - people can't handle it."

Sara Russell handles it quite well. The 24-year-old photographer participated in ballet while growing up in Kalispell, but quit dancing in 1997 and joined the Vipers two years later, playing ever since.

"My mom wasn't happy," Russell said. "It was a change. I've never really played many sports, so ballet was a lot more structured than rugby. That was probably the toughest thing to get used to is the disorganization of the entire league."

The Vipers formerly belonged to the Montana Rugby Union, but now function independently. Canfield said the team wouldn't benefit by rejoining a league because none of its players have professional aspirations.

The Vipers lack sponsors, but routinely travel throughout the Northwest and Canada, as well as Butte and Missoula, to play in tournaments.

"We've always been able to do it off of donations," Canfield said. "We all pitch in for the donations and gas. We all travel together, and tournaments cost about $300-500 to enter."

No cash prizes are awarded at the Vipers' domestic tournaments, but teams can win $1,000 at the Calgary Stampede's 7-on-7 tournament, which the Vipers have competed in.

Canfield has an eye for talent and has targeted potential players in public. She urged Russell to join the Vipers while Russell was baby-sitting her son.

"She recruited me one day at daycare," Russell said. "She asked if I wanted to play. I hadn't heard of the sport, figured I might as well try it."

Though she knew nothing about rugby at the time, Russell was a quick study, thanks largely to her natural athleticism and ballet skills.

"It takes a technique to fall, and if you're flexible, you're able to bend a little bit differently and not hurt yourself," Russell said.

In rugby, a fall is usually preceded by a violent collision. The game vaguely resembles football, but forward passes are prohibited, action hardly ever comes to a halt, and players wear virtually no protective equipment. Teams field 15 athletes for standard games, but seven- and 10-player matches are sometimes played.

Russell said she adapted easily to the intense sport because she grew up roughhousing with her brother. Canfield said the Vipers have suffered practically no serious injuries in her time with the team, but dangerous hits do occur.

"I got whiplash up in Calgary a few years ago - screwed up my back," Russell said.

Russell said others assume she is tough when they learn she plays rugby. They immediately ask her how many times she has been hurt and whether she is the smallest athlete on her team, citing her slender build.

Canfield, 38, is the team's oldest and most experienced player. The 115-pound accountant is also its lightest.

According to Canfield, a former boxer, the Vipers frequently compete against women weighing at least 170 pounds. Each team has two players at the prop position, and those athletes sometimes weigh 250.

"I hear it all the time: 'Oh, I know someone who got hurt doing that,'" Canfield said. "They just think I'm crazy, and it's really hard for me because people think 'There's no way you play.' I even try to put on a few pounds so I'm not too light."

But stature alone does not engender a quality rugby player.

"Somebody recruited a 6-foot girl - she was probably 200 pounds," Canfield said. "I tackled her, and she got up and said 'I'll never play again,' and she walked out."

So what type of athletes fit the bill?

"Women with confidence," Canfield said. "Women who know what they can do and what they can accomplish.

"A lot of girls have not played high school sports, and they just come in with an openness to learn and a drive to accomplish goals."

The Vipers range from 20 to 38 years old, and more than half of them are rookies. They sometimes battle clubs comprised of women in their 30s and 40s, as well as collegiate squads. The Vipers have faced Montana, Gonzaga, Washington State, Eastern Washington and Oregon among others.

Missoula's Maggot Fest is a highlight of each rugby season. The event typically features about 30 teams and up to 1,000 athletes competing on six fields during the first weekend in May.

"This year we have a really good chance to be one of the top teams if we can keep all these girls on it," Canfield said, adding that her team inherited multiple athletes this season who are new to the area, but own plenty of experience from playing for other teams.

Maggot Fest marks the season's end for many college teams, but the Vipers compete in Canada afterward because the Canadian season doesn't begin until May.

Russell plays rugby mostly for the friendships she has forged through the sport, including those with Canfield and construction worker Tonya Nordtome.

"I've played with Tonya and Cyrena for seven, eight years now, and you travel places and you meet new people that you only see once a year, and when you see them it's just like no time has passed," Russell said.

According to Canfield, the rugby community is an affable and loyal group. Competitive fires are ignited on the field, but quickly extinguished off it. Mixed-team celebrations begin as soon as matches end - often amid beer kegs.

"You'll never meet a better group of people," Canfield said. "You make friends, you travel. It opens up doors you've never seen before, which is a rare thing in Kalispell."

And teams don't let insufficient funds stop competitors from traveling.

"If we really don't have the money, another team will take us in," Canfield said. "I don't think you get that kind of camaraderie in other sports."

The Vipers began their season last weekend with a 14-team tournament in Butte, which included squads from Idaho and Washington.

Denise Hanson is relatively new to the Vipers, but she is a veteran to the sport, having played collegiate rugby at Chico State. Hanson is a civil engineer, giving her something in common with her career-minded teammates.

"We usually come from very intense jobs," Canfield said. "When you have intense jobs, you work very hard. We're very intense on the field."