As the USA Women's National Team gets ready to assemble for the World Cup there is some serious movement afoot to make it financially easier for them to represent the USA.
While USA Rugby has the players on a six-month contract, the XV Foundation has stepped in to make things a little easier for the players. USA Rugby’s job is to pay for the things that get the team on the field, so the XV Foundation, headed by former Eagles Kristine Sommer and Alycia Washington, are working on a plan to pay the players directly.
The XV Foundation has raised over $400,000 over the past five years to support USA players. There has been a long history of USA WNT players having to scrape by financially.
At a recent fundraising event in Seattle, former members of the 1991 Rugby World Cup-winning USA team talked about players having to declare bankruptcy after that tournament. In 1994, the players didn’t have full funding for meals and had to run from morning training to a shop that sold baked potatoes to buy their lunch and then run back to afternoon training.
In 1991 when the USA team was invited to the White House and met First Lady Barbara Bush, several players weren’t there because they couldn’t afford to go.
Donate to the XV Foundation at: xvfoundation.com
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The XV Foundation wants to prevent all of that happening. They also want to prevent players being unable to pay their rent, their car payments, or their utility bills.
“The players are experiencing hardship,” Washington told GRR during a fundraising event in Seattle. “There’s no real way to get around that. But we’re working to get around that. We can’t at this time fully erase the hardship, {but} we want to make sure everyone knows that there is hardship and there are players to support.”
XV Foundation sends 96% of the funds it raises to the USA players. The remaining percentage covers some admin costs and make sure the Foundation maintains a minimum bank balance.
The funds go to helping with day-to-day expenses. Many players hold down jobs while they are in USA assembly; while they are playing against full professionals. Some players have had to quit their jobs or take an unpaid leave in order to represent the USA.
As a result, XV Foundation has committed to raising, at minimum, $150,000 to pay directly to the USA players this World Cup.
