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RRFC History

Field and Ball

The Full Story

The Roanoke Rugby Football Club was first conceived by Jim Bowden and Bob Copty in the fall of 1971. Jim and Bob had both played in college and wanted to form a local team. After newspaper advertisements and word of mouth 18 hardy souls showed up for practice. A schedule was set and the Roanoke Valley Rugby Club was born.

 

The first match was played on Saturday, September the 24th, 1972 against the University of Richmond and ended in a 12-0 loss for Roanoke. Roanoke went 3-3 that first year and 9-5 in 1973.

 

Led by Clarence Culpepper throughout the Seventies, Roanoke RFC continually turned out representative players for the state, E.R.U., and the national team. The Seventies also saw the start of our international games. RRFC first played H.M.S. Ark Royal in the 1976 MacArthur Cup. RRFC lost the match, but finished 3rd in the tournament for the club's first trophy.

 

Throughout the 80's the club continued to improve and in the spring of 1985, Roanoke defeated Norfolk, in Norfolk, 11-7 to win the Virginia Sate League Championship for the first time. In the spring of 1988, Bill Gibson made the generous offer of the use of his warehouse at the corner of 5th and Marshall. Over the years through hard work the club has transformed it into a first rate clubhouse that is the envy of every team that visits Roanoke. With the additions of a bar, tvs, and plenty of seating the clubhouse is a great place for a post match social or just a club get together.

 

1990 was a big year for the club with RRFC winning its first 15's title at Washington Irish's tournament, defeating Severn River in the finals, 13-9. The mi-1990's saw a downturn in the club as the original members started retiring and the club struggled to replace them. This changed in the Fall of 1997 when the club won the Virginia Rugby Union's Division III and played Richmond United in a relegation match. RRFC lost the relegation match in Richmond only to repeat it in 1998.

 

In 2000 it all came together with the club winning the DIII Title again, qualifying for the MARFU Playoffs, finishing second to Raleigh at the Ed Lee, and then going to Richmond to beat James River in a hard fought relegation match. 

 

In 2005 the club came back from a couple years of rebuilding to finish second in the VRU's Div III and qualified for the MARFU Playoffs. 2012 & 2013 brought back to back league championships with only one loss in two years. 

In 2020, Roanoke welcomed a Womxn's club under the leadership of Liz Collins, Lizzie Brown, Steph Johnsen and Kat Gipson. In August of 2022, Gipson obtained her USA Rugby Coach certification to officially obtain her credentials as head coach.  A few months later, a newly sanctioned Womxn's club played their inaugural match in September of 2022 against Rappahannock. Since their inaugural match, the Womxn's club has continued to grow their program. The Womxn welcomed Adam North to the coaching staff in the Fall of 2024. They continue to grow and learn together and  ended their Fall season of 2024 going 3-1. In addition to their 15s season, the Womxn have traveled to North Carolina to play in several 7s tournaments during the summer months, often partnering up with their friends to the south, Eno River out of Durham, NC.

Roanoke Rugby continues to grow together, recognizing the inherent strengths that come with combining men and womxn clubs. We are proud to represent the Roanoke valley hand in hand.

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