About Us
A college, a club, and the people who never left.
The story of rugby at Spring Hill, and the alumni foundation that supports the club.
Support the ClubThe College
The Hill has been here since 1830.
Spring Hill College is a Jesuit, Catholic college in Mobile, Alabama. It's the oldest Catholic college in the Southeast, and one of the oldest in the country. Generations of students have called its oak-lined campus "The Hill."
The Jesuit idea of cura personalis, care for the whole person, is a fancy way of saying what rugby players already know: you show up for the people next to you. That's why the sport took root here, and why it never let go.
The Club
Five decades, one badge.
Rugby arrived on The Hill in the 1970s and has been played, coached, and kept alive by students and alumni ever since.
1970s
The founding
A handful of students start a rugby side on borrowed fields. First fixtures against Gulf Coast colleges.
1980s–90s
The tradition sets
The club becomes a campus fixture. Road trips, rivalries, and the first generations of old boys.
2000s–10s
Alumni step up
Graduates start coming back to coach, fund kit, and turn reunion weekends into a ritual.
Today
The foundation era
A formal 501(c)(3) run by alumni backs 30+ current players in Gulf Coast Conference D2.
From the Archive
The team photo never changes.
Pulled from yearbooks, shoeboxes, and someone's kitchen drawer. The haircuts and the film grain give the decade away. Everything else is the same club. Everyone in, arms over shoulders, someone up front holding the ball.
c. 1970
The first sides, on borrowed fields in hand-lettered shirts.
1970s
Straight from the yearbook. The headline says the rest.
Late 1970s
The whole squad on the front steps, straight off the pitch.
Late 70’s
Stacked four rows high, every name printed underneath.
2025
Fifty years on, still lining up for the same photo.
Played here? There's a shoebox somewhere with your era in it. Send photos to the archive →
Leadership
The people running things today.
The Spring Hill Rugby Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit with no paid staff and no overhead. A volunteer board consisting of chairman, vice chair, secretary and treasurer manages the donations and newsletter while working alongside the club's coaching staff on campus.
Get in touch with the club →Foundation Chairman
Connor Wilkins
Presides over meetings, represents the foundation publicly, and oversees Board functions.
Additional Board Members
Vice-Chairman
Bill Fuqua
Secretary
Angie Kazek
Treasurer
Bill Ward
Head Coach
Phil Dembowski
Runs training twice a week on Dorn Field and leads the squad through Gulf Coast Conference play. Most of his players arrive having never touched a rugby ball.
What We Stand For
Three things, in order.
01
The players first
Every decision starts with one question: does this help the students on the pitch right now?
02
Nothing wasted
Volunteer board, no overhead. A dollar given is a dollar spent on kit, travel, fees, or the field.
03
Everyone stays on the roster
Once you wear the jersey you’re part of this club for life, whether you give, coach, or just show up in October.
Part of the story? Stay in it.
Back the boys with a gift, or come stand on the touchline this fall. Every match is on the calendar.