Coach Kelly Romano to lead Little Giants to victory
The Wabash rugby team is by no means a club on campus that students don’t know about. With success on the pitch as a student led organization, the team has gone as far as placing third in the National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) Collegiate Rugby Championship 7’s tournament in Spring 2023 — all without the same support as other sports at Wabash, including a coach.
But after coming up short in spring 2024, the team is excited for a shift that has changed the projection of the season – a coach. Enter Coach Kelly Romano. As the former Carmel High School women’s rugby coach, who led them to three state championships (as well as one state championship with the middle school team), Romano has over 30 years of experience with the sport of rugby.
“The rugby team has always had two long term goals – to get funding to become a varsity sport and to secure a coach,” said Rugby Captain James Wallace ’26. “With Coach Kelly stepping in as our coach, we are filling one of those voids.”
Coach Romano originally received a call from a few players about putting on a tackling clinic to help the team’s tackling, so she agreed to come up to Wabash to help. After finishing with the clinic, she realized the talent and potential the team had.
“Upon my arrival at the pitch, I was instantly impressed with the players’ willingness to learn and athleticism,” said Coach Romano. “All the players were world-class gentlemen and incredibly gracious. That experience was so exciting. I could not wait to come back and work with the team again.”
After the first training session, Romano agreed to come back for another session.
“The second training session was even better,” said Romano, “The players were truly locked in and their enthusiasm for the sport was contagious.”
After coaching the team for two sessions, Romano made the decision to take on the coaching role of the squad. This means a lot for what a typical practice session looks like for the team. Previously, all practices and conditioning were run by the captain of the team. The new opportunity of a head coach brings in new ideas and structure. The players are excited to finally have a coach to push them and instill discipline into their game.
“Coach Kelly is bringing experience and rugby IQ that the men of Wabash Rugby have never seen before,” said Adam Frey ’27. “This means new drills, plays and strategies.”
In terms of practice specifically, the role of a head coach should increase efficiency and overall skills. Wallace will still lead some practices as well as conditioning and weightlifting, but some responsibility has been lifted off his shoulders with Coach Romano helping.
The new implications brought by Coach Romano have quickly made an impact on the players in just two short weeks. Her new mindset and passion have created a spark amongst the team where all players want to improve.
“[Coach Kelly] has a drill for any skill,” said Frey. “Every practice she has introduced at least one new drill so far to work on certain aspects of the game. Everyone is coming eager to play.”
Any introduction of a coach, particularly a first coach, comes with extreme excitement and readiness to learn and improve. The communal belief that the team will improve and, in the end, make it to and win nationals is held by all on this team. Coach Kelly Romano has rekindled this flame in many ways.
“The productivity of the team is sky-high. The team has set a goal to not only get back to Nationals this year but to go out there and win it all,” said Wallace. “The team has responded well to Coach Kelly, and there is a feeling after every practice that we are one step closer to reaching our goal.”
The Little Giant rugby team aims high with their first season accompanied by Coach Romano, but this goal seems extremely attainable. The strong belief within the team that they will improve every day with Coach Romano will get them closer to their goal. The team’s next tournament will be on October 5 at Taylor University.