LAFAYETTE, CO – The USA Rugby Women’s Eagles today launched Be The Impact, an initiative to form a diversified revenue recruitment team to drive sustainable support for the Women’s National Team XVs.
As the senior program is without a secondary direct funding source, Be The Impact’s Diversified Recruitment Team will seek support through the following pillars:
- Increase in number and variety of commercial partnerships obtained in collaboration with the union’s commercial department
- Sponsorship of team assemblies
- Fundraising
- Solicitation of grants
The fundraising arm of Be The Impact is underpinned by the formation of the XV Foundation, built and run by national team players Alycia Washington and Kristine Sommer to operate in conjunction with USA Rugby and drive support directly to the Women’s XVs program.
Because Be The Impact is grounded in securing multiple streams of support, organizations can also contribute by providing low or no cost training grounds and facilities as a host of high performance camps.
Introduced after a productive 2019 season, Be The Impact will be the primary driving force to maintain an annual calendar which serves as the foundation of team operations, team development and performance.
Last year, the senior XVs program was successful at finding and implementing the right formula to accelerate growth of both the team and its individual players. Through the integration of a regional training program, tiered player pool structure and increase in competitive matches, players and coaches met more consistently and were able to maximize time during and outside of competition windows.
As the 2020 season begins, the national team acknowledges its considerable challenges in meeting what has become an effective and necessary operational structure. In order for the Eagles to achieve podium performances not only in 2021 but through the next three Rugby World Cup cycles, the annual calendar must continue uninterrupted.
“Be the Impact is a holistic initiative to galvanize our community to support the Women’s 15s program. Everyone has a place to be a part of the solution and work towards a sustainable future,” said Emilie Bydwell, Director of Women’s High Performance.
“We need to put a stake in the ground and say, the time is now. Sustainable, diversified revenue is critical. Through assembling the Diversified Revenue Recruitment Team and launching Be the Impact, a commitment has been made to find the formula that will allow our Women’s National Team XVs to thrive and perform.”
“Having had the opportunity to meet and listen to so many of the wider community throughout the past 15 months on the road, I know that with your help we can make a huge difference to this year and beyond for every player who has the opportunity to wear the USA Jersey,” said Head Coach Rob Cain.
“What we are attempting to do as a group is of course not easy. Our aspiration is to emulate the history makers from the team of 1991 in beating powerhouse rugby nations on a regular basis. This sustainable, diversified revenue allows a USA women’s 15s rugby player to compete against the best in the world on a more level financial footing, thus helping to bridge the financial gap between us and the top nations in the world.”
The most immediate targets for 2020 are as follows:
April High Performance Camp
$44,000 total cost
May High Performance Camp
$70,000 total cost
Summer Tour Player Per Diems
$115,000 total cost
November Tests
$90,000 total cost
Administrative Operation Expenses
$31,000 total cost
To support the Eagles through Be The Impact, visit usarug.by/BeTheImpact or contact:
Emilie Bydwell | ebydwell@usa.rugby.
Chris Reed | creed@usa.rugby
Rich Cortez | rcortez@usa.rugby
For more information on the XV Foundation visit www.xvfoundation.com or contact Alycia Washington and Kristine Sommer at xvfounder@gmail.com.