Our Team
Ronnie
Chairman
I have been a member since August 2021 when I started with the Intro to Rugby days. I can definitely recommend it, since you will meet new players who often never played rugby before, and you start, so you will be on the same level as most of them.
When I moved to Copenhagen I wanted to do sport since I had a lot of free time, and I thought that giving rugby a try was a good idea. I knew some of the players, and they seemed to have a lot of fun. I also wanted to join the team to meet new people and get more friends, being the shy person I am, makes it difficult sometimes, and I also hoped that it would bring me out of my shell and be a more positive person.
What do I like most about the team? That we always support each other and have a great time on and off the pitch. Rugby is both a very physical and tactical sport but we are good at trying to help each other to be better players and have fun while doing it.
Was there anything I was worried about before joining? Sure! I did not know if I would fit in the group. But it turned out that there was nothing to worry about. I felt very included right from the start! Some people also ask me if I have the body type for rugby since I am not a big guy. The truth is that in rugby we need every type of player, so I never felt that my size was an issue.
Any tips for new members? Come as much to training and games as you can! And join us socially too! Rugby takes time to learn but it is great fun and for each training, you will get a better understanding of the stuff you are doing.
Jimmy
I have played rugby on and off for many years and started around 2004 I think. I founded the team together with Joe Vollmar and Peter Munk and we had our first practice on 7. May 2017. We created the team after a night of talking about the many memories and fun times we had with rugby in the past. How we missed the incredible sense of team and brotherhood and the many trips like Union Cup and Bingham Cup. We decided shortly after that to try and start this team and we had great success after a very short time.
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A big part of this rugby team is that everyone is welcome on our team no matter their previous experience with rugby or ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender identity. I am gay myself and believe that many like me really could benefit from other places to meet up than bars. I love the friendships that you develop within and outside the team, the amazing experiences you have together, and how you really do become part of a family that got your back and will always be there for you. We have so many different nationalities and personalities and still manage to come together and make it work. I love how social we are meeting for a beer after practice, going for dinner, or other fun events. Rugby can be whatever you want it to be for you.
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For anyone out there reading this if you have just the smallest voice in your head that says maybe come on out and give a practice a try we will make sure to match you up with a player and make sure to make you feel welcome. One of my very first thoughts was also that I did not feel like I was big enough to play rugby. I did not know at that time that there is a need for all body sizes in rugby. For new members just starting I would say listen to your coach, ask for help if you need it and just have fun.
Come and join us!!!!!
Joe
Head Coach
Before I became the Head Coach of the Copenhagen Wolves, I played for the Minneapolis Mayhem and I was an Assistant coach for the Armstrong Girls Rugby and Head Coach for DTU Exiles. Rugby had been a big part of my life when I lived in the States and played for the Mayhem. I missed it and the mates that come with it so I agreed with my husband to restart the Wolves. It has been 2 years now.
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The brotherhood is one of the key parts of this sport. It is a bond between you and your teammates that you smelt through the sweat of training. It is forged by the bloodshed during matches as you fight as a team until the end. Finally, it is tempered by the beer, cheers, and songs of the third half. It is a sport that personifies “Work hard and Play harder”. I love it for the joy it brings me and my brothers. I hope to be able to build this same love for the game with the Wolves.
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The first time I thought about joining an inclusive rugby team was back in Minnesota. I picked up a recruitment card in a bar. Some crazy fools were trying to start up a new rugby club. I thought “Why the hell not?”. It was a sport that fascinated me for years. Ten to twelve guys showed up to that first meeting. I loved that this group was defying traditional gay stereotypes and wanted to learn how to play one of the toughest sports. From that first meeting, the sense of brotherhood that pervades rugby was already pulling us together.
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If I have to give one tip to any new beginner: Believe in yourself. You can do so much more than you think. You are capable of amazing feats and can endure more than you think you can. Fight for your brothers and the battle, won or lost, is always worth the effort.
Peter
Coach
I have played rugby on and off since 1977. So I have been playing now for a while. I joined a gay team because I felt like we needed to change the opinion in sport towards more LGBTQ+ inclusive sports. For me it was a good idea to be in an inclusive team, hence we make a difference. I am a member of the Wolves for 15 years now.
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We are awesome and socially inclusive. Rugby is a good sport to know your own limits and push them. The players are a great group and they all have their own commitments and personality. That together makes an invincible team. Even if you feel tired after practice, a match, or a night out, we socialize. And since wolves run in packs we are not alone and rugby is just a very social and international sport.
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New players should not be afraid. It might look confusing and scary, but the third half solves all - as far as I remember. Do not miss the opportunity to meet an awesome team and to go and meet other gay teams. We have an unbelievable experience and always enough (too many) drinks.
Carlo
Match Secretary
I’ve been with the Wolves for 2 years now. This is my first experience with a contact sport. I practiced karate for 10 years back in my days, and after moving to Denmark I wanted to go back to decent shape and fitness. That’s when I was invited to practice by a guy burning with so much enthusiasm that I couldn’t help but give it a try. I soon found out about a sport where players actually work as a team rather than going for each other’s throats, a game that pays back for every bit of effort one puts in, and with high interest.
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The Wolves are a united group. We support each other and are friends on and off the pitch. Being Wolves has brought us together (for many, in a foreign country) and has revolutionized how we experience the scene in Copenhagen.
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Rugby might not be very popular in your country. In Italian eyes, it’s an extreme sport! Still, give it a try — regardless of your body type and level of expectations. Inclusive rugby is way more than fighting on the pitch. It’s about fighting together. It’s about getting to know and having fun with other great teams across the world. It’s so much fun that even straight people are in! It’s a world on its own that’s very well worth risking getting injured a foot or two.
Chum
The rugby team captain, at the time, is the friend that invited me to join and try the sport, and I instantly loved it. It is a brand new sport for me and I played with the wolves for almost 2 years. I joined the wolves to try it out. I was looking to try some contact sport and I thought that rugby is really cool and a macho sport; it is indeed! I cherish the bonding of the players with each other during the games and the many fun and social events out of practice. Rugby brings a lot of the best qualities out of a player, especially towards each other.
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Before I joined I was afraid that I wasn’t good at the sport. But I realized that rugby is a game that needs all kinds of people. And I was afraid that I will get knocked down by other big guys, and I did get knocked down, but it was fine.
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To all the interested players: Don’t be shy, come try a few times, bring yourself to the pitch, and the rest of the players will make sure you are taken care of in the best and friendliest way.
Stefano
My name is Torcivia Stefano. I was born in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina. I play rugby since I was very young in a team called Sporting.
I have lived in Copenhagen since 2019, and I joined Copenhagen Wolves since 2021. I have found a group with a lot of predisposition, with good energy and a lot of desire to learn.
Rugby is a sport that educates, and the main objective is to have fun.
But personally it is a passion, I love playing rugby, I love watching rugby and learning more about this beautiful sport every day.
Wojciech
I moved to Denmark in 2015 and I never played rugby before. However, my boyfriend has been both a coach and a player, so rugby was always present in our home. It is also through him that I joined the team in 2020. I was a winger. Unfortunately, after I got injured, I had to stop playing. I did not leave the club though; I still support the team with administrative and logistic tasks these days and run our social media (yes, it is me updating this website 😊 ).
What I love about Wolves is the diversity and inclusion of the club. We are an inclusive rugby club and everyone is welcome to join us. I like the fact that we are able to connect sports with friendship. We enjoy spending time together and participating in various social events and activities. But! When it is match day, we are ready to go on the pitch and fight for victory.
Copenhagen Wolves is a great team for you who want to do open-air sports, connect with smiling teammates, build friendships and have lots of fun in your free time!
Wolves on 3!
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Wolves!
Lucas honorary wolf
In september 2021 we lost our friend, brother and teammate Lucas Corréa Lemes to cancer. Lucas joined the wolves in 2020 and quickly rose to vice-captain. Lucas was an amacing man with indomitable figthing spirit who trule personifed the core values of rugby. In the fare short time we knew him he showed such passion for life and new experiences. He was inspiration to all of us to live each day to the fullest.
In his honor our captains has created the Lucas award as remember of his legacy and given to the wolf of current year that also show the same kind of passion for life and rugby as Lucas did.
We will always remember our brother and friend.