Tommy Smith (rugby union)

Last updated

Tommy Smith is a former rugby union player who represented the United States in 15s and 7s rugby before becoming the coach of the US sevens team in 1999. [1] Smith played, captained, and coached the US National team and has been a member of the U.S. Rugby Hall of Fame since his 2017 induction. [2]

Contents

USA Rugby

Smith was awarded the Leslie Williams Award for "Best and Fairest Player" at the 1986 Hong Kong Sevens tournament, joining past recipients Jonah Lomu, Waisale Serevi and Mark Ella. [3] [4] In 1997 Tommy was named to the All Time All World 7's Hong Kong team at scrum half. He made 45 appearances for the U.S. national sevens team, and captained the side 19 times. In 15s, Tommy played wing, fullback, fly-half, and scrum half for the U.S. Eagles. He coached the United States national rugby sevens team from 1999 to 2001, at the beginning of the "World Series of 7s".

Career Highlights

1988 vs Canada Plate Championship (American Football passing try) [5]

1988 Melrose 7s (American Football penalty play) [6]

1986 Hong Kong 7s 80m try (“Best and Fairest” in tourney) [7]

1986 Hong Kong 7s vs Japan (semi finals victory) [8]

College and club rugby

As a player, captain, and coach he spent a decade at UCLA from 1980 to 1990. Tommy was inducted into the UCLA Rugby Hall of Fame in January, 2018. [9]

Tommy played, captained, and coached for Santa Monica Rugby Club starting in 1978 through 2011 periodically. Tommy was inducted into the Santa Monica Rugby Hall of Fame in March, 2018. [10]

In 2007, Tommy coached Alameda Youth Rugby club and traveled to San Diego to attend the US Sevens at Petco Park. The team also participated in a 12U rugby tournament against youth teams from Southern California.

In 2011 he was the coach of the sevens team at the Santa Monica Rugby Club. [11]

Tommy also coached at UC Berkeley. As the Pacific Coast Grizzlies captain and coach, the team won 2 National Championships in 1990 and 1991.

Baseball career

Smith was drafted by the Texas Rangers out of Walter Johnson High School (Bethesda, MD) in 1974. [12] He played shortstop for 3 seasons with the Ranger's minor league affiliates.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waisale Serevi</span> Fijian rugby union footballer and coach (born 1968)

Waisale Tikoisolomoni Serevi is a Fijian former rugby union football player and coach, and is a member of the World Rugby Hall of Fame. Serevi is renowned for his achievements in rugby sevens, while also enjoying a long career in fifteen-a-side rugby at both club and national team levels. Nicknamed "The Wizard" by commentators, he is widely considered to be the greatest rugby sevens player in the history of the game. A biography of Serevi titled Waisale Serevi: King of Sevens by Nick Darvenzi was published in 2018.

Simon Daniel Edward Amor is an English rugby union coach and former player. Amor played in the scrum-half and fly-half positions for London Scottish and captained the England national rugby sevens team. He has been the head coach of London Scottish, England sevens, Hong Kong, and, as recently as 2020, was appointed defence-coach for the England rugby union team.

Washington Rugby Football Club (WRFC) is a USA Rugby club men's Division I rugby union team based in Washington, DC. Washington RFC formed in February, 1963. The team founded the annual Cherry Blossom tournament in 1966. WRFC plays in the Mid-Atlantic Conference in the Capital Geographical Union. WRFC won its first 2021 Capital Region Champion and its first debut in the Mid-Atlantic Conference for Division II. In 2022, WRFC moved from Division II to Division I Rugby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York Athletic Club RFC</span> Rugby team

The New York Athletic Club Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team based in New York City that is affiliated with the New York Athletic Club.

Tom Billups is an American former rugby union rugby player, who played for the USA Eagles as an international and Blackheath Rugby Club, Harlequin F.C., and Pontypridd RFC as a professional. After retiring as a player in 1999, he joined the staff of the United States national team and was the head coach from 2001 to 2006. In addition to coaching the Eagles, Billups managed the U.S. national sevens team program and coached the 2005 U.S. sevens team. In 2015 Billups was inducted into U.S. Rugby Hall of Fame, and was the first person to be inducted as both a player and coach. In 2018 Billups became the 14th recipient of the Craig Sweeney Award which was first award in 1979 in memory of former United States national team member and captain, Craig Sweeney. The Sweeney Award is presented to a former national team player who has contributed significantly to the game while displaying exemplary character on and off the field.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Monica Rugby Club</span> Rugby team from Santa Monica, California, USA

Santa Monica Rugby Club is a rugby union club from Santa Monica, California, United States. The club teams, known as the Dolphins, compete in the Southern California Rugby Football Union (SCRFU) a territorial union of USARugby, currently fielding teams in the following divisions: Division 1 (men), Division 1 (women), Division 2 (women), U18 boys, U16 boys, U14 boys, U12 boys, U10 coed, and U8 coed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgetown University Rugby Football Club</span> Rugby team

The Georgetown University Rugby Football Club is the intercollegiate men's rugby union team that represents Georgetown University in the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Conference of National Collegiate Rugby, Division II. They have twice reached the USA Rugby National Tournament Final Four, in 2005 and 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hong Kong national rugby sevens team</span> Rugby team

The Hong Kong national rugby sevens team is a regular participant in the Rugby World Cup Sevens. The team's greatest achievements include winning the gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and winning the Asian Sevens Series in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2022.

Alexander Magleby is the CEO of the professional rugby union team, The New England Free Jacks. He is a former professional rugby union coach, and former United States national team player and captain.

The United States women's national rugby sevens team competes in international rugby sevens competitions. The team finished second at the 2015 USA Women's Sevens, after defeating Russia in the semifinals. They have competed at three Summer Olympics, and won a bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California Golden Bears rugby</span> College mens rugby team representing the University of California, Berkeley

The California Golden Bears rugby team is the college rugby team of the University of California, Berkeley. The Golden Bears have won 33 championships since the national collegiate championships for rugby began in 1980. Current head coach and Cal alumnus Jack Clark took over the team in 1984, and has achieved prolonged success, leading the Bears to 28 national titles, including twelve consecutive championships from 1991 to 2002, five more consecutive titles from 2004 to 2008, and back-to-back titles in 2010 to 2011 and 2016 to 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippines women's national rugby sevens team</span> Rugby team

The Philippine women's national rugby sevens team, known as the Volcanoes, represents the Philippines in rugby sevens. They played their first international sevens in 2010 at the Asian Championships. They won the 2019 Asia Rugby Women's 7s Trophy Series in Indonesia.

Emil Signes is a former coach for the United States national rugby sevens team. He also facilitated the inclusion of the rugby sevens in the Olympics, due to his promotion of women's rugby worldwide. He is the founder and coach of Atlantis, an invitational 7s rugby team for developing rugby talent among both men and women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dallen Stanford</span> South African rugby union player

Dallen Stanford is a South African-born, former American rugby union sevens player and current international rugby commentator based in the United States.

Scott William Forrest is a Scottish retired rugby union player who competed in rugby sevens at 2010 Commonwealth Games, serving as captain of the national team at the event. He is the head coach of the Scotland Women 7s squad and the Great Britain Women 7s team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Benjamin Joseph Pinkelman is an American professional rugby union player who plays as a forward for the United States national sevens team.

The Austin Huns Rugby Football Club is a Men's Rugby Club American rugby union team based in Austin, Texas. In June 2017 they became U.S. Division 1 National Champions beating New York Athletic Club RFC 27-23 in the final match.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Diego State Aztecs rugby union</span> College rugby union club team

San Diego State Aztecs Rugby Club is the rugby union club that represents San Diego State University. The men's team competes in Division 1-A in the California Conference and the women's team competes in Division II in the Pacific Desert Conference. The club plays their home games at ENS 700 Field.

Stuart Krohn is an American former professional rugby union player. At the University of California, Santa Barbara, he was an All-American in 1986. In Hong Kong, he played for Valley RFC for eight years, as the team won eight consecutive championships, and captained the international team at the 1993 Rugby World Cup Sevens and the 1997 Rugby World Cup Sevens. Krohn was a member of the silver medal winning USA Men's Rugby Team at the 1993 Maccabiah Games in Israel, and a member of the gold medal winning team at the 1997 Maccabiah Games.

Krista McFarren is a former American rugby union player and athlete. She was a radiologist in the United States Air Force and rose to the rank of Lt. Colonel before she retired from active duty in 2001.

References

  1. ↑ Briggs, Don (1999-08-07). "Former Frederick Great to Coach USA 7's 2000 Team". Archived from the original on October 7, 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-21.
  2. ↑ "Tommy Smith, 2017 U.S. Rugby Hall of Fame Inductee". U.S. Rugby Foundation. Archived from the original on December 2, 2018. Retrieved December 1, 2018– via www.usrugbyfoundation.org.
  3. ↑ Butwell, Scot (1987-10-22). "Any Place He Hangs His Cleats Is Home : American Rugby Star Practices His Trade All Over the World". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 18, 2015. Retrieved 2011-12-21.
  4. ↑ "Leslie Williams Award". Archived from the original on April 6, 2012. Retrieved 2011-12-21.
  5. ↑ Smith, Tommy (2020-06-19), Rugby Hong Kong 7s Championship highlights 1988 Tommy Smith american torpedo , retrieved 2020-06-19
  6. ↑ Smith, Tommy (2020-06-19), Rugby 7s Melrose Scotland highlights Tommy Smith 50yd football pass , retrieved 2020-06-19
  7. ↑ Smith, Tommy (2020-06-19), Rugby Hong Kong 7s 1986 highlights Tommy Smith 80 yard try , retrieved 2020-06-19
  8. ↑ Smith, Tommy (2020-06-19), Rugby Hong Kong 7s 1986 highlights Tommy Smith assist to Fowler , retrieved 2020-06-19
  9. ↑ "UCLA Rugby Hall of Fame Announces Class of 2018". UCLA Club Sports. Retrieved 2019-09-21.
  10. ↑ "Tommy Smith". smrchalloffame.com. Retrieved 2019-09-21.
  11. ↑ "Rugby Sevens Season Wrap-Up". www.santamonicarugby.com. Santa Monica Rugby Club. 2011-09-18. Archived from the original on April 15, 2012. Retrieved 2011-12-21.
  12. ↑ "Thomas Smith Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2019-09-24.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.