Charleston Hurricanes Rugby has ‘life-changing’ effect | Sports

The Hurricanes are the three-time Division-II Women’s champions of the Carolinas Geographic Rugby Union, which is primarily made up of teams from South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia.

Most of the two dozen women who make up the Hurricanes’ rugby squad have a similar origin story. They come from all backgrounds. The vast majority had never played the sport before lacing up their cleats and stepping onto the pitch for the first time.

Selena Dardia, 29, had played lacrosse in college, and was approached by a team member at a local gym to join the fun.

“Never in a million years did I see myself playing rugby,” said Dardia, who works in the food and beverage industry. “I did the ‘rookie camp’ last summer and I was hooked almost from the beginning. I enjoyed the camaraderie and the culture of the sport.”

Dardia went from rookie camp participant to starter for the Hurricanes in just a few months.

“Selena is one of the fastest players we have on the club,” said Hurricanes captain LeAnne Hudson, who works as a kayak guide for Charleston Outdoor Adventures. “About half of our team is made up of women who played sports either in high school or college. The other half probably never played an organized sport growing up. This is their first experience playing on a team.”

Much like American baseball, rugby’s beginnings are steeped in myth and legend.

Rugby is said to have originated at the Rugby School in Warwickshire, England, in 1823 when during a game of soccer, William Webb Ellis decided to pick up a ball and run with it.

Like the folklore surrounding Abner Doubleday’s invention of baseball in Cooperstown, N.Y., in 1839, there is very little evidence to support this theory, despite the fact that the Rugby World Cup Trophy is now named after Ellis.

In 1863, at the height of the U.S. Civil War, a collection of English boarding schools and clubs decided upon a set of rules and in 1871 the Rugby Football Union…