2019 HOF

Ryche Parker had a long sporting career before he fell in love with rugby in 1973. He played for the Houston Rugby Club and Hart's Rugby Club from 1973-1976. In 1976 he briefly moved to Denver and played for Denver Highlanders and Mile High RFC. Shortly after he did a rugby tour to England and ended up staying, eventually playing for the Northampton Saints, Kettering RFC and Midland Counties. Upon his return to the US, he created a new rugby club, the Houston Heathens and they were instantly dominate for the next 3 to 4 years. in 1977 they won the Galveston, Austin, Corpus Christi, Houston, Wildebeest 7's and Texas A&M 7's tournaments. In 1978 Ryche led the Heathens to the Galveston, Austin, Houston and High Desert Classic tournament championships and the Texas Rugby Union Championship. In 1979 they completed an unusual feat by winning the Houston Tournament the 3rd straight year and also won their 2nd straight Texas Rugby Union Championship. While playing with the Heathens he was also a member of the Hart's, Southern Counties Representative team, the Texas RFU Representative team, the Western RFU Rep team and was a trialist for the USA Eagles. His dream was to play for the Eagles and was on the verge of achieving that - said Bryan Morrison of the USA selection committee - when his dream was cut short in 1980 with his sudden and tragic death. Ryche inspired his friends and team-mates to be the best they could possibly be. He led by example and left a legacy of fond memories about events on and off the field. It should be noted he was well respected as a leader and as a competitive player.

Ralph Corry started playing rugby in 1973 with Sportspage RFC. When the club folded, he joined the Houston Old Boys. In 1975, he moved to the Houston Strikers, serving as match Secretary from 1976 to 1990. In 1982, Ralph was elected Secretary - Treasurer of the Texas RFU. He served the Union as either Secretary or Treasurer from 1982 until 1992. During most of this period, the Union only had two officers, President and Sec./Treasurer. The TRU President's Ralph served with included Gandolf Burris, Tom Marshall, Chris Chefchis, John Galloway, and Lowell Locke. Ralph served the TRU Union for over 10 years, always in a professional manner.

Krista McFarren has achieved success on the club level with The New Orleans Halfmoons RFC, territorial, national, and international level having accrued 18 caps in the 15s game during her eight year international career including starting on the USA Rugby National team that won the 1991 IRB Women's World Cup and runners up in 1994 and 1998. She also was a starter on the USA Rugby National 7s team from 1997 through 2001. As a coach she has attained her Level 200 Coaching certificate and also served as Positional/Backs coach USA Women’s National Team, and Development Officer USA Women’s National Team. Administratively she has served as USA Women’s Convener of Selectors, USA Nomination committee, USA Military Rugby Committee (Now called the Military's World Class Athlete Program-Rugby). And she did all of this while serving on active duty in the United States Air Force.

Michael Engelbrecht has been a standout player and coach at the TRU, regional, and national levels for the last 30 years. He was a leader and key starter for the Dallas Harlequins during an era when they absolutely dominated Texas club rugby, and also played for the Texas All Stars. After hanging up his boots, "Molly" became one of the top coaches in the United States. His coaching credits include: USA Eagles U20s (current) University of North Texas (current) USA HSAA 7s and 15s USA U19s Dallas Harlequins (when they were part of the Rugby Super League) West RFU All Stars TRU Collegiate and U19 All Stars Michael has always been focused on improving the game overall and not merely his own teams. When I first became coach of the Huns, at the time a poor D2 club, I asked Mike for help. Not only was he happy to give advice, but he graciously scheduled his first team to play pre-season friendlies against the Huns for many years in a row. At first, Huns lost some of those games by 100+ points. Even though the games could not have done much for the Quins, for a decade they were an integral part of the Huns evolution into a competitive Division 1 club. Michael is also currently on the staff of the Eagle Impact Rugby Academy, and is continually contributing to the development of young players and coaches.

David McPhail is someone who has continually stepped into the breach. You don’t serve the TRU as Director of Discipline because it’s a fun job, much less as Treasurer; you do these jobs because they are necessary and, many times, no one else will do it. After serving two different TRU Administrations, Dave went on to lead the organization himself for multiple terms, moving our sport forward in many ways large and small. This is a trait that would be repeated in many other areas, whether it was serving on the Board of a difficult club merger, or in the USA Congress. He gave particularly distinguished service to the Western RFU, making his mark not only as treasurer shepherding funds of over $100,000, but by leading the WRFU 7s program for many years and winning national titles, just as he helped put the TRU Sevens program on the map. He similarly led the fabled Atlantis franchise at the international level. Near the end of his administrative career – keeping in mind that Dave did enjoy success as a very good player – Dave once more took on the unenviable by accepting the role of Treasurer of Rugby Texas, where he also served as a Board Member. His presence at a critical time brought much needed stability and professionalism to the high school game. Finally, he became a referee, not because he had a desire to move up the ranks (although he has performed at the highest levels as a Match Commissioner), but because we simply needed more bodies. Again, stepping into the breach.