Mary Forsyth is a pioneer of women's rugby union, in England and internationally.

Biography

Forsyth was born in Pittsburgh, US. She was a high school athletics prospect when she enrolled at

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

in 1977. She had to set aside her athletics aspirations as she had to work to pay for her tuition. She soon discovered that her college had a women's rugby team so she switched from athletics to rugby. She represented Penn State for four years and continued her rugby career when she returned to Pittsburgh. In 1985, Forsyth moved to London for work and lived only yards away from England's first women's rugby club in

Finchley Finchley () is a large district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Barnet. Finchley is on high ground, north of Charing Cross. Nearby districts include: Golders Green, Muswell Hill, Friern Barnet, Whetstone, Mill Hill and H ...

. She joined the

Richmond Rugby Club Richmond Football Club is a rugby union club from Richmond, London. It is a founding member of the Rugby Football Union, and is one of the oldest football clubs (of any code). It fields teams in both men's and women's rugby; the men's first ...

where she met

Deborah Griffin Deborah Griffin is a pioneer of the growth of women's rugby, both in England and globally. Biography Griffin took up the sport of rugby at university in the 1970s, and also played rugby with the Richmond Women, Richmond Women's Rugby Club. She ...

, Alice Cooper, and

Sue Dorrington Sue Dorrington (born 10 June 1958) is a former English rugby union player and pioneer of the women's game, in England and internationally. Biography Dorrington was born and raised in Minnesota, USA. She started playing rugby in the early eightie ...

. In 1988, She made her sole international appearance for England against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. Forsyth was part of the organising committee for the inaugural women's Rugby World Cup in 1991 and was its financial controller. Most of the committee meetings were held in a boardroom in central London where Forsyth worked then. Seven days before the tournament began, she gave birth to her first child. Although she missed most of the World Cup, she still managed to fulfill her role, and made it to the final with her newborn baby, husband and mother.

World Rugby Hall of Fame

Forsyth,

Cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ' ...

, Dorrington, and

Griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...

will be inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in a special ceremony during the

2021 Rugby World Cup The 2021 Rugby World Cup was the ninth staging of the women's Rugby World Cup, as organised by World Rugby. It was held from 8 October to 12 November 2022 in Auckland and Whangārei, New Zealand. It was originally scheduled to be held in 2021, ...

semi-finals at Eden Park on November 5, 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forsyth, Mary Living people Year of birth missing (living people) English female rugby union players American female rugby union players England women's international rugby union players