Dear Free Jacks,

That’s today—the final match day festival of the inaugural season. An important day to say thank you to our amazing and burgeoning community, friends, and family. Despite not being able to light the torch together at home matches this spring, the light continues to burn bright for the Free Jacks.

By acting decisively in cancelling the season and honoring our player contracts, our league is in a healthy position heading into the 2021 season. With Dallas and LA, peculiarly named team aside, joining in the emergent and exhilarating competition, Major League Rugby continues to grow steadily and for long-term sustainability.

At the local level, life indeed is sometimes a contact sport, but what rugby teaches us is that when we get back up quickly and work to get back into a better position life and the game are also be pretty damn great. The season disruption has given us a chance to reflect on what we set out to do, how that is progressing and how to continue to make our collective Free Jacks experiences even more enriching and fun.

We have been able to build out a robust free digital learn-to-play curriculum that is not only attracting future ruggers young and old in our 6 states, but from all parts of the country. Same goes with our free coaching curriculum that had participants in more than 10 countries and most of the US states and Canadian provinces.

In the coming weeks there will be a Major League Rugby college draft where we will have a chance to select two more up-and-coming US collegiate developing players. We will, at some point soon, be able to get back on the field in a safe way to work 1-on-1 and in small groups with youth, high school, collegiate, and club players to help better the game here in New England. The full Academy program rollouts for each age-group will be fun to jump in to once it is safe to do so. A big thank you to the US Army for helping to support some of these rugby-specific community initiatives.

And certainly, at our core—sharing good cheers together—we will be reignited soon through get togethers at cookouts, community and corporate touch, and other celebratory opportunities.

As our partners look to get through this difficult period, please consider buying your next shirt or blanket at Vermont Flannel; sharing a case with a friend from Harpoon or a 4-pack of Free Jacks IPA from Baxter; getting your next adjustment at Mui Chiropractic or a personal fitness session with the crew at Flight Performance; if you need a banner (or 10) please reach out to Giant Pro Graphics; if you need to go to Dublin or to a faraway beach, check out Delta Air Lines; and we are all looking forward to getting together again at Paddy O’s, Hennessey’s, having a good “meeting” or two at the Green Dragon, as well as at many neighborhood pubs throughout New England.

Thank you for all your support this year. Please use this code TOGETHERWERIDE for a 25% discount in the shop for the next week as a token of my appreciation.

Thank you for helping to keep the lantern burning bright for our next ride together.

Warm regards,

Mags

Free Jacks
Co-Founder and CEO