About the WPL
The WPL aspires to be the elite, professional rugby 15s league in the United States to create a platform to uphold our common values and support athletes’ holistic development.
2023 is the first year of this intended trajectory with a focus on three, core values:
- Athlete Growth and Professional Development: Creating a high performance environment that supports member clubs and athletes in reaching their potential by embodying the the league’s core values
- Equity: Leading with an intentional strategy to remove structural barriers and foster equitable access to and within the league
- Community: Developing initiatives and deepen relationships within our local communities and the larger women’s rugby ecosystem that positively impact the sport’s trajectory
Currently the league is made up of 7 clubs across the country:
-
- Beantown
- Berkeley All Blues
- Chicago North Shore
- Colorado Gray Wolves
- Life West Gladiatrix
- New York Rugby Club
- Twin Cities Amazons
The Women’s Premier League was founded in 2009 as a collaboration between players and then-USA Rugby National Team coaching staff. The formation was spearheaded by Kathy Flores and Alex Williams who felt that a higher level of domestic competition would benefit the development of athletes for the women’s national team. The founding 8 teams — DC Furies, New York Rugby Club, Keystone, Minnesota Valkyries, Twin City Amazons, Beantown Rugby, Berkeley All Blues, and ORSU — were determined through a variety of criteria that included history of on the field performance, strength of the club, and geographic location. The WPL was created to serve the following goals:
- Increase the number of highest quality competitive matches played by women’s club teams in the United States
- Provide a competitive structure that offers incentive to clubs to perform well throughout the course of an entire season, as well as at the National Championships
- Encourage teams in all Divisions to consistently perform at a higher level of play by clearly identifying competitive requirements and expectations at each level and by creating a mechanism for promotion to a higher league, D2 to D1 and D1 to Premiership, as appropriate
- Support the growth and sustainability of each member club, with an ideal of a strong, long-lasting club with well-organized administration, a consistent and competitive B-side and a successful youth program
- Honor a key tradition among women’s rugby clubs that every player who is interested is welcome, regardless of skill level or athletic potential
- Promote the development of all players
- Support the development of the women’s game by using only National Panel referees for every League match and the National Championship
- Achieve these goals without significantly increasing the amount of money teams are already spending to compete
2009: New York Rugby Club
2010: New York Rugby Club
2011: Berkeley All Blues
2012: Berkeley All Blues
2013: Twin Cities Amazons
2014: Glendale Merlins
2015: Glendale Merlins
2016: San Diego Surfers
2017: New York Rugby Club
2018: San Diego Surfers
2019: Glendale Merlins
2022: Berkeley All Blues