1975 Sexist OSU Newsletter
The Old Man, the newsletter of the Ohio State University Men’s Rugby club announced the formation of the Ohio State women’s team. Note the graphic illustration of a female player.
1977 The Pitch
The Tube and the Pitch, two different Ohio State Women’s team newsletters from 1977 show the grassroots organizing, bawdy nature of women’s rugby at the time.
Support us today!
When you contribute to the U.S. Women’s Rugby Foundation you become part of a movement to support girls and women involved in rugby.
We are a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization.
All donations made are tax deductible.
Support us today!
When you contribute to the U.S. Women’s Rugby Foundation you become part of a movement to support girls and women involved in rugby.
We are a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization.
All donations made are tax deductible.
Lena Ferreira
Age: 29
From: Queens, New York originally but has been in Baltimore, MD for the last 8 years
Job that pays the bills: Operations Analyst at CPower
Rugby life:
Salisbury University Rugby 2012-2016 (Player)
2016 and 2015 Final Four
Fundraising Chair 2013-2015
Severn River Rugby 2016-Present (Player)
Forwards Captain 2017-2020
Second in the Nation 2023
2023 Player of the year
John’s Hopkins University Women’s Rugby 2023-Present (Coach)
Coached the women’s team to return to competition post covid, going from 5 players to over 20
Towson University 2024
Assistant Forwards Coach
Why we love Lena:
Has played a huge part in Severn River Rugby' recent history:
Women’s Team Social Media Manager 2017-2022
Brough account from under 200 followers to over 1,500
Viral post over Covid, Viral Tiktok video
Founded the position of and was the inaugural Club wide Social Media and Marketing Coordinator 2022-2023
Founded Severn River Day (7/7/2020)
Planned the Women’s team's first international tour along with two teammates- Ireland 2023
Local volunteer at Baltimore Community Fridge
"I was lucky enough to make the totally random decision to join my University’s Rugby Club after quitting track. Rugby has been a passion of mine from that first week of practice. I have enjoyed some huge success in my playing career, reaching the final four 3 times and coming in second in 2023. I have played against the Australian Defense force and planned/participated in our Women’s team first ever rugby tour in Ireland (though our men’s side has gone on many). I have always been a competitive person, and rugby certainly feeds that need, but more than championships and wins, rugby has given me all the best things in my life. This past year and a half, I have practicing and coaching almost every night of the week. I’m extremely busy but I’m so lucky to be busy with something I love so much.
I am early in my coaching career but when I began coaching, I was so excited to be able to give this gift of rugby to other players. Since rugby is still growing in the US, most new players at university have never touched a rugby ball before. I was excited to teach them about this incredible sport, but I was even more excited to help them build their program back up. I have no idea where I would be without rugby. If my university did not have a club, everything would be different. At the end of Hopkin’s first season back in their league in Spring 2024, I had a plaque and award made for the entire team. I called it the Phoenix award and it was for reviving their program and rejoining their conference. I told them they have done something incredibly difficult, but equally as important. They have given themselves this gift of this team, but they have also given so many future women this gift. Now because of them, future John’s Hopkins students will find this club, find this sport, find this passion they never knew they would have, or find themselves playing for the USA at an international level. They might also find their best friend, their second family, their partner, their maid of honor at their wedding. I have experienced great success in my playing, and moments I have been incredibly proud of, but for me this moment topped that. Some group of women that came before me at my school gave me this gift. I never knew them, and they never knew me, but they changed my life by starting my university’s club. These Hopkin’s players have done the same for future women at their school, and I am so proud to have helped in any way.
I can be very wordy and sentimental, so I’ll cut myself off and leave you with the captions of three of my posts during my time doing our club Social Media for Severn River. I was wordy and sentimental then too but the players and fan seemed to really enjoy these in particular and it captures a lot of my feelings well"
May 15, 2020, after the spring Covid Lockdown with no rugby: “We do not get paid to play. We don’t have stadiums full of fans. We don’t have strangers wearing our jerseys. We don’t just get to have fun either. We work incredibly hard in practice. We work incredibly hard outside of practice. We suffer injuries. We are in a special in between place. We work hard and often no one is watching us do it. No one is expecting us to do it. No one is telling us we have to do it. Rugby in the US is so special because there is very little glory attached to it. It’s driven by a pure love for the sport. And while we must love rugby from a far for now, we will wait as long as it takes. We will be back. We will work hard when no one is looking. We will get to play again, and we will love it.”
Feb 2, 2023, National Girls and Women in sports day: “ Yesterday was National Girls and Women is sports day. It’s hard to put into words what being a woman in sport is like but the feeling is so engrained in us. The feeling of not get the sports themed birthday you wanted as a kid or a soccer ball for Christmas. The feeling of your relatives asking your cousins what their favorite sport was and telling them how strong and fast they were in middle school, but not you. The feeling of getting to high school and knowing the most popular high school sport didn’t have a women’s team, didn’t even have the equivalent for women. The feeling of playing college sports and the stands were empty at your games and full at the mens games, even tho your record was better. The feeling of your huge playoff game being at 10 AM on your usual little field and the men’s playoff game is at 1PM at the stadium down the street. The feeling of waking up at 5 AM when they are airing the professional women’s game you wanna see on a network you had to subscribe to, while the pro men are at prime time playing in every bar. And the feeling of showing up anyways. The feeling of showing up every day and playing the sport you love. The feeling of seeing your teammates give their all at a game, or improving during practice, or laughing on a long car ride home. The feeling feeling of succeeding together and losing together and being together. The path here was not easy, and so many young girls will give up their sport. But we are here. We are here to say you can keep going, and if you ever stopped, you can always come back. And maybe sometime, when we are in our rugby gear before a game grabbing a Gatorade from a store, a little girl will see us, and she will get a really happy feeling. #SevernRiverRugby (also please remember our team isn’t *only* women, just a lot of them!)”
July 7, 2023, Severn River Day: “Happy Severn River Day. Joining this club after college has been one of the greatest decisions of my life. Severn River has given me so much. Joy on my hardest days, motivation to be as strong and healthy as possible, memories that can bring me to tears laughing. My best friends are here, my incredible boyfriend is here, my second family is here, my heart is here. When you’re not a part of it you can’t understand, when you’re in it you can’t explain.”
More about Lena:
All photos provided by the award recipient