Team USA stepped onto the field against England on August 23 in the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup. It ended in a thrashing with the European side beating the American 69-7, but the spotlight wasn’t on the scoreline. Instead, when Cassidy Bargell walked onto the field, it was firmly on her. After all, the then-25-year-old was walking on while wearing an ostomy bag, after five surgeries that nearly ended her dreams of professional rugby. A year later, she is dreaming again with the LA 2028 goal firmly in sight.

“We played in front of 40,000 people in a stadium with pyrotechnics and fans who knew my name because they knew I had an ostomy bag. It was like a crazy cool experience,” Bargell told Heath Central.

It marked the start of something special for the American, because she’s not done. Now, her target is the LA 2028 Olympics, and given her history, Cassidy Bargell will most probably be there. After all, Ilona Maher showed during the 2024 Games that women’s rugby in the United States does have fans.

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“We sort of have a responsibility now to continue to push American rugby forward and show what that means to the country and to the world,” Bargell told USA Today.

“We all know how much rugby has given to us in our lives and how, in a high-performance sport, performance matters. And that’s bringing rugby to America and rugby to other girls like us in our communities, and how much that can give back to other people.”

But it’ll be a long and hard road. The 26-year-old is one of the few American rugby players who’ll compete in both the sevens and 15s teams. That alone will make her summer, even putting aside the fact that the sevens will have a lot of travelling to do soon. They’ll be competing in two World Championships on their path to qualify for the 2028 Olympics.

Since Maher’s team won the Olympic bronze in Paris, the squad aiming for 2028 will face high expectations. Yet, for Cassidy Bargell, the challenge is probably nothing compared to what she faced during her battle with ulcerative colitis. In 2020, doctors diagnosed the 26-year-old with inflammatory bowel disease, which could become life-threatening, and then a year later, they surgically removed her colon.

Between 2021 and 2022, she underwent five surgeries—one ACL repair, four major abdominal procedures that would end most careers. Not for Bargell, though, as that was exactly when she started to climb the US rugby ranks after thriving at Harvard.

“I think it gave me a lot of resilience, just knowing that everything is going to work out for me, even if it’s not exactly how I envisioned it the first time,” Bargell said. “It’s still something that can help me on the field.”

“Something I’m really trying to bring to my game is just the anti-fragile mindset that any failure or setback is going to make me stronger and better and more prepared for the next time, or the next moment.”

That mentality and resilience are major reasons Cassidy Bargell has become such an important figure for Team USA. It’s also why Emilie Bydwell has never shied away from praising her impact on and off the field.

Emilie Bydwell showers Cassidy Bargell with love

While ulcerative colitis may have hurt her career a touch, Cassidy Bargell was still a world-class rugby player at the same time. So much so that she was always a part of the national team conversation from the time she was 16. The now 26-year-old attended various training camps and more over the years before she took her medical break.

Yet even that didn’t stop her; by January 2024, she was back in the conversation. It started with an invite to a training camp and ended with Bargell becoming a key part of the team. In fact, few people likely know Cassidy Bargell more than USA Sevens head coach Emilie Bydwell. After all, she coached the scrum-half for just over a decade and believes she has the traits of a great player.

“She’s an absolute workhorse,” Bydwell said as per USA Today. “Her ability to contribute on both sides of the ball, maintain tempo, and set intensity is what allows her to be successful in both sevens and fifteens.”

In fact, Bydwell didn’t just stop there. The USA Sevens head coach went on to wax lyrical about Bargell, touching upon various tactical aspects of her gameplay.

“She’s a powerful athlete with a highly developed skill set, and that combination makes her a dynamic ball carrier who connects really effectively with the players around her,” Bydwell added. “She’s also a true student of the game — a smart, thoughtful player who is constantly looking to tactically evolve, not just to have an individual impact, but to play her role in a way that maximizes the performance of the team.”

Thus, it comes as no surprise that Bargell was eventually brought back into the Team USA fold after she recovered. It’s also why Cassidy Bargell will probably be a big part of their sevens team, aiming to qualify for the home Olympics. Given what she’s overcome, few would bet against her walking out at LA 2028.