Colleen Tjosvold ’11 has loved rugby since she was 10 years old, and she began playing professionally in 2013. Her commitment and passion for the game paid off when she competed at the World Cup this past summer.
Visiting Ireland had been on Colleen Tjosvold’s to-do list for several years, but it took earning a spot on Hong Kong’s first-ever World Cup rugby team to get her there.
British favorites like cricket, field hockey, and netball were popular in Tjosvold’s native Hong Kong, but rugby has been her favorite since she began playing when she was 10. “I like the challenge,” says Tjosvold ’11. “On the physical front, you have to be fast, strong, and agile, and I also like the values rugby encourages: teamwork, sportsmanship, and respect.”
According to an oft-repeated adage, “rugby is a hooligans’ game, played by gentlemen.” The game is grueling: 40 minutes per half with stops only for penalties, injuries, or when the ball goes out of bounds. There’s a lot of pushing, tackling, and grabbing—all without the padding and helmets worn by American football players. But as the saying suggests, the game isn’t an all-out brawl. Players may only tackle the ball carrier (using arms to tackle below the shoulders), and must immediately move away from the player once he or she is down. There’s only one referee, who can be addressed only by team captains, so you won’t see players on the pitch accusing anyone of making a bad call.
“The sportsmanship shown by the other teams and the support from the crowd is really fantastic—especially at the World Cup,” says Tjosvold.
When Tjosvold arrived at Carleton in fall 2007, she had just competed at the 2007 Asian Championships. She felt at home immediately. “Carleton’s rugby club was really welcoming,” she says. “The competition around the Midwest was good, and I learned how to hold my own against more physical opponents than I was used to playing against at home.” Plus, she got to play with her sister, Lena Tjosvold ’09, who was also on the Carleton team. Tjosvold remembers the fun of celebrating with teammates after the matches, including singing on the Hill of Three Oaks—something she hopes to recreate at this summer’s rugby reunion (see sidebar, below).
Tjosvold graduated with a major in political science and international relations, and then returned to Hong Kong determined to keep playing rugby. She taught English and played part time in the nation’s top women’s 7s team (seven players per side). But when the amateur team racked up impressive results, including a third-place finish at the 2012 Asian Championships, the Hong Kong Sports Institute decided to throw its support behind rugby by naming it an elite sport. Suddenly, Tjosvold’s team was a full-time professional sports operation.
The sport took over her life, from skill drills and fitness sessions to team meetings and video analysis. “We train 30 to 35 hours a week,” she says. “We use the rest of the time for recovery. Sleep, nutrition, stretching, ice baths, pool recovery, and massage are all as important as physical training. You want to be sharp for competitions, both mentally and physically.”
The switch took a little getting used to. “When your hobby becomes your profession, you have to find other hobbies,” says Tjosvold. She took up yoga and oil painting to improve her focus and concentration.
A big plus to playing full time is more travel. “We mostly stay in and around Asia,” she says, but the team has traveled to Canada, Spain, Qatar, and New Zealand. “We spend a lot of time on training and recovery, but every so often we’ll get an afternoon off to see the sights. I’m excited every time we go to a new place.”
Tjosvold’s favorite trip by far has been to Ireland to compete in the 2017 World Cup. Not all of her teammates were chosen for the team, but Tjosvold made the cut when team Hong Kong snagged one of the last two spots in the 12-team tournament by beating Fiji at the Asia/Oceania qualifying tournament in December 2016. It was the first time a Hong Kong rugby team, men’s or women’s, competed at the World Cup. It was a huge opportunity—and a daunting challenge—for a team that was ranked 23rd in the world to be thrown into a tournament pool with heavyweights like Canada (5th), New Zealand (1st), and Wales (10th).
Team Hong Kong trained hard, with practice games against Spain and Japan, but they finished 12th without a win. Still, Tjosvold says, it was a terrific educational and team-building experience for the newest team on the World Cup stage.
“When we arrived, an Irish player told us that if you play with heart and spirit, you’ll have the crowd behind you, and it was true,” says Tjosvold. “The Irish fans were friendly and supportive. If they see you put in the effort, they’ll get behind you, even if you’re losing. Everyone loves an underdog, and that was us.”
For Tjosvold, the magic of the World Cup was in celebrating small victories—her teammates’ great plays and her personal improvement from the first game to the second—and memorable moments like watching the New Zealand team perform a traditional Maori war dance before their match.
Although Tjosvold is still processing her whirlwind summer, her focus is on the future. “For us, the real test will be making it back to the World Cup in 2021,” she says. She knows she and her teammates have a lot of work to do, but she’s up for the challenge. “I play rugby to prove to myself that I am a strong, capable person,” she says. “I want to push myself. If every member of our team does that, then we will all improve as a team.”
Committed to developing the next generation of rugby players in Hong Kong, Tjosvold coaches a team for girls under age 12. “It’s good for them to see a female professional rugby player,” she says. “When I was their age, I couldn’t watch any women rugby players on TV, but now they can stream my games on YouTube.” She plans to stay involved with rugby, maybe someday as a full-time coach, but for now, she’s “just enjoying playing.”
Rugby at Carleton
Although rugby is known for its intense matches, the sport as it’s been played at Carleton has always included a heavy dose of camaraderie as well. Victors and vanquished socialize together after the game, and Carleton players have long taken pride in the gatherings they host on the Hill of Three Oaks.
Former Carleton rugby players will showcase that famed hospitality this summer when hundreds of them return to campus to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the formation of a men’s team and the 40th anniversary of the women’s team.
Rugby was rarely played at American high schools and colleges in 1968 when Carleton economics professor Bill Hartley and a group of students asked to form a men’s team. Carleton president John Nason, familiar with rugby from his days as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, approved the team. The Carleton men’s rugby club became the first Minnesota team admitted to the Midwest Rugby Football Union, and Carleton hosted its first rugby tournament in 1970, with five teams from three states in attendance.
A few years later, Pixie Newman ’78 recruited 25 women to form Minnesota’s first women’s college rugby team. After a few years of having to travel as far as Chicago to find opponents, the Carleton players convinced St. Olaf to form a team. Since then, the Carleton women’s team has been a lively contender in the Midwest, winning the Division III National Championship in 2011.
“Carleton rugby spawned the growth of rugby in Minnesota,” says Duane Schrader ’76, who coached the men’s team from 1985 to 2000 and the women’s team from 1990 to 2000 and is helping plan the upcoming reunion. “Carleton alumni went on to form local rugby teams like the St. Paul Jazz Pigs, which is still playing today.”
Early in the history of Carleton rugby, when there were few Minnesota opponents for the men to play, alumni from the St. Paul Pigs and other local clubs returned to campus for reunion games against current students. Even though rugby is now flourishing in Minnesota, the annual alumni-student game remains on the schedule simply because it’s too much fun to give up, says Schrader.
The rugby reunion will be held on Friday and Saturday during Reunion weekend, June 14–17. Schrader and the other planning committee members invite alumni from all generations to celebrate their love of the sport during a weekend featuring live bands, a hog roast, and, of course, lots of rugby matches.
“There’s a kind of fanatic devotion to the sport,” says Ashley Shaw ’14, another reunion planner. “You immediately have a connection that you can talk about for hours, and that can bring generations together.”