March 4, 2010

Rebuilding continues

Boston Ironsides RFC has elected its 2010 executive board and is currently planning the Spring season. More details will be forthcoming. Keep an eye on this site, join our Yahoo! Group, BostonGayRugby, join our Facebook Club or drop us an email!

September 7, 2009

The Story Thus Far

Boston Ironsides Rugby Football Club was founded in 2002, when members of the Gotham Knights, New York's gay Rugby club camed to Boston and helped recruit the initial team. We quickly grew in numbers and skill. Starting off as a mix of experienced ruggers and those new to the game, we became competitive in our division, culminating in our 2006 win of the Bingham Bowl in New York City.

After hitting that high point of the team's existence, we started losing a lot of our members - some moved away, some retired from Rugby, some moved on to other clubs. Our recruitment during this time could not keep up with the attrition. After sending a full side to the Bingham Cup in Dublin Ireland, our membership dropped to where we couldn't field the full 15 players for a side.

Luckily for us, before going to Dublin, we had played a new team based in Vermont - Equinox RFC. They were having their own membership problems. In Fall 2008 and Spring 2009, they invited us to play with their team on their schedule. While it meant frequent long trips to Vermont, the Ironsides were still able to get play time. Equinox has been a great friend to the Ironsides, always making sure we, as their guests, got plenty of time on the pitch and plenty of drink off the pitch.

The Next Chapter

That brings us to our current state. We are still below numbers for a full side for the fall. What does this mean? It means now is a great time to join! We still have funding and we still have a core group of players. We've always had players who knew little about the game when they joined. We taught them the laws and we taught them how to play. With our focus on recruiting this season, new players will get all of the help they need to get up to speed and out on the pitch.

We're an adult men's team, so you have to be over 18 (per USA Rugby). While we are part of the International Gay Rugby Association and Board (yes, IGRAB. No, that name wasn't our idea) we have always had a diverse membership and all men are welcome. (USA Rugby bars co-ed play we'd love to start a women's side in the future, but right now we need to work with what we have).

We generally play in the New England Rugby Football Union Division IV, though right now all teams that can't field a side have been moved to Division V. As the only IGRAB team in NERFU, we try to schedule at least one IGRAB game a year, often with the Philadelphia Gryphons. Once we get a full side back up and running, we plan on resuming this tradition.

How do you join?

Well, for starters, subscribe to our Yahoo! Group, BostonGayRugby, join our Facebook Club or drop us an email.

We will be publishing our fall practice schedule shortly, as soon as we get practice space from the city of Boston. Anyone is welcome to join us at a practice. There is no obligation to join, and all dues will be waived for this season.

For more details on how to start your rugby career, check our "Join Now" Page..

we look forward to hearing from you!

Mike Sullivan

Acting President

Boston Ironsides RFC