Danielle Acanto understands that when most people think of rugby, they think of a rough, male-only sport. She felt the same way less than five years ago.
“I was so excited because I always thought it was more a guys’ sport,” said Acanto, recalling when Hudson Catholic offered girls rugby for the first time. “But once they opened it up to women, I was ready to show them that I can play just as well.”
Since then, Acanto has been able to use rugby to get into college and make plenty of history in the process. This fall, Acanto, a Jersey City native, became the first woman from Hudson County to ever play Division 1 rugby.
Acanto, who plays for the Mount Saint Mary’s women’s rugby team, just completed her freshman season earlier this month. Even with that experience, she admits it is still hard to believe what she’s accomplished.
“It’s definitely crazy to think about that, that I’m the only girl to play college rugby, let alone Division 1 rugby,” Acanto said. I would have never even thought that I’d be playing rugby now.
“I would never have thought that rugby would get me to college or paying for my college. Just by me watching one men’s rugby game and trying out a practice.”
Danielle Acanto, pictured with her parents and coach Terry Matthews, when she signed her letter of intent to play rugby.
When the Jersey City native first arrived at Hudson Catholic, she was strictly a tennis player. Once Acanto befriended a couple of players on the school’s boys rugby team and saw a couple of their games.
When head coach Terry Matthews decided to try to start a girls rugby program at the end of her freshman year, Acanto didn’t need any convincing to sign up.
Her parents, however, were the ones who needed to be sold on the new sport.
“At first, my parents were like ‘absolutely not, you’re not putting yourself in that kind of danger,’ because they though rugby was such a dangerous sport,” Acanto said. “I explained to them that if it’s done right, it’s actually pretty safe. I guess they were warming up to the idea of playing rugby. But once they saw my first rugby practice and they saw how happy it made me, they were set.”
Winning her parents’ approval would only be the first obstacle Acanto would encounter. In the beginning, there were only three girls participating, leaving them to practice with the boys. Other times, they would have to recruit over club teams from New Jersey or New York to join them for joint practices or scrimmages.
The numbers within the program started to grow, but as a junior, Acanto tore her ACL during a non-contact drill at a rugby clinic. According to Matthews, Acanto not only attended every game and practice, but used the time to earn her referee certification to become a sideline touch judge.
Matthews credits her passion and dedication for the sport as one of the biggest reasons the program has continued to grow.
“She never wavered, she would always help get girls into the program,” Matthews said. “She’d always recruiting through the building, she was a definite leader for us and she’s a big reason that we have girls that are interested in playing.”
According to Matthews there are currently 20 Division 1 Women’s Rugby programs and more than 400 club teams at colleges across the country.
Acanto is proof of the opportunities that rugby can provide to girls. Now that she’s made it to Mount Saint Mary’s, her goal is to continue to spread awareness in hopes of convincing more to follow her path.
“It meant so much to me to be able to sign that national letter of intent because it helped spread awareness of women’s rugby,” Acanto said. “Hopefully more girls can start playing around my area because I know it was so hard for me to find teams to play against or play for while I was in high school.”
“She took a chance on a sport that is just starting to peak in this country. And she showed that there’s a lot of opportunity there, especially for women,” said Matthews, calling Acanto a trailblazer. “Just by her presence, her commitment, her involvement, she’s helped grow the sport in Hudson Catholic and in the surrounding area. When other girls see that there are opportunities, it opens doors and she’s broken through the ceiling here.”
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November 25, 2019 at 07:21AM
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Hudson Catholic alum Danielle Acanto becomes county’s first D1 women’s rugby player - nj.com
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