Gay athletes engaged at Paris Olympics among stars on USA Rugby World Cup squad
The USA Women’s Eagles squad for the tournament in England features at least six out LGBTQ players. The post Gay athletes engaged at Paris Olympics among stars on USA Rugby World Cup squad appeared first on Outsports.
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A year ago, Alev Kelter helped the U.S. women’s rugby sevens team win bronze medals at the Paris Olympics and then proposed to her girlfriend Kathryn Treder in the city’s Museum of Modern Art.
Now the couple will play together as fiancées in the 10th edition of the Women’s Rugby World Cup, held in England.
Kelter and Treder are part of a group of at least six out LGBTQ players named in a USA Eagles squad of 32 for the 16-team tournament. The U.S. will take on the host nation in the opening game in Sunderland on Aug. 22.
Related
Gay rugby player Alev Kelter proposes to girlfriend after winning Olympic bronze
Alev Kelter proposed to partner and fellow rugby player Kathryn Treder in Paris. She said yes.
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More than 330,000 tickets have already been sold for the World Cup, guaranteeing it will be the biggest women’s rugby event ever staged.
Kelter, who plays at center, was the Eagles’ top points scorer at the last World Cup, held in New Zealand in 2021. The U.S. reached the quarterfinals, where they lost to Canada. Treder also played in that match.
Last season, they were on the same club team in England, at Loughborough Lightning in the elite Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) league.
And last weekend, they both started in a 31-24 victory over Fiji in front of a record-breaking crowd for a women’s rugby match in the U.S., with 15,198 fans at Audi Field in Washington D.C.
Kelter and Treder’s engagement in Paris was one of the most heartwarming moments within the Team LGBTQ story of athletes competing at the Olympics.
In an Instagram post two months later, Kelter shared images from a professional photoshoot with her fiancée and wrote: “I love you baby! I’ve never been happier in my life. Thank you for being my one and only.”
Captain among at least 6 out LGBTQ players in Eagles squad
Meanwhile, rainbow wedding bells have already rung for at least two of their teammates in the squad heading to England.
Like Kelter, this will be captain Kate Zackary’s third World Cup. The 35-year-old back row forward married her wife Mandy in Aug. 2023 and they posted to Instagram together in celebration of Pride last month.
“I reflect with gratitude on the journey that brought Mandy and I together — one that began thanks to rugby and its small world,” wrote Zackary.
More recently, lock Erica Jarrell-Searcy celebrated getting married to her wife, Kay, who is also a rugby player.
The newlyweds shared photos of their happy day with family and friends on social media at the start of July.
The Jarrell-Searcys played together for Sale Sharks in the PWR last season.
Staying in the scrum, prop Charli Jacoby is also retained from the U.S. squad that reached the quarters in 2021.
She is dating Australia international Lori Cramer, who is expected to be included again by the Wallaroos for the World Cup. The couple play their club rugby together at Queensland Reds.
In a feature that ran on the Eagles website for Pride Month in 2023, Jacoby said: “My parents raised me to be a good person, a confident person and most importantly, proud of the person I am, and I don’t ever intend to change.
“I am a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community (emphasis on the ‘L’).”
Meanwhile, Tennessee-born flyhalf Mckenzie Hawkins kicked six points in the warm-up win over Fiji and is likely to be a key tournament player alongside Kelter among the backs.
Hawkins’ club team is Denver Onyx, the champions and one of six franchises in the inaugural Women’s Elite Rugby season.
The 28-year-old has been dating her girlfriend Liv for just over two years, having marked that relationship milestone in May. “She really is the sun to me,” wrote Hawkins.
The U.S. won the first Women’s Rugby World Cup back in 1991, and England took the crown in 1994.
Since then, the tournament has been dominated by six-time winners New Zealand, save for England’s second success in 2014.
The Eagles are the first competing nation to confirm their 32-player World Cup squad. Another notable name included is Ilona Maher, who now has more than 8.5 million followers on social media.
One of the breakout stars of the Paris Olympics, her body positivity advocacy and run to the final of TV’s “Dancing with the Stars” have catapulted her to global fame.
At the recent ESPY Awards, she was named Breakthrough Athlete of the Year.
The Women’s Rugby World Cup final and bronze-medal matches will both be played at the 82,000-capacity Twickenham Stadium on Sep. 27.
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The post Gay athletes engaged at Paris Olympics among stars on USA Rugby World Cup squad appeared first on Outsports.
