1st July 2026
Trevor Jones writes:
Hello good folks at the RFA!
I wanted to share some exciting news with you: 2026 marks the return of one of the original four sports at the Tennis and Racquet Club in Boston, MA: Rugby Fives! Excitingly, this makes us one of only two active clubs playing the sport in the US — the other being our cross-town rival/sister-club, the Union Boat Club.
Longer term goals for Fives at the T&R include:
1. Making the TRUB cup (an annual squash match between the T&R and the UBC) a two-sport event.
2. Adding a Rugby Fives category to the Club Championships (categories in real tennis, rackets, squash, table tennis, and backgammon) — singles, doubles, or both.
3. Adding a ‘Fives Cup’, played in the spring, played between the T&R and UBC as a second event to the interclub athletic calendar.
I wanted to make sure you’re aware of this exciting news. Since my article on Fives in the US came out in AirMail a few years ago, momentum for the game has grown significantly in Boston, Maine, and at Groton (though there are no real signs that play will resume there yet). On this note, I wanted to share a document that might be of interest to you. I have put together an introductory slideshow that details what the game is and its connections to the T&R, which will be passed out to our club members who want to know more about the game. I have attached the link (viewable by anyone with a Google account), and I have also downloaded/attached the full PDF of the presentation:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1dxef7rai0hFrYhZOzL_yBrcNAvM0G-wzatuD4pSZ7ys/edit?usp=sharing
We are very happy to have one of our original games back at the club, adding another archaic British game to our roster. Hopefully, one day we can organize a Fives tour of the UK, the way we do with tennis and rackets.
Hoping to see you on court,
Trevor
Just for background info: the T&R focuses mainly on court tennis (real tennis in the UK), rackets, and squash. We also have a vibrant bar (aptly named “Court four”) and social culture. The club is open all year round, but many members leave the city during the summer months, so the bulk of the “season” is October-May. In that vein, we offer a three-month summer membership for folks interested in trying it out, and to make sure the club stays active during the off-season. Our intro to fives night will be open to all members, but geared towards the new summer members, and will coincide with a barbeque we hold once each month during the summer to get summer members interacting with regular members. The goal is to introduce the game not just to the club, but also to have it be the “pull” for some new folks to join full-time. That barbeque will happen at the end of July, so happy to report back afterwards and let you know how it went!
All the best from Boston
Trevor