THOMASVILLE — Tia Doppenberg has devoted time and energy to the sport she loves.

The Thomas County Central graduate is hopeful others will soon share the same devotion.

Doppenberg was part of the Atlanta Harlequins, a USA amateur women’s rugby team, that recently finished third in the Division I National Championships. Rugby is a sport that the 22 year old has continued to play even after graduating from Georgia Tech. It was in Atlanta that she first learned the sport.

“I had originally come to Tech to play softball. Then after injuring myself (knee), I was introduced to rugby my freshman year,” Doppenberg said. “Since then, I fell in love with the sport. I started a team at Tech and then played two years at Tech. Now, I’m going on my second year with the Harlequins.”

The Harlequins just concluded the fall portion of their schedule in early November when they competed in the National Championships in San Francisco. They’ll resume play in March 2010 when they begin their spring schedule. As Doppenberg will attest, scheduling games is not easy for rugby enthusiasts.

“It would be amazing if it were possible for us to play other teams in the state of Georgia,” Doppenberg said, “or even in our surrounding states. My belief is that the only way to do that is to start girls and introduce it to them. Most girls don’t find out about rugby until they’re in college or maybe out of college. By that time, they might not be at their physical peak.

“That’s why I started coaching. That’s why I’m a women’s director for the Georgia Rugby Union. I’m just trying to get the word of rugby out.”

Doppenberg coaches the women’s team at Emory University. Finding future rugby players is a challenge Doppenberg faces and had faced when she established rugby as a club sport while attending Tech.

“Rugby is not the typical sport where you can walk up to any female and be like, ‘Hey, come play rugby.’ Most of them just shudder in fear,” Doppenberg said. “It was really hard to start up.

“The Tech team now is doing really, really well. It’s just cool to see.”

It hasn’t been all fun and games for Doppenberg. With the brutal sport comes injuries. She is currently nursing a cracked vertebrae in her back. It hasn’t stopped her from enjoying the sport she loves, however. Question is, how long will she continue to play?

“As long as I can go,” Doppenberg said. “We have some pretty amazing athletes on our team. Our oldest player on our team, she is 47 years old. I have no idea how she does it, but she does.

“I’m going to go until I can’t go anymore. If I’m playing when I’m 47, that would be awesome.”