The Coven WRFC is a the only all-women’s member club in the Eastern Ontario Rugby Union. We participate in the EORU’s Women’s Senior Division I.
Founded in 2002,The Coven is committed to offering opportunities for women of all ages and experience levels to play rugby. Our club mandate is to welcome all women who would like to learn the game of rugby, improve their physical fitness, make friends and have fun. Over the years we have fielded teams in both the EORU and the FRQ(Fédération de Rugby du Québec). Our teams have participated at the junior, senior, development and competitive levels.
In addition to our team life on the field, we have fun social events and fundraisers where players, social members and club alum, friends and family can come together and share in Coven fun and celebrate Coven Pride.
The Coven Name
For some of you, the name Coven may appear intimidating at first. So, let’s begin by stating that we’re not a religious group nor do we practice witchcraft! Instead, we ask that you look beyond the stereotypes more commonly associated with the word and explore the associations and values that caught our fancy and that we felt defined who and what we are…
When we began researching possible names for our new club, we were drawn to images of strong women – women who were warriors and leaders. What we discovered was that the word we now know as ‘witch’ originates from the word ‘wicce’, which means ‘wise one’. The early wicce were midwives, healers, diviners and priestesses.
We went on to discover that the values commonly associated with ‘covens’ – both ancient and modern – spoke to independence, personal strength and passion as well as a number of really fundamental ‘team’ values – building trust, respect and working together. And, contrary to what many people may think – there was just as strong an emphasis placed on individuality and personal identify (so, you can park those concerns about joining a cult!).
The bottom line is that the word Coven – like any other word – is defined by the people who own it.
So, here’s the only definition that counts – our own:
The Coven… a women’s rugby club comprised of strong, talented and independent women, willing to work together to build a club that is both unique and representative of its members.