Boston Banshees make history in inaugural season of U.S. pro-women’s rugby

NPR | March 27, 2025

On a brisk March night, the Boston Banshees take over a turf field at Union Point Sports Complex in Weymouth. Their coach watches as the players complete their drills. It’s only a week before their first professional game.

The players assemble into a scrum. They lock arms and push against the other team to claim possession of the ball.

For those who don’t know much about the sport, rugby is like a mix of American football and soccer. It’s aggressive and involves limited padding.

Named after the Celtic mythological creature that signals impending death, the Banshees are one of six teams across the country to take part in the inaugural season of Women’s Elite Rugby, the first U.S. pro-women’s rugby league. This continues the momentum started last summer when the U.S. women’s rugby team secured its first-ever Olympic medal.

Player Catie Benson returned to the States to join the Banshees after playing for pro team the Sale Sharks in Manchester, England. She was excited to finally play closer to home.

“I think it’s absolutely amazing to have the sport at this level, and people get to see us play, and it’s a really exciting time to grow in women’s rugby,” said Benson.

Only four weeks into training, Boston Banshees coach Kittery Ruiz said the city was already embracing its new team.

“There’s a huge rugby community in Boston in general. You know, there’s multiple men’s teams, multiple women’s teams, high school teams, college teams, and so that fan base is sort of already set in place because they are rugby fans,” said Ruiz. “They’re rugby people.”

Ruiz used to coach Beantown, one of Boston’s amateur women’s rugby teams. She said it’s crucial for a league like this to have consistent, competitive games.

“Success for me is a successful, good showing where we have a good platform to build on in the future years,” she said. “It’s good, fast-paced, hard-hitting rugby that brings fans in that have never seen rugby before that want to learn what it’s about.”

Jackie Finlan, who runs the publication The Rugby Breakdown, said fans have to band together to support teams in person.

“ We’ve got to organize carpools. We have to do this big shift to get out there and physically represent in the stadiums,” said Finlan. “But I think if you see people making an effort, that will be a win for year one.”

Women’s Elite Rugby co-founder Katherine Aversano said this season’s games will be played in stadiums of between 1,500 to 5,000 seats. The league saw how beneficial free streaming was for the WNBA. They will be following in their footsteps this year and streaming every match.

“The reality is we could have waited a couple years to do this,” Aversano said. “But, by then, if we really want to develop a high-quality level of rugby in the United States that ends up being showcased for the World Cup, we need to get started now.”

Aversano says the league realizes it could take a couple of years to turn a profit, and they are ready for that.

Player Emma Santosuosso said it’s a relief to be paid to play on the team.

“ Coming from a semi-professional league where we paid for all of our travel, we paid to play on the team and just like doing all the admin stuff,” she said. “Being able to just play rugby and also not have to pay to play rugby and get to travel across the country with your team, it’s really exciting.”

Coach Ruiz hopes the new league shows young athletes that this sport is for everyone.

“ Part of why I love raising my daughter around these athletes,” she said, “is it shows her that everybody and every body can play rugby.”

The Boston Banshees will play their first home game on Saturday, March 29 at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium in Quincy.