Danita Knox has had an impact on the sport of rugby as a player and as an administrator. On July 19, the co-founder and board president of the U.S. Women’s Rugby Foundation, was inducted into the U.S. Rugby Hall of Fame. The honor celebrates her decades-long commitment to the sport.
While a student at Clemson University in the early 1980s, the Bed-Stuy native was playing flag football, but didn’t ever feel she could fully embrace it. “It was OK, but I wished we could actually tackle, and someone said, ‘I’ve got a sport for you,’ suggesting I go to rugby practice,” said Knox. “I haven’t looked back.”
The women’s club rugby team was a mix of graduate students, undergraduates and locals. Knox loved the diversity of body sizes. “I’ve always been small in stature, so to be able to tackle and get up and run with the ball was awesome,” she said. “The whole body image thing goes away and you get a swagger because you’re a rugby player.”
She continued playing after college and rugby became a lifelong sorority and fraternity. Over time, Knox became a vital part of raising the profile of women’s rugby. . In 2005, she helped found the U.S. Women’s Rugby Foundation. From 2004 to 2013, she also served on the USA Rugby board of directors, leading the territorial union/local area union committee that created the current geographic union structure.
“I like to tell people rugby is my passion career,” said Knox. “My daytime job is an electrical engineer. Now, I’m a global product specialist for a large company. On the U.S. Women’s Rugby Foundation, we have an all-volunteer board of different people like me who are corporate people, entrepreneurs, educators and leaders in their own right. When you love it, it’s not hard to do it.”
The Hall of Fame recognition was deeply meaningful. She didn’t do the work for the honors, she did it because she knew participation in rugby could be life changing, giving women the confidence and leadership skills they need to succeed in the world.
“It was an honor to be acknowledged by my peers and friends in the rugby community,” Knox said. “I’m more of an introvert that works behind the scenes, but to be acknowledged publicly … and getting the accolades has been affirmation of the work I’ve been doing all these years.”