Western Oregon University men’s rugby added a new face to the roster this year, though not in the form of a student athlete wearing a jersey ready to bruise some opponents. Although, new head coach Gavin Curtis has bruised some opponents in his time. He comes well decorated, with 35 years of championship player, coach and referee experience in over six countries including Canada, Jamaica, Bahamas, England, South Africa and U.S.A.
“Not many sports have reached that level of penetration through the world and culture; it’s a good and healthy sport,” Curtis said.
A Zambia, South Africa native, Curtis moved to Fort Lauderdale until recently moving to Portland to finish his degree in renewable electrical engineering at Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT).
“Portland brought me to Monmouth,” Curtis said. “I saw an ad for the WOU coaching job and I applied for it and I was lucky enough to get the job.”
Curtis started playing at age 10 in Zambia with his boarding school where his career took flight. His experience includes all-star teams in Florida, the Eastern region all-star game, coaching at Florida Atlantic University, the men’s club at Fort Lauderdale, refereeing nationally, including the international professional tournament where he traveled to ref the top international players playing in the world circuit.
“I really like coaching more than refereeing,” Curtis said. “Refereeing is nice because you have the opportunity to help everybody play the game and be a part of it, but you aren’t really attached to any team and I really like the concept of being attached to a team.”
Curtis also contributed his leadership and expertise to a men’s over 40’s team where every year they travel to New York to play together. With 15 years playing in this tournament, Curtis and his team have only suffered one loss.
Western Oregon Rugby just recently joined D1 status after the 2011-2012 season. Not only are they thriving for success but they are showing the dedication and motivation needed to be a championship team.
“They practice even when I’m not there,” Curtis said. “So that’s a testament that they are very motivated.”
The team recently competed in a pre-season tournament at Central Washington University. The tournament was set up in two divisions over two days of play. After losing Saturday, the team was sent to the challenger series for Sunday where they ended up winning the Challenger Cup.
“After losing to teams we lost to on Saturday, we realized with rugby, the team really has to buy into the system, we didn’t really have a lot of time as a team,” Curtis said. “Losing on Saturday was bittersweet, there were times I could see good potential, because we played really good rugby, executed really well, and then we came back on Sunday and really put it together. We didn’t just beat the team in the championship, we dominated.” The top two teams make it to the national playoffs and the team has their eyes set on the top four. “The good thing is, we’ve set our sights on them, they know we’re there and we know we can get there,” Curtis said.
With five seniors, there is a lot of room for growth, Curtis said, and he has the tools and experience to build a program.
“My coaching experience is not just with rugby, coaching is understanding how to communicate a message,” Curtis said. “With collegiate sports you really need to pack in a lot of information in a short period of time.” Curtis added that it seems to be working at this point. “I think I’ve created a system that makes the learning curve shorter,” he said.
With a well-established rugby environment in Oregon, one long-term goal for Curtis is to bring high level rugby athletes to Monmouth for a positive youth rugby experience. Curtis encourages any athletes to come out and try, watch, or get hooked on a sport that has a brotherhood atmosphere.
“The guys I’m coaching have been playing since high school,” Curtis said. “After college they can go travel anywhere in the world and play because they are a part of the brotherhood.”
