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34-535: Their home field is located at Pine Banks Park . Their primary sponsor is Coors Light . The Mystic River Rugby Club was founded in 1974 by 32 members of the Boston Rugby Club , who in true revolutionary spirit, took a great step forward in exercising their independence. These men had long since functioned as a ‘club within a club’ and had developed a distinct style of play both on and off the field. These members were experienced rugby players and immediately

68-643: A merger) is a rugby union club based in Seattle . The club travels throughout the US and into Canada. In 2014 the club was ranked as the number one US club while also playing in a Canadian league based in British Columbia ( BCRU ). Old Puget Sound Beach was a charter member of the now defunct USA Super League in the Pacific Coast USA Rugby territory. Founded in 1966, Seattle RFC was

102-401: A 400 meter track with soccer field inside it, and a newly renovated Rugby field. Many sporting events are held at these fields, including soccer games. There are many lights that sufficiently light up the fields for night games. Parking is located near the fields. Pine Banks once contained a golf course, but that is no longer in existence. The course was where the present-day fields are. There

136-635: A group of enthusiastic rugby players who had responded to an ad in the local Seattle Times looking to get a game of rugby going. Old Puget Sound Beach Rugby Football Club played its first game in the fall of 1971. In 1996, Seattle RFC joined with the local women's rugby club called the Breakers. This proved to be an opportunity for both men and women to prosper in the Pacific Northwest Rugby Football Union. The women's USA Division-1 team has consecutively been within

170-616: A hard-fought match, Mystic River won their first ever National Title by a score of 45–33. At the beginning of the 2016–2017 season Mystic River became a full member of the ARP, making it through to the Eastern Division finals. However, they were knocked out by NYAC 14–24. The following season the Mystics were able shock the favored Norfolk Blues 36–22 to set up a revenge match with their New York rivals, beating NYAC 26—25 and earning

204-748: A member of the Atlantic North Division 1 Conference, the Mystics competed in the ARP and played all teams but Life. They finished their regular season with a record of 6 wins and 2 losses in their inaugural year in the elite competition, automatically securing a berth in the USA Rugby Championships quarter-final round as the number two seed in the Atlantic North Conference. A win over the Midwest Conference's number one seeded team would put

238-425: A natural forest area, Pine Banks is also a recreational park. Centered in the park near the pond is a child's playground, containing swings, slides, and other equipment. In the playground there are also two long picnic tables sheltered by a roof. Many birthday parties are celebrated here, but reservations are required. North of the wooded area there are several fields: One softball field, two full size baseball fields,

272-639: A public park". The agreement was that both towns had equal ownership, responsibility, and power, which is still the case today; the non–profit Board of Trustees owns the park, with equal representation from both cities. The land of the park area was once owned by the Wampanoag Native American Tribe. It was later owned by the Lynde family in the early 18th century, and then the Converse Family (1881) who established it as

306-508: A trip to the 2018 national championship game. In the final match, Mystic River were able to stay ahead of their Western conference counterparts, Belmont Shore RFC and win their second national title by a score of 25–24. Mystic River, which was called Boston Mystic or Mystics in some press releases, were scheduled for several 2018 exhibition games in Major League Rugby (MLR). Though they were merely exhibition, these matches were

340-573: Is a list of players who currently or have at one time played for the Mystics and have represented their country with the United States national rugby union team , also known as the Eagles, in rugby fifteens or sevens. Not represented in this list are the many Mystics who have been named to the Eagles' player pools or Junior sides over the years. For Rugby sevens players, (*) denotes tournament appearances such as World Rugby Sevens Series . Below

374-606: Is a list of players who have received Rugby All-American honors. The Collegiate All-Americans rugby team is considered the USA's U23 national team, while the Junior All-Americans are the USA's U20 national team. This is a list of Mystic River players who have represented other nations in rugby union fifteens or sevens, unless otherwise indicated. Players marked with a "♦" represented other nations in rugby league. Mystic River founded their Youth Rugby program in 2005. It

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408-463: Is usually not named. The pond's banks are fairly marshy, making it a good home for frogs, turtles and snakes. It is highly unlikely that any fish call this pond home. It is sometimes stocked with fish for fishing tournaments. In addition to the pond, there are other small creeks and wetlands throughout the park. One of these small creeks once connected to the Malden River . In addition to being

442-881: The Bay State Games . The Mystics also field a Collegiate Select Side which selects stand out local collegiate rugby talent and plays teams both in the United States and abroad. In 2015, several former members of the Mystic Youth program would go on to receive collegiate All Conference honors. After an undefeated season in 2017, the Mystic River U19 7s team accepted an invitation to the National High School Invitational 7s tournament held in Minneapolis, MN , marking

476-673: The Mystic River Youth Rugby Program and the addition of the U-19 Mystic Eagles, who saw success in both 15s and 7s tournaments in their inaugural season. In 2014, Mystic River merged with cross-town rivals, the Middlesex Barbarians, in an effort to develop the game of rugby in the area. While the details of the merger allowed the forty-year-old rugby club to retain their name, Middlesex coach Josh Smith took over head coaching duties for

510-455: The Mystics established a schedule within the first division of New England. They soon became a sought after fixture by teams from all over based on a reputation for hard, fast rugby and an aggressive “joie de vie”. The club evolved throughout the 1970s with the influx of younger players and Tours to Wales and the former Soviet Union highlighted these years. In 1978, the Mystics became the first American rugby team to be invited to play rugby in

544-844: The Mystics in the Final Four for the second year in a row, against ARP rivals Old Blue. In the final match of the Eastern Championship Series, a 10–5 win put Mystic River in the Division 1 National Championship for the first time since 1992. The Mystics would go to play the Western Conference Champions, the Austin Blacks in the USA Rugby Emirates Airline Club Men's Division I National Championship. After

578-768: The Northeast Championship in 2008 and a spot in the National Division 1 Sweet 16. In their 2009–2010 season, Mystic River again took both the New England and Northeast Championships, making it through to the quarter-final round of the USA Rugby DI National Championship Series as well as making their first ever appearance in the National Sweet 16 in 7s competition. 2010 also marked the expansion of

612-625: The Northeast Championship that same year. In 1992 the Mystic finished second in the US, losing to the Old Blues from California in the National Finals. The Mystics had established themselves as a force within the national rugby community. In 2000 and 2001, Mystic River competed in the short lived Major League Rugby (a former amateur club competition not to be confused with the current professional Major League Rugby competition). Set up in

646-652: The Seattle Saracens beat Meraloma Rugby 26–25 in the Division 1 final. As a result, they were promoted to the CDI Premier League . In 2018 after the Saracens partnership ended, the club board chose to return to their original orca art logo, but kept the name Seattle Saracens. Two years later, during the 2019-20 season, the entire club’s players, members, and coaching staff voted overwhelmingly to rebrand themselves. Officially changing their name to

680-629: The Semifinal round to eventual tournament winners Seattle Saracens , but coming away with the bronze medal. Beginning in the 2015–2016 season, Mystic River became a "de facto" member of the American Rugby Premiership (ARP), joining Life Running Eagles and fellow Atlantic North D1 clubs Boston RFC , NYAC , Old Blue and the Boston Irish Wolfhounds in the reformatted elite competition. Though officially

714-462: The Soviet Union. In the early 1980s the club saw a major turnover, a somewhat generational change, when several new players were attracted from local colleges. Old Boys rugby began to take shape and several of the original Mystics began playing a schedule of "over 30s" rugby. In 1986 the Mystics returned to Malden, Massachusetts , where they were originally incorporated in 1976. With several of

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748-461: The Super League teams grew a culture of winning and reached the playoff rounds 3 years in a row, and the finals twice. The BCRU teams were also consistently near the top teams in their respective divisions, reaching the playoffs in most of their seasons. A combined 8 National Sevens titles, as well as winning the bowl in the 2014 World Club Sevens Championships, success was proven achievable on

782-756: The USA Rugby D1 Final Four tournament since 1992, while in D2 the Mystic Barbarians took the NERFU D2 Championship against division rival New Haven , eventually losing to New York Rugby Club in the USA Rugby D2 Round of 16 beginning a new era for Mystic Rugby. The Mystics also saw success in 7s, qualifying for the 2015 USA Rugby Club 7s (USARC7) Championship Series for the second time in club history, losing in

816-752: The big stages. With an injection of talented players and coaching staff such as Waisale Serevi, Ben Gollings, and Justin Fitzpatrick, Seattle-OPSB felt ready to take the next steps towards growing the club and rugby in the Pacific Northwest. In June 2014, Seattle-OPSB joined the Saracens Global Network, renaming themselves as Seattle Saracens. They were the ninth team to join the network, after VVA Saracens, São Paulo Saracens, Abu Dhabi Saracens, KL Saracens, Impala Saracens Nairobi, Timișoara Saracens and Toa Saracens. On May 9, 2015,

850-584: The club's players regularly representing New England and the East Coast in representative side play, the Mystics were committed to championship level rugby. Their reputation earned them respect overseas as well, with touring sides, such as the Glamorgan County RFC , seeking a challenge at top level rugby. In 1989, Mystic River defeated their parent club Boston to win the first of seven straight New England championships. They would go on to win

884-417: The combined club, with former Eagle prop Jake Sprague as forwards coach, and Glen Mannering directing the backs, with the club now competing in both Division 1 and Division 2. As the 2014–2015 season came to a close, the newly formed Mystics went undefeated at the top of the Division 1 table going into the playoffs. Post season wins against White Plains RFC and Kansas City earned them their first trip to

918-712: The first taste of the MLR professional era in the New England market. In late 2018, the New England Free Jacks were announced as a 2020 expansion team in MLR and Mystic River subsequently became a main source of talent for the initial Free Jacks roster including head coach Josh Smith. For the Free Jacks' first exhibition match against Ontario in October 2018, there were 15 former Mystic River players on their roster, including coaches Smith and Kareem Afifi. This

952-446: The first time any Mystic youth program was invited to play in a national championship. The Mystics continued their undefeated record throughout the tournament and claimed their first ever national championship title. Pine Banks Park Pine Banks is a 107.5-acre (0.435 km ) park located in the cities of Malden and Melrose , Massachusetts . It was donated by former Mayor of Malden Elisha S. Converse to be used "forever as

986-618: The manner of the European Rugby Champions Cup , the MLR was designed to provide an additional competition structure for top division teams outside of their usual geographical unions and complement their USA Rugby competition schedule, however, it was never sanctioned by USA Rugby and the Mystics returned to competing solely in USA Rugby competition in the fall of 2001. The 2007 season saw the Mystics win their first New England title after twelve years, moving on to take

1020-411: The park as an elevated path. The largest cliff, which is made of solid bedrock, rises 40–50 feet straight up to form Mount Ephraim, which overlooks the whole park from the southern border. This is the highest point, but not the only point of elevation in the park. There are other, smaller hills and cliffs. There is a small shallow pond north of Mount Ephraim that was sometimes called Island Pond but now

1054-449: The public park that it is today. The Park was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and opened to the public in 1889. The structure of Pine Banks was formed millions of years ago when volcanoes (now inactive) and earthquakes shaped the area. As a result, there are rocky cliffs throughout the park, and even a fault line just south of the park. In addition to that, thousands of years ago, receding glaciers formed an esker which can be seen at

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1088-618: The top 16, ‘Sweet 16’, in the nation and continues to play in the BCRU Premier League. For decades, Seattle and OPSB were local adversaries and had many spirited matches. In 2006, Seattle RFC men's teams and OPSB's men's teams combined resources and were able to field a squad in the now defunct USA Rugby Super League as well as 2 squads in the BC Rugby Union's 1st and 2nd division in Canada. After years of mixed success,

1122-656: Was once a zoo that was home to such animals as goats, donkeys, peacocks, ducks and other assorted animals. The zoo was removed in the early to mid-1990s. The park also contains an international regulation-size rugby pitch and is home to the Mystic River Rugby Club ( Rugby Union ), the current 2018 Division 1 USA Rugby Champions. 42°26′33.54″N 71°03′44.03″W  /  42.4426500°N 71.0622306°W  / 42.4426500; -71.0622306 Seattle Saracens The Seattle Rugby Club (formerly Seattle Saracens and Old Puget Sound Beach after

1156-456: Was originally aimed more at introducing local children in the surrounding community to the sport of rugby, via American Flag Rugby (AFL) and later USA Rugby 's newly developed "Rookie Rugby", a non-contact flag variant of the sport for younger children. In 2010, the Mystics expanded the program to include competitive U-17 and U-19 teams. Both levels saw immediate success, quickly becoming perennial contenders and medalists in such competitions as

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