Bridget Kahele - Women's Rugby Coach - Brown University Athletics

Bridget Kahele

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
bridget_kahele@brown.edu

Kahele joined the women's rugby staff in the Spring of 2022 and enters her third season with the program this fall. Kahele helped guide the Bears to a 3-4-1 NIRA Division I record with shutout wins over Princeton and Mount St. Mary's.

In 2024-2025, the Bears won their third consecutive Rugby Premier 7s National Championship in the spring and reached the semi-finals of the NIRA playoffs in the fall. Brown finished 4-3-1 in NIRA play and featured four All-Americans.

Brown posted an impressive 18-7-1 overall record in 2022-23, bolstered by a strong spring season. In the fall, Brown finished 3-4-1 in NIRA Division I play with wins over Princeton, Mount St. Mary's, and LIU.

In the spring, Brown posted a 15-3 record while primarily playing in 7s matches. Notably, Brown reached the championship at the Crimson 7s Tournament in March. At the 2023 CRC National Championship, Brown ran the table with a 4-0 mark to capture the program's first National Championship. The Bears took wins over Kutztown and Northern Iowa in the opening rounds before grinding out wins over Navy and Army for the trophy.

Outside of collegiate competition, three Bears - Akilah Cathey, Nikki Lynch, and Julia Murray - qualified for the United State U-20 National Team and competed alongside assistant coach Kittery Wagner Ruiz, serving in the same role.

“I have been truly blessed with opportunities that the game of rugby has brought me and my way of giving back is sharing my knowledge and experience with up-and-coming players so that they may also grow the game and have these opportunities,” said Kahele. “I am very excited and honored to work with this team whose previous coach was such a pioneer and legend in women's rugby and I look forward to helping them reach their potential any way I can.”

While an assistant at Life, Kahele helped Chou in all aspects of coaching and recruiting. Kahele helped the Running Eagles to a 52-9 overall record since the start of the 2019-20 season. Life reached the USA Rugby D1 Elite Championship and the CRC Rugby 7s Championship in 2021.

Kahele continued her playing career while coaching and is currently under contract with The Experts of the Premier 7’s League and is a National 15s Team Pool Player.

She was named to the United States National Team for the 2021 Rugby World Cup, held in the Fall of 2022 in New Zealand.

Kahele joined the Running Eagles as a student-athlete in 2018-19, a season where Life compiled a 15-6 record under Chou. Kahele helped the Running Eagles reach the D1 Elite XVs Championship as the scrumhalf but missed the 7s season.

Prior to her year at Life, Kahele was a standout student-athlete at American International College, serving as captain for the Yellow Jackets as a senior in 2017-18. She was named a USA Rugby and NIRA All-American in her final season and graduated with a degree in Sport Management in 2018.