Columbia, SC - Through our relationship with Carolina Promise, the Carolina Rugby Foundation is pleased to announce the creation of the Carolina Men's Rugby Endowment Fund. This tax-deductible account will promote the spirit and high ideals of Carolina Rugby through a long term endowment fund that will provide sustainable returns for the program for years to come. With generous donations from the Smolka Family, the fund currently sits at $50,000, with interest funds available to the team after a one year maturation period.
Your financial support of the Carolina Men's Rugby Endowment Fund will have a direct impact on our players, our coaches, and our facilities. Keeping Carolina Rugby strong and vibrant is more important than ever as we continue to compete with the Nation's best. By keeping our facilities and equipment updated, investing in travel, tournaments, and coach and player development, and engaging potential recruits and spectators with new resources, we can remain one of the leading programs in the country and prepare our student athletes to achieve great thing. To read more, please click here.
2014 Carolina Rugby Alumni Weekend
Columbia, SC - The 2014 Southeastern Rugby Champions welcome back the ruggers of yesteryear to celebrate 47 years of Carolina Rugby! The 2014 Carolina Rugby Alumni Weekend will be held Friday, October 31st through Sunday, November 2nd and will include a full range of festivities.
The weekend will begin at 7:00pm on Friday with the 13th annual alumni match followed by a post-match social. On Saturday, the alumni will be hosting a pre-game tailgate at Shuman Owens Supply Co. before heading in to Williams-Brice Stadium to watch the #4 Gamecocks take on the Volunteers of Tennessee. On Sunday, the weekend will conclude with an 11:00am Foundation board meeting to be held at the Strom Thurmond Wellness & Fitness Center located at the corner of Blossom & Assembly Street in Columbia. To read more, please click here.
A Message from Head Coach Mark Morris
Columbia, SC - I hope everyone is enjoying a safe and relaxing Independence weekend with friends and family. While we take this time to celebrate the very best this country has to offer, I would like to take this opportunity to send out one last review of the season and to express my gratitude to the players, parents, supporters, Carolina Rugby Alumni, Carolina Foundation Board members, and Coach Steve Darnell for an amazing year.
We have achieved great things as a program, to include competing in the Final 8 versus two-time DI-AA National Champion, the University of Central Florida. Not only did we score the most points on UCF of any other team they played this season, we also held them to their lowest scoring game of the year, all while missing four of our starting backs. The exciting point is that three of those four backs were seniors, so the underclassmen are taking ownership and are aggressively contributing to our success. To read more, please click here.
USA Rugby All-American Matthew Berenato
Columbia, SC - We would like to congratulate South Carolina's own Matthew Berenato on being selected as a USA Rugby All-American Honorable Mention for the 2013-2014 season!
Berenato had a stellar season guiding the South Carolina backline as a ferocious runner and try scorer. Aside from captaining the team in both 7's and 15's, his accolades this year include being named Eastern Division Player of the Week 2 out of the 9 weeks of competition, being named to the Southeastern Rugby All-Conference Team at center, being awarded the USC Team MVP Award, and most prominently, being selected as this year's Southeastern Rugby Player of the Year. As a graduating senior, Berenato has accumulated several accolades during his earlier years at South Carolina... To read more, please click here.
2014 Fall Southeastern Schedule Released
Columbia, SC - Following the trend established over the past few years, the Southeastern Conference has elected to reverse its seasonality schedule to allow Conference 15’s in the Fall and organized 7’s in the Spring with corresponding conference events for both at the end of their respective seasons.
What became evident during the CRC's is that the competition has improved immensely nationwide, though we were falling behind by not securing the necessary “live” play under our belts to perform to our potential. This new format will be more conducive, allowing all 7’s events to take place in order and in a single season (Southeastern series, Southeastern Qualifier, USA Rugby Nationals, CRC Invitational). To read more, please click here.
CRC 7's - Thank You For Your Support!
Columbia, SC - We would like to thank those who purchased a ticket to attend the 2014 USA 7's Collegiate Rugby Championship Invitational in beautiful Philadelphia, PA, as well as the many donors who funded the team's expenditures and provided for an exciting fan experience. We would especially like to thank Dunkin' Donuts for the commemorative event T-shirts and miniature rugby balls, in addition to serving as South Carolina's host sponsor throughout the weekend.
We look forward to participating in future years and hope that you will be able to join as well. In the meantime, please enjoy the photos taken during each of this year's matches, as well as of the fans in attendance by clicking on the links below Society. To read more, please click here.
