USA Women’s National 7s Team Coach Going for Gold!

Welcome to another Guest Blog from Monty (to read his first blog, go here). This time Monty was able to snag some time with the new USA 7s coach Ric Suggit. Read below!

One of the more pleasant surprises I had at the Las Vegas Sevens last weekend, aside from the Eagles Bowl win, Kevin and Lauren’s engagement, and the thrill of being on the field with camera in hand, was meeting the USA men’s and women’s coaches. I admit that I expected both Al Caravelli and Ric Suggit to be very busy that weekend, and would have little time for a relatively unknown blog reporter. I was wrong. Both coaches came across as genuinely friendly and interested in my “assignment” with YSC for the tournament. I came away from both meetings feeling very positive about the prospects for both men’s and women’s teams, and realizing how lucky the players were to have them as coaches.

My primary assignment for YSC was to interview newly-appointed women’s Sevens coach Ric Suggit, to find out more about his plans for the team as well as the man himself. Ric was kind enough to sit down with me for a good 20 minutes while I pestered him with questions. I discovered that the man has a great sense of humor (some of my questions were “off the wall” so to speak), and seems to have a genuine love for the sport and especially for coaching women’s rugby.

In my opinion, the most exciting thing that came out of the interview was Ric’s goal for the team: a gold medal in the 2016 Olympics! You may think he’s dreaming, but that’s how the path to all Olympic gold starts… with a dream. And just watching the women play, you can see that they really leave their hearts on the field.

Ric also talked about the future of USA rugby in general, not only for women’s sevens, but also for the men’s teams. He has obviously given a lot of thought to the development of rugby in the States, and seems very confident about the prospects. His enthusiasm got me fired up… I can see how the women on the team might feel. Their confidence can only increase going forward.

Here are some excerpts from the interview:
Ric Suggit Sunday, February 14, 2010

Your ScrumHalfConnection: Congratulations on your first major tournament as coach of the US Women’s 7’s team. How do you feel about it?
Ric Suggit: I’m excited…I mean, I wouldn’t have thrown my name into the ring if I didn’t think I was gonna like it.
YSC: What made you do that? Was it something you had wanted to do for a long time?
RS: It’s funny because I was asked the same question by the girls tonight.
(YSC: Thinking… uh… am I going to ask the same questions he’s already been asked?)
YSC: They probably don’t know you that well yet, right?
RS: Yeah. They wanted to know why a coach who’s been to several world cups, coaching men’s teams… what would be my interest in coaching them. There were a couple of things. One is the attraction of going to the Olympics, for sure. And the other one is I love coaching women in Rugby. I coached the Canadian women teams for 5 years and they were a fabulous bunch of athletes and people… This opportunity came up and I put a resume and plan together and sent it to the high performance director Alex Williams, and I ended up getting the position in a day. Yeah, I’m pretty happy.
YSC: What do you think made you stand out among all the other applicants?
RS: Obviously, they ran out of choices…(ha ha) I don’t know, some people will say I might have been the second or third choice. As I was saying to the girls, it doesn’t matter what choice you are when you’re here. You are that choice and you make do with what you have and you just carry on. I don’t know why they chose me but I’m happy they did.

YSC: A lot of the fans I talked to want to know what kind of changes you’re going to be making. Do you have new team rules?
RS: There aren’t a lot of rules. They’re not being micro-managed. They are mature young adults, they’re very knowledgeable. I just give them suggestions and they make life choices. They’ll grow faster and they’ll grow as better people because of it. One of the things they said they enjoyed was sometimes I was there and sometimes they turned around and I was gone. They need their space to find themselves. When we are on the field no one can play the game for them… Sevens is a great game in which to do that. It’s like hockey or basketball, it’s free-flowing, you go-go-go. The last thing you want to do is stand over the top of them and scream and holler.
YSC: Do you have a new strategy or game plan, or is it a secret? I don’t want you to tell me and then have to kill me…
RS: (another laugh) As I say to everyone there are no secrets in the game of rugby. Especially with modern technology and video… You can pick up the defensive structures and systems, attacking patterns and flows… The truth is to find the correct form that suits the team, and make sure that you can accelerate your strengths and then mask your weaknesses. We didn’t do a very good job of that in our last game today.
YSC: But you did very well in the tournament overall.
RS: Yeah, they really started to be more fluid together and not chase around so much. Today we got beat by a team that was red hot, good running lines, accurate passing, they were fit. We had come into the game trying a tactic to double team up on them to hope to tire them out and that didn’t work. So we’ll have to go back to the drawing board.

YSC: How do you define success for the team and how will you know when you get there?
RS: I think in small stages. The overall success is to win the gold medal in 2016. But we can’t just go there and do that. We have to have all the building blocks on the way. If we can get into the Pan-Am games.. get into elite competitions.. get the women involved into the IRB series, even four stops… Dubai, Las Vegas, Hong Kong and London or Wellington. Four really good spots in which we can afford to house the women just prior to the men’s event, then we’re talking about another successful step for women in rugby. You know they pushed so hard to get women involved in the Olympics, so they need to provide the structure so that when they get there they’re not embarrassed.
YSC: So your vision is definitely Olympic-bound
RS: Yes, that’s my vision and it’s USA Rugby’s vision, too. And we can’t forget about all the other parts of rugby. We need to focus on the under-20 program, if that program is strong it will benefit the 7s program. If the 15s program is strong, it will benefit the 7s program. So we have to think about rugby as a whole, and when we do that then we can make better use of our resources. For the women’s program that lacks resources we have to make better use of them without complaining.
YSC: Since this year seems like it might be a 15s-focused year, what with the World Cup coming up, what impact will that have on the Sevens program?
RS: We will see some focus on Sevens for sure. Just because the 15s go to the World Cup doesn’t mean that you stop doing everything else. We’ve talked about that. We had a 2-day meeting in Boulder with Alex Williams and Kathy Flores, and Nigel Melville was in some of the meetings as well. We’re taking a good look at everything and making sure that we don’t forget about under 20s, Sevens, and so on. Although the resources this year will definitely go to the 15s program, deservedly so, if they do well and let’s say finish in the top 2 or 3 in the World Cup then it should also generate more exposure for women in the States in rugby.

YSC: Are you familiar with the effort by William Tatham Jr. to put together a professional rugby sevens league in the US? What do you think about this idea?
RS: I’d liken it to the effort to promote beach volleyball, and I think it could be a good thing if it takes off. I think the way the Sevens game is played, the North American fan will jump on it. There’s been talk about that forever among the rugby coaches. If it takes off I don’t care how it takes off as long as it takes off.
YSC: What if you put the beach volleyball uniforms on these (rugby) girls?
RS: (Covers the recorder…) I’d delete that one! (laughs). I’m just asking them to change their socks right now.

YSC: Fans on the West Coast, especially in California, want to know if there are any plans for developing women’s sevens on the west coast in particular.
RS: We’re going to search high and low for the best athletes to play Sevens. We’ve got six years to teach them the Sevens. So if it’s a 17 year old, by the time the Olympics rolls around they’ll be 23. Or if it’s a 24 year old and she’s really really fit and loves to play sevens, she’ll be 30 and she’ll be mature enough to lead the side. I just want someone who loves playing Sevens who wants to make a total commitment for the six years.
YSC: So 30, 31 is not too old for a rugby player?
RS: Definitely not. Not for North Americans because some of them don’t come into rugby until later. For example, someone who played NCAA soccer is done playing soccer at 21, 22, but she might actually excel at rugby. So she might just come in then. Or a basketball player or volleyball or track star who might want to smash the daylights out of someone and score some tries and win a gold medal. (Smiles…) We have to formulate a better way of attracting more types of athletes, but we need to provide an appropriate environment, because there’s so much more discipline in training when you come to rugby.

YSC: So what do you think about the “darling” couple of rugby sevens, Kevin and Lauren?
RS: I’ve asked them to sign a “no baby” clause through 2016! That goes for both of them! (More laughing…) I think it’s fantastic. It’s one of those Disney stories almost where a fairy tale couple gets engaged.
YSC: That may have been the highlight of the tournament.

RS: Yes it was very classy. I was glad they were able to do it with the men winning the Bowl. It was a very stressful week. This week was a roller coaster for Sevens Rugby in the US and I’m glad it could end on a high note for the men’s team.
YSC: So do you think we should ask the rest of the guys on the men’s team if they have any girlfriends who want to try out for the team?
RS: Some of the girls just asked me where all the hot Canadian guys were! We’ll leave that one alone!

YSC: So what has to be done to improve the image of women’s rugby in this country?
RS: For a start, what they’re doing with Rookie Rugby is a good thing because they’re getting the kids interested at a very young age. I think that’s part of the way they’re going to change the culture of rugby in North America. They need to develop solid grass roots programs. As for the group that we have now, they need to be cognizant of the fact that they have to promote themselves and present an image that is a cut above the rest. Instead of us trying to reach a standard forever, let’s set our own standard that is higher than everyone else’s.
YSC: You’re kind of a good looking guy, do you think your face could help the image of rugby?
RS: No, I don’t think so.. (as he sports his game-winning smile…) I think there are some faces in USA rugby that they could use to promote the game. Take a look at Kevin and Lauren today. There’s an attractive couple. I’d be interested to see what’s on the USA rugby web page in the next couple of days. If it was up to me they’d be on there… (With a “no baby” clause!)

YSC: Just a couple more questions about yourself… What’s your favorite non-rugby past-time?
RS: I have a lovely wife and three kids. I’m very fortunate. I don’t spend enough time with them and so when I get home I spend more time with them. I coach my daughter’s under 8 soccer team. That was new for me and I really enjoyed it. I do warm-up drills with soccer balls in their hands! I’ll convert them all!
YSC: What would be your favorite motivational word?
RS: You can’t print it! (Laughs). I bumped into a gentleman who said “Your team is ordinary.” It was before our game, so I told the girls tonight, “Let’s go out there and do something extra-ordinary.” I think we will be extraordinary. I think we’ll prove that we can do something that’s never been done before. It would be nice to be the first women’s team to win a gold medal.
YSC: You seem like a guy who is pretty cool and doesn’t easily lose his temper… so what’s your favorite cuss word?
RS: (Big laugh) Boy, there are too many. The girls have heard them all already. You can check with them. They can probably give you a few that I use.
YSC: I really appreciate your taking the time to do this interview for Your Scrumhalf Connection. I sure hope the women will be able to make it to Hong Kong.

For more photos from Monty and Sunday’s action in the USA vs China final, go here.

Photo Credits: CuestaPhoto.com

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