Fort Collins Hammers Hit the Nail on the Head in Colorado Girls Sevens

Little known fact, Fort Collins won the first two girls national HS championships in 2000 and 2001. They have rebranded as the Hammers, but it's the same program.

"We rebranded in 2020 as the Hammers Rugby Club because we pull players from all over Northern Colorado, since there aren't any girls teams covering many communities up here," said Coach Jen Schwab. "We've been rebuilding with the rest of the world since COVID, but we've competed well in the smaller Rugby Colorado competitions."

They were able to take 1st  winning first in the smaller competitions the last two falls, but this growth in numbers as well as quality is evident. And, yes, Schwab is indeed referring to COVID. As readers will know if you read this site a lot, we've mentioned that different regions have been slower to come out of COVID restrictions than others. Colorado was one of those slower regions. In addition, girls rugby has been slower than boys rugby to come back. So girls rugby in places such as Colorado, Washington, and Minnesota have been slower to come back than, say, Ohio, Wisconsin, and North Carolina.

So, yes, COVID has had a ripple effect into 2024 in Colorado.

But now things are looking a bit stronger, and Fort Collins is taking advantage.

"One of our strengths is team play and support runs," said Schwab. But they also benefit from senior leadership. Cadence Schedlbauer (usually playing wing) and Colleen Pike (scrumhalf) have led the team well, and with growing numbers the on-field leadership by example has been crucial.

Footage from this weekend here: