Charles River Rats

Last updated
Charles River
Charles river rfc logo.png
Full nameCharles River Rugby Football Club
Union New England Rugby Football Union
Nickname(s)The River Rats
Founded1973;51 years ago (1973)
Ground(s)Joe Moakley Park
Boston
PresidentIan Willse (Men's)
Maria Sedjo (Women's)
Coach(es)Dave McVey (Men's)
Maggie Conley (Women's)
League(s)NERFU Senior Division III (Men)
Senior Division II (Women)
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body orange horizontal.png
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks long.svg
Team kit
Official website
www.charlesriverrugby.com

Charles River Rugby Football Club, nicknamed The Rats, is an American rugby union club based in Boston which currently competes in the New England Rugby Football Union. Charles River has also a women's section.

Contents

History

In 1973, the Charles River Rugby Football Club, affectionately dubbed "The Rats", was founded by a group of ruggers from Tufts University and Boston Rugby Football Club. In striking green and orange jerseys that quickly became the club's trademark, the Rats achieved many early successes, including winning the Portland RFC Invitational and advancing to the Annual New England Tournament semi-finals. The Rats continued to attract new players and build on each year's accomplishments over the next decade, thus solidifying themselves as a fixture in the New England rugby community. [1]

In 1980, the Rats earned promotion to New England Division I thanks to a staggering defeat of the renowned Berlin Strollers. The early eighties were busy for the club, as the men concentrated on augmenting club membership via a merger with the Old North Bridge RFC of Concord, MA. Highlights of the eighties include continual success both in New England and in international tournament play. In 1985, Charles River placed 2nd in NERFU Division I, qualifying them for the national playoffs: the team defeated Binghamton RFC in the first round, then lost to Old Blue RFC of NYC (16-6), which ended up advancing to the national finals. In the fall of 1986, the club defeated Boston RFC 12-9, eliminating them from the playoffs for the first time in 5 years.

The Club settled into a restructured Division II in 1992 and proceeded to hold the top seed in that division from 1993 to 1994, running three winning seasons in a row.

The club failed to post a winning season again until the fall of 2005 when the men's side, under coach Fergal Hehir, made it to the playoffs. They defeated Rockaway RFC in the first playoff game in the spring of 2006 and lost to Montauk RFC in the second game. Under Hehir's tenure, Charles River's men's side ran four winning seasons in a row. In 2008, Hehir stepped down and the following January, the club came under the direction of Anthony Adams former player with the Boston Irish Wolfhounds RFC.

After going winless in Adams' first league season (fall 2009), the Rat's men's side was almost relegated down to Division III, but managed to argue their case to stay in Division II. They were put in the new Daly Conference of Division II. In 2010, another South African, Hylton Haynes, took over as Men's coach.

Currently, the Rat's men's side competes in Division III. In 2015, the Rat's men's side advanced to the Division III NERFU Cup finals, eventually losing to the Springfield Rifles RFC. In the fall of 2017 they beat out Old Gold RFC to earn a spot in playoffs.

2005 also marked the first season of the Lady Rats, a women's team to complement the men's team. The women had a successful winning first season, fielding a competitive side in all of their matches. In 2007, they went undefeated in Division III and were promoted to Division II. In the NERFU realignment in 2009, they were placed in Division III. In May 2011, they won the Division III championship. Since then, and multiple NERFU realignments, Charles River Women's RFC is currently competing in DII. In 2017 they made the playoffs for the second time in their history, and fell in the second round.

In 2023, the club celbrated its 50th anniversary. The Rats men's side has been running about 50 active players per season and the women's side has been running about 40 players.

Division

The Charles River Lady Rats are a part of the New England Rugby Football Union, Senior Women's Division II. In this division, they compete with:

The Charles River Rats are a part of the New England Rugby Football Union, Senior Men's Division III in the Northern Conference. In this division, they compete with:

During their history, they have merged with the following clubs while retaining the name Charles River:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Ironsides RFC</span> Rugby team

Boston Ironsides Rugby Football Club is a rugby union football club based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Ironsides play in the New England Rugby Football Union as a Division 4 Men's Team; retaining around 40-60 members each season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Irish Wolfhounds</span> Rugby team

The Boston Irish Wolfhounds Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team based in Canton, Massachusetts, US. The club competes in, and is governed by, the New England Rugby Football Union, the Northeast Rugby Union, and USA Rugby. In 2014 it joined the American Rugby Premiership.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mystic River Rugby Club</span> Rugby team

The Mystic River Rugby Club, sometimes called Boston Mystic, is a New England Rugby Football Union (NERFU) club, founded in 1974, located in Malden, Massachusetts, and Melrose, Massachusetts, who field teams in Division 1 American Rugby Premiership and Division 2 Rugby Union in the United States and are the current 2018 USA Rugby D1 National Champions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New England Rugby Football Union</span>

The New England Rugby Football Union (NERFU) is a Geographical Union (GU) for rugby union teams in New England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Williams Rugby Football Club</span> Rugby team

The Williams Rugby Football Club (WRFC) and the Williams Women's Rugby Football Club (WWRFC) are intercollegiate club sports teams at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. The men's club was founded in the spring of 1959 by David Coughlin with support from J. Peter Pierson, the team's first coach. The men's and women's clubs play in NERFU Division II. Beyond the sport itself, the teams endeavor to foster a sense of community for participants and to provide a safe social environment not only for the players on the team but for the Williams community as a whole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston RFC (United States)</span> Rugby team

Boston Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team based in Weymouth, Massachusetts, US. The club competes in, and is governed by, the New England Rugby Football Union, the Northeast Rugby Union, and USA Rugby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oxford University RFC</span> Rugby team

The Oxford University Rugby Football Club is the rugby union club of the University of Oxford. The club contests The Varsity Match every year against Cambridge University at Twickenham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairfield Yankees RFC</span> Rugby team

The Fairfield Yankees Rugby Football Club is a Division II and IV Men's and Division II Women's Rugby Club based in Fairfield, Connecticut. Founded in 1975, the club consists of many teams, two Men's sides and one Women's side, as well as teams for Summer Sevens and Youth and High School Teams with the Fairfield Rugby Club. The Yankees have fielded teams in the Metropolitan New York Rugby Union as well as the New England Rugby Football Union (NERFU), and currently are members of the Empire Geographical Union. The Yankees won the USA Rugby Division II Men's Club National Championship in 2004, and the Division III Men's Club National Championship in 2016.

The Allegheny Rugby Union is a non-profit corporation whose objective is to promote, serve, and manage the game of rugby union in the greater Pittsburgh area. The Allegheny area is the region described as Western Pennsylvania, Western New York, Northern West Virginia and Eastern Ohio bordering Pennsylvania in the United States of America. The Allegheny Rugby Union is a member of the Midwest Rugby Football Union (MRFU) and USA Rugby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sports in Worcester, Massachusetts</span>

Worcester, Massachusetts, is home to minor league sports teams and NCAA Division 1 college and university sports, most notably The College of the Holy Cross. Other professional teams that have moved on from the city include the New England Blazers, a Major League Lacrosse team that played at the Worcester Centrum during the 1980s, the Bay State Bombardiers of the Continental Basketball Association, who played in the Worcester Memorial Auditorium from 1984 to 1986, the Worcester Ice Cats, an American Hockey League franchise and developmental team for the National Hockey League's St. Louis Blues who played in the DCU Center from 1994 to 2005, and the Worcester Sharks, an American Hockey League franchise and developmental team for the NHL's San Jose Sharks. Many historic and local sporting events have occurred in Worcester such as the first official Ryder Cup golf tournament at Worcester Country Club in 1927.

The Providence Rugby Football Club (PRFC) is a rugby union club based in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 1969, the club consist of both a men's and women's (PWRFC) rugby teams. PRFC competes in Division III of the New England Rugby Football Union (NERFU).

The 2009 Men's Division III Rugby Tournament is a tournament which involved 103 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NSCRO Division III college rugby as a culmination of the 2008–09 rugby season. It began in the fall 2008 season in the northeast, midwest and mid-atlantic, and picked up again in the spring 2009 season for the southern teams, and concludes with the Fearsome Four, a final four-style semifinals and championship games co-hosted by South Jersey RFC on April 25-6 in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

The Washington Irish Rugby Football Club is a Mid-Atlantic Conference (MAC) rugby union team based in Washington, DC. The Washington Irish currently field two competitive men's club rugby sides, one in Division I and one in Division III. The Washington Irish compete within the Capital Geographic Union of USA Rugby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dayton Area Rugby Club</span> Rugby team

Dayton Area Rugby Club is a rugby union football club based in Dayton, Ohio, United States. The club currently fields Men's teams in Midwest Divisions III & IV and a Women's team in the Midwest Division II. They play their home games at Dayton Rugby Grounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brooklyn Rugby</span> Rugby team

Brooklyn Rugby Football Club, is a Rugby Union team founded in 2007 and based in Brooklyn, New York. The team competes in the Empire Geographic Union Division III, and is a member of USA Rugby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northeastern University Rugby Club</span> Rugby team

The Northeastern University Rugby Football Club is a college rugby union team representing Northeastern University. The club competes in the Liberty Conference of Division 1-A Rugby and is governed by USA Rugby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amoskeag Rugby Club</span> Rugby team

The Amoskeag Rugby Football Club is a rugby club in Manchester, New Hampshire. They play in Division I of the New England Rugby Football Union (NERFU).

The Old Gold Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. The club competes in, and is governed by, the New England Rugby Football Union, the Northeast Rugby Union, and USA Rugby. The team currently fields sides in Division II and Division IV in NERFU.

The Austin Huns Rugby Football Club is a Men's Rugby Club American rugby union team based in Austin, Texas. In June 2017 they became U.S. Division 1 National Champions beating New York Athletic Club RFC 27-23 in the final match.

Chris Frazier is an American professional rugby union player currently with the New England Free Jacks. He plays both fifteens and sevens and has represented the United States with the USA Falcons 7s side. He is a former Collegiate All-American and previously played club level rugby for Mystic River.

References

  1. About Us on CRR website