‘We created this for ourselves’: Inside the inaugural season of Women’s Elite Rugby

When Sylvia Braaten caught a rugby ball at a student organization fair during her freshman year at Marquette, she had no idea it would change the trajectory of her life.

Now, nearly two decades later, Braaten is the head coach of the TC Gemini, Minneapolis’ professional women’s rugby team. The Gemini are one of six founding franchises in the inaugural season of Women’s Elite Rugby — the first professional rugby 15s (15 a side) women’s league in the United States, built from the grassroots level by former national team players, coaches and organizers.

On Sunday, the first WER Legacy Cup will take place at TCO Stadium in Eagan with the league’s top teams, the New York Exiles and the Denver Onyx, facing off for the championship. Tickets range from $15 to $50.

For many players, coaches and fans, the Legacy Cup is a celebration of the women’s rugby community and what it’s built. For the Twin Cities, it’s also personal.

The hometown Gemini didn’t qualify for the championship match, but they’ve been central to the movement that made WER possible — helping establish the Twin Cities not just as a host site for the championship but as a driving force behind the rise of professional women’s rugby in the United States.

“It’s been a long time coming,“ Braaten said. “The Twin Cities set up a strong rugby community for a long time. … You’ve seen them show out and how they come to the games. I’m so excited to be part of it.”

The WER is the result of years of organizing by the very athletes now competing on the field.

One of those leaders is Ali Gillberg, who plays the forward positions of prop and lock for TC Gemini. Gillberg is a former commissioner, board member and marketing director of the Women’s Premier League, a semi-professional rugby organization that served as the highest level of U.S. women’s rugby from 2009 to 2024. Alongside such teammates as Kathryn Johnson, an Olympian and Minneapolis firefighter, she helped lead the WPL’s professionalization effort.

In 2022, league leaders voted to establish a business-focused board to help build a sustainable and supportive professional league. By the following year, they had established a formal board of directors and a full-time central office. In 2024, Women’s Elite Rugby officially announced its launch.

Yet, at its core, the soul of the sport remains unchanged: Rugby is for everybody.

“It doesn’t matter your size, shape, speed, athletic ability,” Braaten said. “If you look at the game-day roster, from number one through 23, you’ll see all different sizes. … It’s also inclusive from just a welcoming standpoint. All are welcome. Gay, straight, bi. It doesn’t matter.”

As a self-described “bigger kid,” Gillberg said it’s nice to have a sport that celebrates strength rather than finesse or style.

“It’s like, ‘Oh, you’re big and strong? Let’s go!’” Gillberg said. “That’s how we find our teammates. A lot of times, you’re at the gym and you see another girl out there and you’re like, ‘I want to see what she can do if she wants to hit somebody.’”

The timing of the Legacy Cup, coinciding with Pride weekend in Minneapolis, is fitting.

Braaten and Gillberg highlighted queer leadership in women’s rugby — a legacy WER is carrying forward. That commitment, though, contrasts with the sport’s global governing body.

In 2020, World Rugby became the first international sports federation to ban transgender women from elite competition such as the Olympics and World Cup.

“We were like, well, that’s not who we are,” WER President Jessica Hammond-Graf said. “That’s not what we’re about.”

As WER navigated the sanctioning process with USA Rugby, there were conversations about how to approach inclusion, Hammond-Graf said. WER wanted to create a welcoming environment that recognizes diversity.

That’s seen organization wide — with pronouns in player bios and inclusive language in league communications — and within each team.

On June 13, the TC Gemini wrapped up their regular season with a pride-themed match featuring a scoreboard lit with rainbow-hued graphics reading: “Rugby is for everybody.” The Minneapolis Mayhem, an LGBTQ+ men’s and trans-inclusive rugby team, was recognized and joined Gemini for their walkout.

Watching from the stands was J Johnson, a coach for 2025 Minnesota Youth Rugby state champion Eagan Girls Rugby. Johnson called TC Gemini “an inspiration.” Earlier this season, members of the Gemini came to watch Eagan’s first game.

“That is so special, just seeing our first professional women’s team, the Geminis, existing,” Eagan player Adalyn Bishop said. “They’ve been so friendly and welcoming. They are so kind. Getting to talk to them and having them to look up to — it’s fantastic."

For those who haven’t experienced rugby yet, Saher Hamdan of the Denver Onyx is promising “a hell of a show.”

For players like Hamdan, Sunday inspires a moment of reflection. Unlike most previous women’s rugby experiences — defined by pay-to-play structures and out-of-pocket travel costs — this league has offered financial support for essentials like flights and accommodations. There have been some “hiccups and learning curves,” but it’s a significant step forward, Hamdan said. And for athletes balancing jobs and training, it matters.

Hamdan works as a caregiver outside of rugby, visiting elderly clients and offering support that goes beyond errands. Companionship is at the heart of her job. It mirrors the kind of community she said she found in rugby — tight-knit, loyal and deeply inclusive.

That sense of belonging keeps Hamdan committed. She hopes, with the Legacy Cup and increased investment in women’s professional sports, that’s what others will see, too.

“As a woman, we’re told that space is not for us,” Hamdan said. “It’s fun and games in high school, maybe college, and you stop. Well, rugby is one of those sports that gives you the opportunity to keep playing. Right now, it’s all for the women.”