Since the four veterans stepped on the field in early August, for the Eastern rugby team, they have been faced with a new challenge.

Eastern currently has nine new players on the team that have never played rugby before in their lives before this season started.

Juniors Ellen Wilson, Kim Youhas, and Carissa Burge, and senior Shelby Pilch are the veterans on the rugby team and know that they are going to have to be leaders.

“We been here long enough to where we have to step up,” Wilson said. “You have to show new people what to do, you have to be a leader, or else nothing is going to get done.”

Youhas said they have to show the newcomers that it isn’t OK to be lazy and it is not OK to give up and said it has been tough to get the vibe with all the girls on the field, because she has been out for three games.

In previous seasons, Eastern was fortunate enough to have enough veterans on the team to where the younger players had more people to look up to.

This season, Eastern has more newcomers than veterans and Pilch said they could not pick and choose whom they want to help.

“It has to be all of us helping everybody,” Pilch said. “We have to help ourselves. Even veterans have to help veterans. It’s a team game.”

Eastern coach Frank Graziano said he knows that he has to rely on his veterans to be successful.

“They at least understand the terminology,” he said. “They understand how I coach. They understand what our game plan is. So, they are the ones you have to turn to fit all the pieces together. One of our big challenges is that I don’t have enough of the veterans to spread around the field.”

On the field, with Pilch, Wilson and Youhas all being in the scrum and Burge the only one that is part of the backline, Wilson said it is hard for the newcomers to learn.

“It is hard for them to understand what to do, when they don’t have anyone to go off of,” she said. “It is really hard for them to learn how to attack, how to score, and how to play defense, just certain things that will help us eventually win.”

Burge said it is hard to figure all the freshmen out.

“Each freshman is different in their own way from their personality,” Burge said. “I make it a goal of mine to understand how I can help them become a better athlete, student and rugby player.”

Pilch said she acknowledged how the newcomers want to learn and how much they want to get better.

“They’re soaking it all in,” Pilch said. “Their brains are like sponges, where they just have to keep doing it constantly to get it. It’s great to see them all so receptive to information about a game which none of them know about.”

Eastern has had two road games this season, and after this upcoming bye week, they will be traveling on the road five more times.

With the team on a four-game losing streak, Pilch said it could be easy for everyone to get mad at each other, but that will not fix anything.

“We get along so well, both on and off the field,” she said. “There is no head-butting. If there is any head-butting it is not to degrade you, it is only to make you better.”

Graziano said he has liked the way the newcomers and veterans have meshed so far this season.

“From a personality standpoint, this is a class that has fit very well as far as being friendly, being competitive, learning how to motivate each other, and inspiring one another in practice,” Graziano said. They’re not only teammates, but they are starting to become a family.”

Bob Reynolds can be reached at 581-2812 or rjreynolds@eiu.edu