A local rugby team is asking the community for help after losing $17,000 to scammers last year.
The Maryland Exiles Rugby Club, a nonprofit youth team based in Olney, had its Cash App account hacked in September. After accessing the team’s account, fraudsters made 59 withdrawals of cash at an amount that would not trigger a system warning, said Tom Smith, head coach for the team’s summer youth program.
“We did not get notified by the bank. No texts, no phone call, no any of that digitally until we got a piece of mail, and what triggered it was we had an overdrawn fee of $1,000,” Smith told MCM.
Although the incident raised worries from players, the team has persevered, Smith said.
“The team is quite resilient,” Smith said. “It’s made our board closer together, it’s made our players closer together.”
The coach said that the money was not easily earned.
“That 17,000 was not from one large donor, it was really through the sweat and tears and hard work over years of fellow players and parents,” he said. “That was why it was really hard to hear that that money was stolen.”
Some of the stolen money would have been used to provide financial aid on registration costs to the team’s low-income families. Around one third of the team’s players come from those families, Smith said.
“The mission is [to] share and grow the love of rugby but also make sure anybody that wants to play can,” Smith said.
The club has been working with police since the incident took place. The coach said the community has stepped in to help in light of the theft.
“We’ve just been absolutely humbled,” Smith said. “The community’s rallied around us and we’ve gotten those $5, $10, $50 dollar donations to get us back on our feet.”
The co-ed club has been operating since 1998 and runs three teams of youth players, aged five through 18. It sends kids on rugby camps and trips, the coach said.
The community can help by donating to the team through its website and by having youth join the club, Smith said.
“When they join our cause, they become part of the family and help us build for the long term,” he said.
Photos courtesy of MD Exiles Youth Rugby
