Team History.

In the summer of 1993, Caroline Heller remained in Chapel Hill as a member of the Sports Club Council. In the process of going through the past accounts for funds and budgets, she came across an inactive budget for a womens rugby team. Apparently, there had been a women's rugby team formed in the 1960's, but interest had died out and all that was left was a few hundred dollars.

1994-1995 Season (Caroline pictured front row center wearing light blue sweatshirt)
Early in the fall of that year, Natasha Heeler came before the council to ask for resources and funding to begin a women's rugby team. Caroline informed her that the money was already available, and she would support Natasha in creating the team. There were no objections from the council. To recruit players they painted signs in the pit and held informational meetings. Almost 50 girls showed up for the first meeting and nearly that many for the first practice. They recruited Cameron McConachie and Nick Johnston to coach. However, Tasha was also a member of the Crew team, and she soon found that she could not handle her commitment to both sports. She was forced to quit the rugby team. Cameron asked around the men’s team and Chad Oxley (Elvis) volunteered. Those two coached everyone the first year.
Although some girls quit once the team began full contact, many remained. Even injuries and trips to the Student Health Center couldn't stop the makings of the team. Enough girls stuck around to get a roster of 20-plus, and even though they sometimes struggled for a full roster during away games (almost all their games were away that fall and spring), they were able to get a full team, schedule, and coaching staff in just two months. Caroline went back to SCC with all this, they adopted them as an official club sport, and even gave them additional funding for the rest of the year.
Though they were a brand new team, they managed to be competitive, even making it to the state championships their first year. They lost the championship by one try, but began the tradition of excellence that UNC Women's Rugby Football Club has held to this day.