Division II is the largest portion of the USA Club Rugby women’s membership, and this time of year sees several 15s competitions activate their league seasons. This update will cover those DII teams that won titles in the fall, have secured berths to the Super Regional Championships (SRCs), and which leagues are just starting to open up. [lead photo: Gary Wiggins @gwiggins18]
RELATED: Division I Check-in • 2025 Calendar
First, a general flow for the DII senior 15s clubs: The season opens up in late August, and leagues across the country pace out their competitions however they see fit. Champions must be named by mid-April ahead of the Super Regional Championship (SRC) stage. In late April-early May, the four SRCs (Atlantic, Gulf Coast, Northern, Pacific) welcome four DII women’s teams apiece into what are essentially national Round of 16/8 matches. After the SRC doubleheader weekend, four victors emerge and advance to the national semifinals/final on May 16-18.
The following is grouped by Super Region and listed by level of activity at this point in the year.
NORTHERN SUPER REGION
The Northern Super Region involves the Midwest, Mid-America and Rocky Mountain, and its championship will take place May 3-4 in Springfield, Mo. Northern already knows two of its competitors.
The MIDWEST (19 teams) has named its champion and runner-up, and both are heading to the Northern SRC. Back in November, Grand Rapids won its first Midwest championship (read more from captain Emma Shimek) with a 24-17 title win against Upstate New York’s Rochester (read more from retiring head coach Brittany Bridenbaugh).
MID-AMERICA has grown to four DII teams with the addition of first-year Patriots and Omaha. There’s also a sizable Division III. Teams play each other twice across the fall and spring, and then funnel into a traditional semifinal (1 v 4, 2 v 3) and finals weekend: April 12-13 in Columbia, Mo. Reigning MARFU champ St. Louis is currently 3-0 (standings).
The ROCKY MOUNTAIN Xplorer stats have uploaded, and the standings leave off Laramie. Boulder is 2-0 in the three-team league, with wins against Denver Black Ice (21-5) and Salt City Slugs (44-29). The latter victory occurred in Utah, which is always a good sign in terms of traveling strength. Boulder has posted its spring schedule and hosts the Slugs on March 8 and Denver on April 5. In between those two games in a non-league match against the Omaha GOATS, which travels from Nebraska to Colorado on March 29. TBD on Rocky Mountain playoff format, but it’s either standings name champ or there’s a final between the top-two teams.
ATLANTIC SUPER REGION
The Atlantic Super Region involves Capital, Eastern Pennsylvania (EPRU), Empire and New England, which will host the championship on May 3-4.
NEW ENGLAND (6 teams) named its champion in November, and what a campaign for Worcester! The Shamrocks lost regular-season games to Albany and Providence, and then faced both of them in the NERFU post-season. The semifinal and final games were decided by a combined three points! Read more from head coach Everett Sullivan, backs captain Haley Taddeo and forwards captain Sam Dickie.
New England is the only league that has sent different teams to the Atlantic SRC. Capital (Severn River), EPRU (Phoenixville) and Empire (New Haven) have been represented by the same three teams since 2022.
And New Haven is making a fourth-straight trip to SRCs after winning EMPIRE (4 teams) this past fall. The Connecticut team went undefeated in the regular season, and then on Oct. 26 defeated second-seeded Danbury for the title. In New Haven’s three previous trips to the Atlantic SRCs, it has faced Capital champ Severn River in the opening round.
CAPITAL is pretty straightforward: four teams play each other home-and-away, and then the top-two teams play a championship match on April 12. The victor moves onto the Atlantic SRC in New England this May.
Severn River ended the fall portion of the season at 4-0. In the team’s last runout on Nov. 9, the Maryland squad beat Norfolk 31-0. Vice captain and outside center Katie Marshall (2), scrumhalf Kristina Schafer, flyhalf Ava Dennis and lock Kayla Carter scored the tries, while fullback Anne Lee added three conversions.
The Capital regular season restarts on March 15. Aside: Capital all-stars are playing ERPU all-stars on 1/18.
EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA (EPRU) and Capital are similarly structured. There are four teams that play home-and-away, and the league will restart play on March 22. The final is April 12 and then victor moves on to Atlantic SRCs.
Phoenixville is 5-0 and has put some distance between itself and the field. White Horse has represented the league at SRCs the past three years and won the Atlantic in 2024.
GULF COAST SUPER REGION
The Gulf Coast Super Region involves Carolinas, Florida, Red River and True South, which will host the championship in New Orleans on May 3-4.
There are 10 teams in the DII CAROLINAS and they’re divided into East and West pools for home-and-away play. The schedule is pretty evenly split between the fall and spring. Regular season restarts Jan. 25, semifinals are March 29, and the championship is April 12.
Atlanta 2.0 Selects is 4-0 in the West pool and the team did well to test itself in between those league games, playing Orlando (win) and Life University (loss) in friendlies. Charlotte is also 4-0 but in the East pool, and no doubt the rematch to circle on the spring calendar is against Charleston, the 2024 Carolinas champ. Charlotte won the teams’ fall fixture 31-7.
FLORIDA includes five teams this year; however, newcomer Treasure Coast is only playing friendlies this spring. This Saturday sees the first league match, as reigning DII national champion Tampa Bay plays Orlando. It’s home-and-away for everyone, and then a state final on April 12.
RED RIVER launched a Premiership with three DI teams and three DII teams. DII Houston (sHARC), Little Rock and San Antonio will play each other home and away, and also cross over with the DI teams. The top-two DII teams will decide the champ on April 12.
Mid-December saw a pair of DI/DII crossovers, and the DI teams won. Last weekend, DII San Antonio nearly took home a win against DI Austin, but fell short 21-17. This weekend, the Riveters will play DII sHARC, and the Valkyries will travel to Little Rock.
TRUE SOUTH includes six teams, and they’re divided into East and West pools. They play home and away, which affords each team four league games across the fall and spring. The championship is a semifinal/final doubleheader on April 5-6 at a TBA location.
Knoxville is out in front at 3-0 in the East and will wrap up league play against Chattanooga on March 15. Birmingham is 2-0 in the West pool and will play its rematches against Memphis and Louisiana Lagniappe on March 1 and March 15, respectively.
PACIFIC SUPER REGION
The Pacific Super Region involves Northern California (NorCal), Pacific Northwest, Southern California (SoCal) and the Southwest, which has advertised the SRC for April 26-27 in Las Vegas.
The PACIFIC NORTHWEST is the only league in this quadrant that spreads its season across the fall and spring. Portland is impressing. The DII team is part of the Premiership, which brings the competitive DII teams together with DI Seattle and ORSU. The Pigs are undefeated and rounded out the fall with wins against ORSU (62-5) and Seattle (26-21). Leading scorers include captain Tauna Soderquist, who has scored seven tries from #3 prop, and lock Emily Nelson, who has contributed 46 points on four tries and 13 conversions. Portland retakes the pitch on Feb. 22 against Tacoma.
There’s traditionally a PNW final in April but TBD on the 2025 details.
SOCAL has built out. Since covid, this league has been trying to find a balance between maintaining a Division III and the Southwest teams leaving, but now there are nine DII teams on the schedule. The league played its season-openers last weekend. Fullerton beat Empire 57-24, and San Luis Obispo shut out Santa Barbara 127-0. Pasadena dropped down from DI and that enriches the top layer of competition. And West Coast Marines are an incarnation of the Camp Pendleton Warriors, which won the 2023 SoCal title.
Jan. 18 is Round 2, but be mindful of the L.A. fires, which are still ravaging communities:
Fullerton @ San Luis Obispo
San Fernando @ Ventura
Pasadena Santa Barbara
Empire @ WC Marines
Semifinals are April 5 and SoCal finals are April 12.
The five playoff-eligible SOUTHWEST teams hail from Arizona (2), Nevada, Texas and New Mexico. And they make it happen. Teams play home-and-away, and also make room for developmental teams like Prescott and Flagstaff. The season actually opened on Nov. 2, when Albuquerque beat El Paso in Texas, and last weekend marked a return to action after the holiday break. Phoenix beat in-state rival Old Pueblo 21-10 on Saturday, and now the Lightning travel to Las Vegas this weekend for round two.
The league-wide schedule puts everyone’s activity into view. The championships are April 12, and the Southwest Rugby Union has circulated the Pacific SRC dates as April 26-27 in Las Vegas. [Do note that the schedule erroneously lists the national championships as the weekend of May 10; the correct dates are May 16-18.]
NORCAL doesn’t open up until Feb. 22, which is a month later than the typical kickoff date. There are six DII teams as well as DI Life West, making this competition a hybrid league. As mentioned in the DI review, it appears Life West will have a spot in the DI Pacific SRC, but there are some wrinkles to sort out with that bracket. By April 12, everyone will have played each other once, and then TBD what happens next. There’s time for a playoff weekend — April 19-20 — but that makes for a tight turn-around for the Pacific SRCs, which again, the Southwest Rugby Union has promoted as April 26-27 in Vegas. Will update ASAP with certainties.
Stay tuned for Division III review.