2018 Class

Ed Brown was a standout for Houston RFC and a quality guy. He captained the Texas RFU side on many occasions, including the 1990 tour to England. He also gave back to the game as a coach.

Mike Geach immigrated from Rhodesia to Texas and his rugby career touched a number of bases. Firstly as a second and back row player for Houston RFC and then as a coach. Upon moving to Dallas to work for Cadence McShane Construction he turned to refereeing and rapidly rose from the Texas level to Western and then National where he was an A-Panel official for five years. He has also served as an evaluator and been involved in several overseas referee exchange programs. Mike also served as a member of the Board of Directors of Dallas Harlequins for two terms.

La Thaddeus Hill, Sr. 1989 Fort Worth Rugby Club 1992 Dallas Reds International Rugby 1993 Eagles in Portugal Runner up v. Scotland 1995 Taipai 7s in Taiwan Eagles; all-tournament team 1995 Dubai 7s w/Atlantis 1995 punta del este, Uruguay w/ Atlantis 1995 with Atlantis in Spain; MVP 1995 US best defensive player 1996 punta del este, Uruguay 1996 Hong Kong 7s w/Eagles 1998 Hong Kong 7s w/ Eagles 1997 Dubai w/ Eagles 1998 Dubai hosted a 15s game and Thad was invited to play with Northern hemisphere v southern hemisphere 1998 Paris 7s – after not advancing with the Eagles – He was picked up by south American barbarians, consisted of all blacks and pumas players to win the plate 2003 USA barbarians Marta Plata 7s 2003-2009 Trinidad 7s, captain 2003 Spain Champions Copa de plata selecciones, La Vila, captain Atlantis 2006 Spain 7s; captain broke foot 2007 Atlantis Paraguay 2010 with Atlantis in Cuba, captain 2010 w/Atlantis in Cancun, captain Played under Emil Signes 1993-2000 Eagles 1995-2010 Atlantis Local Rugby July 10, 1993 MVP Tulsa Super 7s 15th annual Dallas 7s A-Side MVP 1995 24th annual Dallas 7s Tournament MPV June 5, 2004; 2009 MVP 2005 Dallas Harlequins Elite, went to nationals 2006 Austin Blacks/Elite 7s San Francisco nationals – 8th in the nation – Captain July 2006 Tornado Alley 7s – 1st place, captain 2006-2016 Fort Worth, captain Westerns 1992 Western All Stars MVP; 1997 MVP 15s and 7s Westerns All stars 1992-1999?

Lowell Locke is Mr. Junior High Rugby in Houston and coached at the HS level for many years as well. He was a leader of the Houston Old Boys and was a distinguished TRU President for six years. Both his sons were stand-out rugby players, with Andrew garnering local, state and national honors.

1974-1990 (and beyond) Houston Old Boys RFC; captain of the 2nd XV; Club President
1990-1995 TRU President; took TRU from worst in CIPP compliance, to best in WRFU; established first U-15s program in state
1992-2002 Head coach, St. Ambrose Junior High; key organizer of local league; Took squad to national AAU championships and on tours to NZ and England!
2000 - 2003 Assisted Jim Wolfinger at St. Thomas HS
2006-20010 Asked to step in as head coach to save Westside HS; organized tour to D.C. and eventually reached state championships
2011-2017 Head coach St. Pius HS. Won D-II State title; took team on domestic tours; organized Harvey relief work by team; established Cusimano Scholarships totaling over $20,000 thus far to help college bound SPX rugby players.

Julie McCoy has had a huge impact on both men's and women's rugby, particularly 7s, in the TRU and USA. She is a 2-time head coach of the Eagles Women's 7s team, founder and coach of ARPTC women's 7s that represented the TRU and won the Women's national 7s club title in 2015. She has also coached the Little Rock Men's 7s in TRU and Red River competition, been a major financial contributor to Little Rock rugby at all levels, and been instrumental in launching the international careers of numerous women's players.
Coaching the Eagles Women at the 2009 RWC 7s, the Eagles made the cup semifinals losing to New Zealand by two points.
An MD in neurology, McCoy served on the USA Rugby's Medical and Safety Committee.
Additionally Jules is always willing to share her ideas about coaching and expertise with anyone. As a new Huns head coach in the early 2000s she came to Austin to run a camp for my club, and has helped me develop as a coach. She ran multiple footwork camps across the country.
Little Rock men & women have been members of TRU for a number of years. ARPTC 7s has been a TRU member its entire existence. The Ozark LAU is no more. I don't believe the limited number of years that Jules has been part of the TRU should be held against her candidacy, any more than old AFL players were excluded from the NFL HoF. There is no other currently existing union, other than USA Rugby itself, which is better positioned to honor her many achievements and contributions to the sport.

Kirk has served as a player, coach, administrator and mentor for the rugby community for decades with a consistent passion for opportunity and inclusivity. He has dedicated his life to not only enjoying the game, but growing the clubs and unions he has served with. Kirk truly represents what is so amazing about rugby and I'm honored not only to have played with him and been coached by him, but to also call him my friend. I'm pretty sure whomever is reading this will agree.

Kirk is well known in TRU for some reason 😉 so I probably don't need to say these things, but here's a list of accomplishments: Player- Austin Rugby Club (that I know of)
Coaching Experience- University of Texas, Austin Huns, Negro y Azul (7s), TRU Central All Stars, San Marcos Greys, St. Edwards University
Administration- Texas Rugby Union (various roles including president)

Bill Taute has been an active member of the TRU for more than 35 years as a player, coach, administrator, and coach. His playing career included 5 years at Texas A&M, 2 years at Houston Old Boys, and 12 years for Austin Blacks. He played for 10 years in the TRU Select side, 5 years in the Western Select Side and played for the US in the 1997 Macabbiah Games where the US was undefeated, winning the Gold Medal over South Africa 23-22 and Bill was named Man of the Match. He has served as Head and Assistant Coach of Austin Blacks Rugby, For the past two decades, Bill has served as Austin Blacks Board Chairman and led the club to multiple appearances in the USA Rugby Championship Series including 5 appearances in the Div.1 Championship final and culminating in a Div.3 National Championship this year.

Ron Watson has been involved in rugby for over 45 years. He has played and administrated rugby teams and unions all over the world. His work ranges from player to president and local union rep to national rep. Currently Ron is not connected to one club. He has taken the position that to improve rugby in the US, an administrator must focus on improving the game with no connection to any specific club. His role in the USA congress is an example of this. For the first time in rugby congress history, hard questions are being asked and congress and board members are being held responsible for their actions. Bringing Bob Dwyer and the IRANZ coaches to Texas was one of the most positive things the union has done since I arrived in Texas in 1978 and he developed it, organized it, and attended all the sessions. Ron can always be counted on the raise his hand, give the time, and work to improve the TRU, RRRC and USA Rugby.

Non-TRU:
• Hawaii Harlequins: 1975-2001-VP and President
• Hawaii Rugby Union: President 14 years
• Founder of the Hawaii International Rugby Tournament
• Head Coach Hawaii Kaiser High School Rugby Club
• 2004-2005-Head coach Cairo Rugby Football Club (Egypt)
TRU • Dallas Harlequins 1972-74 Player
• 2001-2003-started Weatherford High School rugby program and won 2003 national high school championship
• President Ft Worth RFC for two years
• Chairman of the Cowtown Rugby Tournament
• Chairman of the USA Western Playoffs held in Ft Worth
• TRU board member as competitions chair for 6 years
• Designed and developed Bob Dwyer and IRANZ coaching clinics for TRU
• At large representative for RRRC (third term)
• USA congress representative for 2 years