The Connecticut Yankees Rugby Football Club is a division 2 men's rugby club based in Norwalk, Connecticut

Norwalk, Connecticut

Norwalk is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of the city is 85,603, making Norwalk sixth in population in Connecticut, and third in Fairfield County...

. Founded in 1975, the club has fielded teams in the Metropolitan New York Rugby Union

Metropolitan New York Rugby Union

The Metropolitan New York Rugby Football Union governs more than 80 men's and women's clubs, college, high-school, and youth rugby union teams in the Greater New York metropolitan area, which covers parts of the states of Connecticut, New Jersey and New York. It is a member union of USA Rugby and...

 as well as the New England Rugby Football Union

New England Rugby Football Union

The New England Rugby Football Union is a stand-alone union for rugby union teams in New England.NERFU had been a local area union , and part of the Northeast Rugby Union , which is the governing body for three LAU's The New England Rugby Football Union (NERFU) is a stand-alone union for rugby...

 (NERFU). The Yankees won the USA Rugby

USA Rugby

USA Rugby is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. It is divided into seven territorial Unions: Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Northeast, Pacific Coast, Southern California, South, and West...

 Division II Men’s Club National Championship in 2004.

Origins

The Ct Yankees RFC began their first season back in September 1975, when a number of players answered a newspaper advertisement. The advertisement read "Wanted: Rugby Players and Beer Drinkers", and was placed by club founder, Frank Sinnott (President 1976). That Fall the Club had one scrimmage against Yale University and lost 28-4. The Yankees officially joined the MetNY Union in the Spring of 1978 as an independent club with one side. The youthful and inexperienced Yankees posted a 10-2 record that Spring and a 6-5-1 record in the Fall. Due to life's impediments (age, careers, family responsibilities, etc.) this one group of dedicated ruggers dwindled & in the Fall of 1988, the Yankees merged with their cross Fairfield County rivals, the Stamford Wombats. The red stripe within the club shield represents the jersey color associated with the former Wombats RFC. In the fall season of 1992, the Yankees A and B sides combined for a 22-2 record, won the Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament, and qualified as one of the final four teams in the East Coast finals. In 1994, under the guidance of Coach Stephen Cain, the Yankees completed the season in first place in Division II of the Met Union.

The Dark Years

Between 1995 and 1999 the Yanks did not post a single winning season and despite establishing a clubhouse, numbers waned, interest fell and the club was in danger of folding. Sensing the danger, many old boys, including Tommy Kubic, Beave Kubic, Duncan Forsyth, Kevin Black, Kenny Seakas, Mark Holzner, Scott Pressler and others answered the call. These old boys, and others, recruited many new faces to fill the ranks of the 1st XV.

Rebirth

In that rebuilding year of 1999, the Yanks lost the first game to Monmouth by 10 points and many members had to play two matches because the team failed to travel with sufficient numbers. The second game of that season against Montauk, a longtime rival, saw only 17 players travel and the game started with just 14 players against Montauk's full side. Something happened at that game and the Yanks managed to win by 5 points. From that moment, the Yanks understood that they could accomplish anything and indeed they did, winning all of the remaining matches that season.
With that turnaround, our finish in 1999 was sufficient for a bid to the USARFU Men's Div. II Sweet Sixteen in Fort Worth, TX. While falling to national powerhouse Fort Worth RFC in the first round at their home pitch, the Yanks learned that they could compete at the highest levels of Division II national rugby and that championship rugby was something they should take seriously.
In 2000, capitalizing on three years of practice, team work, and sacrifice brought the Yankees to win Division II of the Met NY Union, undefeated in league play. The Yanks completely dominated Division II, beating longtime rivals Monmouth RFC, Montauk RFC and Long Island RFC. Returning to USARFU Men's Div. II Sweet Sixteen playoffs in Spring 2001, the Yanks received a berth in the playoffs which were held locally by New Haven "Old Black" RFC in New Haven, CT. After defeating Buffalo RFC in the first round, the 2001 championship series saw the Yanks enter the Elite Eight for the first time in club history. Unfortunately, the Yanks progressed no further, falling again to Fort Worth RFC.
In the fall 2001, the Yankees remained focused on their winning ways, posting a 7-1 record in league play. Another tough regional playoffs turned the Yanks to face Springfield (MO) RFC in the first round of the playoffs. The Yanks fell to Springfield (MO) RFC in the Round of 16. However, this was the 3rd consecutive appearance in the "Sweet Sixteen".

Move to NERFU

In 2002,the Yanks changed their affiliation from the Met Union to the New England Rugby Union. Instead of travelling to New York, New Jersey and Long Island, the Yanks schedule moved to include Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island and Vermont. In the first season with NERFU, the Yanks announced their presence with authority, posting a 6-1-1 record. The Yanks earned the top seed in the National Playoffs, qualifying for the 4th consecutive year, but failed to advance beyond the round of 16.

2004 Men's D2 National Champions

5th time to the playoffs was the charm: in 2004, the Yanks entered the tournament as the 14th seed and went on to defeat Metropolis, Norfolk, Indianapolis and finally Nashville RFC to win the D2 National Championship hosted in Pittsburg, PA.

Current

From 2005-2008, the Yanks competed in the NERFU D1 Men's league. In the Fall of 2009, the team returned to METNY D1 Men's league in an effort to headoff wanning numbers. Under the direction of Richard "Patches" Leonard, the seemingly young and inexperienced, active player base put on a highly competitive performance. However, since the season's record did not reflect their ability and in the midst of METNY RFU restructuring, the Yankees moved down to division II to continue to rebuild their active member base and to improve their ability while gaining additional match experience. The Yankees have started their 2010 season with a large active player base, 30 players of which are under the age of 30. With this ability to field two full sides, the Yankees look forward to field a very competitive 1st XIV through inter-squad positional challenge.

Notable players

Kevin Nealon

Kevin Nealon

Kevin Nealon is an American actor and comedian, best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1986 to 1995, acting in several of the Happy Madison films, for playing Doug Wilson on the Showtime series Weeds, and providing the voice of the title character, Glenn Martin on Glenn Martin,...

, actor and comedian, played rugby with the club for several years.

External links

• Official Site
• USA Rugby