Women's Premier League Rugby

The USA Rugby Women's Premier League (WPL or WPL Rugby) is the top annual American women's rugby union competition. It is player-run and operates in partnership with USA Rugby. It involves the top 10 clubs in the country. The league was founded in 2009.

Women's Premier League Rugby
Current season or competition:
2023 Women's Premier League Rugby season
SportRugby union
Inaugural season2009[1]
Number of teams7
CountryUnited States (USA Rugby)
ChampionsColorado Gray Wolves (2023)
Most titlesColorado Gray Wolves (4 titles)
Websitewplrugby.org
Broadcast partnerYouTube Page

The League initially began from 8 different Division 1 Women's Sides coming together in 2009. In 2017, the League grew to 10 clubs. In 2023, the League reduced their club numbers to 7.

The 2020 Season was canceled on June 1, 2020 due to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. The League started up again in 2022.

History
A former logo for the League

Founding

The WPL was founded in 2009 with 8 of the top Division 1 Women's Teams in the US. The organization was created with the leadership of Kathy Flores, USA Eagle and Head Coach of the USA Women's Team, and Alex Williams in order to grow the Women's game and develop more potential players for the Women's National Team.

The League began with 8 clubs: Beantown Rugby, Berkeley All Blues, New York Rugby Club, Washington DC Furies, Twin City Amazons, Keystone Rugby Club, Minnesota Valkyries, and Oregon Sports Union (ORSU).[2]

Promotion and relegation

In 2010, the league began its promotion/relegation opportunities for Division 1 Teams to join the WPL in 2010, whereby the top-ranked Division 1 Team would challenge the bottom-ranked WPL Team for their position in the WPL.[3] From the end of the 2016 Season until the 2019 season, the WPL stopped its relegation due to their expansion.[4]

Expansion and beyond

For the 2017 Season, the WPL allowed for the Leagues first expansion, growing the League from 8 to 10 teams, adding Beantown RFC and Chicago North Shore Rugby into the competition.[5]

In 2017, the WPL created their Inaugural All-Stars Team, composed of top players from the season who would compete in preparation for the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup.[6] In 2018, the WPL decided to create two All-Star Teams, one for the Eastern Conference and one for the Western Conference, allowing more players to compete at the top level of competition.[7]

On June 1, 2020, the 2020 Season was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.[8] The season was later cancelled on July 8, 2020 and the WPL has resumed in 2022.[9]

Professionalism

In 2023, the WPL changed their season schedule outline and moved forward towards a more professional structure. Unfortunately, this led to three teams, the San Diego Surfers, Atlanta Harlequins, and Oregon Sports Union, specifically, to leave the WPL to focus on their club teams.[10] With that, the Conference structure that was in place throughout most of the WPL's timeline was left behind for a cohesive league structure.[11]

Women's Premier League teams

Map
Women's Premier League Rugby is located in the US
Beantown RFC
Beantown RFC
Chicago North Shore
Chicago North Shore
New York Rugby Club
New York Rugby Club
Twin Cities Amazons
Twin Cities Amazons
Berkeley All Blues
Berkeley All Blues
Colorado Gray Wolves
Colorado Gray Wolves
Life West Gladiatrix
Life West Gladiatrix
Locations of teams in Women's Premier League
          Current Teams         


Current teams
Team Metro Area Joined Stadium Coach Website
Beantown RFC Boston, Massachusetts 2009 Union Point Sports Complex Kelly Seary http://beantownrugby.com/
Berkeley All Blues Berkeley, California 2009 Gabes Field Theo Bennett http://berkeleyallblues.com/
Chicago North Shore Rugby Chicago, Illinois 2017 CIBC Fire Pitch Parisa Asgharzadeh http://www.northshorerugby.com/
Colorado Gray Wolves Denver, Colorado 2012 Infinity Park Kittery Ruiz https://www.cograywolves.com/
Life West Gladiatrix Hayward, California 2019 Ray Sheeran Field Adriaan Ferris https://www.lifewestrugby.com/womens/
New York Rugby Club New York, New York 2009 Randall's Island James English http://newyorkrugby.com/
Twin Cities Amazons Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota 2009 Eagan Community Center Roger Bruggemeyer http://www.amazonrugby.org/


Timeline
Life West GladiatrixGlendale MerlinsGlendale MerlinsSan Diego SurfersBerkeley All BluesBerkeley All BluesNew York Rugby ClubNew York Rugby Club

Current Members Previous Team Name Past Members



Promotion/relegation
Year Relegated Team

(Out)

 Promoted Team

(In)

2011 Oregon Sports Union San Diego Surfers
2012 Minnesota Valkyries Glendale Raptors
2013 Keystone Rugby Club Atlanta Harlequins
2014 Beantown RFC Oregon Sports Union
2015 – –
2016 – –
2017 N/A + Chicago North Shore Rugby

+ Beantown RFC

2018 N/A N/A
2019 Washington DC Furies Life West Gladiatrix
2020 (Season Cancelled) (Season Cancelled)
2021 (Season Cancelled) (Season Cancelled)
2022 - San Diego Surfers

- Atlanta Harlequins

- Oregon Sports Union

 N/A


Former teams
Team Metro Area Joined Left Website
DC Furies Washington DC 2009 2018 https://dcfuries.com/
Keystone Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 2009 2012 http://keystonerugby.org/
Minnesota Valkyries Minneapolis, Minnesota 2009 2011 http://www.valkyriesrugby.org/
San Diego Surfers San Diego, California 2011 2022 http://sdsurfersrugby.com/
Atlanta Harlequins Atlanta, Georgia 2013 2022 http://ahwrfc.com
Oregon Sports Union Portland, Oregon 2014 2022 http://orsu.org/

League champions
Year Final
Champion Score Runner-up
2009 New York Rugby Club 20–10 Berkeley All Blues[12]
2010 New York Rugby Club 33–8 Beantown RFC[13]
2011 Berkeley All Blues 17–8 Twin Cities Amazons[14]
2012 Berkeley All Blues 39–5 Glendale Raptors[15]
2013 Twin Cities Amazons 25–12 Berkeley All Blues[16]
2014 Glendale Raptors 16–15 Twin Cities Amazons[17]
2015 Glendale Raptors 26–17 Berkeley All Blues[18]
2016 San Diego Surfers 26–16 Glendale Raptors[19]
2017 New York Rugby Club 27–26 Glendale Merlins[20]
2018 San Diego Surfers 34–28 Glendale Merlins[21]
2019 Glendale Merlins 39–31 Life West Gladiatrix[22]
2020 Not held due to COVID-19
2021
2022 Berkeley All Blues 29–7 Beantown RFC[23]

See also

References
  1. Young, Wendy (2009-09-01). "Preview of Teams in the USA Rugby Women's Premier League (WPL)". YSCRugby | Women's Rugby News. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  2. "About the WPL". WPL Rugby. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  3. Young, Wendy (2010-09-22). "WPL promotion/relegation". YSCRugby | Women's Rugby News. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  4. Gillberg, Alicia (2018-06-13). "WPL to Reinstate promotion/relegation". WPL Rugby. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  5. "Women's Premier League expands to 10 teams for 2017 season". USA Rugby. 2017-03-20. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  6. "WPL All-Stars roster announced". USA Rugby. 2017-06-21. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  7. Gillberg, Alicia (2018-07-05). "2018 WPL All-Stars Rosters Released". WPL Rugby. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  8. Gillberg, Alicia (2020-06-01). "2020 WPL Season Officially Postponed". WPL Rugby. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  9. Gillberg, Alicia (2020-07-08). "WPL Season Postponed Until 2021". WPL Rugby. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  10. "YSCRugby | Women's Rugby News | WPL Releases 2023 Schedule and Participating Teams as they continue to 'Ignite the Change'". scrumhalfconnection.com. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
  11. "YSCRugby | Women's Rugby News | 2023 USA Women's Premier League (WPL) – Schedule & Results". scrumhalfconnection.com. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
  12. "Women's Premier League Rugby". womenspremierleaguerugby.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
  13. "USA Rugby". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
  14. "USA Rugby Women's Club National Champions Crowned [VIDEOs]". YSCRugby | Women's Rugby News. 2011-11-14. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
  15. Young, Wendy (2012-10-29). "2012 EMIRATES AIRLINE USA RUGBY WOMEN'S PREMIER LEAGUE, DI AND DII CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS". YSCRugby | Women's Rugby News. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
  16. Young, Wendy (2013-10-29). "2013 EMIRATES AIRLINE USA RUGBY WOMEN'S PREMIER LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS". YSCRugby | Women's Rugby News. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
  17. "USA Rugby Stats". usarugbystats.com. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
  18. "USA Rugby Stats". usarugbystats.com. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
  19. "USA Rugby Stats". usarugbystats.com. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
  20. "USA Rugby Stats". usarugbystats.com. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
  21. "USA Rugby Stats". usarugbystats.com. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
  22. "USA Rugby Stats". usarugbystats.com. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
  23. "YSCRugby | Women's Rugby News | 2022 USA Women's Premier League (WPL)". scrumhalfconnection.com. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
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