Michael Yauch- Manager
A USA Rugby-certified rugby coach and our club manager, Michael Yauch’s affiliation with the sport goes back over 31 seasons when he began playing at Occidental College under Dennis Jablonski, The United States Rugby team leading scorer and kicker. In Michael’s fourth year as the General Manager and Head Coach of the Santa Clarita Youth Rugby Club, his goal is to pass on both skills and sportsmanship, of the sport of rugby.

In addition to coaching, Michael is a certified referee that has handled dozens of matches over the past decade. He continues to play for his club, the Oxy Olde Boys. The Oxy Tigers finished as the #9 ranked team in Division II rugby in the country in 2005. This past summer, the Tigers finished #5 in 7-a-side amongst all teams in the USA. Michael also serves as the Vice President of Southern California Youth Rugby, the parent organization for all of youth rugby in Southern California. In addition, he is also on the executive committee to the Southern California Rugby Football Union as the youth representative.

Coach Michael also plays a few Masters (over 40 years old) games a year. He has played every position on the pitch.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to coach in our community, with the bright kids and strong parental support. I have the best of all possible environments to mold young ruggers to play the greatest sport on Earth.”

Anita Thompson – Treasurer and Administrator
An AFAA certified personal trainer, she has training in anatomy, exercise physiology, nutrition, personal training, developing exercise prescriptions, flexibility and injury prevention.

Anita has been coaching and doing administrative work for SCV Youth Rugby Club since 2009.

Anita is originally from Hungary where she was a gymnast for 13 years and competed on a State level.

She has three children, two boys and a girl. Her boys have been playing rugby with SCV Youth Rugby Club since 2008.

Kelly Leach – Admin
Kelly has been with SCV Youth Rugby since 2009. She has been a great asset to the club.

Greg Holmes- Boys U19 Coach
A USA Rugby-certified coach and our U-19 coach, Greg has been playing rugby since 1978. He began at Occidental College. From there he moved on to play for Santa Monica, where in 1982 he started on the team that won the national championship. He played for the Southern California Griffins from 1982-1985, qualifying for the Pacific Coast Grizzlies in 1985. The Griffins are the Southern California All-Star team, and the Grizzlies are a West Coast All-Star team. He coached the Occidental Olde Boy rugby team from 1989 to 1992. Those teams won the Southern California Championship for Division II in 1991 and 1992. Greg has been coaching SCV Tigers since its inception in 2004.

Gary Thompson- Boys  U16 Coach
A USA Rugby-certified Coach, Gary is originally from South -Africa where Rugby considered a way of life.

He played rugby in high school in Johannesburg, South Africa and was a semi-pro motocross rider. He was also actively involved  in many extreme sports.
He is a local business man, father of 3 and he believes in discipline.

” Who dares wins” .

Tobias Konrad- Boys U12 Coach
Tobias started playing rugby when he was six years old.  In 1972 and 1980 he won the German Championship with his club RGH Heidelberg, Germany.  He played there for 14 years and then went on to play for HTV Heidelberg.  After serveral years he moved on to another club, HRK Heidelberg.  During his time with HRK he obtained an “A” coaching license from the German Rugby Union and started coaching youth ages U10 – U16 for his club.  In 1996 his U12 team won the Southern German Championship and went on to place 2nd overall in the German Championships.  For Tobias, it is most important that the kid’s learn to play rugby properly and have fun doing it.

Marcus Garret – Boys U10 Coach
Bio to come

Conrad Arjoon- Boys U19 Coach
Bio and picture to come

Perry Payne- Boys U16 Coach
Perry is an Englishman that lived in 12 countries. He started playing rugby in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa at the age of 8 and continued playing for 32 years, only retiring due to injury.

Perry has been one of rugby’s great journeymen, playing rugby in England, France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa & then the US.
His most noticeable clubs were North Harbour in New Zealand (there were 4 All Blacks in the squad at the time), Manly in Australia (2 Wallabies in the squad) & Toulon in France (6 International players in the squad). Perry also played two seasons of semi-pro rugby league in Australia for Wollongong & Wyong, before returning to his real passion of Rugby Union.

In his younger days, Perry was an open side flanker, before injuries slowed him down & took him into the front row where he played mostly at tight head prop.

Spend some time with Perry & you will see how much passion he has for the game & how eager he is to share his experiences with younger players to help them improve their game & their lives.

Perry is a registered Coach with USA Rugby, and lives in Santa Clarita with his wife & 2 of his four children.

Nicole Sheaffer-U12 Coach
Nicole grew up in a household where everyone played sports, herself included. She competed in flag football, track and field, cross country and basketball. When she transferred to Bemidji State University in Bemidji, Minnesota in 2008, she was a walk-on to the women’s rugby team. Using her speed and agility, she started in the wing, then eventually replaced the fly and scrum half after they were sidelined with injuries. She served as team captain during the 2010 season and was awarded MVP.

After she graduated, Nicole spent one season training with the Minnesota Valkyries.
Two of Nicole’s younger brothers, Madden and Quinn Sheaffer, play for the SCV Tigers Youth Rugby Club.

Nicole is looking forward to coaching SCV Tigers.

Shannon Brennan- Girls U14 Coach
Bio and picture to come

Jackie Weinstein – U14 Coach

A USA Rugby-certified Coach, Jackie is originally from Belgium. She has lived in SCV now for 20 years and was delighted to find a youth rugby club. She works as a financial advisor in Glendale, CA.

Jackie played for 3.5 years on the Kowloon women’s team in Hong Kong as a prop. Now she looks forward to teaching her son and his team the game of rugby as well making sure they are safe while doing it. There is nothing better then coaching youth on how to become part of a team and a great sport.