Staff

MaryBeth Mathews, Director, Bowdoin College Head Coach, Varsity Women’s Rugby

Coach Mathews is in her 29th year coaching rugby at Bowdoin College winning the inaugural Fall 2019 NCAA (NIRA) Div III National Championship and repeating again in Fall’21 and ’22.  Following her career playing mathews22competitive club and territorial rugby and winning two national championships (1978 Portland, ME; 1991 Beantown) and in addition to coaching the nationally ranked Polar Bears, Mathews coached the Maine U-23 and New England U-23 Select Sides and is a USA Rugby certified coach and referee. Contributions to the game include 5 yrs as East Regional Representative on USAR College Management Council, 3 years on Women’s Strategic Committee, NESCAC Conference Commissioner, American Collegiate Rugby Association President, an organization dedicated to promoting women’s collegiate rugby, and current member of WRCRA, Women’s Rugby Coaches and Referees Association. In January 2023, Mathews was one of eight women in the inaugural group to receive the Kathy Flores Lifetime Achievement Award for dedication and service to rugby.  Mathews is stepping down from her role at Bowdoin after 29 years but will continue to host Polar Bear Rugby Camp at Bowdoin and serve the girl’s and women’s game.

Bowdoin’s Varsity Rugby program consistently graduates top leaders in their academic fields and turns out winning seasons on the pitch, including five New England Championships and bids to regional (2006, 2007, 2011 through 2017) and national championships (2007, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019).  Bowdoin Women’s Rugby has produced numerous high school and college coaches, referees, 14 Collegiate All-Americans, hundreds of All-Academics, and two USA National team members. The team tours internationally every four years; they toured and played in Spain and France in 2017, and again in 2022.

Staff, current & former

Farrah Scrum

  • Farrah Douglas –  former USA Scrum Coach, USAR HSAA Coach and USA Eagle, (pictured to the left) and Mount St. Mary’s Head Coach,
  • Jonathan ‘Griff’ Griffin – Fulham, Richmond RFC Women’s Rugby Premiership Head Coach (UK); Wooden Spoon Invitational Women’s 7s Head Coach; 3-time DI Collegiate Women Nat’l Champion Stanford Rugby & 2-time Nat’l Championship Pacific Coast “Grizzlies” Collegiate Men’s All Star Head Coach; PhD, CSCS
  • Russell Earnshaw – Bristol, UK: former RFU player, RFU U18 coach, RFU Level 4 Coach, Pathway Coach Developer and High Performance Coach for England
  • James Read – Bowdoin College Asst. Coach; Southampton, England, Havant player
  • Emily Record – Head Women’s Varsity Coach, University of New Haven
  • Olivia Benzan-Daniel – Beantown, Head Coach Brandeis Women, St. Mary’s H.S.
  • Jenna Clukey – former Bowdoin player & captain, Jenna plays for Beantown’s WPL
  • Kitt Ruiz-Wagner – Assistant Coach, Brown University (hoping to attend 2023!)
  • Karen “K.O.” Onufry – Middlebury College Head Coach, former USA National team
  • Lance Connolly – Mt. Saint Mary’s asst coach, former USAR U-20 and Penn State
  • Laurie Bourdon – former USA Eagles, Beantown WRFC, Algonquin H.S. and MYRO All-Star coach