| Full name | Georgetown University Rugby Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Union | USA Rugby | ||
| Nickname(s) | Hoya Ruggers | ||
| Founded | 1967 | ||
| Region | Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union | ||
| Ground(s) | Multi-Sport Field (Capacity: 2,500) | ||
| Coach(es) | J.P. Perez (since 2002) | ||
| Captain(s) | Karl Godlewski | ||
| League(s) | Potomac Rugby Union | ||
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| Official website | |||
| www.georgetownrfc.org | |||
The Georgetown University Rugby Football Club is the intercollegiate men's rugby union team that represents Georgetown University in the USA Rugby league. They have twice reached the USA Rugby National Tournament Final Four, in 2005 and 2009.
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The Georgetown Rugby Football Club (GURFC) was founded in the spring semester of 1967 by former members of the Washington D.C. Rugby Football Club. The founder was a graduate student, Michael Murphy. In the early history of the club, GURFC fielded both an “A” and “B” sides, while occasionally mustering the numbers for a “C” side. In the fall of 1968, GURFC hired its first coach to the program, which only lasted until the Spring. During this time, John Clisham worked as the club president.
In the Fall of 1985, Georgetown Rugby set on a self-directed course in the PRU. Under the coaching / playing leadership of Dave Pegno (and his housemates), the team rallied through a building season that was to be foundational for the long list of championships and accolades to come post 1985. The leadership torch was passed to up and coming underclassman - Jim Thompson from New Zealand, Doug Brown from New Jersey and Tom Gletner from Maryland to guide the team through a rough transitional period. Completing a .500 season in 1986 - the team began to gel as a true unit in 1987. After monumental victories over all PRU challengers - GU secured the regular season PRU championship in 1987 and dropped a 13-10 decision to Salisbury State in the league challenge match championship. Building on success - the team began to roll with undefeated season play in 1989 under the guidance of president / captain Doug Brown and PRU all all-star Dan Kirk. The 1990 team featured 5 PRU all-stars and took advantage of Spring Bok coaching expertise from Heyn Van Rooyen and Theo Van Wyk.
Georgetown graduate students have played on the Georgetown Law Rugby Football Club since 2005. Current USA Rugby rules prevent graduate students from playing on the official university teams, despite the fact that most collegiate rugby clubs in the nation were started by graduate students. Despite its name, the Georgetown Law RFC is open to all Georgetown graduate programs.
In the early days of the club, the “officers” consisted of a scrum captain, a backs captain, a president, a VP/Treasurer, and a secretary. The 5 "officers" would determine the A, B, and C side rosters each week. In 1970-1971, John Kelly was president, Jack Schmidt was the (Match) Secretary, Joe Pulosi and Mike (Last Name Unknown) were the captains, and Leonard Natoli, Jr. served as the Vice President/Treasurer. At the time, the Vice President/Treasurer had the best job of all, which was to set up the weekly party. The officers have remained relatively unchanged over time except for the division of the duties of Vice President and Treasurer into the three posts of Treasurer, Vice President, and Social Chair. Along the way, it was deemed necessary to separate the Social activities with the Financial responsibilities.
The Fall End of the Year Party has been a tradition since the beginning of the club, and remains today as the primary means for selecting Team Officers. An important right of passage for new team members included the "turtling" ritual, conducted bi-annually. Each season, one player would vie for the coveted torch award granted for exceptional performance at away game road trips.
The following rugby players died at a young age:
The 2001 fall season marked Georgetown's last year in Division I. The 2001 season was a building year for the team with the older players coaching the incoming and promising freshman class.
The spring and fall 2002 seasons marked a new start for Georgetown that began with a last minute victory over Catholic University in the Capitol Cup tournament.
During the fall of 2002, Georgetown moved from Division I to Division II. They subsequently won the Potomac Rugby Union's Division II championship.
The 2004 Fall season was marked with joy and tragedy. On the morning of October 17, 2004, team friend Dan Rigby died in a house fire on Prospect Street in Georgetown at what had been known as the 'Rugby House'.
That same season, Georgetown shut out Salisbury University in the PRU championship, avenging their last minute loss to Salisbury in 2003.
In the past five years since, the Georgetown Rugby Club has been a sponsor of the annual Run For Rigby to raise money for off-campus housing safety awareness.
The spring 2005 season marked Georgetown's championship run into Final Four of the USA Rugby National Tournament.
During the Spring 2009 season, Georgetown did not participate in the annual Capitol Cup tournament due to a scheduling conflict with the National D2 Playoffs.
Georgetown qualified for the Final Four in 2009 by defeating #1 seed Cal Maritime, 20-17, in the National D2 Elite 8 playoff to advance to the National Final 4 held in Palo Alto, California. This marks the 2nd time in school history that the Hoya Ruggers have reached the Final Four of the USA Rugby National Tournament.
| Position | Name | Nationality | High School |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Bercik | Fairfield College Prep | |
| 2 | Michael McGilvery | St. Joseph's Prep | |
| 3 | Jordan Maitland | Gonzaga High School | |
| 4 | Chase Burrell | St. George's College | |
| 5 | Lucas Garvin | Harrow School | |
| 6 | Nicholas Shepherd | Fayetteville-Manlius High School | |
| 7 | Liam Burrell | St. George's College | |
| 8 | Karl Godlewski | Farfield College Prep | |
| 9 | Paul Doherty | St. John's Prep | |
| 10 | Alastair Dean | Harrow School | |
| 11 | Grayson Wieder-Finch | Mercer Island High School | |
| 12 | Sam Perkins | The Landon School | |
| 13 | Jiggs Silsby | Taipei American School | |
| 14 | Matthew Benton | Gonzaga High School | |
| 15 | Keenan Conrad | Whitfield School |
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