USA Rugby is delighted to announce the addition of two new members to the College Department. Richard Cortez and Tam Breckenridge will be joining the Department to help steer Collegiate Rugby into its next stage of development. Cortez will be coming on board as the Director of Collegiate Rugby and Breckenridge as the Associate Collegiate Director.

Both Cortez and Breckenridge have extensive rugby and professional experience that will help drive the college game forward and the pair will become the stewards of Collegiate Rugby. They will work together in the advancement of collegiate sevens, the D1A Rugby competition, and the NCAA Emerging Sports program in addition to developing current initiatives such as the conference restructure.

“These two will have a tremendous impact on the future of College Rugby,” said USA Rugby Director of Operations Jim Snyder. “We’re fortunate to have been able to secure two highly qualified, passionate, and experienced individuals. Rich and Tam have complimentary strengths and skill sets and together they are poised to make great strides in all areas of College Rugby’s future”.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to be involved in driving College Rugby forward and I’m very excited. There are a lot of challenges ahead, but Tam and I are looking forward to working together to accomplish a lot in the coming months,” said Cortez.

MEET THE NEW DIRECTORS

Richard Cortez

Cortez has been involved with rugby since the 1970s in various capacities. He played rugby and varsity golf at Stanford University while earning his undergraduate degree. Cortez went on to earn his MBA and JD from Stanford. Following a stint as a coach at Stanford, he became the Associate Director of Athletics at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., gaining experience in operations and spearheading the licensing program there. Cortez has practiced law and has a wide array of business and consulting experience.

He has a vast rugby administration and coaching career as well, leading the University of Wyoming to two National Semifinals and six National Quarterfinal games.

Tam Breckenridge

Breckenridge has played both basketball and rugby at a high level and was a part of two very successful championship teams. She won a National Championship playing basketball at UCLA in 1978 and was on the USA Rugby Women’s National Team that won the 1991 Women’s Rugby World Cup. Breckenridge worked in the UCLA Athletic Department for over 20 years and was most recently the Assistant Athletic Director for the Bruins.

In addition to her World Cup victory, Breckenridge has played a key role in several domestic national championships and has also found success as a coach. She has coached the Women’s National Team, the Southern California All-Star team, and the UCLA Women’s Rugby team. She has also been inducted into the Crescenta Valley High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

Breckenridge will be starting immediately while Cortez will officialy begin with USA Rugby on June 1.

Look for a Q&A with the new Collegiate Directors on www.usarugby.org next week.