Junior flyhalf Amanda Fromm isn’t afraid of change. After starring in basketball, volleyball and track & field at Carmi-White County High School, Fromm came to Eastern to play a sport she had never played and knew little about, rugby. Because of an injury to teammate Eileen O’Rourke she’s moving to her third position in the last two years. She has also moved into a leadership role as the only non-senior among the Panther captains.

How did you get started playing rugby?

I was recruited by Coach (Frank Graziano). In high school, I played basketball, volleyball and track and I qualified for the state track meet (at O’Brien Stadium), and he saw me perform here.

What was the transition like from those sports to rugby?

It wasn’t that bad. The game itself was something to get used to because I’ve never played any sport that involved kicking or anything, which is still something that I’m really working on. Especially stepping into the flyhalf position since Eileen got hurt, and now I have to start kicking more. As far as the sport itself, it’s just another sport.

What did you play before moving to the flyhalf position?

My freshman year, I came in off an (anterior cruciate ligament) injury, so I only played about half the season as a utility player. And then last year I was a prop. This year, the first two games, I played inside center and now I’m moving to flyhalf.

For those of us who don’t know much about rugby, what do those positions do?

Propping is a scrumming position, one of the front row players. There’s more tackling involved usually, not as much running. At inside center, you are in the back line and you run the ball a little bit more.

You won your first two games 83-0 and 73-0. Is Eastern that good, or are the opponents that bad?

A mixture of both. We’re a very good team, we work very hard in practice.

Have you ever been on the losing end of that kind of a blowout in any sport?

No, not that I can think of. There’s a couple of basketball games where we got beat pretty bad. The volleyball team I was on wasn’t the greatest, but we never got completely blown out.

What style of rugby does Eastern play?

We play fast. We try to outrun our opponents. We have a very fast backline that we try to use, and we’re very powerful, we do a lot of weightlifting. We try to utilize both of those, speed and power.

With only three seniors on the team and one of them (O’Rourke) recently going down with an injury, do you take on more of a leadership role as a junior?

I was appointed captain this past spring along with the three seniors, so I’m definitely trying to learn the ropes from them as far as how to lead next year. They do very well, so I’m trying to learn as much as I can so I can step into that position.

Tell us something about Graziano that people don’t know about him.

When we travel, we always have the ‘Coach’s Deli,’ as he likes to call it. He wears the little chef hat. He’s a lot of fun. He takes the game very seriously and tries to teach us the best way to play, but he’s a lot of fun outside of that.

Tell us something about your hometown, Carmi.

It’s 2 hours south of Charleston. It’s a big sports town, football and basketball. That’s about all I’ve got (laughs).

How do you balance academics and athletics?

I don’t know. I’ve never not done it. I’ve been an athlete my whole life, I don’t know what it would be like not to balance it. I’ve often thought about what it would be like not to be an athlete and I think I would be bored. Just something that I’ve done that it’s natural.

How much harder is it to do in college than in high school?

College was a lot more difficult my first semester. I didn’t really work that hard in high school, grades came very easy to me. Then I got here and I had to work. So the first semester was a little rough, but I’m getting better. The GPA’s rising.

Who are you closest to on the team?

I live with three of the girls, (junior wing) Samantha Manto, (junior center) Molly Clutter and (junior lock) Victoria Rosales. We’re all close, but the whole team is close. We all go out together, hang out and watch movies.

What has changed since your freshman year?

From my perspective, I’ve just learned the game more and evolved as a player. It makes more sense now. Freshman year, you come in and you don’t know what you’re doing, and you learn a lot between your first and your second year. At least I did.

What did you learn?

The rules, why we can and can’t do the things we do. You come in as a freshman and you’re just kind of told what to do and you don’t really know why. Once you’re out of season and you’re in spring practices, it slows down and you understand the why and it helps explain the whole game.

What was it like starting a brand-new sport in college?

Whenever you come in knowing the sport already, you do have pressure on yourself to perform, and when we came in as freshmen, the goal was to teach us how to play. They weren’t necessarily expecting a lot out of us. I mean, they were, but at the same time we were given time to learn.

So in a way, it was a little easier than if you already had experience?

There was definitely pressure, but yeah, I would say that we were given more time to learn than, say, if I had played basketball here and you were expected to know everything already.

Is rugby as rough as it’s perceived to be?

No, not really. That was a big concern with my mom. She was concerned about me getting hurt, but I tore my ACL in basketball and I haven’t had anything happen in rugby. Of course you have your contact injuries, but we try to play it safe: tackle safely, go down safely. I don’t think it’s as rough as people think it is.

What’s playing on your iPod or CD player lately?

Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of Saving Jane. They’re one of my favorite bands. I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s mellow, but kind of rocky at the same time. I guess you just have to listen to it.

Do you listen to music before the game or have any other pregame routines?

I just try to get myself focused and think about the things I need to do. In the training room we put music on and it kind of gets us pumped up a little bit, but I don’t specifically listen to anything.

What are your favorite movies?

A League of Their Own, Blue Crush.typical sports movies. Love and Basketball. I watch G.I. Jane a lot. A Few Good Men, I’ve been watching that a lot lately.

Do you have any siblings?

I have an older sister, Amber, and a younger sister, Chelsea. Amber has a four-year old daughter, Abby.

What are your plans after graduation?

I’m currently trying to get into the Navy. My application goes up for review sometime in October. If I get into that I’ll be in the Navy for four years active and four years reserve, and then after that, either I’ll choose to stay in if I like it or if I choose to get out then I’ll go teach and coach.

What sport would you want to coach?

Probably basketball. Rugby’s not really a popular high school sport right now so I can’t really say that, but potentially, possibly rugby.

Junior center Amanda Fromm catches a ball during a receiving drill at practice Thursday afternoon. Eric Hiltner/The Daily Eastern News

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