Meet The Team: Coach Marcus Hurley

I first met Coach Marcus Hurley in the summer of 2006 at the Midwest Boys U-19 All-Star Tournament (now RCT). We were patrolling the opposite sidelines as I coached the Illinois Tornados side and he the Midwest U-17 All Stars. The Tornados were victorious on the pitch that day capturing one of 4 consecutive Midwest Championships; both teams were successful in developing players for HSAA consideration. Many of these same athletes would go on to college scholarships at top programs including Life, Davenport, and Arkansas State with some later gaining recognition as Men's Collegiate All Americans.


Since then our paths have crossed several times - I coached Northwestern University Men while he coached at Indiana University. He continued building men's collegiate rugby in the Midwest and regenerated Big Ten Rugby with a pre-season XVs tournament that grew into hotly contested conference play and now a spring 7s championships. That IU team most recently won the fall XVs title and has featured at the USA Sevens Collegiate Rugby Championship notably making it into the Cup Quarterfinals last spring. He is still actively playing and coaching, running camps, coordinating youth rugby, and growing the sport with a new academy coming soon to Indianapolis - so lengthy philosophical chats have strengthened our relationship over the years.

Marcus was a natural choice to join our Stars Rugby 7s coaching staff when family commitments left Coach Joel Bonnaud unable travel for the Las Vegas Invitational. We will miss Joel this tour as his commitment to developing youth rugby and positive, player-focused coaching style has been an asset to our Women's Developmental sides. Yet, I have no hesitations as with Marcus we find a capable coach bringing a wealth of 7s knowledge, game analysis, and player development that matches our mission.

Marcus will lead the Women's 2nd side in the Elite bracket and has spent the last weeks studying the game film of our opposition as well as familiarizing himself players' pre-tour profiles and has been planning sessions with Women's 1st side Coach Liam Hutchinson. Marcus's professionalism and demeanor, his own commitment to growth as a coach and administrator, and history with the game benefit the program. With is academy growing back home this should be a beneficial exchange of coaching/ideas/best practices/players for more decades to come!

Here's more on Coach Marcus:

Marcus Hurley is a professional coach, administrator and general advocate for the sport that he loves, rugby. Marcus has dedicated much of his nearly 20 year coaching career to the growth and development of the youth and collegiate game in Indiana and throughout the Midwest for both men and women.  Marcus founded the Big Ten Universities Rugby Conference, served as head coach of Indiana University Men's Rugby team and has won several championships with Rugby Indiana All-Stars as head coach.  

When not on the sideline, Marcus is coaching his daughters Olivia and Kennedy who he hopes will one day will share his love the game and have the chance to make the same amazing memories and relationships that he has been blessed to make.  

Marcus is currently the Director of Rugby at the University of Indianapolis RFC, and is working with a New Zealand based rugby group toward the launch of his own development academy, LegendBorne Academy in Indiana.  He has long been a fan of the Stars Rugby program and the amazing work of Liz.  Marcus hopes to encourage those working to achieve their goals of competing at the highest levels as well as learn from the players and coaches joining the tour. 

Stars Bring On Palmer College of Chiropractic Coach Joe Lippert

It is easy to look at Stars Rugby 7s as a vehicle solely for player development but one of the other key aspects is in coaching opportunities. Nearly every rugby player in the USA has been part of a practice where perhaps 10 players are at a training because of weather, work or personal obligations - and that will continue as long as rugby is an amateur, mostly club level sport. We all began as crossover athletes and rookies to rugby and nearly every fall and spring 15s season and summer 7s cycle begins with an influx of new players, going back to the basics of the game, and slowly evolving with the goal of hitting peak performance at that season's national championship only to reset once again the next season. The continuum of player and team development is full of stops, starts and unknowns. 

To give coaches the opportunity to work with athletes with guaranteed numbers and discipline at practice, with the ability to plan sessions anticipating a level of athleticism, ball handling & tackling, and to provide coaches the chance to develop their own skills with each tour is a valuable tool. On Stars tours coaches get to focus and ONLY coach rather than serve as recruiters, scouts, administrators, travel coordinators, videographers and financiers. Some of our coaches get to "coach up" beyond the college or local club level. Some get to focus on pure 7s tactics. Some get the challenge of working with a different gender, with different players outside of their regions, or to experiment with different systems. And they get to reassess and deploy their tactics in a controlled environment and in organized tournament settings over the course of a few days of play. Having USA Rugby's Director of Coach Development Josh Sutcliffe as a part of our coaching team has been a huge asset; having instant access to his suggestions, thoughts, and feedback has improved our staff and provided practical opportunities for additional development as well as long term dialogs. The more coaches we can integrate into Stars with both fantastic rugby experiences and a passion to learn as a coach, the better. Ultimately we want to refer coaches for additional opportunities like Elite City 7s, the new women's elite coaching opportunities via the revived NASC weekends, or for Hawks & Falcons tours!

Joe Lippert is a coach I've known for several years in the Midwest; I have been constantly impressed with the success he has achieved on the pitch as player in 15s and 7s (including playing for Stars Coach Sam's Youngbloodz 7s program that has included Stars players Kaelene Lundstrum, Ashley Perry, Pate Takeivikata, Carter Beelman and Lee Hoskins) and in leading teams from the sidelines. Just barely 30 years old, Joe has consecutive national playoff appearances under his belt as the coach of the Wisconsin Rugby Club and a USA Rugby Men's Division 2 National Championship title. 

Joe has moved on from our Wisconsin days to take on the prestigious post of coaching Palmer College of Chiropractic (following fellow Stars Coach NeMani) which for years led the Midwest Division 1 Men's Club ranks with a string of USA Rugby Sweet 16 and Final Four appearances. Joe has been key in developing their new women's club side and we have chatted many a time about players and recruitment opportunities. I cannot think of another young coach that has accomplished as much as Joe and Stars will give him the chance to focus again on 7s as, to date, Palmer has been a 15s-only program. He'll be a stellar addition to our coaching staff and be able to provide many of our athletes with the chance explore Palmer's academic opportunities and rugby scholarships!

Joe sent his rugby bio:

Playing

2003-2008 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Captain, Club President

2007 & 2008 WI Collegiate Select Side

2008-2011 Eastside Banshees

2008-2011 YoungBloodz 7s

2012-2013 Wisconsin Rugby Club 7s

2007-present Bangkok Southerners, Annual Player & Tourist

Coaching

2007-2008 UW-Eau Claire Player-Coach

2009 & 2010 WI Collegiate Select Side Assistant  

& Head coach

2011-2013 Wisconsin Rugby Club Head Coach

     *2012 National Runners-Up Division 2 Men's Club

     *2013 National Champions D2 Men's Club

2014-present Palmer College of Chiropractic,  

Head Coach Men’s D1 & Women’s D2

I want to join the Stars Family because…Touring rugby changed my life for the better and I want to contribute and facilitate similar experiences for talented young American rugby players.  Stars Rugby has quickly established itself as a top touring side and a special group of people.  Seeing the camaraderie on display in Las Vegas and in the program’s social media updates has given me great vibes and made me hungry to tour and coach in the high-performance environment Stars Rugby competes in.  Talented young American ruggers deserve the opportunity to compete with and against the best.  I look forward to being a part of America’s fastest-growing elite rugby touring side/family.  Hopefully, I can open the door (and offer scholarships!) to some talented Stars who may be interested in chiropractic as a future career.  

Canada Player Profiles: Elvy Asonye

Elvy wins Most Valuable Back

Elvy came to the Stars as one of the first players to respond when we put out the player nomination call back in February. She comes hails originally from Chicago and shares a Midwest rugby background at University of Illinois so we quickly started playing the "who do we both know" game as several of my club teammates played at U of I and I had coached against their men on several occasions. It's a small rugby world after all!

Elvy is an accomplished and disciplined player that made an impact on our Stars tour. Her performances at training on Thursday and Friday earned her a spot on the women's first side and she showed strong finishing speed on the pitch. Her tenacity even earned her a special jersey at our Kangaroo Court!

Even more impressive is that Elvy is currently serving in the US Navy, earning her Master's degree, and is giving back to the game of rugby as a referee. She's a student in life and still a student of the game.

On the Pitch for Norfolk

Here's her story:

I started playing rugby my freshman year of college back in 2005 at the University of Illinois, after I realized that our Division 1 and club soccer teams would be a little too time demanding while I was enrolled in the NROTC program. It was probably a better decision because I would commission as a Naval Officer and still got to enjoy playing a sport in college that was just as social as it was competitive.  

While at the University of Illinois I won Rookie of the Year in Spring 2006 and Most Valuable Back in 2009. Before making the big move out to the west coast, I was first stationed in Norfolk, VA where I played with the Norfolk Storm for four years as a wing, fullback, and center. I think I’ve made a home as a center playing with the Seahawks, but anywhere I’m allowed to run to my heart’s content I will gladly play!

 

VA 7s against Stars teammate Josie's NOVA team.

Being in the military has made it difficult to have complete consistency in my life, but the one constant has always been rugby and the team I played for. My coach was a retired Naval Officer so she served to be mentor in both arenas of my work- and athletic-life. My last year playing in Norfolk in 2013, I was voted MVP and held the leading scorer title. 

Our team was still developing a 7s side the last few summers I was there, but I only managed to play one summer and practice during a second summer before my move to California.

I’m currently stationed at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterrey, CA studying to get a Master’s of Science in Management and have been commuting up to San Jose for the last year to play with the San Jose Seahawks. I moved last June just in time for the start of last year’s 7s season, and had a successful first year of a developed 15s side. While our team is still very new, a lot of the girls have played with other women’s teams in the past so it is just a matter of honing our talents and continue to gel well together – which I am sure will come quickly in time. I was just named Most Valuable Back now that we’ve recently wrapped up our 15s season before we get into the full swing of 7s Qualifiers season.

Palo Alto 7s with San Jose Seahawks

While playing is still my #1 passion, I became a certified referee in November 2013 and have Nor Cal Youth Rugby tournaments and some collegiate women's games as well. It has definitely helped me to see the game in a different way, and notice all the intricacies that typically a backline player does not know (or sadly, care) about during the game.  I know most referees usually do so because they are too injured, but I do plan on refereeing a lot more during the 7s season to fine tune my skills for the 15s season as a referee and player. 

I’m greatly looking forward to playing with the Stars Rugby 7s team! Getting to play at a higher level, and meet more people with a similar passion to play is one of the best things I can as for in a summer 7s season.