Big changes have come to the club and Florida rugby over the last year.
Coaching Updates
After 2 years of coaching, Founder Mel Butler has decided to step down as head coach and return to playing. Mel founded the club in 2006 and has led the club as a player and administrator, and we are sad to see her step down as coach, but excited to see her back on the pitch with us.
Kevin Wathen steps up to Head Coach position
Stepping into the head coach role is Kevin Wathen. Kevin comes with more than 15 years of playing and coaching experience. He coached the U19 Jacksonville Wolverines and assisted in founding them a few years ago. Kevin was our assitant coach last year, and we are excited to work with him to grow the club on all levels.
Joining the club as the assistant coach is Aaron Church. Aaron has been playing and coaching in Jacksonville for a number of years and took the Wolverines on an undefeated run in 2019 and won the Florida state championships.
Inter-squad Scrimmage and Schedule Release
Practices for our fall 2022 season started the 2nd week of September. With 25 returning players and 15 rookies, we started our first “game” of the season with an inter-squad scrimmage on October 8th. It was a great opportunity for our new players to get game time on the pitch in a game environment.
Shortly after the game, we relased our 2022-2023 schedule.
Our season kicks off October 15th against the newly formed Valdosta State University which will be coming along with UF to Jacksonville. Valdosta has many new players so this will be a great learning opportunity for the team.
Our next 3 playing opportunities are away games at Savannah, the Battleship Tournament in Mobile, and All Florida Day. We wrap our fall season against UCF on December 3rd at home.
Our spring competitive season begins in the third week of January with a home match against Tampa, with games scheduled until the first weekend in April. Stay tuned for times and locations as our normal pitch is under field maintenance.
As always, thank you for our wonderful sponsors who assist our players with traveling costs, and game day costs. We are able to thrive because of you!
As always, we accept players year round. Whether you’ve only heard of rugby and want to try it out, or you’ve played for years and moved to the area, we welcome all players who want to be part of our team.
The Jacksonville Women’s Rugby club is excited for the Fall 2019 Season opener on October 12th versus the University of Florida! The match will be held at 2pm at Fort Family Park 8000 Baymeadows Rd E, following the Jax Men’s Rugby Club game versus the Gainesville Hogs at 12pm. The team has been working hard at practice to prepare for this game, and is very excited for the new team members to play in their first game! Please join the team after the game at our social at Southern Grill located at 800 Flagler Ave.
Jacksonville Women's Rugby 