New York Exiles set to bring women's professional rugby to the Empire State
MOUNT VERNON, New York (WABC) -- There's a new local sports team to root for: The New York Exiles.
The women's rugby team is competing in Mount Vernon at a time when excitement over the sport is growing.
In a couple of weeks, the women will be running, passing and tackling for real as New York's newest professional team, The Exiles, who will play their home games at Memorial Field.
"This is amazing, especially to know how many people we can fit in the stands, and in general, it's just a beautiful facility," said Gio Cruz of The Exiles.
The Exiles are part of a new six-team league called Women's Elite Rugby.
"We're building a really exciting attacking style of rugby that people are going to come in and be like, 'wow,' there's some athletes on the field, they are very skillful," said Exiles head coach Diego Maquieira.
Named for the Statue of Liberty, known as the "Mother of Exiles," many on the squad hail from New York. The season fittingly kicks off during Women's History Month.
"The beautiful thing about rugby is there's a place for everyone. There's all different shapes and sizes, and different backgrounds in terms of the diversity," Jenn Salomon-Clayton said.
These women played rugby in high school and college. This new league is a chance for them to keep playing the game they love, but more importantly, it's a chance to grow the sport.
"We're excited about continuously introducing this region to other sports," said Mount Vernon Mayor Shawn Patterson-Howard.
Last summer, the U.S. Women's team won bronze at the Paris Olympics. Ilona Maher was the breakout star, going from viral videos to "Dancing with the Stars" to the cover of Sports Illustrated, while showing the toughness needed in a full contact sport.
"For them to come and see a female, a woman, be able to tackle, run through contact, get up and do it again for their teammates, I mean there's no where else you can see something like that," Salomon-Clayton said.
You can see it starting March 22.
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