Much like fraternity or sorority “bigs,” senior Paris Hart is best friends with a freshman. She meets up with her “little” daily — most often, covered in dirt and working on tackles.

The University of Oregon women’s rugby team matches each veteran player with a rookie — a big and a little, very similar to the structure of fraternities or sororities.

“Because our team is so close and so tight, I can see how it’d be intimidating for new people to come in,” Hart said, adding that the big-little relationship makes the team more welcoming and encourages new players to stick with it. “They’re not just ‘the rookies’ — they’re our rookies, and they’re with us.”

Freshman Helen Woodbury, Hart’s little, appreciates the close bond they’ve established.

“It’s made a really big difference,” Woodbury said. “My first term, I broke my ankle, and my big was there to help me do my laundry and took me to her house and cooked food for me.”

It is in this sense of community that Hart, a fourth-year rugby player on the team, distinguishes rugby from other team sports she’s played.

The UO team attracts athletes of all kind to its unique community. The melting pot of rugby players represents individuals from all walks of life, with many of UO’s players being athletes from other sports who, like Hart, tried rugby and got hooked.

“A lot of these girls don’t know anything about rugby when they get to college,” Assistant Coach Nikki Steele said.

Steele, who played for the Ducks for years, has stuck with coaching since 2011, enjoying the experience of watching such new players grow.

Rugby is not as popular in the United States as many other sports — it didn’t even make it into the Harris Poll survey of favorite sports in America. And as the UO’s team has yet to be officially recognized as a D1 varsity sport, increasing the game’s popularity is a priority for the team.

“This year the girls have really taken it upon themselves to grow the game,” Steele said. She adds that many players encourage each other to spread the sport to women who might have never heard of it, saying “give her the game.”

Steele says that each season, the unique crop of women on the team decide what the year’s focus will be. Some years the goal is to be more competitive and others to be more social.

The Dirty Ducks play outside their own age group with local adult teams such as Eugene Rain to connect players of all ages and keep playing through the off-season. Recently, members of the Ducks joined with Eugene Stag, the men’s counterpart, to host a youth rugby camp. Steele says that unlike most women’s sports, women’s rugby follows the same regulations, official sizing and rules as the men’s counterpart, so players are less limited by gender to reach out to others.

This epitomizes the community Hart has come to love. One thing she, Steele, and several other players all had to say about rugby: it’s not just a sport, it’s a culture.

For Hart, rugby is a social sphere, connecting her with people from all walks of life. The unique demand on rugby players to support each other, as well as the partner dynamic, creates a bond that is best, if not only, understood by other players.

“If I go anywhere, people say, ‘Oh you play rugby?’ and we’re instantly friends,” Hart said. “I know people from all over the country, all over the world, just because they play rugby.”

She explains that the relatively small community in the U.S. makes rugby players eager to connect with one another. This summer, Hart will use her rugby connections to hitchhike around the U.S., staying just with other “ruggers.”

But while other sports may have similar friendships and connection, the rugby camaraderie carries over even to competition days.

After games, the home cooks the away team dinner, hosting the players at their homes. They sing traditional rugby songs, enjoy a meal together and network for the sake of the sport.

“You fight a battle, it’s literally a war,” Hart said. “But at the end of the game, your enemies are not your enemies — they’re your friends. And you celebrate with them.”

Rugby has won the allegiance of many athletes like Hart and Woodbury, who have left other sports behind to devote themselves to the game and its unparalleled community.

“Playing rugby has made me the person I am today,” Hart said. “It’s taught me so much about life – being a hard worker, being diligent and being supportive.”