USA Rugby invited 100 coaches to attend next month’s national team training camp, but wouldn’t say who made the guest list.
The February 18-20 gathering will serve as prelude to a six-month program featuring specialist camps, “coach shadowing,” international exchanges, and “personal development planning,” all culminating in an advanced certification course to be unveiled in August, the union said in a press release.
Coaching director Rick Humm, national team coach Peter Thorburn, and chief executive Nigel Melville recruited the pool. “We want all to be comfortable with a certain level with confidentiality,” Humm said in an email declining to identify selections.
In effect, the union seems to be making bets on a next-generation coaching cohort, but declining to hold itself (or the participants) publicly accountable for its decision making. Following as it does a secretive “competitions review,” the high-handed approach is becoming familiar, and could undermine any feelings of progress otherwise created by the program.
A trio of New Zealand staff coaches, including scrum specialist Mike Cron, will be on hand for the San Diego Eagle camp, the USA’s first of the year and perhaps the earliest assembly ever in a World Cup season.
Separately, Denver Barbarians flyhalf Jone Naqica and OMBAC prop Todd Clever lead the Eagles to next month’s New Zealand and USA 7s tournaments, two of the 2007’s three World Sevens Series appearances. Youngster P.J. Komongnan is among six WSS debutants.
United States to New Zealand and USA 7s
Forwards: Jarvis Albury (OMBAC), Todd Clever (OMBAC), Joe Killefer (Santa Monica), Andrew McNaughton (Olympic Club), Andrew Osborne (Washington)
Backs: Jason Gillenwater (Maryland Exiles), Justin Hundley (Penn State), P.J. Komongnan (Univ. of Delaware), Jone Naqica (Denver Barbarians), Mike Palefau (Narbonne), Jason Pye (Univ. of Utah), Dallen Stanford (Oxy Tigers)
Oooooooooo!!!!
Do I taste a little of the old "fight the power" Kurt that we all fell in love with????
Posted by: The Beaver | 30 January 2007 at 01:18
Why is Rick Humm or his bosses worried about confidentiality?
Either a coach is identified as in this elite group or not?
Posted by: What's the big secret? | 30 January 2007 at 12:51
Maybe they are secretive because they know it’s the right program, but are underwhelmed by the candidates. Look at the NA 4 coaches and some of the Territorial Coaches.
Posted by: No Big Surprise | 30 January 2007 at 14:16
Being secretive or appearing to be secretive serves no good purpose. Given the difficulties of the past administration transparancy should be the key.
If a group of elite coaches has been hand picked that's fine. To wrap it in secrecy isn't.
Be open, be honest and a lot of negativeperceptions that seemed to dog the likes of Billups / Clark can be avoided.
Posted by: doug lyons | 30 January 2007 at 14:38
USA Rugby would be better off scrapping the elite title of this program and open it up to the high school coaches. It will be hard to make a list of elite coaches. Who is Rick Humm? Is he one of the new foreign guys?
Posted by: Frank | 30 January 2007 at 14:41
Doug Lyons-
"dog the likes of Billups and Clark" is a good phrase.
Clark hasn't coached the Eagles this decade and we are still dogging him.
Even though I agree with the majority of your comments, Clark and Billups are very honest guys, but neither were very open. They held their cards very close, too close.
However I feel this elite coaching thing is nothing more than PR our of Boulder.
These new guys want to be liked, and this should serve that purpose.
Posted by: No Name Joe | 30 January 2007 at 15:08
I think they may be trying to keep things under wraps as it has been my experience as a player and administrator that some of the most vocal within the American rugby (playing and coaching)community are delusional as to their respective skill-sets. Maybe they want to keep the focus on the program at first instead of dealing with mostly unqualified whining and crying children that did not make the first cut. That said, I agree with Doug Lyon's comments that continued secrecy over a long extended period will only foster resentment.
Mike Cron's presence here is equivalent to a bunch of decent golf club pros in golf mad Mongolia having Butch Harmon skip a session with Tiger to show up and give some instruction to them. Lets not be so quick to crap where we will need to eat.
Remember that the men in the driver's seat right now are not there to keep the status quo. Either rugby will catch some more notoriety and move forward or it will not and remain a backwater sport. Some posts here and on other rugby related sites seem to want a return to the stalemate that USA Rugby has been in since 1976.
Give them some room and lets not be so self important. On a more postive note, did anyone catch the story out of the PAC 10 collegiate tourney that USC has given the green light for football players to play rugby off season? Not to say that translates into Leinart or Bush suiting up for the Eagles but from a roster of 90+ there has to be one or two impact players not going pro that can make a difference - at least in sevens!
Posted by: ARMCHAIRBOMBER | 30 January 2007 at 15:27
No, Humm’s been around. This is his 3rd or 4th different job in USA Rugby. He was an Arnot hire. The high schools wouldn’t work with him anymore so he’s now the elite coaching director!!
Posted by: Ho-Humm | 30 January 2007 at 15:48
Perhaps they are keeping the names for the coaching program close to the vest because the people who are developing the program don't want a bunch of people contacting the national office and asking "why didn't I make the cut" or "why didn't he/she make the cut" or "why did you pick them?" However, the whole confidentiality thing will be out the window after the first meeting of everyone in San Diego - the names will go out so everyone will learn who is there and who is not.
I believe Mr. Humm is not a Mr. Arnot hire. He was with the organization prior to Mr. Arnot.
As far as Mr. Clark - regardless of whether you like him or not, he has run a great program at Cal. It will be interesting to see if Mr. Clark, as being in charge of the premier college program in the country, will be invited. Even if you don't like him, certainly there is something that he could offer this crew of coaches.
Posted by: Elmer Gardt | 30 January 2007 at 17:13
Elmer,
I would certainly hope that Jack Clark would be on the list of elite coaches, if not I would doubt the nature or success of the program.
Additionally, Rick Humm is a USA Rugby re-tred. He was hired by Arnot to the National Office in 2004, just as it states in his Bio.
http://www.usarugby.org/cgi-bin/02/contacts/staffBio.pl?nameId=102
Posted by: Rugby Dad | 30 January 2007 at 20:16
There's no "SECRET" here.
Keep rubbing the sticks together Kurt. There's no smoke and certainly no fire here.
Give credit for the current administration for getting such world-renowned coaches here and spreading the rugby knowledge.
Retaining Thorburn, a former All Black selector, gets you the All Black staff coaches and similar caliber coaches for the future clinics. Full credit to the new administration for looking to how to improve the 100 coaches, and subsequently 1000’s of players.
Whether or not Clark & Billips attend is not even a story.
They’re hardly even newsworthy.
They do an outstanding job at Cal, win championships & run great training camps for kids.
They had their time in charge of the Eagles.
You can still get music from old cassettes and maybe 8-tracks too.
After the event, USA rugby will publish the list of the coaches who attended. I'm sure that the bloggers can post rankings and lists of coaches that should have or shouldn't have been there.
Chances are the coaches that don't go to San Diego probably just can't take that much time of work, Monday thru Thursday. There’s the reality of an amateur game in a professional world.
Must be a slow blog week.
Try harder to fan the flames a little harder next time Kurt.
Posted by: lucinda | 01 February 2007 at 21:44
No one I spoke to at USA Rugby, including Rick, has said the list of attendees will be published afterward. If true, that would feel like a post facto move. The question is of accountability, not judgment, and it is the habit, not the one-off instance, that is important.
k
Posted by: Kurt Oeler | 02 February 2007 at 05:12
You have it wrong, the COACHES have requested anonymity. It is similar to the witness protection program. They do not want to be publicly associated with USA Rugby. If the selection of the top 100 coaches is as accurate as the selection of the USA Eagle player pool, we can be certain that America's place among the bottom dwellers of the international rankings is secure.
Posted by: Terence Brennan | 10 February 2007 at 09:54
Isaw a list of coaches that was posted and talked to people that where asked to go from the usarugby south. some had talked to thornburg for a couple of hours and were thrilled that he took his time out to call i also recieved a call on the tuesday afternoon from one of our coahes who managed to get time away from work and he was so excited i could not get him of the phone. he said it was outstanding. kevin kitto usarugby south president
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