Rugby, a game similar to football, is a popular sport in England played mostly by males. However, senior Olivia Searfass is an active female rugby player.

“My uncle and a few of my aunts played, and I wanted a fun activity and exercise that wasn’t typical,” she said. “From the very first practice till now, I still love every second of it.”

Searfass’ position is a prop. As a prop, her job is to make great tackles, provide a solid defense in a scrum (short for scrummage), protect her backline, and create a solid ruck so her team can win the ball back. A scrum is when the team has to restart a play due to a minor infringement; a ruck is a phase of play where one or more players from each team close around the ball on the ground.

“I like that it is a completely different culture from other sports,” Searfass said. “It promotes teamwork a lot more than other sports and it encourages good sportsmanship. Rugby culture is playing for every other person on the field.”

Since Southern Lehigh does not have its own rugby team, Searfass plays for the Doylestown Rugby Club. While playing on this team, she has won several state championships and tournaments, standing out as a defensive player. After she graduates, she will continue to play rugby at West Chester University for one of the top rugby teams in the nation.

“[In high school I have learned] to look outside the Southern Lehigh bubble and realize that there is a whole world out there to explore and to serve,” Searfass said. “It’s not all about us.”

However, she is also quite involved in activities and academics here at Southern Lehigh.

“My favorite subjects are English, sociology, psychology, and languages,” Searfass said. “I’m also in teen counseling, and involved with my high school youth group. I have also spent the past three summers as a volunteer counselor at a camp.”

After high school, Searfass plans to major in social work and spend some time in the Peace Corps or Americorps so she will be able to travel and help people.

“I was recently just in Wales and England and it was absolutely gorgeous,” she said. “The culture was amazing; it was probably the coolest trip I’ve ever been on.”

While Searfass was in England, she and her rugby team played three U-18 English girl rugby teams.

For motivation, Searfass chooses to live by the words of Lao Tzu: “If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present.