Congrats Valks!

 

Well, I guess it was only natural to roll right into watching WNBA games, after going right from the Olympics to World Cup x-country skiing at Lake Placid, and the PWHL, interspersed with the occasional Banshees and Beantown rugby games, to become basketball fans this summer, as the WNBA celebrated its 30^th year. Thirty years? How have I missed this? Again, I wonder, where have I been? The answer: living under the proverbial rock, both literally and figuratively, but more on that later, another day, another post. 

Caitlin Clark might have been the gateway to watching, with her superpowers at making three-pointers and passing the ball to the open player, but then we quickly saw that she was just one of many, MANY amazing basketball players across the league: Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston (Indiana); Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd, and Jessica Shepard (Dallas); Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, Satou Sabally, and Sabrina Ionescu (NY); Olivia Miles (MN); Nneka Ogwumike (LA); A’ja Wilson and Chelsea Gray (Las Vegas), Angel Reese (Atlanta), and the list goes on and on and on. And we started getting to know the coaches. And we realized that we’d missed like 29 years of history. The last WNBA game I went to was around 1996 or so when a bunch of us drove out to somewhere in the middle of Massachusetts. Somehow Boston missed the boat when it came to getting a team, alas. But when the TD Garden was going to host a game between the CT Sun (in their last season here) and the LA Sparks, we couldn’t wait to get tickets, since we’d become big Nneka Ogwumike fans. She announced her retirement the very next day. Congrats! (and wouldn't she make a great Commissioner?)

Here’s the funny thing. The first time we watched a game against the Golden State Valkyries (which I kept calling Garden State in my head for some reason, but no, of course they are not from New Jersey), there was not one name that stood out, not one player who stood out. But they were collectively as a team really good. And we couldn’t find their coach on the sideline, no, not until we realized she was the one standing five-foot-two, and calling the shots, having played – captained the team – in college as a walk-on at UCLA, which is incomprehensible in itself. And this was only her second year as a head coach. And she’d recruited a team of maybe over-looked players, with raw talent and desire and the right attitude. And with that, they not only made it to the playoffs, they knocked out the Dallas Wings in the first round, and then the Las Vegas Aces in the semi-finals (playing against Coach Nakase’s former team), and ultimately the Atlanta Dream in Game 7. 

But we knew there was something special when in game 3 of the first-round of playoffs against the Dallas Wings, their backs against the ropes, down by 16 points, Kayla Thornton pulled the five players on the floor into a group huddle, arms around each others’ shoulders, and simply said, “Take a breath,” and collectively they did just that, settled back in, and pulled together to win and go on in the playoffs. 

https://www.instagram.com/reels/DeA-4b8RJpg/

 

Gabby Williams in an interview right after the win attributed their success to two things: good people, beautiful culture. (reminds me of a place I used to work, but again, we’ll save that for another day)

 

https://www.instagram.com/reels/DfM7HDNREHN/

 

Tiffany Hayes had one statement: “Invest in women's sports!”

For more analysis on the value of this, see Breezy Johnson’s Substack post making the case that “women’s sport is undervalued, not under watched.” It’s very much an uneven playing field. 

https://substack.com/home/post/p-224349371

 

Veronica Burton was picked up two years ago, when hope was running out, working out over at the YMCA (actually the very one I belong to, and even occasionally visit, just over the river and the Pike), and then they try to interview her in the locker room, but she is too busy, singing “YMCA” together along with all her teammates. What a turnaround.

 

And then, my favorite, the interview with Coach Natalie Nakase right after the win, when asked, What does it mean to see the culture that you built pay off so quickly?

 

"It's the love. We have unconditional love that's fcking unbreakable!

And this is for all the people that’ve been under-rated, misunderstood, this is for all ya’all, because these are proof, that if you put all your heart and all your soul, you can fcking win championships!"

https://valkyries.wnba.com/watch/video/natalie-nakase-speaks-at-the-2026-wnba-finals-trophy-ceremony-10-31-26

 

Which explains the T-shirt designed by heylo_every1 on Threadless:

 

https://www.threadless.com/shop/@studioheylo/design/coty/mens/t-shirt/extra-soft

 

Also refreshing - the number of players openly talking about and posting on social about their wives and girlfriends. They can be their whole self now. Hiding parts of yourself takes energy, work, and is draining. Historically, basketball was one of the most closeted, self-censoring sports, driven by the fear of losing their sponsors and supporters. And yet - some of their loudest and most loyal supporters - now and always - have been the LGBTQ community. 

And now we've come full circle and just weeks away from the start of the new PWHL season, with the Boston Fleet home opener vs. Ottawa Charge Dec. 9^th, and then vs. Montreal Victoire Dec. 16th at Agganis Arena, on the Boston University campus.

Hope to see you there – and maybe someone can answer this question: Do I really need to be prepared to part with one of my hats if someone scores a hat trick? I'm kind of obsessively attached to my hats.

 

It seems like ever since President Trump's dis of the US Women's Olympic hockey team, every women's sports event I watch feels like an act of defiance. And joy. Joyous defiance.

 

Well, yes, that, and of course, and VOTING. Well done, USA, keep it up, don't let up, that was just the midterms. We’re on a roll!

 

CALENDAR:

PWHL Boston Fleet

Dec 6 At New York Sirens

Dec 9 vs. Ottawa Charge at Agganis Arena, BU Campus

Dec 16 vs. Montreal Victoire at Agganis Arena, BU Campus

Books:

If anyone wants copies of my books, they’re both on Amazon, but for the rugby book, just reach out in a comment, and I’ll send you a copy. It will be simpler.

The Happy Clam can be ordered directly through the printer/distributor (IngramSparks), cutting out all the middle-people:

 https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?params=H5CEjLsCLxp0QjPdNOPvntbgUAZdvqWRZoms9HXVnCO

SubStack – Also, thanks and welcome to all the new followers on SubStack! A simple and convenient way to get each new post delivered directly to your in box.

https://substack.com/@rosemaryschmidt

© 2026 Rosemary A. Schmidt

Rose Schmidt is the author of The Happy Clam (© 2020), and Go Forward, Support! The Rugby of Life (© 2004), both published by Gainline Press. The views expressed herein are solely those of the author, and do not represent the views of any other agency or organization. Use of individual quotes with proper citation and attribution, within the limits of fair use, is permitted. To request permission to re-use or reprint any of the content on the site, please contact me.

 

Happy 50th Beantown!

 

Kelly Craven leading team off the pitch into the tunnel after Saturday's win over Burlington

What a glorious, joyous weekend, celebrating fifty years of Beantown Rugby amidst a sea of red and blue, old friends, old teammates, as the new team takes their places on the pitch for kick-off, a near-miracle, given the team had their backs against the ropes, on the verge of collapse just a year ago, after the plundering and pillaging by the WER Banshees. But, from the ashes, a new Beantown rises.

Friday night we meet up at City Works, in Arsenal Yards, Watertown, for an informal social. I pity the poor restaurant workers we have descended upon them, but they handle the crowd with aplomb and grace. Alums have traveled from Memphis, Florida, Nebraska… And I? From West Watertown, which is like saying West Postage Stamp, the city covering a mere 3.5 square miles. I had a better chance of running into Noah Kahan at the local Post Office, than ever getting concert tickets, but even now he has moved on, alas. On the drive home, the song, “I Miss Those Days” plays on the radio, and I laugh. Oh, well played, Jack Antonoff and The Bleachers.

https://youtu.be/qQy12GH1Fl4?si=YiXI8EbQXmcanM_u

“I was lost, but I miss those days…”

Seeing old friends at the Harvard fields Saturday, this line comes back to me. A player who went to Harvard said she’d gone back to walk around campus, and the thought struck her, they weren’t always the happiest of times. And yet… Here we all are, basking under the bright sun and blue sky, calling out shouts to familiar faces as they approach the stands. We’re playing at the Harvard rugby pitch, and there are actually bleachers, remarkable, remembering the days of climbing over and under fences to get to our practice fields.

Memories take me back, to my first games at the University of Illinois in the late 80s, and then for Beantown in the early 90s, touching down in a New England town, getting deposited by a cab onto Beacon Street, the roving geologist. Crossing the Mass Ave. bridge to find the summer sevens games over at MIT, playing until the blister on my heel broke and bled. Driving my pick-up truck over the Tappan Zee Bridge for the first time, going where, I don’t know, maybe the tournament in Philly. The long, deep conversations we’d get into on those drives… And the hi-jinks down at the Cape Cod Sevens Tournament, skinny dipping at Craigville Beach at some small odd hour of the night.  

 

I’m the one at the far left, sporting the haircut from Sully, using the very same hair trimmer that she used on her fluffy orange tabby, Ely. Dee, in the middle of the photo, I remember a game next to the Potomac River, where she had the idea, a quick lineout, where I, as the hooker, essentially threw the ball in to her, with everyone else unaware and not lined up yet, that she had the trust and faith in me to pull this off. The time that MJ complained about the Christmas tree still up in January (or February), and went to the kitchen to make fill-in-the-blank, a turkey, a ham, or shepherd’s pie, and when she came back out, the tree was gone, everyone in the living room had helped shove the tree out the second-floor window, dropping undoubtedly past the neighbor’s downstairs window into the front yard below, and sometimes I still wonder what that must have looked like to them.

The reunion party is that night at The Verve in Natick.

Fifty years of Beantown Rugby. We all share a common thread. I’m shocked to think it has been thirty years since I retired in 1996. Thirty years of rugby players, a lifetime. Another lifetime ago. But it’s like we’re all young again, just for one night, we’ve walked back on that field, just like in Field of Dreams. We’ll wake up old again, but for one night we are young, singing, and we see each other not just as we are, but as we once were. Everyone has stories to share. I spend as much time talking to old familiar friends, as well as players who came before my time, hearing life stories condensed into fragments of conversation, and yet the precious thread that binds us. Nicknames, a tour to Wales, a guy trying to buy someone’s hat for fifty pounds. So many photos of young, wildly alive women, now older, and wizened.

We hold a moment of silence for teammates we have lost:

Madeline Mackles, who so relentlessly and tenaciously recruited that fledgling team in 1976; Liz Satterfield, who battled cancer for ten years; Bev Armstrong, known for her infectious laugh; and Stanza, Connie Bridi, all wiry and witty.

There are more speeches, and stories from the original team members, captains KO Onufry and Nancy Kavanaugh, accolades for Kelly Craven who is in her fortieth year of playing, and thanks to the newest team members and coaches carrying on the legacy. While the mantel is heavy, let its weight never be a burden. We sing “Bread of Heaven.” Gratitude is mentioned over and over, as well as the team’s rallying cheer: Go forward, support!

And I think – How can I ever re-pay rugby for what it gave to me? Strength, fortitude, resilience. A found family. Rugby was my safe space. First crushes, first girlfriends, break-ups, bruises, a broken bone. Rugby gave me swagger. A way to hold myself, to do things I never thought possible. Sports, simply, are good for women, and especially rugby, where there is a place for every body.

Go Forward, Support!

A few more pics from the weekend…

Kick-off

Beantown scrum

Beantown scores!

KO & Kelly

Kevin, KO, Annie, and Kelly

Walter & Sully

Gaby, Paige, and me

Patti & Sunshine

Beantown 1994

CALENDAR:

Oct 12-18 Women’s Week in Provincetown

https://womensweekprovincetown.com/womens-week-schedule-2026/

Oct 16 WomenCrafts 50^th Anniversary Town Hall Celebration

Oct 17 An Evening With Kate Moennig: On Life, Love, The L Word, and Shane, at Provincetown Town Hall, in conversation with author Felice Cohen.

Kate is being presented the Women’s Week ICON Award.

Sadly, Leisha Hailey won’t be on the trip (as far as I know), otherwise would have loved to see a book talk about their joint memoir, So Gay For You, that came out last year, and forced me to re-watch all five season of The L Word all over again. Review to follow in a future blog.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/an-evening-with-kate-moennig-on-life-love-the-l-word-and-shane-tickets-2001675139225?aff=oddtdtcreator

 

Oct 16 – 17 Brattleboro Literary Fest

https://brattleborolitfest.org/

Oct 17 – Boston Book Fest

https://bostonbookfest.org/

 

WNBA FINALS:

Oct 17, 2026 San Francisco Valkyries vs. Atlanta Dream Playoffs begin

 

BEANTOWN RUGBY: https://beantownrugby.com/schedule/

Oct 17 At New Haven

Oct 24 At Providence

Oct 31 Playoffs – Semifinals

Nov 7 Playoffs – Finals

 

PWHL Boston Fleet

Dec 6 At New York Sirens

Dec 9 vs. Ottawa Charge at Agganis Arena, BU Campus

Dec 16 vs. Montreal Victoire at Agganis Arena, BU Campus

 

Books:

If anyone wants copies of my books, they’re both on Amazon, but for the rugby book, just reach out in a comment, and I’ll send you a copy. It will be simpler.

The Happy Clam can be ordered directly through the printer/distributor (IngramSparks), cutting out all the middle-people:

https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?params=H5CEjLsCLxp0QjPdNOPvntbgUAZdvqWRZoms9HXVnCO

 

SubStack – Also, thanks and welcome to all the new followers on SubStack! A simple and convenient way to get each new post delivered directly to your in box.

https://substack.com/@rosemaryschmidt

 

© 2026 Rosemary A. Schmidt

Rose Schmidt is the author of The Happy Clam (© 2020), and Go Forward, Support! The Rugby of Life (© 2004), both published by Gainline Press. The views expressed herein are solely those of the author, and do not represent the views of any other agency or organization. Use of individual quotes with proper citation and attribution, within the limits of fair use, is permitted. To request permission to re-use or reprint any of the content on the site, please contact me.

Amour Victoire!

 

I am in love with this little singing puck! She drives the Zamboni too!

PWHL Walter Cup Playoff Finals Game 3 is tonight, May 18^th at 6 PM EDT. Montreal Victoire leads 2-0 over Ottawa, and so tonight could see a winner crowned.

Semi-Finals Re-Cap:

The Boston Fleet lost to the Ottawa Charge in the Walter Cup semifinals, alas, some really bad luck in game 4, the puck just trickling in across the red line behind Aerin Frankel to give the Charge the go-ahead goal.

Montreal Victoire came out ahead of the Minnesota Frost to queue up an all-Canada final showdown between Montreal and Ottawa.

Game 5 between Victoire and Frost came down to three plays.

Victoire goalie Anne-Renée Desbiens deftly pulled a puck back with her stick, that was gently rolling about to cross the red line.

Later she blocked a puck, throwing herself sideways, catching it in her glove. Such athleticism.

Marie-Philip Poulin's clutch game-winning shot was at an almost impossible angle, just shy of being parallel to the crease, into the top shelf of the net, over the shoulder of Frost goalie Maddie Rooney. Akin to kicking a field goal from the side touch line.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYQ1Lv7SDu8/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Oh Canada, pitting Montreal against Ottawa. Is that a rivalry? Hmmm. Last year, Victoire was the number one seed and picked Ottawa as their first-round opponent, which Ottawa took as a dis, and went on to beat them.

Ottawa has been in the finals twice, losing twice to the Frost.

This is the first time for Victoire to make it to the finals. Finally.

Still rooting for the Boston Fleet to be back in it next year!

 

FINALS

Game 1 on May 14th Victoire took in OT. Ottawa led 2 to 1, but then with 28 seconds left, Laura Stacey took a hard hit into the boards, some sort of injury to her left side. The stadium went silent as she lay in pain, and was then helped off the ice by a trainer and her captain Poulin.

With only 2 sec left, Victoire Nicole Gosling ("the goose") scores, tying it up 2-2, sending it into OT.

After the intermission, Stacey skates out onto the ice, and the stadium roars. It's enough. Victoire is fired up and scores a couple minutes into OT. A loose puck in front of the net gets slapped off Abby Rouque's face mask and ricochets into the net.

 #RicochetRoque

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYXG4FRDXKO/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYX79lGxzfn/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Game 2 on May 16^th also went Victoire’s way, winning 2-1 in OT. But I missed the OT period, because I was on my way to the Banshees rugby game.

AMOUR

There is so much love on these teams. Reminds me again of the Olympics. And Beantown. The 2013 Red Sox, Brady's Patriots.

And on Victoire - so much love. I mean, my first loyalty is to the Fleet... but I just learned that Captain Marie-Philip Poulin and Alternate Captain Laura Stacey are married! Making the moment as Poulin helps Stacey off the ice all the more poignant.

How could I not know that? Once again, I have been living under a rock, WORKING all the time, with no discretionary time.

But I am so happy for them. Finding love, safety, acceptance, a partner in crime who understands you... It’s not guaranteed, and you’re so lucky when you find it.

Art imitates life...

Of course there is the whole Heated Rivalry series of books, which I have not read yet. Romance is having its moment. There’s a bookstore in Harvard Square, Lovestruck Books, where the entire store is devoted to romance novels!!

Lovestruck Books outdoor patio in Harvard Square

Gay male hockey players are such a novelty, and yet, women’s hockey seems to be fostering such a wonderful sense of inclusiveness even rivaling rugby. Girls who like to play hard, fast contact sports. Plenty of straight women, but also plenty not.

Maybe the real revolution is straight women being comfortable with not-straight women.

No sooner have my fingers danced across the keyboard and tippety-tapped this out, when I stumble over the social media news (to me) that a PWHL player was swept up in controversy about her Twitter likes and posts, accused of being homophobic and transphobic. Yes, you can apologize for the posts, but thank you, now we know how you really feel. Maybe this one person is an anomaly. Or maybe hockey is not quite yet the universally safe, inclusive, and accepting space I thought it was. Or is still becoming.

Only rugby.

Maybe the stigma and stereotype associated with rugby kept away any woman who wasn't comfortable and secure in her own skin. Which is a good and bad thing. Good, in that it created this safe space. Sad, in that they missed out on playing, and rugby missed out on what they could have contributed to the game.

YouTube thinks it knows what I want to see (and is annoyingly right), queuing up this short interview with MPP and Stacey. It’s only four minutes.  Please watch it.

https://youtu.be/_F5gzhFvdbY?si=-VUobcexhLTNbiNE

“It’s probably the most myself I’ve ever been,” she says, through tears.

How this breaks my heart, how fearful they were! But as public figures, they have much more to lose, their careers, their livelihoods, plus worrying about how the public would react. Hockey is everything to them.

As a B-side hooker for Beantown, I definitely didn’t have any endorsements to worry about. Not that I'd have had to worry even if I were an A-side hooker, there were no endorsements, which gave us a certain amount of autonomy, as in total. We tried to do our own self-policing, as far as PDA, for what it was worth, though it didn't always work.

But I did kind of wonder and worry about the security of my job, which I definitely needed, to pay the bills. It was 1993, just after don't-ask-don't-tell came out under Clinton, which was the grand compromise on gays serving in the military. But you couldn't really get a straight answer when you asked the hypothetical question about whether a hypothetical civilian federal employee could get fired just for being gay. Not that anyone would, right, because everyone is so reasonable, and we're such likable and good workers, right?

Well...

It was 1993 and I went on a site visit with my supervisor (section chief) and our branch chief (his supervisor) to one of our dams in Vermont. Along our way there, we stopped at a you-guessed-it Dunkin Donuts, because we are in New England after all. As we sat down to enjoy our coffee and donuts, our branch chief started the conversation with this:

"Do you know what I hate?"

I thought we were going to get into a heated discussion of donut fillings. No to the red jelly, okay to the white whipped cream, and yes-more-please for the yellow custard Boston cream. But no. He goes on to say instead:

"I hate homosexuals."

And then went on to talk about the new policy and how horrible it was. I honestly don’t remember. I was in shock. I kind of blanked out the rest of the conversation, all my energy spent on keeping a straight face and not reacting.

So, I guess I do understand that fear.

But, my God, that was 33 years ago!

A lifetime ago.

Yet, federal protection against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation was only decided pretty recently, in 2020, as being implicitly covered by the 1964 Civil Rights Act by the landmark Supreme Court ruling in the Bostock v. Clayton County case on June 15, 2020! The Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission (EEOC) had updated its interpretation that sexual orientation was a protected class earlier, in 2015, bless their hearts, but their interpretation was non-binding. But maybe it helped set the stage.

Either way, of my 33 years of federal service (1992 - 2025), I really enjoyed freedom from the fear of discrimination only the last 5 years.

Just a little history lesson – on how far we’ve come, and yet how fragile everything still is, how fast pendulums swing, and how much fear still exists, and it breaks my heart.

I have nothing against Ottawa, except that they beat my Fleet, but love is love, and I love love, and so I I’ll be cheering for Victoire! Amour Victoire!

Happy Pride month a little early!

 

SPORTS CALENDAR:

HOCKEY – WALTER CUP FINALS:

May 18 – Montreal vs. Ottawa, Game 3, 6:00 PM EDT, at Ottawa.

Games are being streamed on PWHL YouTube: https://www.thepwhl.com/en/

May 20 – Montreal vs. Ottawa, Game 4 (if needed), 7:00 PM EDT, at Ottawa.

May 23 – Montreal vs. Ottawa, Game 5 (if needed), 12:30 PM EDT, at Montreal.

 

RUGBY:

Check the WER home page for the latest on schedules, times, etc.

https://www.womenseliterugby.us/schedule-boston-banshees

May 30, 2026 – Boston Banshees play away at Twin City Gemini. 6:00 PM EDT.

All 2026 WER games will be available to stream on the Women’s Sports Network, which is in the LIVE TV sports section of the various streaming services: Prime Video, fubo, tubi, Roku, PLUTO, plex, Samsung TV Plus, LG Channels, Watch Free Vizio, MyFree DirectTV, TABLO.

See the WER website for details on how to watch.

May 31 - Rosie's Ruck 7s in Canton, MA.

June 7, 2026 – Boston Banshees HOME GAME vs. Bay City Breakers.

Kick-off is at 6:00 PM EDT.

June 11 - MA High School Rugby State Championship in Quincy, MA.

June 13, 2026 – Boston Banshees play away at Denver Onyx. 7:00 PM EDT.

June 21, 2026 – Boston Banshees play away at Bay Breakers. 8:00 PM EDT.

July 11, 2026 – Boston Banshees HOME GAME vs. Twin City Gemini.

Kick-off is at 3:00 PM EDT.

July 18, 2026 – Boston Banshees HOME GAME vs. Chicago Tempest.

Kick-off is at 5:00 PM EDT.

July 25, 2026 – Boston Banshees play away at NY Exiles. 5:00 PM EDT.

 

BOSTON LEGACY FC (SOCCER):

May 22 – Seattle Reign FC, at Centreville Bank Stadium. This is a super-nice stadium, and located just outside Providence, RI.

May 30 – At KC Current.

https://bostonlegacyfc.com/pages/schedule

 

BOOKS:

If anyone wants copies of my books, they’re both on Amazon, but for the rugby book, just reach out in a comment, and I’ll send you a copy. It will be simpler.

The Happy Clam can be ordered directly through the printer/distributor (IngramSparks), cutting out all the middle-people:

https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?params=H5CEjLsCLxp0QjPdNOPvntbgUAZdvqWRZoms9HXVnCO

SubStack – Also, thanks and welcome to all the new followers on SubStack! A simple and convenient way to get each new post delivered directly to your in box.

https://substack.com/@rosemaryschmidt

References:

© 2026 Rosemary A. Schmidt

Rose Schmidt is the author of The Happy Clam (© 2020), and Go Forward, Support! The Rugby of Life (© 2004), both published by Gainline Press. The views expressed herein are solely those of the author, and do not represent the views of any other agency or organization. Use of individual quotes with proper citation and attribution, within the limits of fair use, is permitted. To request permission to re-use or reprint any of the content on the site, please contact me.

May Mental Health Month & Banshees Rugby Recap

 

Boston Banshees (orange) take on Denver Onyx

Boston Banshees vs. Chicago Tempest May 9^th (L 32-36)

The Boston Banshees took a loss on their road trip to play the Chicago Tempest May 9th in Chicago. Despite the Banshees holding a 24-17 lead at half time, Chicago came back to score with productive ruck series and then some breakaways, which really hurt them. The Banshees had a late-game scoring rally, but still notched the loss 32 to 36.

Boston Banshees vs. Denver Onyx May 16^th (L 19-52)

The Banshees were back on home turf at Veterans Field to take on the Denver Onyx, last year’s playoff champions, winning the 2025 Legacy Cup, outscoring the NY Exiles 53 to 13 in the final. 

Spring-like weather and stands filled with fans lightened the day. We were also relieved to hear the crowd cheering for the Banshees, and not Boston; someone must have gotten the memo, thank you!

The play was pretty even in the first half, with Denver ahead by only one try at half, the score 14-19. Denver had scored early and fast, but then the Banshees answered with two back-to-back tries. Onyx evened the score to 14-14, followed by a try with a missed conversion.

The second half saw the Onyx open things up, scoring about ten minutes into the half, on a quick penalty, a tap-and-go right in front of the goal posts. It was almost all Onyx after that, aside from a Banshee try with ten minutes left in the game. The Banshees had been threatening deep, starting from a lineout, followed by some impressive power-running by Lock #4 Molly McAlevey.

 

Ultimately they passed the ball out wide right to Wing #11 Emma Santosuasso, who took it in for the try.

The Onyx prevailed, scoring repeatedly, through both productive back-line rucking and break-aways. Final score 19-52.

POSTSCRIPT

Revisiting my previous blog, “Falling” (April 25, 2026), I had posed a couple of questions about Noah Kahan and Jessie Diggins.

https://www.gainline.com/2026/04/falling.html

About Jessie - How can one person be so joyful?

And Noah - How can one person be so sad?

Jessie Diggins, despite all her glitter and joy, has definitely faced hard times, really hard times, which she has shared so openly about in her movie, Threshold, documenting her struggles with an eating disorder during the 2023-2024 x-country ski season. I did a quick movie review here:

https://www.gainline.com/2026/03/threshold-movie-review.html

But also see her recent Facebook post from May 13^th, recognizing May as Mental Health awareness month.  

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18UHEqPnz5/

A few quotes from her post, copied here, but I do encourage everyone to read her full post, and see the advocacy she has been doing, as an ambassador for the Emily Project, helping others.

"I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t just fix myself. Because I was ashamed and embarrassed that I couldn’t seem to get it together, I refused to talk about it with my loved ones and got sicker and sicker while my self worth plummeted and I hated the person I was becoming.”

"You don’t have to be alone in this! If I had known that this wasn’t my fault, that I didn’t do anything to deserve this mental illness, then maybe I would have talked about it with my family sooner. We need to bring eating disorders into the mental health conversation and make them ok to talk about.”

"When I got sick, I quickly lost hope; I thought this would now be how I lived my life forever. But recovery is possible - I am living proof of that! - and when we get the help we need quickly there’s actually a higher likelihood of recovery. So please, if you or someone you love is suffering, don’t wait. You deserve care and compassion and the chance to live a fully joyful, healthy life.”

And so – even the most joyful-looking person might be in extreme pain, emotional or physical, and dealing with unseen struggles. And so, maybe it should be said the other way around, that despite all her struggles, she has found joy. And glitter.

Joy. I think she found her joy in skiing, and in the love for her teammates.

Jessie Diggins, speaking at a local grade school recently about the Olympics, asked the kids which mattered more: getting a medal hung around her neck, or getting hugs from teammates after a race, and they all got this answer right. Those hugs came when they didn’t even know how she'd placed yet, because it didn’t matter. Neither congratulatory nor consoling, they were purely loving.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18wHpJKTEX/

Joy. Despite the pain and sacrifices. After the 10K race in Lake Placid, she mentioned the taste of blood in her mouth after the race, which turns out to be from pushing the lungs to the limit, resulting in small blood losses through the capillaries. Yes, I had to Google this. She'd ski until her lungs bled practically, but what room do I have to talk? When I was first in Boston in '91 and found Beantown, I showed up at their summer scrimmages over at the MIT fields, and not only would I have played ‘til my feet bled, I actually did play until my feet bled. A blister that wore right through the skin on my heel. I wound up putting a Band-Aid on it, and then duct tape over that, to sort of help hold the skin on. Not sure this was actually a good idea, but it turned out okay. Do not try this at home, just because you read it on the internet! (Although Doctor Google does sort of support this idea, as long as you cover the blister w/ a sterile dressing first.)

#BloodySockClub – Anyone else? Besides me and Curt Schilling?

Likewise, Noah Kahan, I think can also be happy, and if I had to guess, it would be when he is creating, experiencing flow, and in the zone, making music. Just as Jessie naturally took to skiing as a child, wanting to go faster and faster. He writes and plays music. He is also committed to advocacy work for mental health, through the BusyHead Project which he founded:

https://www.busyheadproject.org/

It’s about finding what makes your heart sing.

Whether it be rugby, hockey, x-country skiing, singing, writing, or riding.

And getting help when you need it.

Find your joy.

 

SPORTS CALENDAR:

RUGBY:

Check the WER home page for the latest on schedules, times, etc.

https://www.womenseliterugby.us/schedule-boston-banshees

May 30, 2026 – Boston Banshees play away at Twin City Gemini. 6:00 PM EDT.

All 2026 WER games will be available to stream on the Women’s Sports Network, which is in the LIVE TV sports section of the various streaming services: Prime Video, fubo, tubi, Roku, PLUTO, plex, Samsung TV Plus, LG Channels, Watch Free Vizio, MyFree DirectTV, TABLO.

See the WER website for details on how to watch.

May 31 - Rosie's Ruck 7s in Canton, MA.

June 7, 2026 – Boston Banshees HOME GAME vs. Bay City Breakers.

Kick-off is at 6:00 PM EDT.

June 11 - MA High School Rugby State Championship in Quincy, MA.

June 13, 2026 – Boston Banshees play away at Denver Onyx. 7:00 PM EDT.

June 21, 2026 – Boston Banshees play away at Bay Breakers. 8:00 PM EDT.

July 11, 2026 – Boston Banshees HOME GAME vs. Twin City Gemini.

Kick-off is at 3:00 PM EDT.

July 18, 2026 – Boston Banshees HOME GAME vs. Chicago Tempest.

Kick-off is at 5:00 PM EDT.

July 25, 2026 – Boston Banshees play away at NY Exiles. 5:00 PM EDT.

 

HOCKEY – WALTER CUP FINALS:

May 18 – Montreal vs. Ottawa, Game 3, 6:00 PM EDT, at Ottawa.

Games are being streamed on PWHL YouTube: https://www.thepwhl.com/en/

May 20 – Montreal vs. Ottawa, Game 4 (if needed), 7:00 PM EDT, at Ottawa.

May 23 – Montreal vs. Ottawa, Game 5 (if needed), 12:30 PM EDT, at Montreal.

 

BOSTON LEGACY FC (SOCCER):

May 22 – Seattle Reign FC, at Centreville Bank Stadium. This is a super-nice stadium, and located just outside Providence, RI.

May 30 – At KC Current.

 

Books:

If anyone wants copies of my books, they’re both on Amazon, but for the rugby book, just reach out in a comment, and I’ll send you a copy. It will be simpler.

The Happy Clam can be ordered directly through the printer/distributor (IngramSparks), cutting out all the middle-people:

 https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?params=H5CEjLsCLxp0QjPdNOPvntbgUAZdvqWRZoms9HXVnCO

SubStack – Also, thanks and welcome to all the new followers on SubStack! A simple and convenient way to get each new post delivered directly to your in box.

https://substack.com/@rosemaryschmidt

 

References:

 

© 2026 Rosemary A. Schmidt

Rose Schmidt is the author of The Happy Clam (© 2020), and Go Forward, Support! The Rugby of Life (© 2004), both published by Gainline Press. The views expressed herein are solely those of the author, and do not represent the views of any other agency or organization. Use of individual quotes with proper citation and attribution, within the limits of fair use, is permitted. To request permission to re-use or reprint any of the content on the site, please contact me.