Alexandra “Alex” Williams

Alexandra Williams was no stranger to a pitch, as the rugger was first a soccer standout for Bronxville High School, Westchester County, New York. She was tabbed “Most Valuable Player” and All County in soccer and basketball in high school in 1986 and 1987. She would continue her education at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts where she would quickly fall in love with the sport of rugby. She called Radcliffe Rugby Club home and served as team captain from 1988-1990. Upon graduating from Harvard, Williams would continue to play with one of the top clubs in the United States, Beantown Rugby Football Club from 1991-2000. Williams was Beantown forwards “Most Valuable Player” for many seasons and set a career high of seven tries during one match. She led Beantown as captain from 1995-2000 and won a national championship in 1996. Williams was named as the MVP of Nationals in 1996.

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Her play excelled while with Beantown and she earned her first U.S.A. nod in 1994. During this same season, Alex earned her first international cap in a 121-0 USA victory over Japan at the Rugby World Cup. Williams would continue to play for the U.S.A. until 2004. During her tenure with the Eagles, she participated in three Rugby World Cups: in 1994, 1998, and 2002, including runner-up finishes at the 1994 and 1998 World Cups and served as captain in her final season from 2003-2004. Alex has served as a pillar to the U.S. rugby community from the day she entered the sport. A brilliant leader by example, she captained every team she had ever played on. Upon her retirement from international rugby in 2004, she finished as the second most capped women’s rugby player to Patty Jervey with 25 caps.

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Williams was also a standout for the Berkeley All Blues from 2001-2004, earning multiple forward MVP honors, a forwards captain nod from 2002-2004, and winning four consecutive national championship titles from 2001-2004. She was tabbed MVP of the 2002 nationals. In addition, she earned many representative side honors playing for the New England All Stars, Eastern Rugby Union, and the Pacific Coast. As a member of the Northeast and Pacific Coast Territorial Teams, she won seven ITT titles.

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She held coaching stints with the Berkeley All Blues, Pacific Coast All-Stars, and the U.S.A. Women’s National Team. With the All Blues, Alex served in various capacities as the assistant coach, head coach, and forwards coach from 2005- 2011 winning four national titles in 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2011. Williams was the forwards coach for the U.S.A. Women’s National Team at the 2006 and 2010 Rugby World Cups. She also served as the forwards coach from 2005-2010, conducting all camps, tours and tournaments, which included multiple tours to England, several Nations Cups, and many matches vs Canada.

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From an administrative role, Alex has continued to dedicate her time and passion to advancing rugby in the United States. She has served as the  Executive DIrector of SoCal Youth Rugby from 2013-2018, and USAR Women’s High Performance Manager from 2008-2012, running all Women’s National Team programs.  In addition, Alex has served on many national committees, including International Athlete Director on USAR’s Board of Directors from 2004-2006,  International Athlete on USAR’s Congress 2006-2008, member of the U.S.A. Rugby Committee from 2007-2008, member of USAR's Women’s Competition Committee from 2009-2010 and USAR’s Collegiate Management Council from 2010-2012, and Women’s Premier League Founder and member of the Governing Committee from 2009-2012.