CWU women’s Rugby players Lilly Thomas along with Vai Pulu attended the USA Rugby Sevens Pathway Camp over the course of the holiday break in Chula Vista, California. The five-day camp, hosted by the USA Women’s Sevens invited 19 prospects in the Sevens National Team pipeline. The goal of the camp was to identify prospects for the sevens game.
Thomas, the third year out of Lehi, UT, was one of 19 selected to learn, compete and grow as a player. Being a scrum half, she has the skill set of passing, lineout throws and passing off the deck. “Those were the things I was able to excel at,” Thomas said. “I rep that everyday here at Central.”
The 5 foot 2 inch juniors strengths don’t stop at passing. “Kickoffs and conversion kicks were a big one for me that I’ve been working on,” Thomas said. “Footwork and manipulating defenders to create two vs ones I feel I did very well at the camp.” Creating mismatches in the sevens game makes a big difference when there is more room for passing which keeps the ball moving downfield.
Thomas enjoys the sevens game, earlier in her career at CWU she played wing, moving up she found her skills to improve into more of a playmaker. “Being able to manipulate and set other people up to score is really a cool skill and it’s cool to be on that side of the ball,” Thomas said. 
While attending the camp, Thomas was in awe and excitement to see the women’s national team train and how they hold each other to a high standard. “How you do anything is how you do everything,” Thomas said. She explained how you treat others around you and how you do your schoolwork defines you as a player.
With the training, the guidance and the knowledge Thomas learned at the sevens camp, she hopes to bring the “team first” mentality as the Wildcats move into their season.
In both sevens and 15’s the difference between the two is the number of players allowed on the field. In these two styles of rugby, Thomas has big goals. “15’s that’s what we’re always working towards, is to win the national championship, and I think that’s something that is really big for us and all the girls,” Lilly said. In Rugby, just like any team sport, chemistry is important. “Connecting and having chemistry as a team is really big,” Thomas said.
“We’ll do the work in the 15’s season and hopefully that sets us up for a good sevens season,” Thomas said. “I also want to hopefully keep playing sevens and developing, finding more opportunities to play in college and also outside.”
Thomas hopes her determination, skills and experience will lead the Wildcats to a successful season. With their first home game against Pacific North West Rugby at Tomlinson Stadium on Feb. 15 at noon, the ladies have the chance to show the competition they want to win it all.
