Player Profiles

JESS HOUSER

The long legs of Jess Houser … a boon in the open field and on the pages of the Village Lions Women’s annual calendar (Miss October 2008).

Age: 32
Years playing rugby/with Lions: 13/10
Previous clubs: Chicago Women, Vassar College
Position: Am I counting the positions I keep trying to convince everyone else I play? Oh, all right: Lock.
Occupation: Psychologist
Hometown: Kendallville, IN

Do you have a nickname, and would your mother approve?
Houser, and, yes, I think Mrs. Houser approves. But if you’re not sure, you can facebook friend her and ask her yourself.

When was your “Oh my God, I love rugby!” moment?
They keep happening! I’ve had tons of them! The first was the first time I scrummed down; I thought it was the weirdest yet most emotionally intimate thing I had ever done platonically with anyone, and I loved that it was part of a sport. I know that sounds crazy, but it appealed to my emotion. (See Occupation above.) The spring 2000 season was also a big long “Oh my God, I love rugby!” moment. But they happen in little ways, too: van rides, being lifted by the legs, all night diners after most-of-the-night bars, a good clean tackle (made by or on me), seeing a new player “get it,” seeing an old player “get it,” me “getting it” finally.

What was your favorite Lion moment?
There are many favorite moments spanning many eras, but the most recent is Erin Martschenko’s return to the pitch. I learn something new from her every time I play with her.
Are you a Cardinal? Hell no, I’m a f*cking Pope!

BECCA ASSER

Age: 31
Years playing rugby/with Lions: 13/9
Previous clubs: Cornell/MIT
Position: Scrumhalf/wing/fulback
Occupation: Real Estate Development
Hometown: Northport, NY

Do you have a nickname, and would your mother approve?
No, but I’m guessing if I did have one that my mother would not approve.

Do you have any pre-game/season-long rituals?
Pretty typical, I carbo load on Friday night and then I have 3 drinks the night before and eat a bagel and a donut in the morning.

If you weren’t so G-damn good at your current position, where on the field would you like to try and why?
I’d like to try all the positions in a game before I retire! Everyone wants to play every position, except wing – only props want to play wing (see Meg O’Connell’s profile).

What was your favorite Lion moment?
Oh this is too hard, please don’t make me choose.  I fondly remember the entire team chanting “boom boom dynamite,” dressed in Dodgeball costumes entering a Friday’s in our hotel parking lot and owning the place.  I think of that night as a transition point for the women’s team when we became the family that we are today!  More rugby related, I would say winning Regionals in 2007, pulling out 2 tough matches and the Collins’ showing up with a case of champagne on the field and sharpies to cross out “hip” on our T-shirts so that they said Regional Champions instead of Regional Championships.

Best Lions Tradition?
Having all new people tell their life story in the van over some beers on the way home from matches.

ROSIE ROUGH

Age:  29
Years playing rugby/with Lions:  3/2
Previous club: Oregon State
Position: IC, OC, FB
Occupation: HS Health & PhysEd teacher
Hometown: Carson City, Nevada

Rosie’s known for two things – sick ball-in-hand skills (top, against Boston) and for keeping it classy (bottom).

Do you have a nickname, and would your mother approve? DSW (it’s a secret)…. and no.

Do you have any pre-game/season-long rituals? drinking all season long

When was your “Oh my God, I love rugby!” moment? First day, first practice  (September 1998)

If you weren’t so G-damn good at your current position, where on the field would you like to try and why? Prop of course.  I love neck and back pain!

What was your favorite Lion moment? Winning Regionals last year

MEG COLLINS

Age: 26
Years playing rugby/with Lions: 8/7
Previous clubs: University of Scranton Valkyries
Position: #8
Occupation: Physical Therapist
Hometown: Queens, NY

Collins didn’t earn the nickname “Choo Choo” (top) or Wrecked Crew member (bottom, at USA 7s in San Diego) for nothing.

Do you have a nickname, and would your mother approve?
C-Train, Choo choo….approve? i think she’s proud

If you weren’t so G-damn good at your current position, where on the field would you like to try and why?
FH…There’s nothing like that control

What was your favorite Lion moment?
wow…loaded question…on the field – regionals ‘07 when we beat albany then providence @ morris and went to nationals…champagne and why not on the way home! playing morris this season when the was the best teamwork and cohesiveness i’ve seen in a long time…the majority of the tries were 19-player, team tries…off the field: i miss the days of the wrecked crew the most i think…essex bruches, 4AB, motor city, lucky jacks, pioneer, ww, hamptons w/ heff, but i love our reunions…also love random cowgirl hall of fame nights with our cowgirl hats…and of course, the elusive grease trucks…

EMMA FISHER

Age: 25
Years playing rugby/with Lions: 8/4
Previous clubs: Carleton College
Position: Flanker
Occupation: Medical Student, and yes, it is still possible to make time for practice!
Hometown: Davis, CA

Do you have any pre-game/season-long rituals? Right before and right after every season I go to a guy who does acupuncture hooked up to a stim machine.  He shocks my muscles into submission and then puts every bone in my body back where it’s actually supposed to be.  Then he gives me a big hug and tells me to be careful.

Emma powers through the defense at 2007 Nationals.

When was your “Oh my God, I love rugby!” moment? My first game in college.  They only told me two things: “Don’t play the ball on the ground and don’t throw forward.  All the other rules you’ll learn when you break them.” I lost a contact lens in my first tackle and then played the rest of the game half-blind.  It was great!

If you weren’t so G-damn good at your current position, where on the field would you like to try and why? I have played every position on the field in a game other than hooker and 8-man.  So, I guess those.

What was your favorite Lion moment? An extremely muddy game in DC of Spring ‘08.  By halftime we were all so muddy that we couldn’t tell what colors the jerseys were (except for Kelly, who was playing wing and managed to stay remarkably clean).  I almost tackled Meredith at one point because I couldn’t tell she was on my team!

A close runner-up was shaving my head for St. Baldrick’s (see picture).  It’s a great cause, and quite terrifying to have a teammate going at your head with clippers while holding a beer in the other hand!

“… like a monkey ready to be shot into space!” – Tyler Durden (photo left)

Favorite tradition? Delilah.

JACKIE FINLAN

Age: 29
Years playing rugby/with Lions: 9/3
Previous clubs: University of Arizona, Suffolk Bull Moose (Long Island)
Position: any back, but IC’s favorite
Job: managing editor, Rugby Magazine
Hometown: Mt. Laurel, NJ…the Champagne of ‘Burbs

Jackie has one move; it’s called a dummy pass (above).

Do you have a nickname, and would your mother approve? A self-imposed one: J-Rat, hearkening back to grease truck days. Mom would probably say, “You so stupid.”

When was your “Oh my God, I love rugby!” moment? I’m sure it happened on a warm fall day, lounging on the grass next to the pitch, taping up a knee wound, sipping on a beer.

If you weren’t so G-damn good at your current position, where on the field would you like to try and why? Loose forward. They get the best of both worlds.

What was your favorite Lions moment?When I played in the entirety of the 2009 Nationals; headlamp disco in the van; butt-pocket slow-dancing; Woman of the Match on shoulders (see photo left); muffin defense; innumerable flesh wounds from van pee stops; my co-pilot cpt hat; and any party that involved me dressing up preggo.

Best Lions tradition? Belting out “Don’t Stop Believing!”

SARI WARREN

Age: 26
Years playing rugby/with Lions: 7/2
Previous clubs: Vassar College
Position: Utility Forward
Occupation: Surgical coordinator in an orthopedic/sports medicine practice
Hometown: Herndon, Virginia

Sari (center) won 2008 Rookie of the Year for all her hard work.

When was your “Oh my God, I love rugby!” moment? There isn’t one “epiphany” moment, but every time I work in concert with so many other people, and everything clicks and the play is clean, strong and progressive, it’s an awesome feeling.

If you weren’t so G-damn good at your current position, where on the field would you like to try and why? Fullback, because you can see the whole field most of the time; I think it would be very different.

What was your favorite Lion moment? About a month after I started playing with the Lions, I found myself dressed as Britney Spears (c. 2007 VMAs), dancing in a circle in the back of a bar around an inflatable Heineken bottle, belting out “Don’t stop Believin’ ” with my new teammates.  That’s pretty much when I realized that I was in the right place.

As Sari unveiled her “sloth” costume for the 7 Deadly Sins party, she said, “The ironic thing is that it took me hours to make!”

RENEE OVRUT

Age: 30 (going on 24)
Years playing rugby/with Lions: 13/9
Previous clubs: Ithaca College, Oxford University
Position: scrumhalf/center
Occupation: Project Manager
Hometown: Foxboro, MA

Renee’s all business – the headgear (whether red headband or orange cowboy hat) indicates the brand.

Do you have a nickname, and would your mother approve? My mother would absolutely approve of “Nee,” since that’s what she calls me.  However, I’m not sure about “Ol’ Moisty,” even though it’s fairly G-rated. She’d probably say something like “Renee, you have to be *SO CAREFUL* with Facebook.  Please do not post anything that will get you fired; you cannot afford to lose your job…” cause that’s what she says in reply to a lot of things…

Do you have any pre-game/season-long rituals? Red headbands are ALWAYS and ONLY for game day and I still have and wear the same pair of socks that I played my first Lions game in…

When was your “Oh my God, I love rugby!” moment(s)? So so many…  In college, it was my first run and when the game finally “clicked.” When I first joined the Lions, after my first practice, the then men’s coach said to me, “come on, we’re going to get a beer now;” I remember thinking that THIS was my kind of team.  A playing moment with the Lions is coming from behind in the last minutes of 2004 Regionals to get the top seed going into Nationals.  The lifelong friends I’ve made and the fun and debauchery I’ve had will always make me love this sport.  Traveling around the world to watch and play this crazy sport and meeting people just as in love with rugby and all its traditions and I am.  Coaching – by far the most frustrating and rewarding aspect of rugby I have ever experienced – but being able to coach with friends I love and admire on and off the pitch and having the opportunity to introduce rugby to college students and all the associated fun and misery is just incredible.  Not to mention my first win as coach, 2 seasons in – I don’t remember ever feeling so elated about a win in my life.  Most recently – coming back to the Lions after a near 3-year playing hiatus has been filled with many “I love rugby” and “I hate rugby” moments, but when I look around me on the pitch, surrounded by my rugby family, and then to the sideline and see friends and family taking time out of their life to come and support me and my team, all I can think is “damn, I love this sport.”

If you weren’t so G-damn good at your current position, where on the field would you like to try and why? They say those who can’t play coach… Though I guess that’s not technically on the field… I’d want to play any position that would allow me the opportunity to be lifted in line-outs.  That being said, 7 inches and a “vertical game” would also help with that.

What was your favorite Lion moment? Absolutely without a doubt, it’s a Pumpkinfest of yore when our theme was “Vegas” and Gin, Shan and I went as Blue Man Group.  The blue paint was ALL OVER THE PLACE, the $5 “run your fingers” bet, Kristi’s tiger costume bleeding because of an “incident,” and then drinking Alli’s contacts, Houser being there, oh the debauchery…
Oh, and maybe a little preemptive at the time of press, but winning Nationals 2009…

DANA SZAKACS

Age: 26
Years playing rugby/with Lions: 5/1
Previous clubs: Muhlenberg College
Position: Back line, wing
Occupation: Tax Accountant
Hometown: Mahwah, NJ

“Big D” stretches her legs in the open field during this year’s Hell Gate 7s (photo left).

Do you have a nickname, and would your mother approve?
Big D, Smalls, Littlebits, pint-size… wouldn’t mind a Lions Nickname! And yes

Do you have any pre-game/season-long rituals?
Listening to Old School Taking Back Sunday before every game

When was your “Oh my God, I love rugby!” moment?
Playing in my first Rugby game in college.  Was put in as FB and told that the only thing i needed to do was  Tackle tackle tackle….have loved it ever since.

If you weren’t so G-damn good at your current position, where on the field would you like to try and why? Flanker….i love to tackle and be involved in the game

What was your favorite Lion moment? Playing in my first league match, getting silence force honors, just playing again after 3 years.  There’s nothing like the camaraderie of a rugby Team.

Dana (bottom of photo left) lounges in the shade with teammates.

CAITLYN COLMAN

Age: 23
Years playing rugby/with Lions: 6 months!
Previous clubs: Smith Soccer….
Position: Wing
Occupation: Legal Assistant
Hometown: Manchester, CT

Colman…the happiest “Envy” at the 7 Deadly Sins party.

Do you have a nickname, and would your mother approve?
I wish I had a nickname my mother disproved of but sadly mine is just my last name…which is also hers.

When was your “Oh my God, I love rugby!” moment?
When Houser and Collins dump tackled some Monmouth girl and Ais nearly came herself on the sidelines.

If you weren’t so G-damn good at your current position, where on the field would you like to try and why?
Good question. Second row seems to involve some not so choice head positioning but it seems like fun.

What was your favorite Lion moment?
Playing New York in the Rockaway final.  I think we lost but nobody cared because we played with so much ‘I-don’t-give-a-crap-who-you-are” heart.

Colman boots up for her first match with the Lions during summer ‘09.