Frederick fields two Men’s sides each weekend and has a very close relationship with the Mount Saint Mary’s College RFC, Emmitsburg, Maryland. The team jerseys are solid emerald green with black collar or emerald green with black and white hoops. Black shorts and socks are worn with all jerseys.

Our home pitch is located in Ft. Detrick, Frederick, Maryland (thanks to the benevolence of the US Army) and we practice under lights on facilities kindly provided by Frederick City.

To get involved with, or just for additional information about Frederick RFC please feel free to contact the Manager, Julian Reading.

Frederick RFC is tied to the Falcons in many ways: 1) Don Briggs was the Falcon's defensive coordinator and offensive line coach and coach and a founder of Frederick RFC; 2) four Falcons playing for the founding Frederick RFC team (Paul O'Brien, Joe O'Brien, Tom Skowron, and Billy Skowron) also played high school rugby for the Seneca Valley HS (MD) team that was a runner up in the Nationals in 1981 and 1983. A teammate of theirs at Seneca Valley is current Frederick stalwart JB Bonfils. Their Seneca Valley coach - Craig Weincek - played with Don Briggs at Washington RFC; 3) Frederick RFC's #1 fan, Tommy Grunwell, played for the Falcons and Washington RFC and his three sons Mike, Kevin, and Sean all played for Frederick RFC over the years; 4) Bob Hemby, whose son Ron is considered by many the best flanker to play for Frederick RFC, also played for the Falcons; 5) In 1986, a then young lad would slip down from Frostburg (MD) and fill the first team's offensive guard slot, between classes and playing rugby. He is none other than Tory Ireland current first XV loose head and a former captain; and 6) Ed Shaffer, a founder, and rugby transplant from Atlanta (Old White) played for the Falcons during the 1989 season.

The Frederick community was so impressed with The Falcons after their run and national recognition, that in 1990 the entire team and coaching staff were inducted into the Frederick County Hall of Fame. Six members from the founding FRFC team are Frederick County Hall of Fame members.

Frederick RFC was invited to join Division III at the end of 1990. Frederick RFC started its inaugural season with a win against local rival Mason-Dixon only to be beat on the ensuing 4 weekends. Though attracting top talent from around the union, Frederick RFC was considered by the more urbane clubs to be a "bunch of hicks and rednecks." Frederick went on to close the season with 7 consecutive wins and an 8-4 record overall. In 1991, Frederick won Division III but opted to remain in Division III to strengthen the program. When Frederick won Division III the following year, we challenged the bottom Division II Club, USUHS, and won, gaining promotion to Division II.

1993-1994
Division II regional champions are eligible to participate in a National Division II Championship Tournament. In the Fall of 1993, Frederick were champions of Division II but shared the number one spot with Severn River and Baltimore. Only two teams were eligible to enter the National Championship, Frederick ranked third on point differential. In the Fall of 1994 Frederick RFC won Division II outright (while winning some 21 straight games over 3 seasons) and entered the National Championship. Frederick went on to beat the champions of Eastern Pennsylvania and Virginia to become the Mid-Atlantic Champions. Frederick then traveled to Orlando, Florida to compete in the Eastern USA Championship. We lost 9-11 to the eventual Eastern USA champion Burlington, Vermont in the first round.

1995
1995 saw a league restructuring. The former Potomac, Eastern Pennsylvania and Virginia Division II teams were combined into the Mid-Atlantic Division II and split geographically into Div II North and South. In order to align the region with the National Division II Tournament, all Division II North and South matches were to be played in the Fall, the Spring season was used to determine the Mid-Atlantic Champion by holding a North verses South play-off. The winner moved directly into the National Division II Sweet Sixteen Tournament.

In the Fall of 1995 Frederick won Division II North, but lost our Coach, Don Briggs. In the Spring play-offs Frederick fell in the first round of the Mid-Atlantic Championship to Western Suburbs, Virginia placing a lowly fifth in the Mid-Atlantic region.

1996
In the Fall of 1996, under the tutelage of newly appointed Head Coach John Redmond, Frederick qualified for the Spring play-offs by placing 4th in Division II North. In the Spring we beat the Division II South Champion Norfolk, Virginia then fell to eventual Mid-Atlantic Champions Blackthorn, Pennsylvania placing third in the Mid-Atlantic Region.

1997
In the Fall of 1997, a resurgent Frederick won seven of eight divisional matches to become outright champions of Mid-Atlantic Division II North. In the Spring of 1998 we traveled to Savannah and successfully defended our Division II Champion title, then returned to the Washington Irish tournament entered and won the Division I bracket. Frederick beat Division II South number four Virginia, then hosted the Mid-Atlantic Final-4. Frederick won emphatically. We won both matches in the National Sweet-16 in Chicago, Illinois then moved onto San Diego, California and the National Final-4. After a come-from-behind victory over Worcester, Massachusetts Frederick fell in the final 8 - 16 to a strong Wisconsin team. Frederick picked up the National Division II #2 ranking (from over 250 Clubs in the USA).

1998
Fall 1998 was a tough season for the Club. The mental and physical strain from reaching the Nationals led to a below par performance. However, under new Head Coach Lance French, the Club did well enough to qualify for the Mid-Atlantic Division II Sweet-16 in the Spring of 1999. Frederick came out of the winter break with a far better spirit and reached the Mid-Atlantic Division II Final after a hard pitched battle against Media, Pennsylvania in the semi-final. Due to the fact that Frederick had placed in the National Final in 1998, the Mid-Atlantic Territory were awarded 2 spots in the National Sweet-16 Tournament. Frederick lost the Mid-Atlantic Final but did enough to return to the Nationals. This time Frederick traveled to Chicago, IL for the National Sweet-16, dispatched Montauk, New Jersey but fell to Orange County, California by 2 in injury time 20 - 22. Orange County continued on and was crowned National Division II Champions. Frederick was awarded the #5 ranking in the USA.

1999
Under the direction of a new Head Coach, Eamon Doyle from Northern Ireland, Frederick surged into the 1999 Fall season. A convincing 4-match win streak to place 1st in the Atlantic Cup Tournament was a great start to the campaign. After a squad loss to Division I heavyweights Washington RFC, Frederic tore through Division II North with 3 straight wins. However, the Club’s nemesis of recent times Media, PA stopped the Club short with a demoralizing come from behind win. Frederick gathered well and finished off with a 3 match winning flurry, but the single loss to Media put Frederick into the #2 seed for the Spring 2000 MARFU play-offs.

2000
Spring 2000 opened with the customary trip to Savannah, GA and the capture of hardware, placing 1st in Division II. In the MARFU play-offs Frederick pounded Norfolk 58-13 than ran into a very tough Raleigh, NC team in the Final-4. Frederick won 27-16 but lost several key players to injury. The MARFU Final against Media was a disappointing loss. Frederick advanced to the National Sweet-16 as the #7 seed. The first round match against Monmouth was a classic. Evenly matched teams swapped the lead 3 times, with Frederick scoring in the last minute to secure a one-point victory. Once again the battle took its toll and although the match against Grand Rapids had moments of inspiration, Frederick fell to a better team on the day. Grand Rapids went on to lose in the National Final; Frederick earned a #6 in the USA ranking.

Another season, another league restructure. The Fall of 2000 saw Frederick, along with 5 other Division II teams promoted to the Championship Division, with the 6 existing MARFU Division I teams. This season also saw the retirement of several key players but the largest influx of young players in the Club’s history. The mixture of elevated competition and a fresh squad of youngsters was quite a challenge for returning Head Coach Lance French. After a reasonable showing at the Atlantic Cup, reaching the semi-final, the Club started the season with a win over Washington Irish. The rest of the season was full of brave play, player development and improvement, but a string of 7 straight A-side losses. However, at the end of this season, the players have more Club unity, more confidence in the Coaching staff and each other than I have ever seen. Look for Frederick to regroup and come back with purpose in the Spring. There is a #3 seed in MARFU up for grabs and a good shot at returning to the National competition if the Club is focused and hungry enough.

2001
Spring 2001: Frederick Rugby gained access to a state-of-the-art indoor training facility for off-season training over the winter. Jim Ford accepted the mantle of Head Coach and was assisted by Washington Coach (and former Frederick Coach) John Redmond for these sessions that encompassed drills and touch league matches. The team was fit, motivated and ready to go. Unfortunately some severe winter weather curtailed our trip to Philadelphia and Vice Captain Kenny Orndoff breaking his hand in a team scrimmage compounded our frustration. After stumbling to Severn River Frederick headed south to Savannah. The tour was put together by Mike “Tool-Time” Taylor and Brian “Magnum” Taormina and was a great success. Three wins from three, including a gutsy win over Morris, NJ secured Frederick the Div II trophy. Back in Frederick we failed to build upon the momentum gained in Savannah and went two and two losing both league matches to put us at #7 going into the MARFU Championship. The season’s finest performance was saved for that match. The squad traveled to Raleigh, NC for the second time in three weeks and smashed the home team into submission with Jamie “Trigger” Romano securing MVP honors for his 90m intercept try to ice the contest. The MARFU Final-4 was a let down with Frederick being outplayed on the day by Brandywine then being insulted by a Norfolk forfeit on Sunday. That meant that Frederick was not to return to the Nationals but did secure the MARFU #3 rank. Fall 2001 sees a number of new recruits looking to make their mark with Frederick Rugby and the stability of returning Head Coach Jim Ford. The league has been restructured (once more) and we’ll see if Frederick can use the underdog label to our advantage.

Fall 2001: A loss to Schuylkill River followed by losses to Baltimore and the Maryland Exiles (in which Teddy Thompson ruptured his spleen) meant that Frederick opened up 0 and 3 in league play with an uphill battle to make the play-offs. In a major turning point we dominated Media, allowing them to get back in the game towards the end, to secure a league victory. Two weeks later, the bus trip to Brandywine saw the clear emergence of team leaders. Tory Ireland coached from the sideline and Troy Bartley thumped through the opposition at center. The season ended with a desperate loss to Philly-Whitemarsh, but it was a great to feel that we should have won the match. Frederick’s confidence had been restored. Although a 6 and 6 record was not outstanding, we had done enough to qualify as seed #4 for the MARFU championships in the spring.

2002
Spring 2002: After another great winter training session run by Washington Coach John Redmond the Club was dealt a cruel blow when Head Coach Jim Form had to step down for medical reasons. Fortunately the leadership step-up in the fall came to the rescue with Tory Ireland and Julian Reading doing some coaching and the emergence of Dave Gentzel as the Backs Coach. Richmond was no match and we headed south to Savannah with a small squad who did very well. The loss to Raleigh was a good slap in the face and we never looked back for the rest of the season. A highlight was the North Jersey match, former home of Fain Moran, as together the two Clubs raised money for a fallen friend, Tommy Knox. The loss to Washington Irish was devastating but as much a credit to the Irish as a disappointment to us. Frederick was certainly in the game and the match served to highlight one of Frederick’s new key players Peter “Tiger” Goto. To the Club’s credit we finished off the season in style winning the Baltimore Rites of Spring Tournament. An 11 and 2 record is a step in the right direction.

Fall 2002: The results for this season were a little disappointing as we failed to beat any of the “big three” (Norfolk, Washington Irish and Raleigh) in the division and finished up in the hunt but not guaranteed a play-off slot. However, this season marked the first time that Frederick Rugby embarked on an international tour, to England, where we played quality rugby and had a great time. Fall 2002 record (7 - 6)

Fall 2003: The squad started the season in great form sweeping through Division I of the Atlantic Cup falling in a close final to SuperLeague club Washington. In the matrix the A-side slipped early to a well-organized Rocky Gorge side but rebounded to beat Raleigh in Raleigh and thereby secure a berth in the MARFU Elite-8 spring play-offs. In the first year of the B-side Merit league, Frederick went 7 and 1 placing second in the table, a great credit to all of the players involved.

2004
Spring 2004: This season sees Frederick with another opportunity to advance through the MARFU play-offs. Due to the number of injuries last season a lot of players benefited from A-side time and this has strengthened the squad’s self-belief. The schedule is well organized with tournaments and a visiting Welsh team giving everyone an opportunity to play competitive matches as well as enjoying the social side of rugby. There are also some tough match-ups with Pennsylvanian teams to test our mettle ahead of the play-offs. Roger Lecroy joins the coaching team as a full-time assistant coach with responsibility for the backs and the B-side, Steve Schleupner returns as an assistant focusing on conditioning and defense. With input and support from John Redmond and Dave Gentzel, we have a motivated, quality coaching staff. It’s time for Frederick to step up a level; this season should prove to be very exciting.

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