Joe Schuster’s rugby story begins the way so many Milwaukee legends do: not through a youth pipeline or a polished résumé, but through a conversation at a bar. Recruited at Derry’s Pub by bartender Jim Orban — who was also on the rugby team, part of a late-1970s Harlequins crew that included several Derry’s employees.
Joe laced up for the first time in 1977 at the age of 27 and quickly proved he belonged.
From the start, Joe (aka “Joe Mama”) was a workingman’s prop: dependable, tough, and built for the hard minutes.
He still remembers an early “welcome to rugby” moment — watching co-founder Joe McCook absolutely annihilate people on kickoffs — and realizing this game (and this club) weren’t for tourists. Joe wasn’t one either. He stayed, he learned, and he became essential.
On the field, Schuster brought an unusual edge for a front-rower: he could kick. For a time, he was the only player on the West Side Harlequins who could reliably knock over penalties and conversions — straight-ahead kicking, no drama, just points on the board.
Kicking prowess combined with grit in the tight and calm under pressure helped earn him Rookie of the Year in 1977, and he remained a steady presence through his playing retirement in 1989.
Joe also helped grow the club by recruiting his brother, Robert (“Bob”) Schuster, to join the Harlequins — extending his impact beyond his own play and into the team’s wider family.
He served the club in the unglamorous places, too — most notably as Treasurer (1982–1983) — keeping the wheels on while continuing to do the weekly work of a player. He also represented Milwaukee abroad, touring Wales and Scotland in 1985, carrying the Harlequins’ spirit across the Atlantic and bringing those stories back home.
Outside of rugby, Joe’s commitment to sport and community ran just as deep. After wrestling in college, he went on to referee the sport for 44 years throughout southeastern Wisconsin, a remarkable testament to his fairness, consistency, and love of competition.
But Joe Schuster’s legacy is ultimately defined by service and presence. He has been a long-standing co-organizer of the Lakefront 7s, and is widely regarded as the longest-serving volunteer in club history — the kind of person whose commitment isn’t measured in seasons, but in decades.
Just as memorable as his work ethic is his voice: Joe is famous for greeting people with his signature “How you doin’” — a simple phrase that, for generations of club members and friends, has become part of the Schuster experience.
And there’s another part of Joe’s story that matters just as much as tries, kicks, or titles: the way this club shows up for its own. Joe will tell you that he was one of the biggest drinkers on the team. But on April 8, 1984, he got sober — and credits the support of his rugby teammates with helping him stay that way ever since.
That’s what the club is at its best: a team on the field, and a family off it.
In recognition of a lifetime of impact — earned in the scrum, on the tee, behind the scenes, and alongside his mates — Joe was named Alumni of the Year in 2015, and in 2025 he takes his place in the Milwaukee Barbarians Hall of Fame: a prop, a points-man, a servant-leader, and a cornerstone of club history.
