WHAT'S IT LIKE TO... BE A FEMALE COACH IN MEN’S PRO GAME

American Raptors head coach Sarah Chobot tells us about her rise

SINCE NOVEMBER time, everyone involved in the unique rugby project has been on "a wild ride", according to American Raptors head coach Sarah Chobot.

As she explains to Rugby World of the Raptors way of late: "Our original concept was, you know, finding crossover athletes and tapping into a new pathway. And then now we're on a table in a very competitive league. So that began the race to find players and fill voids. It’s been exciting times.”

Let’s recap quickly, for those who have never heard of the Raptors. In the first-ever Major League Rugby (MLR) season, what was then the Glendale Raptors finished top of the regular-season standings before losing out in the very first grand final against the Seattle Seawolves. But in 2020, the team – backed by their city – walked away from the league altogether, deciding instead to focus the set-up on converting athletes from other US sports like football, basketball and wrestling into rugby players.

And they had their successes, helping mould athletes with real promise who have been picked up by other sides, even representative sevens. Yet the dream was to find more regular games for them, the Raptors. Frankly, as fun as the friendlies and tours outside of the States could be, there was a sense something more might be out there for the project...

This season the Raptors are in Súper Rugby Américas (formerly known as SLAR but rebranded this year), the lone North American side in the competition, for now at least.

So how did Chobot, a rare female head coach in the men’s professional game, create this place for herself in a most interesting setting?