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| 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…
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| Kick-off |
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| Beantown scrum |
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| Beantown scores! |
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| KO & Kelly |
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| Kevin, KO, Annie, and Kelly |
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| Walter & Sully |
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| Gaby, Paige, and me |
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| Patti & Sunshine |
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| Beantown 1994 |
CALENDAR:
Oct 12-18 Women’s Week in Provincetown
https://womensweekprovincetown.com/womens-week-schedule-2026/
Oct 16 WomenCrafts 50th
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.
Oct 16 – 17 Brattleboro Literary Fest
https://brattleborolitfest.org/
Oct 17 – Boston Book Fest
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.
