BARC PRIDE!!!
Our Start
In November of 1974, Bob Zimmerman and Al Gonzales answered an ad in the program of the Lone Star Invitational Rugby Tournament in Houston. The two of them and the writer of the ad, Walk Conaway, formed the nucleus of the Bay Area Rugby Club (BARC). For more than a year they were the entire club. Finally, in the late spring of 1976, BARC was able to field a team without relying heavily on walk-ons and borrowed players. From that inauspicious beginning, the club has grown into an organization that has alumni and friends around the state, country, and world.
In 1977, BARC made our first international sojourn to play in the Bordener's Invitational Rugby Tournament in Windsor, Ontario, where we made the quarter finals. The team lost a close game to the Lusaka Leopards, a team from Lusaka, Zambia. The club has always boasted an international flavor, both by traveling to other lands to share in rugby games and shenanigans and by having international players on the team, from Japan, South Africa, and the UK, to name a few.
National Playoffs
BARC has won invitation to the DIII national playoffs twice in our history. Our most recent visit to nationals was in the 2006-2007 season, when we were crowned the Division III champions for the Texas Rugby Union & the Western Rugby Union and finished as the 5th best team in the entire country.
Current Years
BARC added a women's team in 2017, playing their first match in January of 2018. They are currently playing in women's Division III.
In the 2021-2022 season, BARC advanced to the Texas Rugby Union playoffs again, finishing 2nd in Division III South. As with any club, we have seen our fortunes fluctuate. Unfortunately, we fell on hard luck in the following years, losing some seasoned veterans to injuries and relocations. The team has seen steady progress in growing as a club over the last two years, and we are poised to become a domineering force in Texas rugby again!
If you would like to be part of the BARC tradition, submit your info through our "Contact Us" form, contact our email (BayAreaRugbyClub@gmail.com) or social media (links in the bottom right and in the "Say Hi!" section below), or feel free to drop by one of our training sessions at Clear Lake Park off Nasa Road 1 every Tuesday and Thursday at 7:00 PM. Everyone is always welcome, regardless of experience level. We have a range of players who have been playing most of their lives to people playing their first ever game of rugby with us.