WEST HAVEN, CT – University of New Haven Director of Athletics Sheahon Zenger announced the addition of Emily Record to the Charger Nation family, charging her with leading the newest varsity sports at New Haven, Women's Rugby.
Zenger announced the addition of women's rugby as the 18th varsity sport, and 11th women's sport, at New Haven in late February with an anticipated fall 2021 schedule to be announced in the coming weeks.
"We are excited to add someone of Emily's caliber to our Charger Nation Family," said Zenger. "Her knowledge of the game and connections within the Rugby community will allow her to hit the recruiting trail immediately. We look forward to watching the growth of this new program under her direction."
Record brings an impressive resume to Charger Nation. In addition to her current involvement with the USA Women's Sevens Program as a performance analyst, she comes to New Haven from a similar position with the United States Air Force. Record has been involved in USA Rugby since 2018 when she started as an assistant coach with the USA U-20 Women's Team.
"I'm honored to be the first women's varsity rugby coach at the University of New Haven, and to be joining the team that Dr. Zenger and [Deputy Director of Athletics] Robin Salters lead," said Record. "The support New Haven is giving to the new program is impressive, and it's exciting to begin building a program in line with the success that Charger Nation is accustomed to. I also look forward to continuing to grow the game in Connecticut."
Record is very familiar with a college campus, having served in some capacity at five different colleges since she started on her journey at the University of Pennsylvania in 2010. After a five-year stint as a Quaker, including serving as head coach from January 2012 through September 2015, Record moved on to West Virginia where she was both the women's assistant coach and men's skills coach. She then spent 2016-2018 as the head coach at Endicott College (Mass.) before moving on to one-year stints at Queens College (N.Y.) and Guilford College (N.C.).
The Chargers new program will participate in the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) until the sport receives full NCAA championship status. The NIRA has eight Division II institutions. Connecticut schools with women's rugby include Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart University, and Post University. AIC is the only other current NE10 school with a women's rugby program.
With a long-standing history of women's athletics dating back to 1975, women's rugby is the fifth women's program added at New Haven in the last 25 years, and the second new women's program in the last five years. Women's rugby follows women's soccer (1993), track and field (1996) lacrosse (2001) and field hockey (2017).
Prospective student-athletes interested in joining the women's rugby program are asked to fill out this online questionnaire - Click Here for Rugby Form. Further inquiries can be addressed to Coach Emily Record at erecord@newhaven.edu.
