New sports have inspired a sisterhood at La Salle University

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- La Salle University is leading the way in women's sports. The school has added three new programs: triathlon, acrobatics and tumbling, and rugby.

New programs mean new head coaches. Sage Maaranen, Brianna D'Angelo, and Kelsie McDowell are making history.

Maaranen believes La Salle's commitment is a selling point to recruits. "A lot of schools are struggling, but La Salle is going all in on sports, and in particular women's sports. Just to see how much they're investing in us is very cool," she said.

These three sports aren't super popular nationwide on the women's side -- yet. La Salle is making it clear that they're a priority to the Explorers.

"The fact that they're taking a chance on us and hired us to be the start of it and the face of the program is really awesome," D'Angelo said.

"The reason we have 21 signed athletes right now with our rugby program is because we have this backing from the university," McDowell said. "It's been absolutely incredible."

Building a program from scratch has its challenges, but these women are on the journey together and have formed what they call a "sisterhood."

"I seriously don't think I would be able to do it without them," D'Angelo reflected. "We celebrate our successes together, and every commit that we get, we'll send a message in our group chat- we're proud of each other."

Maaranen and McDowell echo these sentiments.

"I don't know what I would have done if I were doing this on my own," Maaranen said. "I knew it was going to be hard, but it's been a lot harder than I had thought."

Triathlon, acrobatics and tumbling, and rugby are all on the NCAA's list of emerging women's sports. With the leadership of these three coaches, they hope the seeds planted at La Salle will help their sports grow.

"On our end, being in the forefront and putting ourselves in the spotlight, and being like, 'Look what you can do in college,'" Maaranen said. "There's all these different paths that can lead you to the university level and to competing and being supported and getting an education."

McDowell believes pursuing coaching is about women leading women.

"Instilling into these girls that you are the future and you're a strong, independent woman, and you're going to lead the world some day," McDowell stated. "It's not just about athletes, it's women being empowered by women and building each other from the ground up."

Although these three programs won't begin official competition until the 2025-2026 academic year, Maaranen, D'Angelo, and McDowell are hard at work building the programs and leaning on each other along the way.