CHULA VISTA, California –
The All-Army Women’s Rugby team has built a steady program, suffering only one loss in five All Armed Forces Sports tournament runs.
With a steady influx of talent from across the Army and the U.S. Military Academy, the defending 2024 champions have won four of five Armed Forces rugby titles. During the two-day tournament, Army will compete with the Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard, and Marine Corps for service bragging rights at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center.
“We’re just very disciplined in our attack structure and our defense,” All Army coach Kaitlyn Kelly said. “We value our fitness and our fundamentals and doing the little things right that make a difference in every game.”
Kelly said the Army has established excellence by building a foundation of discipline which includes proper pass-catching and tackling techniques. Army also plays an aggressive, relentless style of defense.
“A lot of the players that have been through the program really buy into the legacy that we want to create,” Kelly said. “Everyone that’s come before has left the program better than how they found it. When they go out to their units, based on the positive interactions, they want to part to be something like that.”
Kelly and scrumhalf Lolita Galdones have anchored the program since its inception in 2019. Galdones has matured from a high scorer into a team leader and mentor. Galdones and fellow team captain Rachel Henley will lead a mix of youth and experience on this year’s Army roster. Henley overcame a calf injury to lead Army to the tournament crown last season.
The Soldiers have also had a large talent pool to draw upon, feeding players to its World Class Athlete Program.
With women’s rugby soaring in popularity following the U.S. Women’s Rugby team’s bronze medal run in the 2024 Summer Olympics, the Armed Forces teams have played a role in its development.
A couple All-Army Rugby team alums, Capt. Sammy Sullivan and Sgt. Nana Fa'avesi competed for the U.S. National Team. Sullivan helped lead the Americans to its highest Olympic finish and first Olympic medal while Fa’avesi made the 32-player American roster for the 2025 Rugby World Cup in England.
Last year Fa’avesi led a stellar Army effort en route to a 27-5 championship victory over Air Force in 2024. Fa’avesi made the 2024 All-Tournament Team.
Kelly said that positive buzz around the program has brought in talented, competitive players to try out for the team.
“The growth of women’s rugby as a whole – in the country and especially in the Armed Forces has just been incredible to see,” All Army coach Kaitlyn Kelly said. “The growth of players getting the opportunity to do WCAP and then play for the USA team, it’s been such a great conduit for everything we do as Army Soldiers and then bringing it to rugby.”
Air Force returns to challenge Army after finishing as runner up last season and dealing Army its lone program loss in 2023.
Air Force will be competing without veteran Capt. Adrienne Yoder. Air Force won three of five games in 2024.
Galdones said the 2023 loss motivated the team to reclaim the Armed Forces crown.
“Whenever we came back last year, we were hungry for it,” Galdones said. “We were really tired of not having our bragging rights again. So I think we performed really well staying humble and confident in the skills that we have learned.”
Army takes on Navy in the opening round at 1 p.m. Pacific Time today followed by a match with the Coast Guard at 5 p.m.