About Us

Beantown Rugby Football Club was founded in the fall of 1976 and quickly established itself as one of the nation's preeminent women's rugby teams. That reputation endures today in a sport that continues to grow in popularity among women, both at the college and club levels. From 1982 through the spring of 2003, Beantown has amassed an overall record of 639-61. We have compiled an equally distinguished record at the National Championships Tournament, first held in the late 1970s: in 24 consecutive appearances since 1980, we have placed 6 times at first, 7 times at second, 6 times at third, 2 time at fourth, and 3 times at fifth.

Beantown coaches and players come from around the country and from all walks of life -- we are teachers, doctors, and lawyers; we work in computers, finance, and publishing; we are trade workers, graduate students, and aspiring artists. What we share in common is an abiding love and respect for rugby. It is this love and respect that drive our relentless pursuit of excellence in the gym and on the field, in-season and off-season, as teammates and as friends.

If you are interested in playing rugby with us, we welcome you and invite you to check us out!

Nationals 2007 (Orlando, FL). Photo courtesy of Chuck Bruce.

Latest News!

March 1, 2010
March practices

Just when you start to settle into a practice routine, everything changes!  Below is our practice schedule for the month of March, starting tomorrow (March 2):

Tuesdays, 8:30-10:00PM at the Belmont Hill School

350 Prospect Street

Belmont, MA 02478-2662

(617) 484-3266

Directions: the school is at the rotary where Park Avenue, Marsh Street, and Prospect Street intersect. The parking lot is off of Marsh St. and the Athletic Center is at the bottom of the parking lot. This map is helpful to see it. When you get to the athletic center, the gym is on the second floor. There will be someone in the equipment room on the first floor if you have any questions.>

Thursdays, 9:00-11:00PM at Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall School (where we have been practicing thus far)

785 Beaver Street

Waltham, MA 02452

(781) 314-0800

Please be RTG at these times, especially on Tuesday when we only have 1.5 hours.  Make sure to give yourself extra time to find the gym on Tuesday since it’s our first time there.

As before, don’t forget to bring a separate set of sneakers to practice in and bring all equipment!


Clinic deadline extended to March 14!

For all you college ruggers who like to procrastinate, you’re in luck.  Our clinic deadline has been extended to March 14!  Please note that the clinic location has been changed to Holy Cross WRFC in Worcester, MA.  Registration is now easy with our online registration form.

February 21, 2010
Beantown announces our own 2010 Rugby Clinic

Mark your calendar!  Beantown is hosting and running a women-only rugby clinic on Sunday, 21 March 2010.  For more details, check out http://www.beantownrugby.com/clinics.html.  Deadline for registration is March 1 so sign up now!

February 16, 2010
Tonight’s Practice Cancelled

Due to the winter weather, Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall School is closing this afternoon, so we will not be having practice tonight. We’ll have to wait another couple of days to kick off our spring season! Please take advantage of the night off to work out on your own.

February 12, 2010
Las Vegas International 7s

BOSTON – Now a new Olympic sport, world-class rugby is arriving stateside, and a Boston player has earned a spot to showcase her talent on the rugby field.

Friday, February 12th kicks off day one of USA Rugby’s International Sevens Tournament. Of the 24 players named to the two women’s USA Sevens teams, Katie Dowty will represent the USA as the well as her hometown of Watertown, and the prestigious Beantown Rugby Football Club.

Alex Williams, USA Rugby’s High Performance Manager said of the event: “I am very pleased with the number and quality of Women’s National Sevens Teams participating in the event this year, given that it is year one of the Sevens World Cup cycle and there is a Fifteens Women’s Rugby World Cup later this year.”

The women’s matches will be played in conjunction with the Men’s Las Vegas Invitational. The two Women’s USA Sevens teams (white and blue) will play teams from France, China, Germany and Canadian National University on both Friday and Sunday.

All of Friday’s games can be viewed on USA Rugby’s Ustream account at www.ustream.tv/usarugby starting at 8:20am PST. Read rest of story…

January 28, 2010
Spring practices start February 16

Beantown’s spring practices and schedule are now posted under the Calendar section. Mark your calendars! It won’t be long until we see your familiar or new faces soon.

January 19, 2010
Beantown represented at Atlanta Cup

BOSTON, MA: This past week the US Women’s National Rugby team assembled in Tigertown, Florida to play two international matches against Canada and sustained with a loss on Tuesday, but emerged victorious on Saturday.

Amongst the ranks of the US Eagles were six of Beantown’s very own: Sharon Blaney, Emilie Bydwell, Melanie Denham and Kittery Wagner (all from Watertown, MA), along with their teammates, Jamie Burke (Dover, NH) and Mari Wallace (Jamaica Plain, MA), helped the US battle through two very close contests.
Read rest of story…

January 12, 2010
Beantown players listed in Women’s Rugby players of the decade by RUGBYMag.com

BOSTON, MA: As the decade comes to a close, RUGBYMag.com has named their Women’s Rugby players of the decade. The twenty-two-player list is made up of both past, and present Eagle women. The list boasts four players from New England’s only Premier League rugby club, Beantown RFC.Alumna, Jen Crouse was a long time captain for Beantown and a member of the Women Eagles from 2000 to 2007. Alex Williams, another Beantown Alumna is currently the Women Eagles High Performance Manager.

The two current players, Jamie Burke (Dover, NH), named “one of the most physically imposing front row players in USA history” and number two, Mari Wallace(Jamiaca Plain) Read rest of story…


60 Second Interview with Mel Denham

Beantown’s very own Mel Denham was recently featured on www.scrumqueen.com in a 60 second interview.  www.scrumqueen.com is a blog with the intention of offering in-depth quality coverage of women’s rugby at international level. Read full story here.

December 26, 2009
Blog overhaul!

Hello, Beantown Rugby’s blog website is undergoing major constructure.  Please be patient while the webmaster updates the blog’s theme look and feel.