Kittery Wagner Ruiz went to two World Cups with the US Eagles and on Saturday will help make history as head coach of the Boston Banshees against the New York Exiles in Women’s Elite Rugby, a six-team semi-professional league kicking-off its first season. But even illustrious careers have to start somewhere, and Wagner Ruiz’s story is typical of the American game in all its unruly glory.
“In high school, I played basketball, softball and soccer, and unfortunately, or fortunately, I was a little too aggressive for some of those,” Wagner Ruiz said, before heading out for training. “I had yellow cards, fallings out, all that kind of stuff. But I had a friend that said, ‘There’s this sport that you can actually hit people and you’re not gonna get in trouble for it.’ And clearly, I was an angry teenager, and needed that. And so I found rugby.”
