USA Rugby is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. Its role is to achieve and maintain “high levels of quality in all aspects of rugby." USA Rugby is responsible for the promotion and development of the sport in the U.S., and promotion of U.S. international participation.
Lisa Maria Fernandez is an American former softball player and current associate head coach at UCLA. She played college softball at UCLA as a pitcher and third baseman, and is a three-time medal winning Olympian with Team USA.
The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). For football, they are in the Football Bowl Subdivision of Division I. UCLA is second to only Stanford University as the school with the most NCAA team championships at 123 NCAA team championships. UCLA offers 11 varsity sports programs for men and 14 for women.
The United States national rugby sevens team competes in international rugby sevens competitions. The national sevens team is organized by USA Rugby, and the team has been led by Head Coach Mike Friday since 2014.
The Papua New Guinea national rugby sevens team competes in the Pacific Games, Commonwealth Games, Challenger Series and the Oceania Sevens. They finished third in 2009 and fourth in 2010, 2015, 2016 and 2023 in the Oceania Sevens. They missed out on a maiden Olympic spot after being defeated by Samoa 24-0 in the 2023 Oceania 7s Olympic Playoff.
The Rugby Americas North Women's Sevens is the regional championship for women's international rugby sevens in North America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held over two days, typically on a weekend in November. It is sanctioned and sponsored by Rugby Americas North, which is the governing body for the region. Prior to 2016, it was referred to as the North America and Caribbean Women's Sevens.
Emilie Bydwell is a Canadian American rugby union coach and former player. Bydwell was a three-time All-American at Brown University and was also selected as the 2007 Collegiate Player of the Year. While at Brown University she also played ice hockey.
Al Caravelli is head coach of the Philippines national rugby sevens team. He was head coach of the United States national rugby sevens team from 2006 until 2012.
The United States women's national rugby sevens team competes in international rugby sevens competitions. The team finished second at the 2015 USA Women's Sevens, after defeating Russia in the semifinals. They've competed at three Summer Olympics, and won a bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
The Papua New Guinea women's national rugby sevens team represents Papua New Guinea in international women's rugby sevens tournaments. They are regular participants at the Oceania Women's Sevens Championship and Pacific Games.
The PAC Rugby Conference is a college rugby conference composed of four schools from the Pac-12 Conference that compete against each other in Division 1-A Rugby. It was formed in 2012 with six teams, with conference play beginning in February 2013 to compete in Division 1-AA. In 2016, PAC added USC and Stanford and dropped Oregon State, and moved up to D1-A. Despite only recently moving up from D1-AA affiliation, the PAC has historically been one of the strongest conferences in college rugby, with five of its members consistently ranked in the Top 25 overall. The PAC Rugby Conference began play on February 2, 2013, with Cal beating Arizona State at Witter Field in Berkeley.
The United States of America (USA), represented by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, from August 5 to 21, 2016. U.S. athletes have appeared in every Summer Olympic Games of the modern era, with the exception of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, which they boycotted in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. For the second consecutive time in the Summer Olympics, the United States was represented by more female than male athletes (264 men and 291 women).
Madison John Hughes is a professional rugby union player who plays as a fullback. Born in England, he represents United States at international level after qualifying on residency grounds.
Brittany "Britt" Benn is a Canadian rugby union player. She represented Canada at the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup. She was a member of the touring squad that played France and England in November 2013.
Karen Paquin is a Canadian rugby union player. Known for her power and speed, she is skilled at both the sevens and 15s version of the game.
Ghislaine Landry is a Canadian rugby union player. She won a gold medal at the 2015 Pan American Games as a member of the Canadian women's rugby sevens team. During the 2016–17 season, Landry succeeded Jen Kish as captain of the national sevens. On October 20, 2018, Landry became the first woman to hit the 1,000 point milestone in the women's sevens World Series.
Sara Kaljuvee is a Canadian rugby sevens and fifteens player. She won a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and competed for Canada at the delayed 2021 Rugby World Cup.
Leyla Alev Kelter is an American rugby sevens and rugby union player.
Abby Gustaitis is an American rugby union player. She debuted for the United States against France 2016. She was selected for the squad to the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup in Ireland.
Delaney Aikens is a Canadian rugby sevens player. She won a gold medal at the 2019 Pan American Games as a member of the Canada women's national rugby sevens team.
