The following is a conglomeration of information from the 5th annual Dead Ants Rugby Tournament program (1982), the Genesee Rugby Club 1999 World Cup Tour program, and drunken stories told by Old Boys in the bar…
To trace the roots of this illustrious club we have to travel back to the dawn of recorded time- 1973. In the beginning there was rugby. A part of rugby were two men who played for the Buffalo Old Boys. One was Mr. Kevin Woods and the other was Mr. Dwight Wells. Driving to Buffalo to practice and play was impractical so they decided to start a club in Batavia, having noticed many fine, young athletes in the local bars, they reasoned that a team in Batavia would do well.
An ad was placed in the local paper describing the game and setting a meeting for interested athletes. On the night of the meeting no athletes showed up. Dominic Lovria, Rick Pryll, Jack Snow, Brian Kettle, Don Barnes, and Tom Darby did, however. With this group, plans were laid to form a club. These six men scoured bars, searched the gutters, begged their friends, bribed their acquaintances, arranged for bail, and rounded up enough players to begin practice. This was no easy task. When one preaches rugby to heathens one is usually asked “what the hell is rugby?”
On the first day of practice many of the future players were dismayed to learn that the game involved running. The only running most of them had done was from irate wives. The coach allayed their anxieties by describing the reception that follows each match. Practices went smoothly and after many sore muscles, aching bones, hang-overs, and divorce threats, the side was ready for its first match. It was a rag tag crew that took the field that day against the Victor Vikings. They had no name and no uniforms. (The uniforms had been ordered 16 weeks earlier from an inept company) Surprisingly, the match ended in a tie.
It was at the first party that Genesee received their name. After several rounds of the nectar in the green and white cans, known as Genesee Cream Ale, they adopted their name- The Genesee Creamers. Some of the older members insist that the name implies what they would have liked to do to their opponents, but in those early days the opposite usually happened.
One day in November of 1975 they broke tradition and won a match. Their fan went wild and had to be subdued. In 1976 the club was struck by two tragic events. One of the founders defected to Battle Creek, Michigan and the other one got old. Rugby players have a habit of getting old overnight and retiring.
Two disastrous seasons, 1976 and 1977, when the Creamers could barely field a full side, the team almost disbanded. A few remaining members decided to keep the team together and started a new recruiting and promotion effort in the area that began to pay off during the spring of 1978. The club had a continually improving team and was gaining many new members. 1978 saw the Creamers field a very strong side which was respected by all their opponents.
Even with the rough seasons, In 1976 they won the first Genesee Invitational Tournament. In 1977 they placed third in the Matts Tournament. The 1978 season was ended with a third place win in the Niagara University Tournament.
1977 was the first year that the Dead Ants Tournament was hosted. This event grew to 16 sides and was one of the oldest tournaments in the nation, with running over 29 years in a row. It was the highlight of the season for many clubs because of the quality of the rugby and the post tournament reception.
In 1981 the club completed its first tour. Two weeks in Florida produced a lot more sunburn than victories. April of 1982 saw the Creamers go overseas for the first time. The eight day annual Bahamas Rumfest was a rousing success, enjoyed on the beaches and rugby pitches of Nassau. Several members brought back prime specimens of South Atlantic tree frogs.
1983 was the first time the club ventured to the shores of the UK, traveling to England and Wales. They played in Illikston, Nottingham, Mitchum, and Aberrgaveny, Wales. The club returned to Nassau in 1985 and took third place in the Heinneken Thanksgiving Tournament. A 1986 tour took them to Ireland and Scotland for the first time. This was notable because for the first time, we won a match on tour. The first was in Ballinsloe, Ireland in a foot of mud with a referee dressed in knee high boots. In 80 minutes it rained, snowed, hailed, and ended in sunshine. The other victory came against St. Edwards Old Boys in Liverpool. Another trip to the Bahamas was mounted in 1989 with the club going 2-2 against the locals and the expats there.
1991 was the first tour to the World Cup with matches being played in Perth and Hillhead, Scotland, and Lymm and Gravesend, England. We got to see England vs USA at Twickingham and USA vs Italy at the hallowed ground in Otley. 1994 was the first of what became a semi-annual trip to the Nassau 7’s Tournament, taking first place in the consolation bracket. The club returned to this tournament in 1997 and 1999, fairing very well both times. The club retuned to the UK in 1999 to complete another World Cup Tour, playing in Wales and Ireland and watching Argentina vs Manu Samoa, USA vs Australia, and Ireland vs Romania.
1998 marked the clubs 25th year of continuous operation, having survived through many lean years and many good years along the way. There have been a few not so memorable events also. Three players spent a night in a dog kennel in Rome, NY. One individual had a meal stolen from him by a white whale, while another was left in Ithaca, NY. Once a match was scheduled and three players showed up.
Out of desperation, the Creamers merged with Lockport Rugby in 2015, forming Tri-County Rugby, for three seasons. The Genesee Rugby Club retuned to Batavia for the Spring 2018 season and has been going strong ever since.
In Spring 2019, we went down to Long Island to fight for the Empire GU Challenge Cup Championship against the Suffolk Bullmoose. The Club president and the van full of backs showed up minutes before kickoff after turning around to get the jerseys. It was a close match but we came up short.
The Genesee Creamers Rugby Club is a group of personable, dedicated sportsmen who enjoy the camaraderie and competition of the sport as well as its social traditions to the fullest.