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.