Rugby All-Star Joins Science Department
Biology teacher Maggie Olney knows all about cells, natural selection, species and scrums. Yes, scrums. As in rugby scrums. As in the well-known shot the cameras tend to capture where players from both teams are huddled together, heads down, pushing against each other to gain possession of the ball.
Science teacher Maggie Olney plays elite level rugby in the Women’s Premier League of Rugby. (D.C. Furies)
On top of teaching, Ms. Olney plays elite level rugby for the New York Rugby Club in the Women’s Premier League of Rugby (WPL). She played on the D.C. Furies for four years but switched clubs when she moved to the Big Apple.
“It’s really tricky to balance multiple priorities, especially when you’re trying to play at a high level,” Ms. Olney said.
Ms. Olney added that being a good teacher also requires a substantial time commitment, but she manages to figure it out and makes sacrifices in other areas of her life. Ms. Olney has been playing rugby since freshman year at The College of William & Mary. Playing rugby wasn’t exactly planned.
Ms. Olney played high school soccer and planned to do so in college, until she arrived at tryouts.
“The soccer team was like, ‘There’s a two mile tryout.’ And I hated running at this point, so I was like, ‘Cool, I’ll play rugby.’ And that was that,” she said.
WPL is the highest level of women’s rugby in America. Ms. Olney is willing to play anywhere on the field. Playing such a physical sport at an elite level comes with risks.
Ms. Olney tore her ACL during the WPL All Star game, her first opportunity to play in front of the new coach of the U.S. Women’s National Rugby Team. Three minutes into the game, she cut hard to go in for a tackle and her knee popped. After surgery, followed by nine months of rehab, she was back playing, but her return was short-lived.
A year later, she tore her meniscus. Then came surgery number two. She’s currently recovering and expects to start playing rugby again this spring.
“Honestly, I was pretty devastated,” Ms. Olney said. “I love playing rugby and being a part of a team, and finding a physical outlet and a community has been a challenge since I’ve moved to New York.”
In the meantime, Ms. Olney is getting to know the school and her students.
“I think that Ms. Olney is a very well-rounded teacher, and she incorporates rugby into her teaching,” Philip S. ’25 said.
Ms. Olney has found recalling personal experiences from her rugby experiences has helped her on many occasions to keep the class engaged in the topics at hand.
“Playing a team sport and teaching both require lots of patience and cooperation, and both on the field and in the classroom I’ve learned to take a loss gracefully and celebrate the little wins you might have in a day,” Ms. Olney said.