Underdogs to top dogs
When time expired at Founders Field in Pittsburgh on May 1, the USA Rugby 2011 Women’s Division II College Championship belonged to the Radcliffe Rugby Football Club (RRFC). Players flooded onto the pitch in the raw weather to celebrate their upset victory over Notre Dame. Many wept as they formed a scrum of joy and embraced their teammates three or four at a time. “We ran together shouting, crying, hugging,” says Evan Hoese ’11, most valuable player of the championship tournament. “There was so much emotion on the field. We just wanted to be together.” Most observers probably wouldn’t have predicted such amazing success for a team whose future seemed uncertain only a few years ago. As a Harvard club sport, RRFC faced the perennial challenge of fundraising, made more difficult because of the recession. The team was also responsible for its own logistics and transportation to places as far flung as...