The Chicago Dragons grabbed the biggest, most important victory in the team's 12-year history on April 25, defeating the host Peoria Piggies, 28-19.
The Dragons overcame a 12-0 deficit to advance to the second round of the Chicago Area Rugby Football Union ( CARFU ) Division IV Playoffs. Entry into the playoffs and seeding is based on the fall league season of CARFU standings. The Dragons were the fourth seed, while the Piggies were the No. 1 seed.
"This [victory] was simply huge," said Paul Cannella, a founding member of the predominantly gay team and its former president. "While we have enjoyed success playing in IGR ( International Gay Rugby, formerly known as IGRAB ), we have struggled in CARFU league play. Last fall, we won our first three CARFU matches, and this was the first time we have advanced to the playoffs, and now won in the playoffs.
"We are one of three IGR teams in the country to win a playoff match, so we are joining a rare echelon of IGR rugby clubs. More importantly, we are earning the respect in our local rugby union and beyond."
The Dragons player-coach, Mackenzie Doolittle, was named the Man of the Match.
In addition, Marcus Watt, Thomas Sutherland and James Loeher each had standout offensive performances against the Piggies, while Michael Feuchter was a star on defense.
Cannella said it was "pretty crazy and fun," after the victory. "We jumped, hugged [and] yelled," he said. "After some dousing of champagne and beer, we headed to the Third Half, where it's tradition for the home team to host the visiting team for food and beer. The Peoria club was extremely gracious hosts in providing a killer spread of food and drinks, wishing heartfelt congratulations and leading round of traditional rugby songs. They were true gentleman and ambassadors for the sport."
The Dragons will next play the Chicago Riot RFC in the second round of the playoffs on May 2.
So how big was the win over the Piggies for the LGBT community?
"There are many [ways] to look at [it]," Cannella said. "The club has always been about playing rugby first, and then being open to anyone who wanted to be a Dragon. Being a Dragon means that you welcome everyone with open arms, regardless of their background. We have such a wide variety of LGBT, straight players, supporters, people of all races, ages, etc. Still, I would say this is a big win for the LGBT community from two perspectives. First, there is no doubt that the roots the club are tied to LGBT folks and we are winning in our local rugby league; no special rules, just rugby. That's something for everyone to be proud of. The second part is that with our club being mixed in terms of gay and straight players, it's a true representation of the world we are living in today. This club is about rugby, sportsmanship, teamwork, and the drive that it takes to play winning rugby. To me, the fact that LGBT takes second place to rugby is why this is so big for the LGBT community."
The Dragons were about 60:40, gay:straight, in the win over the Piggies, which is a straight team.
Cannella, who has been playing rugby for 25 years, said 24 hours after the win that he was "still walking on clouds, that it's hard to describe."
"I am so proud of the club—the players, the coaches, everyone who has put in a significant amount of time and effort into building the club," he said. "I am so fortunate that I've been able to play rugby for so long, travel the world, and meet people from all over the world. Many of us have been beaten over and over, by outrageous [shutouts], played down 13 [against] 15 players because we couldn't field a full team at times. I try to take all those experiences, feelings, and tests and think about rugby as a lesson in life. It has taught me to never give up, always push myself and the rewards will come if you don't quit."
