BIDDEFORD — The University of New England will begin playing varsity rugby this fall in the National Collegiate Women’s Varsity Rugby Association – and the Nor’easters will have a familiar face leading them into battle.

UNE introduced Biddeford native and UNE rugby club coach Ashley Potvin as the leader of the varsity rugby program.

“I thank the University of New England for this opportunity to take the reigns as the varsity head coach,” said Potvin during a press conference.

UNE Athletic Director Jack McDonald was thrilled to hire someone with plenty of experience and local ties to lead the rugby program.

“We are thrilled to welcome Ashley to Nor’easter Nation,” said McDonald in a press release. “In addition to Ashley’s success leading our championship club women’s rugby team, she brings experience as an NCAA Division III ice hockey and rugby student-athlete at Norwich, as well as her recent experience as a teacher and coach in Biddeford.”

Potvin, who served as the club head coach from 2012-2015, believes the Nor’easters have a strong foundation to build a program on.

“We have already built a good base of rugby in the club program,” said Potvin, who admits that there will be some challenges in taking the program to a varsity level. “To be taking the step into the varsity level very quickly is going to be a little bit challenging because of some of the (schools) we are going to have to compete against, including my alma mater Norwich, and colleges like Dartmouth and Harvard.”

Potvin is thrilled to be coaching a college team in her hometown.

“I love Biddeford, I love rugby and the fact that the two can be part of one another is absolutely fantastic,” said Potvin, who led the UNE club program to a 30-6 record and a national ranking in 2015.

The UNE coach is hoping to help the university build a stronger connection with the local community.

“I’m an advocate for a lot of things Biddeford and I’m now an advocate for many, many things UNE. One of the things that I hope to do, and I’ve already done a little bit of, is really trying to bridge that gap between UNE and the Biddeford community,” said Potvin.

Potvin, who is also the Biddeford High School girls hockey coach, is excited to give local high school athletes a chance to play on the collegiate level.

“I think that being a part of the community and now being a part of the UNE community, and being able to help bring those two together and being able to help bridge athletes together, female athletes from kindergarten all the way up through college, is going to be a really exciting part of this position,” said Potvin, who is a teacher at Biddeford Middle School.

According to Potvin, the challenge of every rugby coach is being able to find athletes from other sports and turning them into rugby players.

“Rugby in general is a much different animal than football or any other traditional sport that you see played across high schools in the United States. One of the things that we had been focusing on as a club sport is those crossover athletes. Those students who come and maybe basketball wasn’t the right fit for them or ice hockey wasn’t the right fit for them, but they are still looking to be a part of a varsity program,” said Potvin.

A major part of UNE’s recruiting will be scouting the local high schools.

“The recruiting process for us is going to be much more about looking at athletes who maybe are not rugby players to begin with. Looking at athletes locally, going to watch local sports games and seeing if there are athletes there that are potentially interested in rugby and giving it a shot and giving UNE a shot,” said Potvin.

Potvin believes her local ties will give her a head start on recruiting the local area.

“I honestly think that it’s very beneficial. Not just Biddeford, but knowing the people to contact from Thornton Academy, from Scarborough, from any high school in the area,” said Potvin.

Although recruiting new players to the UNE program is key, Potvin is thrilled to give the players on the club team a chance to compete on the varsity level.

“This team and these girls have worked so hard, for so long and it seems now that they are going to get that recognition that hasn’t been there,” said Potvin.

— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at pmcdonald@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 322. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @ JournalTsports.