How it all started…
Dan and Pjotr started The Hague Hornets on the 21st of June, 2018, and we are still so proud of what they've created.
In 2017, Dan was looking for a place to live in The Hague and Pjotr was interviewing for housemates. Dan ended up being very late for the interview (something you should know is that Pjotr hates people being late!). Fast-forward, they end up roommates because of 1 thing: rugby. At the time, they both felt like they were missing the social part of it. Together they decided to make the 2nd team of WRC Te Werve a student team. This led to the start of the Hague Hornets. Soon they got some money and designed the kit, a logo, and did some branding.
Dan took over coaching duties while Pjotr was in charge of everything happening off the pitch. Summer 2018 rolled around and everything was falling into place: first socials, new songs, and all of our commandments! Throughout season ‘18-’19 the Hornets had a lot going on off-field as well as on-field. The club also created its very own women’s team: the Bees. As cherry on the top of our first year: the Hornets won their league in the fourth division!
In the following years, the Hague Hornets kept growing. The hornets played in the third division of the Dutch 15s competition, and the Bees joined a clusterteam with RC the Hookers and Sparta to play in the third division as well. Once a month on a Friday, all Hornets and Bees gathered in the Gekke Geit for the club social, where all our club songs, traditions and commandments came to life. In the spring of 2020, the Covid pandemic struck and all club activities were halted. Yet, The strong community of the Hague Hornets managed to stay connected through workouts in the park and online socials with pub quizzes.
In the summer of 2021, The Hague Hornets split off from WRC Te Werve and became their own independent student rugby club. The Hornets and the Bees (in their clusterteam) continued in the third division. Simultaneously, the board of the club worked tirelessly to set up everything that was needed to function as an independent club. This also included the first Hornets Board weekend in 2022, where the long-term course for the club was set out, together with one of the founders, Pjotr. In the years after this, the Hague Hornets developed both as a rugby club and a student association. For example, in 2023 we celebrated our very first lustrum (5 year anniversary), the Hornets found themselves a second coach with a forward focus (to complement the head coach’s backs experience) and the Bees joined a new clusterteam (with SRC Thor and SVRC) for the ‘24-’25 season, enabling them to play in the second division of the Dutch 15s competition.
The hornets have grown and became one of the biggest student associations in The Hague. We have members from all over the world and with various rugby skills. There is a place for everyone in this club and that includes YOU!