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Old Glory Academy Coach Kim Expands Involvement

  • 06 Nov 2020
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Old Glory Academy assistant coach Bri Kim / Photos: Paris Malone

This fall, Major League Rugby (MLR) named Guy Hagen its Director of Youth Development, a new position for the four-year-old organization. The 13 member teams support a range of player pathway systems, ranging from the non-existent, to ones with co-ed programming and strong ties with the local community. Old Glory fits into the latter category and launched its U19 academy on Oct. 7. Bri Kim was named to the academy staff, and the assistant coach will be particularly invested in the girls’ direction.

Before the global pandemic disrupted rugby, Kim was last seen hoisting the 2019 DI Club National Championship trophy with NOVA and accepting MVP honors. The scrumhalf is also a regular with the Old Glory Capital Selects and got involved with the 2020 expansion team in January. The D.C.-based organization recruited her as a sideline analyst for 2020 home games. She upped her presence with Rugby Radio DC’s The Road to Glory, producing two podcasts per week alongside Jimmy Cuddihy and Roland Pratt.

“I really enjoyed it because we were talking rugby the entire time,” said Kim, who, outside of rugby, is the business operations manager and a research scientist at Ceres Nanosciences. “They asked me to come on because they knew I was involved in the local scene but they also wanted women’s coverage as well.”

When talks of the Old Glory U19 Academy began, Kim checked in with management.

“I reached out to Tim Brown, who’s involved with community engagement,” Kim said of the Old Glory Player Pathways Manager. “I asked him who they had for women staff and reminded him that women representation is really important. They immediately bit on that for the assistant coach.”

These conversations also clarified the existence of a girls’ academy. Kim, Toga Fanueli and Joey Tropea were tabbed as assistant coaches, while Old Glory head coach Andrew Douglas assistant coach Toshi Palamo oversaw the academy as co-head coaches.

“Old Glory has been really good from the get-go to really engage the community and develop local talent,” Kim said. “It’s really important to the owners [Paul Sheehy and Chris Dunlavey], who are both local guys, that we continue to do this. Yes, the men’s pro team is the driver, but the owners and really everyone part of Old Glory want to develop rugby in the area and promote this culture.

“That’s why it’s important to have the girls’ academy,” Kim continued. “Not only do you show much needed representation but you also invite and engage people in the area who might not have known rugby before. You can show them that rugby isn’t necessarily about the entertainment aspect, the way you see in other sports around the country. We’re about growing the sport, and we’ll do it by engaging as many people as possible, and showing them why it’s important. Some of these girls will want to play varsity and college rugby, and hopefully you get some of those names in the Eagle scene in the future, and you can connect to those successes.”

Douglas encouraged Kim to take the lead on the girls’ side, which draws 25-30 players from Maryland, Virginia and D.C. to training. There is no cap on the girls’ participation yet, as the academy wants to build some momentum, but the boys’ side made cuts after more than 100 players attended the academy combine.

“The idea isn’t to take away from your clubs or high school teams,” Kim said of calendar conflicts. “The idea is we provide the academy with more resources – strength and conditioning, educational programming – and more playing opportunities.”

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A handful of players have already piqued Kim’s interest. From the West End Ruckettes (Va.), Elly Gorham and Gianna Biagioni showcase good IQ and skill and will benefit nicely from the high performance exposure. Maryland Exiles’ Isabella Iscaro is also an exciting player to watch and is the younger sister to Old Glory’s Jack Iscaro.

“Taylor McLean is from North Bay [Md.] and you can tell that she has a lot of athletic talent,” Kim said. “She might not know why she’s running a line a certain way, but it’s because she has good intuition. It’s exciting to have her.”

Training will extend into the holiday and resume in the New Year; however, planning will be difficult considering Covid-19. But the girls also have more sorting to do. While the boys will be able to play other MLR academy teams – ideally in curtain-raisers for their pro counterparts – the girls might have to be more creative, or patient, in filling a competition schedule.

The Free Jacks Academy is a National Development Program (NDP) in New England and thus a good option, and Rugby ATL includes girls in its Pathway 404. The Panther Rugby Academy is transitioning to an NDP and should be a good option to the south. Rugby New York doesn’t mention girls’ programming yet; however, girls have been invited to previous camps and combines. The region’s NDP, the Northeast Academy, is well established but has focused on 7s. Atlantis is another elite outfit that is rooted in the Mid-Atlantic and specializes in 7s (Kim is an alumna).

If MLR organizations fielded and/or aligned with senior women’s teams, then the feeder system would strengthen.

“That’s the missing piece,” Kim said of fortifying the girls’ structure. “Coach Douglas and I had a few conversations about how can we show these girls that there is something at the adult level for them. They need players that they can see and identify with. This is all hypothetical and conversational, but Douglas has asked about the top level for the women, and we’ve been talking about the [Women’s Premier League] and how that comes into play.”

There are no WPL teams in Old Glory’s region, as the D.C. Furies were relegated after the 2018 season. NOVA is the reigning DI club champion and has placed players into the higher reaches of the game. Other WPL entities would have an easier time partnering with MLR teams – in terms of geographic proximity – but those unions haven’t occurred.

“It’s interesting how club rugby is transforming now,” Kim said. “There are club teams that have been around for a long time, like the D.C. Furies and NOVA, and then there are the Capital Selects or these all-star teams that play in different tournaments. In theory, that’s what the girls’ high school team would be looking at.

“But it would be remiss to not consider what would happen if you expanded the WPL or added more competition,” she continued. “What if you could get the MLR – which is growing men’s rugby quickly in the U.S. – to support a WPL side? That boosts investment and support for the women’s team, and then maybe you can get rid of some of the big drawbacks – like paying for flights and hotels – of playing in the WPL. There’s obviously a lot to be worked out there, and it would become more difficult to make sure that you’re in balance with the community scene and teams that have been here a long time. But the first thing that needs to happen is a conversation between all of the stakeholders.”

For more information on the Old Glory Academy, visit https://oldglorydc.com

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