Women's All-America Coaches Lose "Interim" Tags

20 Jan 2016 by Brandon Sparks

From USA Rugby
BOULDER, Colo. – Wil Snape and Brandon Sparks were hired as AIG Women’s Junior All-American Head Coach and AIG Women’s Collegiate All-American Sevens Head Coach, respectively, USA Rugby announced Tuesday.

The two led their teams to undefeated tours in 2015 with ‘interim’ tags as the age-grade programs helped begin the post-Women’s Rugby World Cup 2014 cycle, and applied for the permanent positions as they opened in the fall. Snape and Sparks join Girls High School All-Americans powered by ATAVUS Head Coach Farrah Douglas and AIG Women’s Collegiate All-Americans Head Coach Sue Whitwell in the Women’s National Team Pathway.

Not long after the Eagles finished sixth at the World Cup, the National Team Pathway was updated, utilizing the National All-Star Competition as well as realigning the pathway so that it combined the development of 15s and sevens players alike. Alleviating the geographical barriers, the realigned pathway paid dividends in terms of player identification in 2015.

“The benefits of unifying the pathway was evident last summer with the success of the pathway programs," said Women’s Eagles Head Coach Pete Steinberg. “Wil and Brandon were an important part of that success and we are very excited to have them to lead their respective programs moving forward."

Snape coached New York Rugby Club’s Women’s Premier League team to the National Championship Semifinals in 2015, eventually finishing fourth, just months after his WJAAs defeated Canada’s under-20 women twice in two matches. An assistant coach with the WJAAs under Danielle Miller beginning in 2013, Snape helped oversee the under-20 eligible athletes at the National All-Star Competition in June before assembling his own selection camp of 35 young women at University of Northern Colorado a month later.

The four-day camp in Greeley and subsequent assembly for the Under-20 Can-Am Series powered by ATAVUS at Central Washington University resulted in more than the two victories on the field. While some of those selected to the WJAAs were returners from the previous year’s Can-Am Series, others received their first taste of international competition, with Snape there to keep the athletes’ minds focused on the task at hand while cultivating the Eagle culture in future Eagles and Olympians.

“It’s an exciting time to be a part of the Women’s National Team Pathway,” Snape said. "Last year was an incredible experience and the new pathway has already shown that it is effective. Working with passionate and talented players is inspiring and fun, but comes with huge responsibility to make sure you have a positive impact on their development.

“We’re already working with players that we hope will be playing in the 2017 World Cup. We’ll continue the work that has already been done on improving player development and exposure throughout the pathway, with an emphasis on identifying new talent across the country and sharing and developing our vision with coaches and players.”

Sparks moved back to his home state of Michigan in the summer of 2014 to coach the University of Michigan following several years at University of California, Berkeley. During his time in California, he also led the Berkeley All Blues senior women’s side to a USA Rugby Club 7s National Championship.

At Elite City Sevens, their first ever assembly, the WCAA Sevens won six matches against representative sides from select USA Rugby National Development Academies and a combined Armed Forces side. The 12-player squad featured just two athletes from the same school, and Sparks was able to prepare and nurture the team over the course of a week to perform to the best of its abilities.

Two players from Sparks’ team have already made their HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series debuts with McCoy’s senior side, and his expertise alongside the national teams’ coaching staffs at the National All-Star Competition has helped to link athletes in the pathway.

“I take the responsibility of finding those athletes very seriously and I’m prepared to work hard to make sure those players are willing to make the commitment to being a high performance athlete are identified and given a chance to compete through the National Tracking Camps, National All-Star Competition, and competition events,” Sparks said.

“I’m excited to work inside a streamlined and connected pathway that will surely help the players develop and understand where they are in the national team setup. All of the coaches and athletes of the age-grade teams this past year did a great job of putting their mark on the rugby landscape globally. I look forward to giving athletes that same opportunity through the WCAA Sevens program.”

More information regarding the age-grade teams’ 2016 schedules will be released in due course.