The Official Freshman Survival Guide

Merry Ann Moore ’84

Social Secretary · Remarks written on the 10th anniversary of the club’s founding in 1992

I’m gratified to know RRFC has dedicated people at the helm and a large squad. I hope you are having as much fun as I had when we first started the squad in ‘82. I wish I could remember more about it – as the Social Secretary I was often charged with overseeing the altered states portion of the club’s charter. Some of the highlights: the first ever lobster boil at Bemy Jelin’s house, where we released goldfish into the pool where they promptly asphyxiated (it was supposed to be a dive-for-goldfish party event)…where we very nearly finished a full keg of beer and several gallons of daiquiris…women ruggers and legendary rugger/hanger-on/sometime coach Roy Roberts…the Harvard-Yale game of 1983 where we whipped and had a great time tailgating…every fundraiser we ever had at the Piccadilly Filly…. Funny, the games and practices themselves, while always a blast, are far less memorable for me.

I’m always amazed to think back that Dean Bovet kept approving my budget for things like two dozen lobsters, gallons of rum…I remember a budget confab with her when I explained “It’s important that we have a real bang-up party for our 1st year so we can persuade new players to come aboard.” Did she really buy that? I think she was humoring me! Please thank her on my behalf for her foresight in backing the team.

What I’ve learned from RRFC:

1. Always be there in support for your teammates, whether at work, at home, or in friendships.
2. When you commit a foul (in life), keep playing – the ref (boss, spouse) will only blow the whistle if your transgression gives you an unfair advantage.
3. What goes on before and after the big game is just as important as the game.
4. It’s great to have a car in Cambridge, especially if it’s a blue Nova with white vinyl interior and built-in, home-finding sensor.
5. Some of my best friends are former ruggers, to wit Sheryl and Louy Meacham.

Enclosed are some pics, printed lore about the genesis of the team, etc. Congratulations on our tenth anniversary!

Before we had jerseys.

Amanda Micheli ’94

Attempts to explain how Radcliffe Rugby kept her in college and saved her life

My freshman fall at Harvard, I had nothing in common with my roommates; we all had completely contradictory answers on our housing questionnaires and were convinced someone had put us together as a social experiment or just a cruel joke. I went out for crew, hopeful to find my “people,” and dutifully filled out an index card with my height, weight, and my 50-yard dash time at the orientation for freshman rowers. Unfortunately, their double-practice schedule conflicted with a class that was a requirement for my VES major. When I explained this to the coach, she was deadpan: “I guess you’ll have to change your major, if you want to row.” I waited for her to crack a smile, thinking this must be a joke — but she didn’t, and it wasn’t. So I walked away, my rowing dreams dashed by my selfish desire to pursue a career in my chosen field.

The rest of my fall semester was a disaster. I felt like a misfit no matter where I was; it was the first time in my life that I didn’t partake in a sport, and I went a full 180 the other direction. I was smoking, partying, and mostly spending time off-campus, dating some random guy from Providence. By December, I had basically decided to drop out — I thought art school would be a better match for me than the core classes and the finals clubs at Harvard. But during finals week, I got a cold call on the landline in our dorm (do they even have these anymore??). The caller asked for me, and when I replied, she asked, “Are you really 5’9”?” (I’m thinking, who the heck is this??) I said, “Excuse me…who’s calling?” She just said, “This is Radcliffe Rugby.”

See, it turns out that in 1990, one of the rascals in charge of Rad Rugby was a former rower, and somehow, “with a fine disregard for the rules of college sports” (but hopefully without breaking and entering) had gotten her hands on the index cards for all the women who quit or got cut from freshman crew. So I was recruited in the only grass-roots way possible back then. I took the bait, and thank goodness I did, because Radcliffe Rugby not only was the single experience that convinced me to stay at Harvard, but it also got me hooked on a sport that completely changed the rest of my life.

Rugby instilled values in me, on and off the field: true teamwork, survival, mental and physical toughness, anger management, and the pure joy of achieving a simple goal. It also taught me and so many other girls I met along the way (many of whom struggled to fit a certain body type for another sport, or someone else’s idea of what “feminine” was) a real sense of partnership with and pride in our bodies, and our first appreciation of our own strength. We were very competitive, but we always had fun; we had a great sense of humor and camaraderie, win or lose. I made friendships through Radcliffe Rugby that continued far beyond college as I transitioned to playing at the club level for almost another ten years after graduation. We learned from our Radcliffe coaches, who were perhaps the first female mentors in my life, that rugby values were not just drinking lots of beer and singing dirty songs; that the sisterhood (and brotherhood) between rugby players worldwide is a family for life. It’s a unique and diverse community of people who travel the world and have each other’s backs in life, love, career — in everything.

Rugby was a club sport when I was at Harvard, and we wore black and carried on the Radcliffe name. I am incredibly proud that our team has gone varsity and can see the power of wearing crimson — as long as the players remember our roots and help keep the Radcliffe name alive. Our varsity status will certainly advance the sport and our players, but I will do whatever it takes to help Harvard-Radcliffe Women’s Rugby maintain the core values that, for me, make it unique from other American sports. Surely as the sport grows, some of its uniqueness will fade, but it’s worth fighting for.

My advice?

• Talk to the “old girls” when you can. Soak up their wisdom and their stories.
• Carry on the history. Sing at least some of the songs. Don’t ever forget “Bread of Heaven.”
• Maintain a sense of humor. Always have a theme on tour (wigs always help).
• Enjoy the social aspects of rugby and value your friendships as much as your winning records.
• Take care of your body. You really will need it and will wish you had taken better care of it when you are my age (e.g., read up about preventative training for ACLs; do pilates and other counterbalancing exercises in addition to traditional strength training).
• Be tough, but don’t be a dumb-ass. If you get hit in the head, be honest about it, and be willing to come out, no matter how important the match.
• If you excel at rugby and continue on, don’t let the competition for U.S. selections and the lure of Olympic glory sully the simple joys of playing the game on a daily basis with your peeps. Select-sides are super fun and challenging, but nothing beats the tight connections within a home team that practices together day in, day out.

GO RAD… HAVE FUN OUT THERE!!!

1994 Mayor's Cup Champions.

Jane Kim ’96

1. If you run out of underwear, don’t resort to flipping it inside out.
2. Eight long-haired ladies sharing a communal shower = Sasquatch in the drain.
3. Always make sure you have a friend that can find you calling Elmo from the big white telephone at the Bow and Arrow and can take you home.
4. Don’t borrow clothes from roommates that grew up as only-children. They don’t like that.
5. Don’t wear your favorite clothes to Chem 10 Lab if the assignment involves magnesium permanganate.
6. If you’re using a regular bath towel to wrap your body in post-shower – don’t bend over to pick up stuff. No one needs to see that.
7. You reach maximum cerealtastic deliciousness by mixing no less than three kinds of cereal.
8. Those aren’t cockroaches, they’re just “waterbugs.”
9. Don’t encourage your roommate to take munchkins and throw them at the corners of your dorm to “feed the mice.”
10. If your roommate and her boyfriend go back to your shared dorm at least 30 minutes before you, knock loudly before walking in – lest you get welcomed by a big lily-white hairy backside in your face.
11. If #10 happens, it’s OK – UHS has therapy services for you.
12. Noch’s Sicilian, FTW.
13. Dropping old clementines from the 4th floor of Holworthy East, aiming for those standing outside the entryway, is frowned upon.

Patty Seo-Mayer ’96

As an older alum from the mid-90s era, let me wax nostalgic for a minute…

In 1992, we were the Bad News Bears of women’s rugby, with barely enough players to field a B-side, wearing mismatched tattered jerseys that were washed (sort of) in the Holworthy basement laundry room, and encountering more mud, rocks, and glass than grass on our pitch. By 1995, RRFC made its first-ever national appearance, placing fourth, and a few years later, we took the title for the first (but not last!) time. Crimson Sports finally profiled us as more than just a social organization, and it was great to be taken seriously. (However, we also did host some phenomenal drink-ups, with a long line of the wittiest, most erudite Social Chairs leading the songs.) In fact, we can now boast a Pulitzer Prize–winning songmistress from our era!

The tradition of dedicated coaches also runs deep in our organization. In the 1992–98 era, our coaches were Lisa Gartner, Darlene “Bubba” Connors, and Mary Dixey — three amazing women who taught, nurtured, humored, and mentored us for whatever pittance Harvard paid at the time, all while holding down full-time jobs and maintaining involvement in Beantown RFC. They put many miles on their own vehicles (a green Volvo station wagon for Lisa, and a huge V8-powered fancy “toy” truck for Bubba; not sure about Dixey’s car – a Batmobile, maybe?) to personally drive us up and down the East Coast for matches. Bubba was also our trainer and probably spent a small fortune on athletic tape. They molded us into a successful team and introduced us to the greater community of women’s rugby. We asked them for grad school and med school recommendations, and later, they attended our weddings and cuddled our babies.

To this day, my Radcliffe teammates are some of the most important people in my life. I learn from them things that I don’t learn from other people. Why? Because RRFC brought together a group of seemingly disconnected individuals with unique skills, experiences, and strengths, and united us toward a common goal. We were different, and the same. You can kick a conversion from way out near the touch line? (Oh, I can’t do that.) You think you’re pre-med? (Me too!) You love beer and bawdy songs? (So do I!) You can sprint for 40 minutes nonstop and not get winded? (Not me.) You thrive on the satisfaction of tackling a player much larger and stronger than you? (I hear ya.) You went to an elite private prep school in New England? (I did not.) Prefer being a back, or prefer the scrum? Or prefer to order the scrum around but not be in it? (Yes, please.) Asian? Pre-law? Gay? Tall? Black? Played before? Never played before? Doesn’t matter! You are my sister, and we share an unbreakable connection forever.

Celeste LeCompte ’04

Second Row and Social Chair

I joined rugby as a sophomore, after my roommate picked up a flyer about it and left it laying around our dorm. She was interested, but she didn't go out to play. I did and I loved it. Coming in as a freshman at Harvard, I felt a bit like a fish out of water; it wasn't until I joined RadRugby that second year that I finally felt like I belonged

My rugby memories are full of laughing and closeness and joyful ribald singing and, of course, beer. My teammates were an inspiring group of brilliant, hard-working women -- but rugby gave me a chance to get to know each other in a way that made them real people, not-intimidating brilliant, hard-working women. We spent time in the mud together, sweaty together, with bruises and bloodied noses and broken fingers. I felt strong and powerful. It made me love my body and what it could do. I also literally scooped mud out of my eyelids during a tournament in the rain, ripped my shirt off mid-game when a bee stung me inside it, sprained an ankle jogging backwards in practice, and can still feel the healed fracture in my orbital bone. And yet I loved every horrible, sweaty, painful minute of it. We trusted and cared for each other, challenged ourselves, and had a fucking great time.

Britanny Déjean ’08

Being a part of Radcliffe was a life-changing experience. When I think of the fact that I almost didn't play rugby, it scares me to imagine what my Harvard experience would've been like without the team. Rad was my solace, my oasis in the intense pressure cooker of Harvard- a place where I found women who I related to, wanted to be around and admired. I learned what it meant to truly get your teammates' back in every way. When I think of hilarious memories from college, Rad women are in 90% of them. We rucked over each other, we supported each other through hard times, we studied together, we ate together, we kicked back and relaxed together. I wish I had a clearer sense of how valuable this team, this family, meant to me because the time passes too fast. Thankfully, all 7 of the women who graduated with me in '08 were at my wedding last year, and we have all stayed close and connected. There is a sincere sense of comfort and connection that bonds us together. I also have friends from Rad who weren't even in college the same years I was. The bonds run deep and it's for all those reasons and so many more, we keep the Rad spirit alive by passing it on to the next generations.

One hot team! (Radcliffe vs. Brown 2007-2008)

Sarah MacVicar ’13

Inside Center, Prop · Written Spring 2013

Dear Radcliffe,

Several weeks ago, I began the process of reflecting on my most formative college experiences. Naturally, a large part of this process has been trying to express the role Radcliffe has played in these four years. I’ve spoken to a lot of you about my attempts to articulate what this team means to me and how far I could be willing to go for each of my teammates. The inspiration of certain recent events led me to the realization that one of the benchmarks I would use would be the fact that I (as I think would many others) would without hesitation give any one of you a kidney. But this measure still hasn’t been satisfying, and so this letter will be a compilation of my continued attempts to describe what has made Radcliffe such an integral part of my life here.

When I came to the team freshman year, I had no idea that it was about to become the all-consuming force that it has. My earliest memories of socials were of cowering in a corner and hoping no one would notice my complete awkwardness or force me to sing. And in spite of bets that I wouldn’t stick around after that first social, four years later I am still here.

I’m not sure when exactly it happened, but at some point during freshman year, I began to understand why the Radcliffe bond was so strong. Some of it is intangible, but I have also watched the Radcliffe spirit manifest itself in very concrete ways as the team has fought back from a losing score when a teammate goes down, when ruggers have stood concussion watch for each other late into the night, or when the team has rallied to support someone going through a rough patch in school or in life. It is no exaggeration for me to say that Radcliffe is one of the reasons I made it through Harvard, and I am grateful every day that I found my way to this team.

The culture on this team is unlike any other I have before encountered. We may not be perfectly cohesive all the time, but there is a fundamental understanding that being a part of Radcliffe means being ready to go to bat for any teammate at any time. This is what sets us apart. This is why when we call each other family, we mean it. Sure we may have our family squabbles from time to time, but at the end of the day, this is the only community I have found at Harvard, and perhaps even more broadly than that, that truly understands the meaning of unconditional love.

Radcliffe is the kind of team they make sappy sports movies about. We are the underdogs, the scrappy team with the most heart, and the team that perseveres to win National Championships we were not even considered contenders for. Never forget our roots, but do go forward and realize the dreams the senior class has for this team. You are an extraordinary group of women, and I count myself lucky to have each and every one of you in my life.

Thank you, Radcliffe, for four incredible years on and off the pitch. Memories of early morning practices on the goose poop field, freeganed dinners, Roast, long van rides all over the Northeast, a National Championship, hypothermic games, even more hypothermic post-game ice baths, Primal Screaming, email threads about dog breeds and favourite things, snugby, a record-setting PCT, Beast hats, Gator Ball, finding out about going varsity, and of looking up in the pre-game huddle to see the intensity in the faces of those I care about as we prepare to pummel our opponents will not soon fade.

I love you all, and I trust you to carry on the traditions and values that make this team so special while forging Radcliffe’s next chapter in your own way. Good luck, have fun, and ruck on.

What Does Harvard Rugby mean to you? ’14 – ’17

Anonymous contributions from members of the Classes of ’14-’17 compiled circa 2014. Thank you to Shelby Lin ’14 for sending this in!

• Heart and Community.
• Rugby means having a family away from home.
• Commitment, to each other and ourselves
• Radcliffe Rugby means FAMILY. We are there for each other in our best and worst moments with love, encouragement, and strength. RL Forever.
• To me, this team means making friends and finding a way to get involved in the Harvard community. Sports were always a part of my life growing up, so this team is kind of like a part of home away from home.
• Radcliffe means doing everything for my team, not for myself. When I’m struggling with something hard, I do it because they deserve my best.
• Always having someone to hug, share a great day with and someone there to help me up when I’m down.
• Radcliffe means love. When I’m at my happiest and when I’m at my lowest. I always know I can go to Rad. I couldn’t have gone through Harvard without Radcliffe. Rad Love.
• Radcliffe is my second family and my most reliable support network at Harvard. Radcliffe Rugby represents positivity, strength, friendship, love, and teamwork. I am so lucky to have found this team so early on - can’t imagine college without it.
• Harvard Radcliffe Rugby is the family I never thought I would have on campus. They’re the first people I want to celebrate my achievements with and cry over my failures with.
• Radcliffe is what keeps me happy and makes me better. They’re the people I love most in the world.
• FAMILY. Family over everything.
• Unconditional love and support
• Harvard Rugby means pushing yourself and your teammates further than you or they ever thought possible, to accomplish feats that are beyond your wildest dreams. But most importantly, Harvard Rugby means sisterhood. We sweat together and we bleed together through every challenge and every hurdle.
• My outlet and coping mechanism
• If I have a family at Harvard, it must be Rugby. They are a home and a base in a place where I so desperately need one.
• Rad is what unconditional love looks like.
• They make you laugh
• Harvard Rugby has always meant support to me. The constant support I get from players and coaches on this team has allowed me to push myself beyond my assumed limits. I say ’assumed’ limits because the love and patience I’ve felt from this team has inspired me to do things I previously would have never tried or even thought I was capable of doing. For that I am most grateful.
• Family. Love. Support
• Rugby is my anchor at Harvard, where I draw my strength from, and the family that I trust and love.
• Family. I wouldn’t be here without this team. They have helped me so much more than I could ever express or they could ever know.

Brandy Machado ’14

President 2012-2013, Captain 2013-2014 · #Lock4Lyfe

Radcliffe means so incredibly much to me. I would never have made it through Harvard without being a part of Radcliffe. The sport gave me something to do everyday, something to strive for, and an opportunity to tackle people, which was awesome. More importantly, the team gave me the support to keep going even when things got rough, on and off the pitch. College was one of the most difficult times of my life and it was Radcliffe that gave me the strength to carry on. The team was my family. I owe so much to Radcliffe. I don't think I could ever adequately express that in words.

One of the other really great things about playing for Radcliffe is that you are connected to such a rich and awesome legacy. There are 30+ years of amazing people who came before you. Whenever I was playing, I always felt like I was a part of something bigger than myself and even bigger than the group of women I was sharing the field with at the time. I was playing for all those who came before me and all those who would come after. I was playing for Radcliffe.

Transitioning to varsity was a bittersweet time for myself and the team. I served as the last president of the club team and I was in the first set of captains when we went varsity. I took great honor in those positions and I wanted to make sure that I did right by Radcliffe. We knew that our elevation to varsity was a huge deal for our team and for the status of women's rugby in the United States. We were proud to be a part of that. We also knew that it would mean that things would be a lot different and we were worried that we would not be able to hold on to the things that made Radcliffe so special to us and those who came before us.

We fought hard with the athletic department to keep Radcliffe in our name, on our jerseys, and even just in our cheers. Unfortunately that was a losing battle. We tried our hardest to keep Radcliffe alive in other ways. We brought back singing the Radcliffe Hymn which, for a number of years, had only been somewhat inconsistently sung. We did our best to continue to hold regular social events while working within the new regulations that being a varsity team brought. We ordered temporary tattoos of the Radcliffe crest that we would wear under our uniforms during games as a reminder of our roots and what we were fighting for when we stepped on the pitch.

My senior year, I decided to get an actual tattoo of the Radcliffe crest. I still look at it every day and draw strength from it. It symbolizes all the things the team means to me. It is a reminder that I was able to be a part of something amazing, that I have people out there who have my back, and that I am a member of the most badass group of people to ever walk through the gates of Harvard.

Claire Collins ’17

8-Man, Center

Welcome to Harvard! Yes, it is a big place with world-class professors, fantastic speakers on a regular basis and a frighteningly low acceptance rate. But it is also made up of normal, awesome people, just like you. And if you're reading this, you've (consciously or unconsciously) already made one of the most important decisions you'll make here. You've found your family. This team is going to ask a lot of you. We are going to ask you to give up 20 hours a week to practice rugby and make yourself stronger, then 10 more hours to be a good teammate and spend time with these people. We are going to ask you to put your body on the line for someone you've known for less than a month. We are going to ask you to have fun, to sing songs and be merry, even when you've given it your absolute all on the field. We are going to ask you to (potentially) learn an entirely new sport, one with seemingly random rules at times (I need to think of a random rule here, because they definitely exist).

It sounds like a lot. It is a lot. But if you give your effort to this team, we will reward you. You will have friends from every class at Harvard, ranging across 7 years. Your body will be able to do things you never thought it was capable of. Your priorities will be clear from the start, and you'll begin to be able to sort through all the amazing opportunities Harvard has to offer. You will gain 30 people who regularly sacrifice their time, bodies, and hearts to make you feel better. You will learn songs that will make you feel better even on your worst day. You'll learn a game that will allow you to make friends and connect with people across the world (mainly in the former British Commonwealth, but still, it was a big empire). Simply put, the more you put into this team, the more you will get out of it.

So take it all in. Keep breathing. And trust that this family will always be there for you.

Rachael Stein ’17

Social Chair 2015-2016

10 Commandments of Rugby Social Culture

1. Thou shalt go to rugby socials, no excuses.
2. Thou shalt get to know the upperclassmen - schedule a meal, or ask them out to froyo, or have a study date. They are filled with wisdom and there to help you!
3. Thou shalt remember that 21+ folks have special powers (and with great power comes great responsibility...)
4. Thou shalt constantly recruit friends in classes, clubs, and dorms.
5. Thou shalt learn the lyrics (and ask upperclassmen to forward them to you if you don't have them).
6. Thou shalt sit with new people on the bus and actually talk to them.
7. Thou shalt host a primal scream pregame if you have a big room in the yard.
8. Thou shalt get free shots in rugger rooms during River Run.
9. Thou shalt actually try on your roast job/skit - bad work will haunt you.
10. Thou shalt love your Radcliffe rugby family unconditionally, including alums, ex-ruggers, rugby baes, and current players beyond your class year.

Editor’s note: These commandments are bestowed upon you by Radcliffe’s almighty rugby aminence Rachael Chase Stein.

They are law.

Maya Learned ’18

Prop · Captain

Harvard is a lot. Rugby is a lot. Doing both together is even more. There are certain things that you can control and others that you have no power over. Things you can control are your attitude, your effort. Things you can’t control are people, selections, injuries, or grades. These are all things you can influence through your effort and attitude but they remain completely uncontrollable. Control what you can control.

Haley Langan ’18

Lock

Follow up and clarifications to Maya Learned's great advice. Things you can control:

• How many phone numbers you collect from the football boys and/or women's heavyweight rowers during pre-season ice baths.
• Whether you get too drunk for first chance dance and wind up in the hospital.

Unacceptable hospital visitation reasons:

"I passed out in the yard and a policeman brought me in."

"I drank from the punch bowl at Harvard-Yale and the upperclassmen had to bring me in."

"I broke my toe at the Rugby-Wrestling mixer and the captain had to bring me to get an x-ray."

"I tripped over an invisible rope and dove headfirst into the road."

Acceptable hospital visitation reasons:

"My crappy roommate called the police on me, when I came home a tad tipsy and knocked over a trash can because I couldn't see in the dark."

• How much free food you score freshman year at random clubs and study breaks.
• How many socials you attend/how many punishment beers you chug for not attending socials.
• The housing lottery.

Things you can’t control:

1. The big H
2. Rugby-Rugby mixers...because when rugby boys and girls get together, they are insane. Also rugby boys don't always know where the bathroom is and they like to pull fire alarms. Also that's double the amount of people singing so other teams can't handle us.
3. Whether Harks or I give you a good nickname or not.
4. Roast
5. The annual disappearance of the shower curtains.

Lastly, as the founder of the ACLC, the smartest slacker on the team, and life-time apprentice to Rachael Stein, the master of having a bossa$$ college experience, I give you the quotes/themes I lived by each year:

Freshman year is the year of "YOLO"

Sophmore year is the best with "Minimal Effort. Maximum reward."

Junior Year taught me the hard way, "The further up you are; the farther you have to fall."

Grace Chao ’19

Scrumhalf

Dear Freshman,

Let Harvard-Radcliffe RFC be the first to extend the warmest of welcomes to merry, merry Cambridge! (Because the dorms will be stifling and you’ll soon experience the craziness of where the lyric “merry merry Cambridge” comes from soon enough.) From the players who will prepare daily for battle alongside you in the locker room, the players who did so years before, and the players who built Radcliffe Rugby from the ground up so we could stand shoulder-to-shoulder in bold crimson uniforms in a beautiful stadium; we are all so excited to have you.

You join the ranks of a storied legacy and tradition, and at the core of that narrative is a profound and powerful love. The center of the modern university may be the brain and the intellect, and that is all very well and good, but the center of this team is hardly cerebral. The center of this team is its heart. To borrow from St. Augustine, our calling, our weight is our love, our love for each other and for this sport. Wherever we go, whatever we do, this Radcliffe love is carrying us. At an institution so dedicated to the deepening of minds, we often forget that we lead our lives with our hearts. Keep this team close to your heart.

Harvard is anything but typical, and your admittance here means you are anything but ordinary. You are, in every sense of the word, extraordinary. Relish the feeling of walking down the steps of Widener and facing Memorial Church, of passing through the gates and houses that belong to you in the same way they belonged to Roosevelts and Kennedys and Adamses and Zuckerbergs. Certainly, Harvard is far from perfect. But it will never be boring.

Life, they say, is a picture, but we live in the pixels. Perhaps we will never be able to focus or zero-in on the big picture, but we will remember living the finer details of our days. I’ll leave you with my favorite (slightly paraphrased) words from Walt Whitman:

You are here - life exists, and identity: The powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse. What will your verse be?

Brett Jennings ’19

[Editor’s note: Ms. Jennings is considered a Junior Sometime-Member of HRRFC. She did play on the team, and did indeed return and quit several times. As a staunch conservative, this editor balks at any kind of censorship. There were, however, some colorful sentences here that were a bit too colorful. To be honest, we’re not quite sure what Ms. Jennings was going for in this piece. Nonetheless, enjoy. Please don’t actually quit - we’d miss you!]

HOW TO QUIT WOMEN’S RUGBY

Hello, young one. First off, I would like to assure you with the utmost confidence, that I know what I’m talking about. I’ve quit everything I’ve ever started (because who’s got the time or the ego?), so I consider myself a professional quitter (and I’m only 20!). Things get boring, so why stick them out when you can just stop? The only con being constantly disappointing all of your friends by insensitive and preventable behavior. But I’ve never let a silly thing like feelings or friends get in the way of my quitting.

I have quit the rugby team numerous times over the course of the fall semester. At this end of the season, even I had lost count. To help you begin your career of quitting I have laid out below a few helpful guidelines for how to quit (specifically) the women’s varsity rugby team. I understand that you thought this was a good idea and I apologize for the cruel and unforgiving reality you will soon endure as the newest member of the Harvard Women’s Varsity Masochism Team.

If your decision to become a part of this varsity sport ends up panning out, great. You will have gained a family of gals that are capable of sticking up for you in bar fights (you may wake up in a pool of your own blood, but at least you woke up, you ungrateful lush!) and who will consistently ridicule your pubic hair. If it doesn’t work out, you can try crew.

Things I recommend against doing when attempting to “quit” the “sport” of “rugby”: Don]t:

1. Do it through email. This turned out not to be a useful strategy for quitting the team. It doesn’t matter how well you write on Dworkin. Your quitting email will not be effective. My first few attempts went verbatim like this:

Dear Coach Sue,

I can no longer be on in the rugby cult because I hate it and it was a terrible mistake. I was lied to and told this was a free curling class. It is clearly not a free curling class. I don’t like when large people attack me. I am actually very weak. I am quitting. Please do not respond.

The Grass Is Alwayds Greener, Brett

To which my coach would respond in a timely manner, with a simple, yet effective, “No.”

I kept showing up.

2. Just stop showing up. Ever had 30 angry rugby players ask you why you weren’t at practice? Show up. They know you aren’t actually going to the dentist for the fourth time that week (or getting breast reduction.) They are very good at spotting lies.
3. Become a Menace at Practice (but avoid injuries at all costs). First, don’t scream and crawl into the fetal position whenever anyone runs at you. Though, if you do, remember to cover your neck with your hands. They will kick you more than once. Second, for safety reasons if the ball is thrown at you, DO NOT CATCH IT! If you do, large people will take you down in an entirely unpleasant way. Lastly, I recommend not coming up with your own moves and/or plays. This would be a good time to note that I am the (prosperous) creator of what is called the tickle tackle™. I came up with this little guy so as to avoid the jarring headaches that come when someone is crushing your spine repeatedly into the ground. Instead of tackling your adversary, just tickle them.

Note: you must be careful to not let the coach see you tickling your tackling partner. Coaches are very unappreciative of new ideas. And just jealous that they didn’t come up with the tickle tackle™ first.

4. Move to another country. You can’t. They play rugby in all the other English speaking countries.
5. Try to run away. These girls wear Birkenstock’s through the snow. They speak Russian fluently. They break the men’s team’s legs for fun and mock the weak for sport. They will stand in front of a 250+lb girl running at 18379 miles per hour (or because it’s rugby, kilometers per hour) in an attempt to stop her. All this for a game in which there is no monetary prize. All you gain is early onset dementia and a vegetable existence filled with regret.

But not only do rugby girls want to beat the shit out of you, they want to do it in the most inconvenient way possible. In rugby, we are forced to tackle by throwing our shoulders into the crotch our our opponent (yum) and then to frantically grab at their kicking, cleated feet. Getting stepped on is only an occasional perk. Because getting hit just wasn’t enough of a rush before.

They should try Percocet. Or cocaine. Or both. At the same time. Or not. They welcome concussions and blood because they are monsters without souls. That being said, if this violent culture is just the thing you have been looking for, then join away. Ignore my whining and enjoy your memory loss and fragmented pelvis. All I ask is you heed to my last bit of sagacious advice, for it remains relevant long after you decide to not quit the women’s Canadian football team.

Do...

Talk it out. These girls actually care about this team more than your insecurities and it’s a dick move to keep them in the dark about any problem, big or small.

To deal with questions and doubts about your abilities, maybe the first thing you think to do is to be honest and talk it out.

Jenny Kronish ’19

Lock

DRINKING IN SWEATPANTS

Hey party people of the future… my name is Jenny. I’m assuming whoever is reading this is probably living in outer space or the ocean… seeing as this is going into a time capsule for 200 years before being opened. With that said, I only have one question to you, the reader, are crocs still a thing? I don’t know… I really thought the trend would have died out by now, so I’m hoping its long gone by 2217.

Now that we’ve got that settled, I’d like to share a small tidbit of information with you that I’ve learned from my short time on this team. Do not be afraid. Try new things. This can mean a lot of things in joining a rugby team. Obviously it means do not be afraid of the oncoming herd of girls coming to tackle you, which is actually surprisingly un-scary with a team of equally aggressive girls behind you. I’m not talking about this kind of “afraid”. What I’m talking about is that feeling you get when you’re about to go against the grain and put yourself out there. When you make a decision you know may not please everyone, but you think deep down is the right move. It is in this moment that I’ve learned to not be afraid. You’re at a new school with new peeps and playing on a new team… shit that’s scary. I speak for everyone on the team when I say that we got you. I know for a fact that this team is there for you in every sense of the word - on the field and off. This team has your back because they sure as hell had mine when I needed them most. I don’t need to get mushy cause that just brings everyone down but just believe me that this team is absolutely incredible beyond words. Actually, you don’t have to take my word for it now, because I know you’ll soon learn that it’s true.

Now, you may be wondering why the title of this little piece is what it is. To those who noticed I say, “Hey, good question! You’re observant!” and to those who didn’t I say, “Damnit, Susan you’re losing it.” I made the title what it is for two reasons - 1. I sometimes like to think I’m mysterious but also witty and fun so I deserve to have a title that reflects it… 2. Drinking in sweatpants, to me, is the ultimate sign of cool and comfort. I know that when I am able to go out to a party wearing sweatpants, I have surrounded myself with a group of people who are laid back, accepting, and extraordinarily amazing. These people are my teammates. These people are my family. (I know I know I’m such a mush I’m sorry).

So, through all that rambling I just did, I guess what I’m trying to say is, I hope you’re excited to become a part of this team… and maybe even go drinking in sweatpants. It’s pretty flipping fantastic.

Rachael Harkavy and Ginny Miller ’19

Rachael Harkavy and Ginny Miller’s DECLASSIFIED School Survival Guide: How to Survive as a Walk-On

• Don’t drink too much at First Chance Dance. Don’t be that person who does and has to get her stomach pumped. Also don’t confuse the word incubate and intubate
• Don’t get caught smoking weed in your dorm
• Don’t tear your ACL
• Deadlines are only there to watch them pass by (this is important - you can always get an extension)
• Drink everyone under the table (or say you can even if you can’t)
• Always do coke if offered (only if free that shit is expensive $$$)
• The entire purpose of being on the rugby team is for them to do your laundry. Remember - put jeans, blankets, slippers - literally anything - on your loop
• GPA is temporary, parties are forever
• It’s whiplash not a concussion
• Befriend someone from Cambridge so they can store your shit
• Pretend you don’t know what the 24/48 rule is
• Don’t forget to pay your phone bill
• If you lose your wallet, check your pockets (in those one green sweatpants in your dresser)
• If you need to pee don’t do it in your bed (acceptable places to pee - literally anywhere else - specifically Edinburgh train station)
• Drink before the hangover sets in - it is important to drink water tho that’s just actual life advice that ppl should know
• Teams that are acceptable to hang out with: heavyweight crew
• Teams that are unacceptable to hang out with: lightweight crew
• Don’t leave your moms boots in a friends room
• Buy a flabongo - use the flabongo - be the flabongo
• Four Loko’s great, effective! Flabongos even better! Flabongos + Four Lokos = two black eyes
• The lowest ropes cause the largest injuries

WHEN TO LEAVE HARVARD

What’s up baby nuggets? It’s your two favorite social chair / delinquents / og walk ons here to drop some knowledge on one of our favorite topics - getting the fuck away from Harvard!!

We recognize that Harvard is, in fact, quite challenging and that it can be fucking overwhelming as shit sometimes. And guess what, just like every other person in this guide has said, everyone feels like that! BUT what you may not know is that you can leave. We’ll repeat that - IT IS OKAY TO LEAVE HARVARD. It will feel weird and you will experience the unavoidable waves of fomo, but you might ~need~ that time away to grow in order to fully appreciate all the amazing things at Harvard (while dealing with the not so amazing things at Harvard). It’s okay to take a semester off, a year off, two years off, join the army, go abroad, work illegally in Ireland, launch a tech start-up, be Mark Zuckerberg (or don’t and just live in a tent in the desert who cares - you do you bb).

Here are some helpful hints that it may be time for you to go abroad and leave Harvard for a little while. You feel like your drinking abilities need the proper space to grow and develop. You feel like if you see one more so-called Harvard liberal sporting a $800 dollar, fur lined Canada Goose jacket you might actually combust. You love your teammates but realize that your coach is cracked and need at least 4500 miles separation or you will blow their brains out (really it’s for everyone’s safety and well-being). You have noticed that every time you breathe in that humid cambridge air you feel physically nauseous. You literally couldn’t give less of a fuck about any of your classes (Cs do in fact still get degrees). The idea of pretending you care about the “recruiting cycle” makes you want to crawl into a hole and become a worm.

Some advice for when you inevitably decide to get the fuck out. Do not wait until May to tell your coach you will not be there in the fall. They do not like that and will probably quit in protest. Instead send them a form email sometime in March stating that you fucking hate Harvard and rugby and want to become one with the travelers and free spirits. Make sure that all the dope friends you made playing rugby come and visit you. And then find a club that plays exclusively nickleback.

Ultimately, we agree that Harvard has been a great place for both of us. But neither of us would have made it without leaving. And thats okay! Rad love my dudes.

Sarah Lipson ’19

Fullback

I thank my lucky stars every day that I decided to play rugby. No disrespect to the other teams, but I shudder when I think that I could be writing something like this for the softball or diving teams. I find it hard to believe that I could find another group of girls like this one. If there’s one thing I can write to convey to you how special this group is, it’s this: they helped save my life. Not in a “oh, I would never have a social life without them’ or “they were the only reason I passed that class.” I don’t mean that. I mean they helped keep me alive. They could have deserted me; they could have decided it was too much for them to handle. Understandable. It was almost too much for me to handle. But they didn’t. There were there through the thick and thin and they’ve never left my side. I want to get better for me, don’t get me wrong. But I also want to get better for them. To show them all their help was worth it. To prove their faith in me is deserved. To be someone of whom they can be proud. I want to get better so I can be back on the field with them. So I can help all of them as they have helped me.

Here’s a piece of advice: trust these girls. Help them, and more importantly, let them help you. Let us help you. I didn’t let the team in for some time. I wish I had known better. I’m glad I finally did.

Akweley (Q) Okine ’19

Prop, Sometimes Hooker

Dear Rookies,

Coming to Harvard can be really fucking hard. But luckily, whether you like it or not, you have a group of people whose job it is to look out for you, to pick you up when you’re feeling down, and to wildly celebrate even the smallest of victories. Welcome to the family, we’re so so lucky to have you. And, as one of my teammates once told me, people are better than no people.

Before getting here, I was terrified of everything. I’d never been a serious varsity athlete before, never left my home town for more than a week, and didn’t really have much experience with new friends. I was scared about getting along with my roommates, about all the hard classes I’d take, about if I’d be able to keep up with everyone in conditioning, about if I’d get playing time…you name it and I was probably scared to death of it. And then I got here. And the first person I met was my rugby teammate, one of my best friends for a while. She was quirky and, I think, nervous too. But she waited for me to put my stuff down, and then we walked across the river for the first time to the field together and talked about our fears, and we had the same fears. I didn’t realize it at the time, but that’s when I learned a really important thing: as much as you might want them to, the women of Harvard Rugby never leave you alone.

As is a common theme in this guide, I had a pretty tough time adjusting freshman year. To be quite honest, college can be tough and being injected into a whole new social atmosphere which has so much pressure and what feels like so few opportunities for personal connection makes Harvard seem lonely sometimes. And sometimes people, like me, react to being lonely by wanting to be even more alone. My freshman year, people wouldn’t let me do that.

I’ll never forget one night in particular. A few of us were hanging out one night, and it was pretty late. Spontaneously, we decided it’d be a great idea to just drive to the beach in the middle of the night, to get off campus and enjoy the fresh air outside of Cambridge. So, we did it. We all piled into Rachael’s mini-van and blasted music and drove and then hung out on the beach using each other as pillows. We looked up at the stars, and out at the waves, and we talked and laughed and sat in silence. We just enjoyed being together.

Harvard-Radcliffe Rugby means a lot to me because it’s about that: about being together. Being together at socials, being together on the pitch; seeing each other through our lowest lows and our highest highs. I can’t imagine my Harvard experience without this team, and I hope that you experience it in the same ways that I do. I’m excited for you to be a part of this crazy family.

Caitlin Weigel ’19

Center

So You’r a College Athlete, Now What?

First off, I want to say welcome to the Harvard Women’s Rugby Team! You’re at Harvard, playing rugby, and totally winning at life right now! As you’ve been reading, this team has such a unique history. Started as a club, now we’re here - a varsity team! So many different people have put on this jersey and played rugby for Harvard. That hasn’t changed with the promotion to varsity. What has changed is the fact that nowadays some people are recruited from high school and know coming into their freshman year that they will be a collegiate varsity athlete. In this guide, you’ll find a lot of advice about how to survive rugby as a walk-on, but just because you knew you’d be on this team, doesn’t make the transition any easier.

Top 10 Tips to Transitioning to Being a College Varsity Athlete!

1. Don’t compare this team to your high school team. Coming in to a new team, you can’t help but see similarities and differences to your past teams. But don’t classify those similarities and differences as either good or bad. Those plays and traditions and drills that you loved on your old team might be better than those same things on this team, but we also have wonderful plays and traditions and drills on this team! I spent most of my freshman year comparing our team to my past teams (rugby and non-rugby) and it made me miserable. Cherish the things you loved about your past teams but embrace the new, wonderful things about this team!
2. Hold yourself to a higher standard. The weightlifting and running and practice that you did in high school, that were above and beyond in high school, that made you a stand-out in high school, are just going to make you average in college. When I went home over winter break my freshman year, I lifted with a trainer back home. During one really hard lift, I complained, “This is so hard!” His response - “You’re a college athlete now. It’s supposed to be hard.” I think back to that response every time I’m practicing. You are a college athlete now. Work hard to maintain that honor.
3. Go to other sporting events. Did you know Harvard has 42 varsity sports? That’s so many other sports! That also means that it’s really hard for other students to go to all the games. Tbh, this is Harvard and a lot of the other students here don’t care as much about sports as we do. So it’s up to us to support our fellow athletes. Now’s your chance to check out squash and men’s volleyball and water polo! Hell, going to football games besides Harvard-Yale can even result in a free Boston Calling ticket! One of the best parts about college sports is the pride you get for playing for your college, so engage in that pride and go to as many games as you can.
4. Do Coach for College. CFC is a program where college varsity athletes travel to Vietnam and help run a day school/sports camp with Vietnamese college students for middle-schoolers in rural Vietnam. It’s completely life changing and the best experience you will ever have. Plus, Harvard will pay for it all!
5. Be coachable. You were recruited for a reason - you’re a great rugby player. But you can still be better. Some things are going to seem pointless and stupid and at point you’ll think you know everything. But Harvard is all about learning and bettering yourself, and that also applies to rugby. Soak up all the knowledge you can. Do every drill 100%. Ask for feedback and actually implement the feedback. You’re great, now let us help you become excellent.
6. Do other activities. Yes, you were recruited to play rugby. You will spend most of your time dedicated to this team. But you’re also at Harvard! Join another activity away from rugby. Whether it’s joining FOP or starting a podcast or playing in the Christian band or being a DAPA or working at Queen’s Head - find another activity that you love that introduces you to a whole new group of friends and experiences. And if you can fit it in, study abroad! They play rugby in all English-speaking countries! It’s a win-win!
7. Don’t let anger keep you from celebrating others’ accomplishments. You’re going to get frustrated. When other people don’t understand a drill that is simple to you, you’re going to get frustrated. When you have to explain a basic skill to someone, you’re going to get frustrated. It can be a hard transition, but know that because you’ve played before that you are going to be a leader, even as a freshman. So when your teammate does her first proper tackle, celebrate the f*** out of it. Someone completed their conditioning rep, high-five her! It’s not just the big things that should be celebrated, but the little victories as well.
8. Find your way of being funny. I suggest using mathematical graphs to roast your teammates, but to each their own.
9. Trust your teammates. These girls are the best people you will meet here. You might fight and disagree, but every single one of them has your back and supports you. On the field, trust them to try their best, to cover your inside, to support you in contact. Off the field, trust them to listen to your complaints, hold you when you cry, and bring candy to your room on bad days. This rugby team succeeds because we know we can count on our teammates to carry us through.
10. Cherish every second you are able to play for this team. Four years goes by in the blink of an eye. And the second you’re gone, you’re going to wish you were back with your sisters. Because you’re playing for more than yourself. You are playing for the hundreds of women who have put this jersey on before you and made this team possible. You are playing for the best school in the entire world. And most importantly, you are playing for the fourteen other girls taking the field with you.