In November of last year, the UND’s women’s rugby team went to the Division III Championships in Springfield, MO and played against the Colorado School of Mines and Wayne State, taking third place in the west regionals. It is likely that this is something many have not heard anything about, especially considering that, even though numbers have been rising, only 20% of sport media coverage was projected to go to women’s sports in 2025, according to a report by The Collective. Coverage for men’s sports has and still does dominate most media outlets, including live television, streaming services, social media and even newspapers like the Dakota Student.
The bright side is that interest and engagement with women’s sports and its coverage is continuing to increase rapidly, which is a great motivator to celebrate our women’s rugby team. It is a few months late, but our team managed to push into the top two in the Northern Lights Conference and then fought against Bemidji in October—coming out on top with a 56-0 win—for their official spot at regionals the following month.
Once there our team faced off against the Colorado School of Mines, resulting in a loss that sent them to play against Wayne State for the third-place title in the west. They came away with a well-fought win of 31-19. While they did not make it to becoming the national champion, the effort and dedication to reach the point of entering the championship in the first place should not be overlooked. This team fought hard, on and off the field, and continues to do so. They do all of their own fundraising, and university support only comes through the Student Organization Funding Association. Each coach is unpaid and doing it purely for the love of the sport.
While there is not much one individual can do to change an entire statistic, there are smaller things that everybody can take part in. An easy way to raise awareness is to simply talk about and engage with women’s sports more, especially UND’s various women’s teams. While the rugby team is currently taking a break, they will be back at it on May 2 for the sandbagger tournament that will wrap up the year.
In the meantime, there are many UND women’s sports people can tune into to show support, foster equality, and just have an enjoyable time. Some games to put on your calendar are UND women’s basketball playing against NDSU at the Betty on Feb. 15, followed by another match up against these two on Feb. 28 in Fargo. The UND women’s softball team will be in Honolulu this first week of February, playing in the Bank of Hawai’i Paradise Classic where they will face off against Pacific, Seattle, and Hawai’i. This will be followed by the Campbell/Cartier Classic in San Diego the subsequent week. While there does not seem to be an easy way as of now to watch those games live, support can still be shown on social media and with peers.
Finding ways to engage with women’s sports, even in the way of a simple share or comment on social media, not only provides an entertaining and enjoyable experience but also remedies a significant lack of engagement and coverage. Women’s sports are more than a game, and it is about time that people begin tuning in.
Ed Tortorelli is a Dakota Student General Reporter. He can be reached at [email protected].
