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American International College (AIC) Women’s Rugby, a highly successful Division II program competing in National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA), will compete in Division I for the fall 2026 season. The Yellow Jackets have been undefeated against DII competition for the past two years, and won the NIRA DII titles in 2021, 2024 and 2025. If DI retains all of its 2025 members, then AIC will make 14 teams in the competition. [lead photo: Kaia Sage]
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“Back-to-back DII/DIII championships speak for themselves,” AIC Director of Athletics Rob Kearney said. “This program has built something truly special, and this promotion is the natural next step in that journey. Moving to compete for the NIRA Division I championship is a transformative moment for American International College athletics, and it reflects the elite level of competition and commitment that this program has demonstrated year after year.”
Division I is easily the most robust and consistent competition within NIRA. AIC will not only benefit from that competitive uptick but also the logistical convenience, as there is a solid concentration of DI teams in the Northeast. Conversely, Division II is now down to five teams in Connecticut, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
“We’re building AIC Women’s Rugby as a true pathway into the USA Rugby system,” AIC Director of Jameson Bonti said. “With our move to NIRA Division I, athletes at AIC are developed into emerging professionals, with training, culture, and support aligned to national pathway standards. If your goal is the USA jersey, this is a program built to accelerate that journey.”
AIC has some insight into DI already. The Springfield, Mass., program has played friendlies against DI teams like Princeton, Sacred Heart and Harvard. It’s also a regular at national 7s tournaments and was the first team to qualify for the CRC 7s Premier Division. Looking ahead
“Overall, I’m just extremely proud of the team [for] all the years of putting in the work and realizing that this isn’t just a step up, but showing who we are as a whole culture, the discipline we have, the teamwork that we put in, and giving the logo and the players a new goal to work for,” said team captain Annekkia Ritter-Truxal.