Categories crunchfx

Women’s Olympic Rugby Gets More Girls to Try Playing

Women’s Olympic Rugby Gets More Girls to Try Playing

“The day the women won, I had a mom who texted me right away,” Claudia Braymer, a mother of two and a member of the U.S. World Cup rugby teams in 2006 and 2010, told TODAY.com. “And she said, ‘My daughter wasn’t interested before, but now she wants to play! Let me know when registration starts!'”

Rugby organizations across the country tell TODAY.com they’re seeing the same thing.

Braymer, who cited his 2010 World Cup teammate Emilie Bydwell, head coach of the bronze-medal-winning Team USA, said rugby has been “a little-known sport” until now, especially in rural areas where there are no organized leagues.

Claudia Braymer plays in the 2010 World Cup women's rugby competition
Claudia Braymer plays in the 2010 World Cup women’s rugby competitionCourtesy Bill English

Notable competitions such as the Olympics increase awareness of sports.

Watching 2020 Olympic standout Ilona Maher play rugby inspired Cali Barton, 22, to start playing at Loyola University in Maryland. She graduates this spring and hopes to continue playing while pursuing a career in psychology.

“What I love most about this sport is that it really takes all kinds of people and all kinds of athletes,” Barton says. Watching the Olympics brought the teammates back together after graduation. “We’re excited about the sport that we love, excited that we can now talk about rugby with people outside of rugby.”

Growing interest

Rich Beck, director of youth programs, said he has received a lot of requests from parents, and unique visits to the New Jersey Rugby website have increased by 400%.

Nate Dalena, executive director of Rugby NorCal, said there has been increased interest not only in youth players but also in coaching and refereeing certifications.

At the adult level, the Boston Women’s Rugby Football Club (whose alumni include Olympic champion Kristi Kirshe) is receiving more applications than usual and seeing increased interest on social media.

Giovanni Vaglietti, executive director of USA Youth & High School Rugby, the sole governing body for all rugby in the United States for players ages 4 to 18, says national inquiries are increasing. He says state affiliates are also receiving increasing requests for local opportunities.

Meanwhile, the inaugural season of Women’s Elite Rugby (WER), the first professional U.S. women’s rugby league, has begun. It will start in spring 2025. One of its goals is To provide young players with the opportunity to progress to the professional league and to help develop the next generation of female rugby players.

A sport suitable for every body

Cali Barton’s self-proclaimed “rugby mom,” Amy Barton, occasionally worries about her daughter’s safety in the highly physical sport. She says she breathed a fleeting sigh of relief during her daughter’s final college match.

“And then she said, ‘Mom, no. I love this. I want to do this as long as I can physically do it,'” Barton says with a laugh. “As nervous as I am, I’m excited that she’s found her people.”

Braymer says one of the great things about rugby is that it appeals to everyone.

“Rugby is such a cool sport because it embraces people of all sizes, genders, sexual orientations and all different personalities,” he says. “You need people of all sizes and speeds in the game.”

Braymer’s daughter, now 16, used to play touch rugby when she was younger, but gave it up when she joined a mixed-gender tackle league – which essentially meant she would be the only girl. Braymer hopes this growth spurt in the sport will provide more opportunities for children, especially girls, to continue playing.

When the U.S. women’s rugby team stopped by TODAY in Paris, Savannah Guthrie asked star Sammy Sullivan, “What would you say to young girls who are wondering, ‘Is this sport for me?'”

Sullivan looked directly into the camera and grinned, saying, “I guess what I would say to young girls watching us in America right now is: If you play soccer, if you play basketball, if you run and you’re thinking, ‘Hmmm, I might be a little too aggressive for this sport,’ come and try rugby.”