2023-24 Kaler Family Rugby Scholarship Recipient: Michaela Gleason
Michaela Gleason’s love for rugby is simple, like father, like daughter. Some of her earliest childhood memories are alongside the pitch watching her father play. When she turned eight, it was finally her turn to lace up her boots. Now a decade later, Michaela has played for a variety of teams over the years, including the Appleton Area Dragons Youth Rugby Club, the Mad-Town Furies, the Panther Rugby Club, the Badger Selects Rugby Academy, and the Wisconsin Girls All-Star team.
Throughout her rugby journey, Michaela has commanded the pitch in numerous roles from a founding club member to scrum half, fly half, center, team captain, and most notably a Level I referee.
“Michaela is a superb rugby player with excellent skills and a high rugby IQ derived from her already extensive experience as a referee. She is a scrum half field general with a flanker attitude. More importantly, Michaela is a leader on any team she plays on, having already learned that to lead is neither to push nor to pull, but to show how things are done and to encourage her teammates to do likewise. It is my opinion that she will have a long, successful rugby career followed by an even longer stint as a high-level referee,” said Michael Johnson, Mad-Town Furies Head Coach.
Michaela’s rugby IQ paralleled her accomplishments in the classroom, having graduated from Tigerton High School in Tigerton, Wisconsin with a 3.7 GPA. She was a member of the National Honor Society and an active member in various school organizations like the Sources of Strength Organization, Future Farmers of America, 4-H, and Letter Winners Club. She was active in her student body spirit club and council serving in both treasurer and class representative roles.
“Rugby by far has played the largest role in my life amongst the other programs, sports, or organizations. Rugby has taught me how to be a leader, how to pick up a team in the worst leg of a game and how to celebrate and feel the passion and success of a game. Rugby taught me how to be proud, not only of myself but of my teammates around me. It taught me to see the small growth and power within every practice, every game, every tournament, and every day. Rugby taught me how to lose, how to pick myself up and not let the one game define the season. These are life skills I, without a single doubt in my mind, I can contribute to my time spent playing and generally being surrounded by rugby,” said Gleason.
She will continue her academic and rugby career at Northern Michigan University playing for the NorthStars and majoring in fisheries and wildlife management. With a love for nature and outdoors, Michaela is driven to protect and conserve the natural beauty of wildlife for generations to come. She plans to conduct valuable field research to enable both civilians and law enforcement with the knowledge necessary to maintain natural environments. Her sights are set on playing for the Midwest Thunderbirds and one day serving as the centerfield official for a Major League Rugby or PR7s league game.
