Adam Russo* never thought his dedication to female-only athletics would make him a target for online trolls. But in October 2023, an anonymous USA Rugby member who opposed Russo’s values trawled his personal X account in search of politically incorrect posts. Now, USA Rugby has threatened to forcibly silence the father and rugby team president if he continues to speak his mind online. 

Russo’s journey into the world of female athletics began in 2019, when his teenage daughter Emily* faced a difficult choice: join a coed rugby team or find a different sport. Frustrated by the lack of options for girls who hoped to play rugby beyond middle school, he started the first female-only team for high school girls in their state. 

Thanks to his efforts, Emily and rugby team vice president Julie Farah’s* daughter Chloe* are now choosing between several Ivy League rugby programs vying for their attention. 

“We wanted to build a female-centric organization,” Russo told IW Features. “In rugby, girls are at the back of the bus – you get the three-year-old boys’ kits, you get the torn-up equipment, you get a much-older male coach who may not be able to relate to young women at all.” 

For Farah and Russo’s daughters, as well as their teammates, female-only rugby opportunities can be life-changing. According to Olympic Bronze medalist and social media star Ilona Maher, playing rugby gave her confidence and community.

“Girls’ lives are being changed by [rugby] […] they decided to try out this club program, and then they met their best friends there, and now they’re playing around, having the best memories,” she said in an interview. “You don’t have to sacrifice your femininity to play any sport.” 

The alternative to female-only teams — having to play against boys — comes with serious safety hazards. And yet, according to Farah, girls are usually encouraged to play co-ed rugby with boys until age 14. 

“Rugby is a very physical sport,” Farah said. “There’s a tremendous developmental leap between the ages of 12 and 14 – the changes [in boys] are so dramatic. If you tell a pubescent girl, ‘Okay, go play with them,’ they might look like your little brother, or they might look like your uncle.” 

Due to the undeniable differences in strength and aggression between males and females – even at the young age of 14 – World Rugby’s Transgender Guidelines state that “transgender women may not currently play women’s rugby […] because of the size, force, and power-producing advantages conferred by testosterone during puberty and adolescence, and the resultant player welfare risks this creates.” 

According to Russo, however, USA Rugby would rather ignore World Rugby’s position on the growing issue of men who identify as women competing in women’s sports. While his team has not yet dealt with a male attempting to join, Russo said that he and the other board members have had preemptive conversations about the issue. 

“We just want to be prepared,” he said. “Let’s be clear, this is a girls’ team, and we will walk off the pitch if there is a male on the pitch.” 

Although Russo is determined to keep the team female-only, he said he has never sought to become a spokesman for female-only athletics in general. That is, until last fall, when an anonymous X user trawled Russo’s rarely-used personal account looking to get him in trouble with USA Rugby. 

“I commented that [gender confusion] is a mental illness,” Russo said. “The individual sent that in conjunction with a complaint to USA Rugby.” 

In addition to flagging Russo’s personal X account, the individual made several other accusations against him, all of which were dismissed by USA Rugby. 

“The context of the post […] is far outside of rugby. The person who filed the complaint had to mine the account to find it and raise the issue,” Russo said. “It is as if parties feel that they are the arbitrators of right and wrong with unlimited power.”

According to Russo, he and Farah wondered what the ultimate motive of the individual could be – namely, if the individual wanted USA Rugby to start policing the speech of rugby team staff on their personal X accounts. 

As it turned out, that’s exactly what the individual had in mind.

USA Rugby’s reply to the complaint, which was shared with IW Features, revealed a concerningly mixed response from the organization. While they dismissed the complaints against Russo, the disciplinary officer assigned to the case qualified the dismissal by saying, “If such statements were to recur in an active account more frequently, the undersigned would have no hesitation in identifying that conduct for a misconduct complaint.”

In other words, the disciplinary officer dismissed the complaints based on the fact that Russo’s X post was months old –  not because he believed that USA Rugby should not police speech. 

In fact, elsewhere in the response, the disciplinary officer stated that “individuals may be sanctioned for conduct in violation of the Codes of Conduct that appear in social media, notwithstanding that the social media at issue lacks a direct connection to a rugby context.” 

USA Rugby did not respond to IW Features’ request for comment. 

The conclusion, therefore, is that Russo will not be sanctioned by USA Rugby – as long as he keeps his mouth shut about gender ideology in the future. 

Russo, however, has no intention of doing so. 

“I have the right to take a stand on my own, as an individual, as someone running this organization and as a parent of two daughters,” he said. “I have no fear of that position.” 

*Storytellers’ names and location have been changed to ensure privacy. Colorado is the location of USA Rugby, not Russo’s rugby team.