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Heart of America D-II Champions
2003
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2003
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History
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The History of Springfield Rugby Football Club
 March 1983 Back: David Logan, Jon Moore, ??, Tom Butler, Jim Stewart, Doug Jenna, Stan Bess, John Behr, Harold Watts
Front: David Thornton, Paul Lipscombe, Alvin Spurley, Matt Wilson, Kirk ?, Craig Velliquette, ??, Rick Lorenz, Bob McFarland
In 1977 David “Scoop” Thornton had his job transferred to Springfield from Kansas City where he had been playing for Kansas City RFC for 2 years. Scoop then played with S.M.S.U. for 2 years and became their coach in 1979. From 1979 to 1982 characters such as Jim Stewart, Jon “Pappy” Moore and Doug Jena appeared on the rugby scene at S.M.S.U. In 1981 an attempt was made to start a city side but with no more than 7 people expressing an interest to play the idea was abandoned although a practise was held at Silver Springs Park. Then in 1983, with John Behr in his sixth year of SMS rugby, the time was right to attempt the start of Springfield RFC once again. After a meeting held at Pappys Place on January 10th 1983, with 10 people in attendance, we knew we were on our way. Since 1999, to mark this momentous event in rugby history, the club has held an alumni weekend, organised by Scoop, on the second weekend in January.
Besides those already mentioned some of the early members were Stan Bess, David “Animal” Logan, Paul Lipscomb, Harold Watts and Matt Wilson. Ten of these original team members returned for the 20th anniversary alumni weekend in 2003.
 January 2003 David Logan, Stan Bess, Jim Stewart, Jon Moore, Tom Butler,
Paul Lipscombe, Matt Wilson, David Thornton, John Behr
(not in picture - Harold Watts)
The first training sessions were held at Silver Springs Park with one session having 21 players present. Our first match was played March 3 1983 against C.M.S.U. at Warrensburg, MO. Eighteen men made that trip and it is rumored that a few of them were never heard from again! C.M.S.U. won 16-12 with John Behr scoring the first try for Springfield RFC. He also sustained the first injury by falling down the steps at the post-match party.
 October 1983 Back: Jeff Brooker, Dave Garrett, ??, Ron Kitchens, John Watts, Matt Wilson, John Behr,
Doug Velliquette, Leon Tyler, Kenny Martin, Harold Watts.
Front: Jim Stewart, Jeff Kristek, David Thornton, Jon Moore, Craig Velliquette
During the spring of 1983 our matches were played at L.A. Wise park in west Springfield. With little in the way of parking, the preacher or the police regularly interrupted our matches requesting we move our cars off the church parking lot. A tie with Witchita 16-16 was as close as we came to a victory. In the fall of 1983 an event took place that changed the history of Springfield RFC and maybe the history of the world, Ron Kitchens purchased the “Rugby Bus”. Emblazoned with “Singing the Gospel” on the side the green and white striped rugby bus became our symbol for several years. Also during the fall of 1983 we won our first match when Doug Velliquette scored the only try in the game and we beat S.M.S.U. 4-0. A total of sixteen players from this first year of Springfield RFC returned for the 20th anniversary Alumni weekend in January 2003.
 January 2003 Chop Houser, Dave Garrett, Dave Logan, Marc Graham, Stan Bess, John Moore, Jim Stewart, Tom Butler,
Stacey Thornton, Paul Lipscombe, Matt Wilson, Danny Brooks, David Thornton, John Behr, Kenny Martin, Harold Watts
Kansas City RFC invited Springfield on their England-Wales tour in 1985 starting a special rugby relationship between Springfield and South Wales. Springfield RFC had its first overseas tour in 1987 with just 10 players going to England and Wales. The most recent tour for the club was in 1994 when more than 20 players went for games arranged against Strathendrick in Scotland and Pill Harriers of Newport.
In its short history Springfield RFC has had a remarkable record for hosting rugby touring sides from overseas, mainly the British Isles. In the spring of 1985 the Pill Harriers RFC from South Wales visited Springfield and somehow Springfield RFC won the match 3-0. An estimated 500 people watched that game. The Pill Harriers revisited Springfield in 1987 when the home side again won the game with a score of 18-12. The Springfield Rugby Club and the Pill Harriers have continued their association over the years with the original connection between the clubs making an interesting story.
 1987
In 1988 Rumney RFC, South Wales, toured this area playing games in Denver, Kansas City and Springfield. This game was won by Rumney RFC 16-22. A few members of the Pill Harriers RFC came on tour in the spring of 1989 and formed a combined team with Springfield RFC to beat the Heart of America representative side. The close association between Springfield RFC and both Rumney RFC and the Pill Harriers continues on as demonstrated by the visit to Springfield by a group from these two clubs to join in the 20th anniversary celebrations held in June 2003.
 November 1988 Back: Colin Jones, David Moore, Gary Harper, Jimmy Stewart, Greg Gurke, Rick Carr, Andy Hampton,
Stacey Thornton, Lance Livesey, Chris Vogelsang, Cam Collins
Front: Jon Moore, John Behr, Marc Graham, Dave Garrett, Doug Velliquette, Jim Pettitt, Ray Sipple
In the fall of 1989 we hosted a touring side from Canterbury University, Christchurch, New Zealand. This resulted in an excellent game tied at 21-21 against a fit youthful team. We had two touring sides visit us in the spring of 1992. In early May we lost 12-20 to Strathendrick RFC, from Scotland, having quite decisively won the first half 12-0, before making several changes to the team at half time! We again played Rumney RFC, who quite obviously enjoy touring the Heart of America. This time they brought their weather with them and on a very wet evening in early June we lost 10-17. Springfield RFCs hosting qualities have travelled well throughout the valleys of south Wales and another south Wales club, Whitchurch RFC, Cardiff, visited here in May 1993. With the conditions again cloudy and with a few rain showers during the match an excellent high scoring game occurred with the visitors finally winning 47-36.
 March 1989
 The colors of blue and green came about due to the fact that Scoop saw a friend with a sweater of blue and green and thought “what an interesting combination”. That afternoon while ordering our first jerseys the vendor had a special deal on white jerseys with a blue and green stripe - thus the club had its colors. Springfield RFC has contributed a number of players to the select sides for the Heart of America Union, the Western Territory and the USA national team. This started to occur very early in the club's history reflecting the success the club was having on the field. After a few successful years in Div II of HOA the club gained promotion to Div I in 1990 and remained there until 1994. Following a period of re-structuring the club came back strongly to win the Heart of America Division II championship in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003. In both 1999 and 2001 SRFC took second place in the Western Territory Championships behind The Woodlands from Houston, TX. At the following National Sweet 16 Tournaments the club finished 10th in 1999 and 7th in 2001.
Spring 2000 - Springfield v Denver Harlequins
In 2002 SRFC came third in the Div II Western Championship and was able to move into the Sweet 16 round due to previous successes of Western Territory clubs allowing for 3 teams in the final 16 and this time finished 5th. In 2003 after another successful season winning the HOA championship the club won the Western Territory Championship but again was defeated in the Elite 8 round of the National Championship in Newport, RI and finished the season ranked 7th in Division II. The club was promoted into US Division I for the start of the fall 2003 season and played at this level for 3 years before dropping back to Division II. In the summer of 2010, after two difficult seasons, it was decided that it would benefit the club to play Division III rugby starting in the fall 2010. At the end of the 2012/2013 season SRFC qualified for the Western Terratorial Div III tournament in Omaha, NE. The club lost to Aberdeen, SD in the first round and beat the Hornets in the next match to finish 5/6 in the Tournament.
 Spring 2003 - Western Territory Champions
Scoop served as president, coach, captain and secretary-treasurer for the first season. In the spring of 1983 elections were held on his patio when Scoop was again returned as both president and coach. John Behr was elected captain, the secretary-treasurer was Steve Ellis and Jim Stewart became match secretary. Tom Shea was our second coach after Scoop stepped down in 1985 and Ron Kitchens became the next president in 1985 serving in that capacity until 1991 when John Behr was elected president. In 1992 Ron became president of the Heart of America Union. Continuing through the 1990s - Larry Spurgeon (1995, 1996), Wolfgang Huff (1996), Cam Collins (1997, 1998) and Rhett Smillie (1999-2003) have served admirably as presidents of the club. Following the original club captain, John Behr, the club captains have been Jon “Pappy” Moore (1985-1987), Andy Hampton (1987-1988), Ray Sipple (1988-1990), Greg Gurke (1990-1993), Mike Green (1994), Jim Waring (1994-1995), and Chad Lugar (1996-1999). Since 1999 a club policy has been implemented whereby the captain has been appointed by the coach on a game-to-game basis.
Cam Collins was elected coach in 1987 and served in that capacity until Colin Jones took over in 1988. Jon “Pappy” Moore was the next club coach from 1996 for 3 years until succeeded by Andrew Baines from Pill Harriers RFC in 2000. Unfortunately, after a trip back home, Andrew found that he could not sidestep the US immigration authorities and consequently was not available for 2001. The club survived a period without a coach before Melan “Mudge” Mudgway (originally from NZ) arrived in spring 2002 via Fresno, CA, where he had been successful in taking that club to the National Division II Finals. Mudge's stay in Springfield proved to be brief for in December 2002 he moved on to coach at Scioto Valley RFC, OH. Chad Lugar then took over as the clubs temporary player-coach while a search continued to replace Mudge as coach. This situation continued until 2008 when Sam Tahhan was appointed to the position and Chad could step down from his 'temporary' assignment. Sam was a former SRFC player and a successful golf teaching pro and brought all the necessary coaching credentials to SRFC. Sam coached the club through a difficult time for the club as several 'vets' retired and new players started learning the game. Sam resigned in the fall of 2012 when Chris Jackson, from Australia, was able to take over as coach.
The club played its first year at L.A. Wise Park but in the spring of 1985 we moved with the help of Terry Quinn to the Downtown Airport on Division Street. In 1986 we moved to the pitch in south Springfield at National and Montclair near Mercy Villa. One goal of the club has been to have its own field and clubhouse and finally, after many fund-raising events, this took a major step forward with the acquisition of 10 acres of land to the west of Springfield in April 2001. After a summer of preparation the first game played on this pitch took place on October 6, 2001.
 Springfield Rugby Club - the new home pitch - October 2001
In 2006/2007 funds were raised for the building of a pavilion situated in line with the center of the playing field. The pavilion was completed in time for the match with Pill Harriers on June 2, 2007 and named the Matt Wilson Pavilion in honor of one of the founding members of the club who died of cancer in 2006. On a hot afternoon which should have suited the home team the Pill Harriers won the game easily 61-7!! The association between the clubs continued to help SRFC when 3 players from Pill played for SRFC in the following spring season.
Pill Harriers - June 2012
June 2012 – Pill Harriers returned to the USA with about 20 players together with 20 supporters for a 2 game tour taking on Lincoln Park, Chicago and Springfield. After beating Lincoln Park they moved onto Springfield where they stayed for about 8 days of social events and a game on the Saturday.
The afternoon of the match began with a welcome to the tourists from the mayor of Springfield and with National flags flying after the respective anthems had been sung the game got under way. Under clear skies the tourists beat the home side 26-19 in a game watched by about 250 supporters. The tourists got off to a good start with 2 tries within the first 15 minutes but the home side improved their game and came back strongly in the second half. A few of the Pill supporters had been to Springfield several times going back to their first visit in 1985 when they came as players.
Matt Wilson Pavilion - April 2009
 Matt Wilson Pavilion looking North
April 2009 - Doug Velliquette Memorial
In July 2008 a combined Springfield RFC/Pill Harriers 7's squad played in a couple of tournaments in the midwest, including Tulsa, and the prospect of Springfield hosting a Summer 7's Tournament was developed. This proposal took fruition and on June 27th 2009 the first Springfield RFC Summer 7's Tournament was held with 12 teams taking part in temperatures close to 100F. A full 7's squad from Pill Harriers entered the competition together with 9 clubs from around the Midwest along with SRFC and a Springfield Old Boys side. The final match of the tournament was an excellent game between the St. Louis Bombers and Pill Harriers with the Bombers scoring in the last few seconds to win 14-7. Led by Mike Gibbon and Andrew Baines the touring side from Pill enjoyed a further 10 days in Missouri hosted by members of SRFC.
In June 2010 the second SRFC Summer 7's was again won by the St. Louis Bombers after defeating Tulsa Assassins 17-10 in the final.
 June 2010 - Springfield Summer 7's SRFC 7's Squad.
The special jerseys were sold after the event as a fund raiser for the Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks.
June 2010 - Springfield Summer 7's
SRFC - Old Boys Squad.
With little fan fare SRFC had it's first U19 match on May 7th, 2011. Several boys from the Bentonville Blues joined with the 6 SRFC boys and played against Liberty. MO. Liberty had some studs and with Calum refereeing, we played 20 minutes. Then players on both sides switched around and play continued for two more 20 minute periods. No injuries, weather was perfect and the pitch never looked better. This is a very big step for this club in the development of the U 19 program. The club thanks Calum Pender and Mark Nelson for starting the U 19 program and staying with it in spite of the lack of numbers. Several players and Old Boys prepared the pitch with the helping hands of our 3 visiting Australian players and after match meals were provided by Karen (Calums wife).
The 3 Australians (Shane Denshire, Trent Dickson & Chris Jackson) from the Grafton RFC, NSW played for SRFC during the spring 2011 season. These 3 players were a tremendous asset to the club with their notable playing skills, their help with all aspects of training, and in general being very positive about the game. Chris enjoyed his time so much in Springfield he was back the following spring and became club coach in the fall of 2012. This association continued when Benjamin Thomas became the first Springfield player to visit and play for the Grafton club.
The Springfield rugby club has continued to contribute to the local community in a variety of ways including its association since 1996 with the Springfield Parks Board, Ozarks Fighting Back, the Springfield Ministers Coalition and other groups to provide a series of once-a-week summer youth activity programs. As part of a wide range of activities available to young people SRFC has been able to provide a program based around touch rugby. This adventure has proved to be very successful and enjoyable for everyone involved. In July 2004 the club completed a project, organized by Brian Wilson, at Maggies, part of The Kitchen complex, where several members of the club contributed over 100 man-hours of work. The work included putting up and painting new walls and ceiling, Chop Houser and Scoop Thornton contributed by hanging new cabinets. The club really came through well and we are all very proud of the effort and the teamwork. At a Recognition Dinner in January 2005, held at Highland Springs Country Club, The Kitchen on Commercial Street presented the Springfield Rugby Football Club an award for Outstanding Community Service. Since 1983 the club has been fortunate to have had many faithful supporters and committed individuals helping the clubs development and one very noteworthy gentleman in this respect was Gerard Seymour. Unfortunately in April 2002 Springfield RFC and the Heart of America Union lost a true rugby friend with the death of Gerard B.A. Seymour, a founding member of the Kansas City Rugby Club, the USRFU and a great ally of the Springfield rugby club. Gerards life in rugby. back to top
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