Wisconsin Women's Rugby Football Club
The Wisconsin Women's Rugby Football Club (WWRFC) is an amateur Division I women's rugby team in Madison, Wisconsin. The team is the only Division I women's rugby club in the state.
Founded in 1975, the WWRFC plays competitively in the Wisconsin Rugby Football Union, a subsidiary of the Midwest Rugby Football Union and the United States of America Rugby Football Union. The team is a tax-exempt non-profit organization as a member of the Wisconsin United Athletic Club. The team holds all practices and home matches at Yahara Rugby Field.
The WWRFC is closely associated with the Wisconsin Rugby Club, the men's amateur rugby team in Madison, in addition to men's and women's teams at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and area high schools.
The WWRFC has been represented by its current and past players on state, regional and national all-star teams, including:
- Wisconsin Under-23 Women's Select-Side Team
- Wisconsin Senior Women's Select-Side Team
- Midwest Women's Under-23 Select-Side Team (Midwest Thunderbirds)
- Midwest Senior Women's 7s Select-Side Team (Midwest Thunderbirds)
- Midwest Senior Women's 15s Select-Side Team (Midwest Thunderbirds)
- U.S. Women's Under-23 National Team (USA Eagles)
- U.S. Women's 7s Developmental Team (USA Eagles)
- U.S. Women's National Team (USA Eagles)
WWRFC alumnus Kristin Zdanczewicz (currently playing for the Minnesota Valkyries) and Phaidra Knight (currently playing for the New York Women's Rugby Club) played in the 2006 Women's Rugby World Cup in Edmonton, Canada.
Current WWRFC wing/fullback Sue Hanson played for the 2006 U.S. Women's 7s Developmental Team at the North America and West Indies Rugby Association (NAWIRA) 7s Tournament in Bridgetown, Barbados, Nov. 11-12, 2006. Kelly Clerkin, Nicole Helmer and Hanson played for the Midwest Senior Women's Thunderbirds that won the National All-Star Championship (NASC) in Boulder, Colorado, June 9-11, 2006. Clerkin earned the 2006 NASC Most Valuable Player Award for the all-star tournament.
In 2006, the WWRFC finished fourth in the Midwest and 17th overall in the nation. The team traveled to Seattle to play the 16th-ranked Emerald City Mudhens in one of four 2007 USA Rugby Division I Women's Challenge Matches on May 26, 2007.