Andre Snyman (Summer camp)
André Snyman was born in Newcastle, Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa on 2 February 1974. He attended Dannhauser Primary School before finishing off his schooling at DundeeHigh School. During his school career, André represented the province of
Kwa Zulu Natal in athletics as well as the province of Northern Kwa Zulu Natal in rugby – attending the U16 & U18 Craven Week in 1991 and 1992.
While studying at, and playing rugby for the Pretoria Technikon, after graduating from high school, André was chosen to play rugby for the Northern Transvaal province U21's team in 1993. John Williams, the then coach of the Blue Bulls franchise, spotted André playing for the U21's and selected him to play for the Blue Bulls in the Centre position. This was the start of a very illustrious professional career for André which saw him play for the Blue Bulls from 1994-1999, the Sharks franchise from 2000-2003 and being capped for the Springboks on 38 occasions between 1996 and 2006.
Two horrific ankle injuries in 1999 and 2000 respectively, prevented André from achieving his ultimate goal in his career and that was to represent South Africa in the Rugby World Cup tournament. However, during his 10 year career span with the Springboks, André remained a stalwart in the Centre and Wing position scoring 50 points for the Springboks. He will be most remembered for his hat trick of tries in the test against Tonga in Cape Town in 1997; and his break-away, “under the poles”, try against England during the test at Twickenham, in November 1997.
It was also during 1997 that André represented South Africa at the IRB 7’s World Cup in Hong Kong, narrowly losing to Fiji in the Final. It was the British and Irish Lions Tour to South Africa later that same year that André classifies as one of the highlights of his career. Despite losing the Test Series 2-1, André scored a try in the last Test of the Series to help secure the Springboks only win of the series.
André took his rugby career to new levels when he joined the Leeds Tykes in England in November 2003. He was one of the highest profile players to ever sign for the club, and during his time with the Leeds Tykes, he did not disappoint, entertaining the crowd with some outstanding performances that made him a crowd favourite and club legend. He helped the team to be promoted to the Premiership in the 2003/2004 season and again in the 2006/2007 season after they had been relegated from the top flight at the end of the previous two seasons respectively.
André announced his retirement from professional rugby in 2007 and played his last professional game of rugby for Leeds Tykes on 22 April 2007. His formidable presence on a rugby field has been noticeably missed since his retirement.
In 2010, Andre started coaching the Durban Old Boys RFC U20s team in his hometown of Durban but was soon contracted by the Glendale Raptors in Glendale, Colorado to help grow the sport of rugby in the City of Glendale and coach their Men’s 15s, 7s and Elite Cup Teams.
Andre joined the Raptors in June 2011 and has enjoyed a very successful career with them to date. The Raptors won the Men’s 15s Division I National Championship title in 2011 and were runner up champions in 2012. The Raptors 7s team secured a spot in the Men’s 7s National Championship in 2011 and are on track to secure a spot in the same tournament in 2013.
James Gillenwater
Former USA eagle
http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/10185150/article-Boys---Girls-Club-good-sports?instance=homefifthleft
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/play/academic-project-turns-into-youth-rugby-league
http://web.usarugby.org/cgi-bin/viadesto/natteams/mnt/7Appearances.pl?playerId=126
http://www.bgdailynews.com/articles/2008/02/09/sports/s4.txt
John Thomas
http://www.arivatanenrally.com/en/co-drivers/john-thomas.html
Welsh trialist U15 against Gareth Edwards, County and Maesteg Schools.
Professional Rally/Co-Driver
Murray Cooper
Former Rugby Union and League player. PA with Raleigh Orthopedics
Jaye McGuire- Director of women's program and HS/MS Women's coach (L200)
Jaye is a first year coach and level 1 Referee certified in 2015. She started playing rugby from a very young age, following their referee Father to games all over NY state. As part of the Adirondack RFC U19 (Saranac Lake, NY), they won Vermont State titles in 2011 and 2012. She was recruited to Norwich University (Northfield, VT) and participated in 5 national championships winning 3. Jaye strives to become a level 3 coach and referee.
Jonathon Diaz- Varsity, JV and 9th Grade HS Coach and Men's captain
Jonathan has been playing the game for 7 years. His first two years was with NC State rugby. He then finished his collegiate rugby career at UNCW. Here he was a part of two Southern Rugby Conference championships and Top 10 National Ranking for D2 rugby. In 2015, he was included in the Goff Rugby report for DII college honorable mentions and made the All-Conference Team for the Southern Rugby Conference. He is now a part of the Raleigh RedHawks Men’s team and is shadowing the coaches at the high school level. Jonathan has completed his level 100 certification.
Leonard Goenaga
Having played for his varsity soccer and wrestling team in high school, it would only seem natural that Leonard would find rugby appealing. Upon entering college, Leonard learned that Florida International University had a rugby club, and he joined the Golden Panthers as a winger. He has been‘hooked’ ever since.
Leonard is currently finishing his final year completing a PhD at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary while working as a Youth Pastor at Glory of God Christian Fellowship and as a Technology Programs Coordinator at the Wake Forest Boys & Girls Club. Having always had a strong desire to teach teens the merit of discipline, hard work and authority, Leonard aided the NRYRA in developing its rugby program by coaching their U14 team.
Santiago Rubio
Santiago Rubio is enrolled in school at NC State University. Santiago currently plays on NC State Men’s Rugby Team (NCSURFC). Coach Santiago is also recruitment chair for the NCSURFC team and that working on his referee certification.
Ian Cumming
Ian has spent his career in the lab doing cutting edge research. His rugby career started at King Edward VI school in Bath, England. His playing career included Avon Men’s Rugby Club and represented Somerset at County level. Ian has spent several years coaching both East Carolina University and more recently at Duke University. He is also a certified referee.
Robert Matthews MD
Dr Matthews is a board certified Urologist in Raleigh at WakeMed. His interest in Rugby started as a player when he attended Medical School at Vanderbilt. He has also played for Navy and still remain active in the reserves. He is also a certified Level 2 Referee.
Chris Stewart
Kiwi and former Raleigh Viper
Brian Ketcham
Selected for ERU
Washington RFC
Current Head coach for NC State Rugby
Greg Walsh (assistant Also NC Sate Assistant coach)
1 year, high school - St Johns college HS (Wash DC)
1978 - 1982 - University of Maryland - Played all back positions except scrum half - mostly inside & outside center.
Made quarter finals in 1982 in ERU- College National tournament (Eastern Rugby Union)
Selected for ERU team for Washington DC tournament, 1982
1982 - 1987 - MOB - Maryland Old Boys
U14, U16 and High School coach for the Redhawks 2014 season.
Chuck Davidson
Started the Western Carolina College Rugby team. Played wing for Western Carolina. U12 and U14 Redhawks coach for 2012, 2013, 2014 seasons.
Greg Walsh
It is with great sadness to share that one of our coaches from last season, Greg Walsh, died unexpectedly on September 25th
2014 at the age of 55. Greg helped coach our U19 team and assisted with the other ages groups as well.
We were looking forward to having Greg back this coming season and he was even helping coach NC State Men’s team.
Greg’s obituary and funeral information can be found at the link below.
http://m.legacy.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Gregory-Walsh&lc=7300&pid=172599712&mid=6136748
About NRYRA
North Raleigh Youth Rugby Association (NRYRA) is a non-profit rugby association, servicing the North Raleigh and Raleigh Community! We offer instructional Rugby to boys and girls from preschool age through High School. The coaches, managers,
and board of directors consist of dedicated parent volunteers whose goal is to develop rugby players and ensure that the kids have FUN in the sport of Rugby.
André Snyman was born in Newcastle, Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa on 2 February 1974. He attended Dannhauser Primary School before finishing off his schooling at DundeeHigh School. During his school career, André represented the province of
Kwa Zulu Natal in athletics as well as the province of Northern Kwa Zulu Natal in rugby – attending the U16 & U18 Craven Week in 1991 and 1992.
While studying at, and playing rugby for the Pretoria Technikon, after graduating from high school, André was chosen to play rugby for the Northern Transvaal province U21's team in 1993. John Williams, the then coach of the Blue Bulls franchise, spotted André playing for the U21's and selected him to play for the Blue Bulls in the Centre position. This was the start of a very illustrious professional career for André which saw him play for the Blue Bulls from 1994-1999, the Sharks franchise from 2000-2003 and being capped for the Springboks on 38 occasions between 1996 and 2006.
Two horrific ankle injuries in 1999 and 2000 respectively, prevented André from achieving his ultimate goal in his career and that was to represent South Africa in the Rugby World Cup tournament. However, during his 10 year career span with the Springboks, André remained a stalwart in the Centre and Wing position scoring 50 points for the Springboks. He will be most remembered for his hat trick of tries in the test against Tonga in Cape Town in 1997; and his break-away, “under the poles”, try against England during the test at Twickenham, in November 1997.
It was also during 1997 that André represented South Africa at the IRB 7’s World Cup in Hong Kong, narrowly losing to Fiji in the Final. It was the British and Irish Lions Tour to South Africa later that same year that André classifies as one of the highlights of his career. Despite losing the Test Series 2-1, André scored a try in the last Test of the Series to help secure the Springboks only win of the series.
André took his rugby career to new levels when he joined the Leeds Tykes in England in November 2003. He was one of the highest profile players to ever sign for the club, and during his time with the Leeds Tykes, he did not disappoint, entertaining the crowd with some outstanding performances that made him a crowd favourite and club legend. He helped the team to be promoted to the Premiership in the 2003/2004 season and again in the 2006/2007 season after they had been relegated from the top flight at the end of the previous two seasons respectively.
André announced his retirement from professional rugby in 2007 and played his last professional game of rugby for Leeds Tykes on 22 April 2007. His formidable presence on a rugby field has been noticeably missed since his retirement.
In 2010, Andre started coaching the Durban Old Boys RFC U20s team in his hometown of Durban but was soon contracted by the Glendale Raptors in Glendale, Colorado to help grow the sport of rugby in the City of Glendale and coach their Men’s 15s, 7s and Elite Cup Teams.
Andre joined the Raptors in June 2011 and has enjoyed a very successful career with them to date. The Raptors won the Men’s 15s Division I National Championship title in 2011 and were runner up champions in 2012. The Raptors 7s team secured a spot in the Men’s 7s National Championship in 2011 and are on track to secure a spot in the same tournament in 2013.
James Gillenwater
Former USA eagle
http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/10185150/article-Boys---Girls-Club-good-sports?instance=homefifthleft
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/play/academic-project-turns-into-youth-rugby-league
http://web.usarugby.org/cgi-bin/viadesto/natteams/mnt/7Appearances.pl?playerId=126
http://www.bgdailynews.com/articles/2008/02/09/sports/s4.txt
John Thomas
http://www.arivatanenrally.com/en/co-drivers/john-thomas.html
Welsh trialist U15 against Gareth Edwards, County and Maesteg Schools.
Professional Rally/Co-Driver
Murray Cooper
Former Rugby Union and League player. PA with Raleigh Orthopedics
Jaye McGuire- Director of women's program and HS/MS Women's coach (L200)
Jaye is a first year coach and level 1 Referee certified in 2015. She started playing rugby from a very young age, following their referee Father to games all over NY state. As part of the Adirondack RFC U19 (Saranac Lake, NY), they won Vermont State titles in 2011 and 2012. She was recruited to Norwich University (Northfield, VT) and participated in 5 national championships winning 3. Jaye strives to become a level 3 coach and referee.
Jonathon Diaz- Varsity, JV and 9th Grade HS Coach and Men's captain
Jonathan has been playing the game for 7 years. His first two years was with NC State rugby. He then finished his collegiate rugby career at UNCW. Here he was a part of two Southern Rugby Conference championships and Top 10 National Ranking for D2 rugby. In 2015, he was included in the Goff Rugby report for DII college honorable mentions and made the All-Conference Team for the Southern Rugby Conference. He is now a part of the Raleigh RedHawks Men’s team and is shadowing the coaches at the high school level. Jonathan has completed his level 100 certification.
Leonard Goenaga
Having played for his varsity soccer and wrestling team in high school, it would only seem natural that Leonard would find rugby appealing. Upon entering college, Leonard learned that Florida International University had a rugby club, and he joined the Golden Panthers as a winger. He has been‘hooked’ ever since.
Leonard is currently finishing his final year completing a PhD at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary while working as a Youth Pastor at Glory of God Christian Fellowship and as a Technology Programs Coordinator at the Wake Forest Boys & Girls Club. Having always had a strong desire to teach teens the merit of discipline, hard work and authority, Leonard aided the NRYRA in developing its rugby program by coaching their U14 team.
Santiago Rubio
Santiago Rubio is enrolled in school at NC State University. Santiago currently plays on NC State Men’s Rugby Team (NCSURFC). Coach Santiago is also recruitment chair for the NCSURFC team and that working on his referee certification.
Ian Cumming
Ian has spent his career in the lab doing cutting edge research. His rugby career started at King Edward VI school in Bath, England. His playing career included Avon Men’s Rugby Club and represented Somerset at County level. Ian has spent several years coaching both East Carolina University and more recently at Duke University. He is also a certified referee.
Robert Matthews MD
Dr Matthews is a board certified Urologist in Raleigh at WakeMed. His interest in Rugby started as a player when he attended Medical School at Vanderbilt. He has also played for Navy and still remain active in the reserves. He is also a certified Level 2 Referee.
Chris Stewart
Kiwi and former Raleigh Viper
Brian Ketcham
Selected for ERU
Washington RFC
Current Head coach for NC State Rugby
Greg Walsh (assistant Also NC Sate Assistant coach)
1 year, high school - St Johns college HS (Wash DC)
1978 - 1982 - University of Maryland - Played all back positions except scrum half - mostly inside & outside center.
Made quarter finals in 1982 in ERU- College National tournament (Eastern Rugby Union)
Selected for ERU team for Washington DC tournament, 1982
1982 - 1987 - MOB - Maryland Old Boys
U14, U16 and High School coach for the Redhawks 2014 season.
Chuck Davidson
Started the Western Carolina College Rugby team. Played wing for Western Carolina. U12 and U14 Redhawks coach for 2012, 2013, 2014 seasons.
Greg Walsh
It is with great sadness to share that one of our coaches from last season, Greg Walsh, died unexpectedly on September 25th
2014 at the age of 55. Greg helped coach our U19 team and assisted with the other ages groups as well.
We were looking forward to having Greg back this coming season and he was even helping coach NC State Men’s team.
Greg’s obituary and funeral information can be found at the link below.
http://m.legacy.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Gregory-Walsh&lc=7300&pid=172599712&mid=6136748
About NRYRA
North Raleigh Youth Rugby Association (NRYRA) is a non-profit rugby association, servicing the North Raleigh and Raleigh Community! We offer instructional Rugby to boys and girls from preschool age through High School. The coaches, managers,
and board of directors consist of dedicated parent volunteers whose goal is to develop rugby players and ensure that the kids have FUN in the sport of Rugby.