Women's Elite Rugby (WER) is back for season two, and the stakes have never been higher. The semi-professional league kicks off this Saturday with matches in Massachusetts and Illinois, carrying forward the momentum from a groundbreaking debut season. With the 2033 Women's Rugby World Cup set to be hosted on American soil, WER isn't just playing for today—it's building the foundation for the future of the sport in the United States.
At the helm is Dr. Jessica Hammond-Graf, president and chief sporting officer of WER. Her journey to this role mirrors the sport's growth in America: unexpected, challenging, and deeply rewarding. Like many American rugby converts, Hammond-Graf didn't grow up with the game. As an Army kid, she played soccer and Ultimate Frisbee before a college roommate's casual invitation changed everything. "Hey, you should come try rugby," the roommate said. Hammond-Graf agreed, and suddenly found herself starting her first game at fly-half—the position responsible for directing the entire team. "Someone was running by me and was like, 'Where am I supposed to go?' And I'm like, 'I don't even know where I'm supposed to be. So like, let's just figure this out, right?'" she recalls with a laugh.
That spirit of figuring it out together is exactly what WER embodies. The league emerged from the amateur Women's Premier League, and while the game has evolved significantly since the 90s college days, the challenges remain real. Women's sports still fight for attention, investment, and respect. But WER is changing that narrative, one match at a time.
Hammond-Graf's own rugby career reads like a roadmap of the sport's American expansion. She coached at Temple University, played for the New Orleans Half-Moons while at Tulane, represented the West in regional rugby, earned US Eagles sevens selection (with unforgettable trips to New Zealand and Fiji), and played for the DC Furies and NOVA in Virginia. She also coached with the US Naval Academy and Chesapeake women's teams. By the time WER was conceived in 2022—the same year the US was awarded the 2033 Women's World Cup—she had stepped away from active involvement. But the game pulled her back in.
"My professional background was in college athletics," Hammond-Graf explains. Rugby "was this thing that I was passionate about, but I didn't have an active role in rugby." Now, she's leading a league that's not just surviving but thriving, with lessons learned from season one and a growing roster of supporters—including a pop star investor who sees the same potential that Hammond-Graf has believed in all along.
For fans of the game, and for anyone who loves seeing women's sports rise, WER season two is more than just rugby. It's proof that when you dive into the deep end, you might just find your life's passion—and build a league that changes the game for everyone.