‘don’t You Dare Count Us Out’: Kc Women’s Sports Mogul Hails Us Rugby Double-header

Angie Long is co-owner pinch her hubby Chris of nan Kansas City Current, contenders successful NWSL, proud occupants of nan CPKC Stadium, built for nan burgeoning world of women’s pro soccer. But connected Friday nighttime nan venue will big a different sport, 1 Long fell for agelong ago. Rugby.

“I deliberation we mightiness beryllium sold out,” Long said, of nan US Eagles’ match-up pinch nan Australian Wallaroos successful a Pacific Four Series double-header, New Zealand facing Canada first.

“The numbers are incredible,” Long said, of expected attendance astatine a venue that held much than 10,500 for rugby conscionable a twelvemonth ago, erstwhile nan Eagles faced Canada. “I deliberation this sport’s gonna support increasing successful nan US. Don’t you situation count america out, right? We’ve sewage nan athletes to do it. We’ve conscionable sewage to get much vulnerability to nan game.”

Like astir Americans, Long wasn’t exposed to rugby arsenic a kid. In Kansas City, she “grew up playing soccer, I played basketball, I played golf, I was a swimmer, I played American shot successful nan backyard pinch my brothers and our neighbors. We were ever doing something.”

Nor, astatine first, did she play rugby successful college. At Princeton, she “played play my freshman twelvemonth and past portion of my sophomore year. But I really missed a team. I missed being connected a field. And a batch of my friends played rugby. It was a immense sport. We had 80 people, an A team, a B squad and a C team, and almost everyone was a erstwhile varsity athlete. I was nan only golfer. Most of them were soccer, track, section hockey, lacrosse. Almost everyone was caller to rugby.”

In America, it was ever thus. It was besides ever frankincense that assemblage rugby players return to nan crippled for illustration ducks to water, aliases possibly lions to hunting gazelle. Long did.

“I played fly-half and wrong halfway … I was a goalkeeper from property 4 aliases five, each nan measurement up done precocious school, truthful I’ve sewage bully hands, I tin footwear a shot really well, and evidently I was utilized to playing section sports. I deliberation everything astir rugby suited me. It is nan eventual squad sport. You virtually cannot move nan shot without your team.”

In nan 90s, that was conscionable arsenic well. Women’s assemblage rugby was an outsiders’ sport. Regardless, astatine Princeton Long and her team-mates “decided that they wanted to triumph a nationalist championship, and from that constituent connected it was very serious, very focused, pinch a ngo to beryllium nan champion squad successful nan country. I happened crossed this group of awesome women successful a athletics that really fit. I emotion being portion of a team. I emotion building it together. And we were building it together figuratively and literally, disconnected nan field, connected nan field, each of it.”

Angie Long Photograph: KC Current

They won nationalist championships successful 1995 and 1996, Long doubly an All-American. She didn’t play connected aft assemblage but she did spell into finance, yet co-founding Palmer Square Capital Management, which she still leads. Eventually, via nan pathways of backstage finance and nationalist passions, she recovered her measurement to women’s pro sports successful KC.

Chris Long played hoops for Princeton. He and Angie person 2 daughters and 2 sons, “a large diversion family. Sports are important to america and we were besides immense fans, for illustration we had [Major League Soccer] play tickets to what was nan Wizards erstwhile they played astatine Arrowhead, past to Sporting Kansas City, and besides to nan women’s [WPSL] Union.”

“I’m actually, astatine my bosom of hearts, a shot person. That is simply a athletics that I grew up pinch and loved. I conscionable wasn’t bully capable to play for my assemblage … But [years later], Kansas City had FC Kansas City and I heard astir it: ‘Oh, there’s a master women’s team, and, oh, by nan way, they’re playing successful a precocious schoolhouse shot stadium.’ It was very overmuch not what we now deliberation of arsenic professional, successful those early days.

“And past each of a abrupt [in 2017] nan squad was gone. They moved to Utah. And Chris and I were upset, because we’d mislaid this squad … But past we went to the World Cup successful France successful 2019. We were there, our girl was playing immoderate friends matches, and … you could virtually spot nan alteration that was happening astatine a world level. To me, for illustration nan ray bulb infinitesimal went on, of ‘OK, we thought 99’” – erstwhile the US won nan World Cup astatine home – was erstwhile everything was going to change, and actually, thing changed. But thing is different now. Now it’s not conscionable nan US, it’s nan remainder of nan world that is getting onboard pinch what women’s shot intends and tin be.’ We started thinking: ‘OK, we’re gonna fig retired a measurement to get a squad backmost to Kansas City. So that’s erstwhile we started successful earnest.”

It’s been a whirlwind since, nan squad brought backmost from Utah successful 2020, renamed nan Current, nan stadium going up pinch investment from Kansas City royalty, Chiefs backmost Patrick Mahomes and his woman Brittany , and past twelvemonth nan Longs buying different pro club, HB Køge Women of nan Danish apical flight. Whirlwind is apt, too. This is nan Midwest – successful nan build-up to Friday’s rugby astatine CPKC, nan Australians were obliged to shelter arsenic tornados whipped past their hotel.

“This clip of year, those types of upwind patterns tin happen,” Long said, matter-of-fact, much willing successful previewing a nighttime connected which she hopes that successful position of attendance astatine least, lightning mightiness onslaught twice. Last April, USA-Canada attracted 10,518, a clear grounds for a women’s rugby crippled successful nan US that only stood until July, erstwhile much than 16,000 showed up to different shot stadium, Audi Field successful Washington DC, to spot a World Cup warm-up triumph complete Fiji.

Much of that liking was fueled by Ilona Maher, nan Eagles’ Olympian halfway and societal media star turned reality TV Femininomenon. A twelvemonth on, Maher is not playing. Long detects nary adverse effect.

“We’ve not had a teeny, mini spot of driblet disconnected successful interest,” she said. “We weren’t judge past year, really overmuch is it [Ilona]? But possibly she was conscionable nan gateway and now group cognize a small spot more, right? She gave america each a small bit. She’s perfectly fantastic. But group do besides emotion nan sport.”

If nan Eagles are to support bringing successful crowds, connection wins will help. In Sacramento past week they mislaid their Pac Four opener to nan mighty Black Ferns of New Zealand, 48-15. But nan Australians besides lost, 24-0 to Canada, and nan Eagles had positives to take, a squad packed pinch debutants fighting hard, nan starting XV unchanged for crippled two. A title to lucifer nan US and Australia’s thrilling 31-31 necktie astatine nan World Cup successful England past twelvemonth could beryllium connected nan cards.

Long is assured nan fans will thigh it up: “What was it, 2022 erstwhile women’s hoops still wasn’t portion of March Madness and didn’t person nan broadcast deal? The full statement was, ‘Well, nan men are driving nan viewership, not women.’ And who drives much viewership now? Actually, nan women do. So a batch has happened moreover successful nan clip since we bought” nan KC Current.

“Our thought was, ‘Let’s conscionable study nan exemplary of master sports. What works, what grows sports? What grows fandoms? What makes a metropolis important? And we’ve really been fortunate to spot successful Kansas City nan maturation of Major League Soccer … What did that take? Facilities were a immense portion of it. So that’s been a focal constituent for us.

“It’s not for illustration we reinvented nan wheel. We conscionable said, ‘This makes consciousness for women too,’ right? This is conscionable what makes consciousness for sports: a beardown belief that nan logic women’s sports hadn’t grown, it wasn’t astatine each nan product. It was really you were showcasing it. [Soccer aliases rugby players] don’t look really bully successful a precocious schoolhouse shot stadium, right? Put them successful our stadium, and it conscionable elevates everything. Sports is intermezo and you request to put connected a bully merchandise for nan fans.

“All we had to do was look astatine tennis, look astatine nan Olympics. When you put women connected an moreover footing, you showcase them, nan measurement you broadcast them, you talk astir them, nan measurement you show their stories, there’s each spot arsenic overmuch liking to watch women’s sports arsenic location is successful men’s.”

The emotion and play of pro sports tin beryllium recovered successful US women’s rugby, semi-pro though it remains via Women’s Elite Rugby stars for illustration fastener guardant and skipper Erica Jarrell-Searcy and full-back Alev Kelter paid to play overseas. Looking backmost again, Long said members of her Princeton squad would beryllium successful nan stands connected Friday night, galore having flown successful for nan Canada crippled past year.

That night, she said, “was overwhelming. It moved maine connected truthful galore levels, from nan players being there, from their eyes erstwhile they saw nan accommodation and they walked connected nan section and they saw nan crowd, it was everything that frankly, arsenic a female jock for nan anterior 30 years, I ne'er knew I was missing until I had it. It’s not that I didn’t deliberation we deserved it, but it conscionable was truthful overmuch not an action that you didn’t moreover see it. You’re conscionable happy that you’re capable to play, right? To spot [the US women] surviving done that, [I thought], ‘Oh my god, this is what it tin beryllium like.’

“Rugby isn’t wherever master shot is successful nan US yet, but seeing what it could become, what it intends to play successful premier accommodation and person fans location honoring you … I was really moved by nan powerfulness of these athletes.”

• Martin Pengelly writes astir rugby successful nan US connected Substack, astatine The National Maul.