Here's a quick season-by-season recap:

2002
Coach: Dan Solomon
Captain: Gus del Puerto, Cam Williams

Spring - Guided by the wisdom and enthusiasm of Dan Solomon and Cam Williams, we won our first ever game against Wentworth featuring our first try from Chris LeBlanc-Smith. That season we won a few hard-fought games, introduced the game of rugby to a bunch of rookies, and had a great time. Our home pitch at Cherry Hill Park was a gem, but unfortunately youth sports would force us out in the end.

The spring campaign included wins over Wentworth, Rutland, and Middlesex. The season was capped off by a strong showing in the sloppy conditions at the NERFU Championships in Newport, where NSRFC defeated South Shore and lost a battle to Seacoast.

Fall - In short, it was a learning experience - showing us how much we needed to improve and also how much tougher the fall season could be. The season ended with no league wins but valuable match experience for our many young players. The year was capped off by a trip to the New York 7's in November.
 
2003
Coach: Des Crowley
Captain: Chris LeBlanc-Smith

Spring - Hoping to build on our inaugural year, the NSRFC renewed its commitment to fitness and hard work for spring 2003. The club migrated to GEEAA Field which was a bit rough around the edges, but mostly unoccupied and added the element of lights. With new coach Des Crowley in the fold and Chris LeBlanc-Smith leading by example, the club stepped up and saw the results of our hard work - three wins.

The spring season was concluded by two more wins at the Bull Moose Tournament at Attitash Mountain.

Fall - This was an outstanding season for NSRFC, with a 4-1-1 record overall.  An early season tie at Seacoast would prove to be the highlight, as we remained in playoff contention until the final week of league play.

The fall season provided a lesson about what it takes to improve our level of play and sustain it.  It also left the club hungry for another chance to compete for a league championship. Another trip to the New York Sevens resulted in slightly more success than the previous trip, but no hardware.
 

2004
Coach: Des Crowley
Captain: Martin Mahoney

Spring - In the spring of 2004, North Shore Rugby took another step forward under the guidance of Des Crowley and leadership of new captain Martin Mahoney.

The season yielded six wins against zero losses, as well as winning the consolation bracket at the NERFU Championships in Newport and second place in the Bull Moose Tournament B Division. Many players in their second or third year of rugby started putting their experience to use.

Fall - The season started in the best way possible, with strong wins over the Wolfhound Dinos, Harvard Business School, and MIT. However, this success was short-lived as we dropped the next three games, due to a combination of injury, lack of player availability and generally being outplayed.

There were strong player additions to the club as we continue to build momentum toward finishing at the top of our division. In three years, the club grew in quality and quantity, and also saw the addition of a women's side. NSRFC seemed to be on the verge of "putting it all together" in 2005.

2005
Coach: Des Crowley, Morgan Rigby (backs)
Captain: Matt Thibault

Spring - The spring season began with North Shore's first international tour to Limerick, Ireland. We played matches against sides from Shannon RFC and Garryowen RFC. The tour represented a big step for the club and plans are in the works for a 2007 tour. Also in Ireland the captaincy was officially passed onto Matt Thibault who will lead the club throughout 2005.

The remainder of the season had its ups and downs, with convincing wins over Mount Washington and Central Maine mixed in with bad losses to Mad River and Portland. The NERFU Tournament was a decent showing for us, playing Seacoast close before a late collapse and then pulling ourselves together for a strong second half in a win over Mt. Washington.

Fall - With a realigned Division III, we knew every game was going to be tough. We started off with a narrow loss to Portland and bounced back with wins over MIT and Middlesex, all at home. We then lost at Mad River despite putting in a huge effort and keeping the game close to the end. We finished out the season with a highly forgettable performance against the Wolfhounds, where the only positive implication was in the standings.

The scenario somehow worked out at season's end for Portland, Wolfhounds, Seacoast and North Shore to play for DIII bragging rights and possibly a chance of promotion. We ended up paired up with Portland in the semi-finals and could not seem to get anything right in a lopsided loss where we barely touched the ball or threatened.

Also in the fall, our B-side made an appearance in the Division IV semi-finals after a strong season. However they would fall to Mount Washington Valley, the eventual DIV winners. Overall, both the A and B sides put in some great performances over the course of the season and lots of new players contributed to the club, surely a good sign for the foreseeable future.

2006
Coach: Des Crowley
Captain: Dave Shannon, Reade Morrison, Rob Moran

Spring: The spring season started with promise, as several new faces joined NSRFC to start the spring season. We won our first game in grand fashion, incorporating many of those new players. After that game, however, many new and veteran players were affected by injury, relocation or other unavailability, including our captain, and we struggled through the remainder of the spring. However, we did gain a few solid, long term members of the club and younger players to supplement our original core of players.

Fall: We knew that the fall season was going to be tough, and fortunately got even more reinforcements to augment our lineup. With relegation possible, we knew we needed to step up -- and did. Finishing the season with a 4-2 record and in fourth place, we were only held out of the playoffs by a BCS-style ranking system that will be going away in 2007.

Regardless, NSRFC notched victories over Mad River, Rutland, Mount Washington Valley and MIT while stumbling against Middlesex and New London. With a mixture of proud performances from club veterans such as Chris LeBlanc-Smith, Reade Morrison and Mark Swan, big contributions from new faces and past regulars (thank you Ken Spinale, Rich DePiero, Liam Brady, Dan Donato, countless others) stepping in where needed, the club showed a lot of character in the fall season.

In 2007, we'll have a mixture of veteran and new players as well as new officers to lead us into our 5th anniversary year. We're also kicking off the year with our second International Tour to Ireland.

2007
Coach: Des Crowley
Captain: Jesse Dole

Spring: North Shore RFC started off 2007 in style by completing a tour of Limerick and Dublin with two matches played as well as some great atmosphere around the Ireland/England Six Nations match. Many former NSRFC players, as well as a couple of guest players contributed to the effort. It was truly a great time throughout the tour while playing some great rugby and watching some top notch matches as well.

The scores from the tour were as follows:
NSRFC vs. Garryowen J3: 12-22
NSRFC vs. Wanderers J3: 14-20

In a return match from the tour, North Shore RFC hosted Wanderers of Dublin in the first international match hosted by NSRFC. It was an exciting match, with the visitors coming away with the win, but some great end-to-end rugby throughout. The final score was 30-14 (or thereabouts) to the Wanderers. Wanderers went on to play Boston Irish 3rd division side and notch a 60-0 victory. Recap from Wanderers.

The remainder of the spring was a mixture of injury, poor attendance and general inconsistent rugby. It was truly a test of the club's core players to see if we could scrape through a tough season with lots of player turnover, but we managed to keep our shite together and even win a tournament game up in NH. Some new faces started to appear in late spring and into summer, providing some more optimism for the fall season.

Fall:
The fall campaign started with two tough opponents, eventual division leaders Middlesex and Seacoast, and disappointing results, as we lost those matches with relatively crooked scores, or at least it felt that way. However, we managed to right the ship and come up with a win over Springfield and bonus points for narrow losses against the Wolfhounds and MIT. We finally capped the season with two tough wins, first against Rutland in Vermont, no easy task when traveling and against an improving side, and another at home against New London, a club that had recent bragging rights and made our lives difficult to the final whistle.

The fall was especially challenging given the improving nature of D3, the threat of relegation to D4. more tough injuries and a schedule of seven consecutive weeks. People came out of pseudo-retirement, played out of position, and generally gave big efforts when the club really needed them. We finished 3-4 with lots of close games and new players getting A-side experience for the first time. Next spring will mark a new era as Des Crowley steps aside and Dan Solomon takes over coaching responsibilities in what's sure to be another challenging, but exciting year.