(original Instagram post. Researched and curated by Emma Zoch. Text by Andrea Clark.)
Women’s History Month is almost over, so to close out our series let’s take a look at what WWRFC has been up to since 2015…
- We made multiple appearances in Midwest Finals, winning the D2 Midwest Championship in 2015 and 2016, and finishing as D1 Midwest Runners-Up in 2017.
- In 2015 we started our Wisconsin Women’s Rugby Leadership Endowment fund – donations to our endowment go towards grants and scholarships for those looking to play higher level rugby, gain coaching and referee certifications, and to attend conferences and seminars related to both rugby and events that benefit them in their profession.
- In 2015 we became the D2 National Champions!
- In 2016 we went back to the national championship, but became the runners up after losing to Life West.
- After that second Nationals run in 2016, we moved up to D1.
- Since 2016, we’ve spent time rebuilding our team after many players moved on to the WPL or retired, and our head coach Bob Jafferis stepped down.
- During this time we had a number of players selected for Senior and U24 Midwest Selects Teams, including: Maggie Hackett, Lauren McCormack, Loren Schlei, and Ashley Shaw.
- Coaches during this time included: Bob Jafferis, Kim Distin, Rosie Miesner, Jessica Burda, Kit Sargent, Justin O’Connor (current head coach), Aletha Petersen, and Elisa Becker (current coach).
- In 2020 rugby was temporarily no-more as the COVID-19 Pandemic hit. We have continued our rebuilding since.
- We are HUGELY excited for our 50th Anniversary in 2025!!!
Hopefully this month you all have learned some fun facts about the WWRFC and have been able to see what an amazing deep history we have here in Wisconsin. A huge shout out to our President, Emma, for gathering all the facts and pictures to make this possible. While Women’s History Month is coming to an end, we hope you keep celebrating women in sport and women everywhere! See you at our games this spring!
