The Battleship Rugby women’s team is capping one of the most successful seasons in the Mobile club’s history, punctuated by a championship at the sport’s first-ever Division 3 Women’s Super Regionals tournament.
Deep Roots in Mobile
Rugby’s local history dates to 1969, when Spring Hill College fielded its first men’s team. Six years later, several of those former players formed the Mobile Rugby Football Club, which was renamed the Battleship Rugby Football Club in 1978 in a nod to the club’s playing fields. The men’s side has claimed national recognition over the decades, winning the Division 2 National Championship in 1992 and the Division 3 National Championship in 2001.
This year, though, it’s the club’s women’s team drawing the spotlight. Player Sarah Harvey discussed the team’s season, which included the program’s first-ever trip to Super Regionals.
A Historic Run to Super Regionals
Harvey, who has played rugby for about three years after growing up playing soccer, said she discovered the sport by chance. “I saw a flyer at the gym one day,” she said. “I wasn’t playing soccer at the time and missed playing a team sport, so I decided I would give it a try.”
Battleship first qualified for regionals in Knoxville, Tennessee, defeating the Memphis Flamingos and the New Orleans Half Moons to advance to Super Regionals — the first time in the club’s history the women’s team had reached that level. The Super Regionals were contested in 15-player rugby.
At the tournament, Battleship opened with a 24-12 win over the previously undefeated Dallas Reds Women’s Rugby Club, then routed the Southwest Hammerheads of Florida 77-5 in a game that was called 10 minutes early because of the score differential.
Harvey credited several players for standout performances, including wing Jadyn Lindeberg, one of the team’s newer players who scored multiple tries throughout the playoffs and season; wing Nyah Philip, who scored consistently all season; and flanker Elise Glidden, whom Harvey called the team’s “designated team mom” for keeping morale high.
The championship carries extra weight for a team that finished as runner-up at the 2025 True South Rugby Championships. “The comeback story is really important to us, considering this was not only our first time going to Super Regionals, but it was the inaugural Super Regionals tournament for D3 Women’s Rugby,” Harvey said. “It felt nice to not only claim the title we lost previously, but to be the first team to win the first major title.”
Home Turf Success at the Luau 7s
Battleship followed the Super Regionals with July’s Luau 7s, a seven-player tournament hosted on the team’s home turf. Competing as “BattleTrix,” a combined roster of Mobile Battleship Women and the Pensacola Aviatrix used during the summer 7s season, the team went undefeated to win its own tournament for the fourth consecutive year.
“When we have enough players to fill out two teams, then we usually play separately as Battleship and as Aviatrix,” Harvey explained. “It’s common in 7s tournaments for there to be combination teams of players from multiple cities, as many people travel during the summer and teams may struggle for numbers.” Other combination squads at the tournament included the Swampmoons, made up of players from the Panama City Beach Swampcats and the New Orleans Half Moons.
BattleTrix opened the tournament with a 34-5 win over Birmingham Steel — a rematch after Battleship had lost to Steel by three points weeks earlier at the Vulcan 7s in Birmingham on June 27. The team also shut out the Memphis Flamingos 34-0 and defeated the Cryptids, a squad drawing mostly from the Nashville area, en route to an undefeated tournament championship.
What’s Next
The Battleship women’s team returns to action Aug. 15 at the Hurricane 7s in Panama City Beach. The club’s marquee event, the 47th annual Battleship Invitational Rugby 15s Tournament, is scheduled for Nov. 14-15.
Harvey said the club welcomes new players regardless of experience. Practices are held Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1801 Commanders Lane, near Brookley Field. More information on both the men’s and women’s programs is available at battleshiprugby.org and on social media at facebook.com/battleshipwomensrugby, facebook.com/battleshiprugby and instagram.com/battleshipwrfc.
Fifteens and Sevens
Rugby union’s traditional 15-a-side game is played over two 40-minute halves, while rugby sevens uses seven players per side on the same size field with much shorter halves. Sevens has been an Olympic sport since the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.
