It’s an uncharacteristically chilly night in Los Angeles as Allison Parra lays on her backpack and skateboard at her feet, staring at the evening sky. It’s 6:45 p.m., and Parra is waiting for her team to show up—practice starts at 6:30p.m.—but no one has arrived yet. Fifteen minutes later, only two, out of a roster of 15 players, have arrived. It isn’t the lack of turnout that has Parra dismayed but the lack of communication. However, these are just some of the struggles she expected when she planned the resurrection of the USC Women’s Rugby Club.

Rugby is not new to USC. The men have had a team since the mid 1980s, and the women had a team as recently as 2016. However, after the 2016 season most players graduated or left the program causing it to decay into oblivion. That stood until Allison Parra stepped on campus in fall of 2020.

One of Parra’s key factors in deciding where to attend college was whether or not the school had a women's rugby team. However, despite the fact that there was no women’s team, USC was her dream school.

Before Parra set out to change that, she first offered to help the men's rugby team by becoming their manager and compliance chair.

Parra said, “I just wanted to get involved in the sport in any way I could because I love it so much.”

That passion started during her freshman year of high school in Arizona when a friend and lifelong rugby enthusiast urged her to try out for the school's rugby team. At the time Parra was a self-described “short, skinny 14-year-old kid.”

Parra says she had no idea what rugby was and didn't even know it was a sport. This unfamiliarity would quickly dissolve as Parra became enamored with rugby, despite her fears about the contact element. To her surprise, the physical nature of the sport became her favorite part.

Parra excelled at rugby. After her first high school season she was picked to represent the state of Arizona in the USA Sevens International Rugby Tournament. Parra would continue playing until college, and only COIVD-19 and USC’s lack of a team have interrupted her from playing since.

Watching from the sidelines was only going to satiate Parra for so long, and towards the end of her freshman year at USC she began the process of reviving the dormant women’s rugby program.

Parra started the team as president, founder and coach and began recruiting a team. She quickly enlisted Logan Forster, who serves as the team's vice president and rugby mom. She reached out via social media, recruiting girls who she had seen play high school sports or other club sports at USC.

Most of the members of the team joined through summons from Parra or the USC women’s rugby official account. Parra paid attention to any girl who followed or liked any picture from the account and created a script for how to reach out.

Parra was ecstatic about the members who joined the team and came to practice with consistency. Parra said, “The smaller group of ladies that are coming out regularly, those are the people that I really see improving.”

Parra was speaking about younger players like Sam Ferrao, who is excited about laying a foundation for the future.

“I’m just excited to compete and build this program, so hopefully in 10, 20 years it’s a top program in the country,” she says—a sentiment her capitan would be overjoyed to hear.

Parra admits even with the excitement, getting players consistently to practice has been a challenge.

“Sometimes we’ve had to cancel because only two people are coming, it’s been a very difficult challenge,” she says. “I would say it’s the biggest issue in our club right now is just the turnout, but I know it’s only ’cause it’s only an unofficial club.”

The difficulties extend beyond just participation. The team was initially under the impression that they would be an official team during the fall of 2021, but were told they couldn't due to COVID-19 restrictions. Even practicing has not been without problems.

The team practices on the turf field in the USC village, and now that the winter has arrived, it gets dark earlier. This forces the team to rely on the soccer field in the rear, which is one of the few well-lit places in the village capable of holding practices into the evening.

At times, this has been difficult for Parra, who serves as coach, captain and team president. Parra admits coaching has been difficult.

A startling fact is that out of all the new team members few besides Parra have ever played rugby before. This influx of new talent requires a deft coaching hand, and, unfortunately for the women's team, they can only rely on Parra.

“I’m looking up plans, and I’m like writing out practice plans every day before practice just so we have something to go by, because there’s a lot of important drills that we need to work on,” she says. “I hope what I'm doing works”

Parra has received help and support from the men’s rugby team president Peyton Hansen, who has shared contact information with the women’s team. One such contact could be a game changer for the women’s rugby team.

For example, thanks to Hansen, Parra recently connected with an ex-USC women's rugby player,who they wish to reamin anonymous until she makes a decsison, who might be intrerested in becoming the head coach.

Parra also expects that once the team adds an official coach, practices will run more smoothly.

“During practice, when we get a little giggly, a little slacking off, it's hard to not have the authority figure to like cut things off and stay on track,” she says. “Sometimes we get totally carried off, and by all means, it’s my fault.”

She expects the team to be fully functional and approved by USC in the spring. Full USC approval will allow the rugby team to play in scrimmages and have full contact in practices . by the spring, and she and the other girls are hungry and ready to play.

Parra hopes that once the team begins playing games that some of the more wayward team members will become regulars in practice, and she also believes it will help to draw more interest to women’s rugby. The women’s team will play in tournaments operated by USA rugby as opposed to the NCAA which will allow them to play division 1 opponents despite being a club team.

While waiting for full approval they’ve been banned from participating in scrimmages and full contact practices due to liability since they are not yet a sanctioned USC club team. Scrimmages and physical practices are crucial in the development of young players. Especially when team veterans can be counted on less than one hand.

The few veterans around are still excited to introduce players to rugby traditions; Laura Jhoana Lopez is one such veteran.

Lopez, a graduate student who formerly played in undergrad at California State University, Chico, said “After games we do like get-togethers, either with our team or the teams we play against and we just get together, we eat, we drink and we just have a good time.”

Despite the enthusiasm from many of the players, Parra admits it has been difficult to start the team.

However, in spite of these pitfalls, Parra will stop at nothing to turn this dream into reality. Her love for the sport runs deep; she beams everytime she mentions what she loves about the sport, how she initially became a rugby player and the prospect of finally playing again this spring.

This team and rugby in general means a lot to Parra, who said, “I am so beyond excited to play again in the spring because rugby is probably my greatest passion in life.”

While Parra expects there to be growing pains and more challenges on her journey with the women's rugby team, for the sport she loves she’s ready to face them all to return to the pitch.