Alumna Represents Team USA in Transatlantic Cup

Unique, fast-paced, and physical, Australian rules football, also known as footy for short, combines elements of soccer, rugby, and Gaelic football. Alumna Rita Hill ’13 is among the best in the sport in the United States, and she credits her success to her four years to Fisher.

Over the summer, Hill was a member of the United States Australian Football League (USAFL) team and competed in the Transatlantic Cup, an international tournament held in Canada.

And, it all started with an email.

“It was not on my radar,” said Hill. But during her first few weeks as a first-year student at Fisher, she saw an email about the women’s club rugby team. It sparked her interest, and she decided to try out for the team. Two weeks after being introduced to the sport, she was playing in her first game. It ended with a broken toe, but that didn’t stop her. She was hooked.

She said the Fisher rugby team was a great community, a great way to connect with people, and a great way to get in physical activity. At the time, rugby was a non-traditional women’s sport in the U.S., and in some ways, Hill said that heightened her interest in playing, as she wanted to challenge herself. She was also drawn to the process of honing the techniques and skills required of rugby.

“The camaraderie around learning how to grow our [individual] game together was really cool,” she said. “Playing on the rugby team at Fisher was key to my college experience.”

She stayed active in the sport; from 2014 to 2016, she played for the Glendale Merlins Rugby Team–now the Colorado Grey Wolves. She took a rest from the sport while she served with the Peace Corps, and then rejoined the Merlins for the 2019-2020 season until COVID hit. In 2021, she eventually transitioned to Australian rules football by joining the Denver Bulldogs, and she remains a member of the team today.

Eleven years after wearing a Fisher jersey for the first time, Hill has turned her hard work and commitment into the opportunity of a lifetime. After a short hiatus from all international competition due to COVID-19, Team USA was gearing up to compete on the international stage once again. And when they took the field, Hill was determined to be there representing the team. In 2023, Hill participated in the USAFL’s training camp and was offered a spot on the reserve team. Hill played in a tournament and was then called up to the first team for a game.

Last December, she began a rigorous training program that included lifting, skills testing, fitness testing, and other activities to prepare for the USAFL team’s training camp in May. After training camp was finished, at the end of June, she received the news: she had been selected to represent the U.S. in the Transatlantic Cup. It was a quick turnaround from selection to competition. The tournament was held in August, and included six teams: USA, Canada, Ireland, Great Britain, France, and Colombia.

“It was very exciting to be there after so much preparation, and the discipline that was required felt like it paid off,” she said.

The team was a mix of players she knew from the Denver Bulldogs, others she had competed against, and a few players she was meeting for the first time. The first game was about understanding how her teammates play and building on-field chemistry. As the tournament progressed, she enjoyed learning, growing as a team, and seeing improvement in every game. One of Hill’s best memories from the tournament was the feeling she got from lining up with her teammates and hearing the national anthem. 

The team found success, beating France, Great Britain, and Canada to advance to the finals. This was the first time the women’s USAFL team made it to a final in an international tournament. Only a few people can say they represented their country at an international tournament, let alone in the championship game. It was an experience Hill won’t soon forget.

“I was a lot less nervous going into it than I thought I would be,” she said. “I felt more privileged.”

Team USA fell to Ireland in the final, but it didn’t diminish the sense of pride Hill and her teammates had for their performance. Reaching the final was a pinnacle moment for Hill and she is proud of the progress and growth both rugby and footy has had for women. It’s come a long way, she said, since her time at Fisher.

 “I can’t understate the value Fisher rugby and the women I played with added to my life, athletic career, and beyond,” she said.