Honey Badgers: 20 Years, Don’t Care
by: Rachel Priddy and ChatGPT
The Beginning of the Honey Badgers
The journey of the Severn River women’s rugby team began in the summer of 2006, when Kirk Wiggins approached club President Steve Compo with the idea of establishing a women’s program. Through the hard work, determination, and dedication of Wiggins, Meredith McAlister, Chelsea Renoe, and Sherri Korpella, the foundation was laid for what would become the Severn River women’s rugby team.
In those early days, the women practiced alongside the men’s team while working tirelessly to recruit enough players to compete in weekend 7s tournaments. By the fall of 2006, their efforts had paid off. The team had recruited enough players to field a full squad and compete in its first fall 15s season under the guidance of Coach Kirk Wiggins.
This author likes to think that the arrival of “The Salisbury Show”—Jenn Fenzel, Kristi Grande, Dayna Jost, and myself—helped solidify the forward momentum of that first season. But truth be told, our fearless founders were far from alone. Standout players like Ruth Seerey, Jeanna Beard, and Candace Coston were already on the scene and ready to go to battle.
Chelsea Renoe served as captain of that inaugural team, while Meredith McAlister took on the essential organizational responsibilities of creating schedules, agendas, and itineraries. Recognizing the importance of ensuring the women’s team had a voice within the club, Meredith became the first woman elected to the Severn River Rugby Club board, serving as Treasurer.
These pioneering women established more than just a rugby team. They created the foundation for the growth, camaraderie, determination, and success that would come to define Severn River’s Honey Badgers women’s program for years to come.
The Early Years: Scrappy, Resourceful, and a Lot of Fun
Those first several years were fun and scrappy.
We were tight. We battled on the field, drank away the pain, and did it all again the next week.
Every season, the Honey Badgers grew stronger, bringing in more players from surrounding colleges and, eventually, from much farther away. One by one, we put more pieces in place. The team began to develop depth, experience, and the kind of chemistry that can only come from playing—and surviving—together.
In 2008, we acquired Katie Fitzgerald by coaxing her off a boat and onto the pitch with promises of beer and fun.
For Katie, it turned out to be about much more than rugby.
“I had just lost one of my favorite crew members in a drunk driving accident. Finding you guys actually saved me in a lot of ways.”
— Katie Fitzgerald, longtime scrum-half
A few years later, we received a surge of talent from Towson University, that included Jackie Melsopp, Denisse Villaran, and Iliana Rosa, followed closely by Stephanie Hickok and Charlee Bryan. Their arrival added another wave of players who would help push the program forward.
But college campuses weren't our only recruiting grounds.
Another surprisingly productive recruiting location was the Dairy Queen in Easton. That's where we found Mary Todd one fateful Thursday evening on the ride home from practice.
Thank goodness Kristi Grande’s beer-filled bladder couldn't make it all the way back to Salisbury.
The lesson?
Talking to a random girl wearing a rugby shirt at a Dairy Queen is always a good idea.
Then there was the day Jenn Fenzel picked up former USA Eagle Carmen Farmer on the side of the road while driving through Cambridge on her way to practice.
Not a bad pickup.
“It was random. I got a text from Mere to pick this girl up on my way to practice at a seafood restaurant. Glad she wasn’t a serial killer…or worse, a talker.”
— Jenn Fenzel
These stories capture something important about what made the Honey Badgers special.
Players came from everywhere.
Some were recruited through colleges. Some were found at Dairy Queens. Some were picked up on the side of the road. Some were convinced to leave boats for rugby. And somehow, they all became part of the same family.
There was no master recruiting plan. There was no carefully designed pipeline.
There was just a bunch of women who loved rugby, loved having fun, and kept finding ways to bring more people into the fold. So many talented women have worn the Honey Badger jersey.
The team wasn't built overnight.
It was built player by player, season by season, friendship by friendship.
And somewhere along the way, all those random encounters, recruiting adventures, long practices, road trips, bruises, beers, and battles on the pitch became something much bigger than a rugby team.
They became the Honey Badgers.
A Legacy of Community and Success
Today, Severn River Rugby Club is a thriving organization with more than 200 members, including men’s, women’s, alumni, and youth teams. Over the years, the club has earned numerous championships and accolades, but perhaps its greatest achievement is the strong sense of community it has built around the sport of rugby.
The club continues to inspire, connect, and unite people through the power of sport, carrying forward the traditions and values established by those who came before.
The Severn River Honey Badgers have gone on to achieve remarkable success on the national stage, earning 2nd place in the nation in Division 2 in both 2012 and 2023. These accomplishments are a testament to the dedication, talent, resilience, and enduring spirit of the women who have proudly represented Severn River Rugby Club.
But the story of the Honey Badgers cannot be told without recognizing the role played by the entire Severn River family.
In those earliest years, the women’s program faced many of the challenges that threaten new women’s rugby programs: limited numbers, limited resources, and the uncertainty that comes with building something from the ground up.
What made Severn River different was that the women were never truly left to build it alone.
The men’s program believed in what the Honey Badgers could become.
They shared the fields, resources, knowledge, and, most importantly, the belief that the women’s program belonged at Severn River and had a future there.
That support gave the fledgling team the opportunity to grow instead of becoming another promising women’s program that ultimately folded because of a lack of resources or support.
That partnership became an essential part of the Honey Badgers’ foundation. The success that followed—from those first 15s matches in 2006 to national Division 2 runner-up finishes in 2012 and 2023—was built not only by the women who took the field, but by a club that chose to invest in them, stand behind them, and believe in their potential.
And that is what makes the story bigger than rugby.
It is a story about people who showed up for one another.
It is about the badgers who were willing to build something from nothing, the teammates who kept coming back, the players who recruited the next generation, and the club that gave them a place to do it.
The Honey Badgers are a testament to what can happen when people come together, support one another, and believe in something before they can see what it will become.
From a handful of women practicing alongside the men in 2006, to a nationally recognized Division 2 program, the Honey Badgers have grown into something those early pioneers could only have imagined.
Cheers to…
The women built the program.
The club helped it endure.
And together, the legacy they built.