Central Washington Women Poised for Return as a College Club
Central Washington Women Poised for Return as a College Club
Central Washington’s women’s rugby team still exists.
If you take anything from this article, take that away … CWU women’s rugby will take the field this coming academic year.
The program is not varsity. Pretty much every underclasswoman has transferred, and their varsity funding has gone, but they have a coach, they have players, they are welcoming players, and they have a competition to play in.
In some ways, the change for CWU will be a positive. Yes it’s nice to have a varsity-funded team, but the travel—time, effort and expense—wasn’t easy for the Wildcats and as a result they didn’t play a ton of games. Now going into the 2025-26 season they will be in the Pacific Mountain Rugby Conference-North, along with Western Washington, Gonzaga University, Oregon, Washington, and Oregon State.
Yes two of those schools are over 300 miles away, but that’s child’s play in the Northwest. Away trips of six hours, five and-a-half hours, three hours, three hours, and two hours, they are able to play a conference schedule in relative ease.
Michael O’Malley is now the Head Coach of the CWU women, and he is leaning on seven returning players to help jump-start the team. Those players who opted to remain did so because either they had one year t go and their scholarship remains in force for that year, or they are relatively local and want to stay that way.
Remaining players are Jess Postle (D1A All American and Canada U20), Rena Tinoisamoa, Winnie Namosimalua, Lauren DiPasquale, Kyllie Matsushima, Aja Good, and Everly Pedersen. This is a good mix of tight five and decision-makers. Postle and Tinoisamoa are undoubtedly team leaders and talented players. Good brings with her some excellent off-field organization skills, which O’Malley said is crucial because player leadership is a big part of the team’s reboot.
In addition, several student-athletes who chose Central Washington and weren’t recruited are coming in with rugby experience.
“We’ve got a great group and good buy-in,” said O’Malley, who also coaches the Ellensburg, Wash., boys team. “We have players like Jess and Rena who will maintain that standard and show the way for newer players. It’s actually really exciting. We don’t have a limit on our roster so we can get as many players as we want and find games for them.”
The returning players have taken on a lot more responsibility, formulated a budget and a time-commitment plan, and they are recruiting on-campus as well. Meanwhile, Aaron Lee, who has been active in rugby around Washington for years, is a CWU alumnus and he has helped with the setting up of an alumni 501c3 to help fund both the men’s and women’s teams.
“We have a strong sense of pride in this program; we’ve put players on the national teams and done well nationally, so we know how to do it properly,” said O’Malley. “We are going to get girls into the school who have played before. It’s been a bumpy road for the girls, but they’re encouraged by the competition they have in the Pacific Northwest.”
The CWU women’s team will still have access to some of the university facilities, such as their indoor practice facility and good playing space.
So the upshot is that Central Washington women’s rugby is back. They will be taking their rugby seriously and also finding some fun along the way.
Follow Central Washington women's rugby on Instagram at @cwurugbywomen
