How a Professional Rugby Player Spends Sundays

During the week, Nate Brakeley works as a data analyst. But on the weekends, he competes with Rugby United New York, the city’s first professional major league rugby franchise, now in its fourth season.

During the pandemic, the league centralized operations, which used to span the five boroughs, in Jersey City. Mr. Brakeley, 31, and his fiancée, Emily Muhl, 39, followed, moving from the Chelsea neighborhood in Manhattan to a second-floor walk-up across the river.

“Normally, guys are all over the city taking public transit to practice,” Mr. Brakeley said. “We moved operations to here because we could more effectively bubble ourselves from the general population.” For the most part, the move worked. Practice resumed this January, and in March the team played its first game of the season, which concludes this month.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/02/nyregion/rugby-united-new-york.html