Tylar Sutton
We all define family in different ways. For 38-year-old Angela Duarte, her family includes all the team members of the Akron Women’s Rugby Club whom she calls daughters.
“With my team, we’re very close knit,” says the Highland Square resident. “I take care of them like they were my own children — everyday things, if they need to talk.”
Duarte is a founding player of the Akron Women’s Rugby Club that launched in 2001 as an offshoot of the men’s Akron Rugby Football Club, famous in sports circles for winning several Midwest East Sevens Rugby Championships and placing fifth in the U.S. National Sevens Tournament. Duarte has been the assistant coach for the past three years, sharing her passion for the sport with the club’s young women, currently ages 20 to 37.
You can find Duarte at practice every Tuesday and Thursday evening during the fall and spring, coaching her girls at Akron Women’s Rugby Club’s home pitch — the rugby term for field — in Wadsworth. Coaching has given her the opportunity to stay involved with the sport and the people she loves after an ankle injury stopped her from playing in 2016.
Duarte talks about proving her brother wrong, what rugby has taught her and her heritage.
How would you describe Akron Women’s Rugby Club?
AD: It’s nice to have such a wide variety of people play — college students, professionals. We do benefits for the Battered Women’s Shelter, too. We love each other. We fight like a family sometimes, but no matter what, everybody’s got each other’s back.
What inspired you to start playing rugby?
AD: I have that sibling rivalry [with my older brother who plays rugby]. I wanted to prove to him it was something that we could both be part of. He tried to push me away from it, [saying] It’s really hard, and I don’t know if you’ll be able to do it. But when I started putting in the dedication, he saw a change in me that made him [realize], Oh shit, she can do this.
What challenges have you overcome while playing rugby?
AD: I broke my ribs during a game. I just landed wrong. The coach essentially said push through it. So I went back and played another 25 or 30 minutes. At that point [playing] was not going to happen anymore because I just couldn’t breathe.
What’s the biggest lesson rugby has taught you?
AD: I always thought, I can’t do that; I can’t run for 80 minutes, let alone tackle people and get right back up. But through the years I pushed myself, made myself better.
How does it feel to be part of Akron’s rich rugby history?
AD: It’s really cool to see how far it’s come. We’re coming up on our 48-year [anniversary] since the men started the team in 1971. The old boys that are now in their 70s still play every once in a while.
How does that go?
AD: Once a year we have an Old Boys game, a beginning-of-summer kickoff. It’s our reunion. Everybody comes home, and our old boys play against the younger team. It’s fun because you get to hear all their stories of, When I first started playing rugby it was this.
Is there a team mascot?
AD: My pitbull, Kumatay. He comes to all the games and practices with us.
What are you most proud of?
AD: The friendships I am able to keep. My life revolves around my friends and my family. As long as they’re happy, I’m completely OK.
What about you might surprise people?
AD: Probably that I’m Colombian, because I don’t look it at all. My name is actually [pronounced] “Anhela” (ahn’-hə-luh), but it’s spelled like Angela. I go by Angela because that’s how it appears on paper.
How does that influence your worldview?
AD: I’m very proud of my heritage, but it does worry me these days with everything that’s going on in the world. I never thought that I’d be in a situation where family members of mine who are here legally might [face discrimination]. It’s definitely changed the way I think.
What is your guilty pleasure?
AD: Documentaries — mostly murder documentaries. “The Staircase” was the last one I watched.
Would you ever make a documentary?
AD: Possibly. Maybe an Akron rugby documentary!
