The USA Rugby Club Council has 7 Committees composed of members from the 19 Local Area Unions across the country. With a total of 6 Committee members, as well as a member on the Council itself, the EPRU is the second most highly represented Union. We would like to thank all of these individuals for giving back to the game of rugby and representing our Union!
Dave Codell – Senior Club Council
Dave began his playing career with Second City Troop Youth before suiting up for Drew University where he did a little bit of everything as a 4 year officer (including 3 as Club President), 3 year Captain, and 2 year player coach. After graduating with a degree in economics and enrolling at the Villanova University School of Law, Dave joined the Second City Troop Men’s side. He served in various Board positions for Troop before becoming Club President from 2011 onwards, and also earned an MVP award for his on-field performance in 2013. Dave became a high school rugby coach in 2007 and continues to coach to this day, currently as a member of the Narberth Otters.
With the merger between Troop and Schuylkill in 2015 Dave became a Board Member at large for Schuylkill before stepping into the shoes of Schuylkill’s legendary founder and Club President Chris Bailey in 2016. Dave prides himself on giving back to the local community and has been instrumental in helping to set up Schuylkill’s program at the Northeast Frankford Boys and Girls Club alongside Philadelphia Women’s Rugby and the North Philadelphia Nomads U-19 team as well as the Center City Rugby Coalition with Schuylkill, Philly Women, and the Philadelphia Gryphons. In addition to the positions mentioned above Dave has also coached at Haverford College, Schuylkill’s U-19 7s program, Narberth’s summer flag rugby program and Cabrini University.
Dave is also a Board member for Wandering Warriors Rugby, a charitable organization that has donated over $10,000 to fight veteran homelessness in the last 3 years and he has recently become an administrator for the Atlantis 7s select side and the Philadelphia United 15s select side.
When Dave isn’t on the rugby field, he’s working in Insurance and Risk Management Services for a large Hospital System.
Pat Boyle – Competitions
The pride of Tamaqua Pennsylvania, Pat has enjoyed an incredibly successful career in rugby to go along with a professional career that has recently seen him become the Budget Director for a New Jersey State Agency. At Villanova University Pat earned an invite to the USA 7s All American Camp and played summer 7s with the men’s team Lehigh Valley where he earned two trips to USA Rugby’s 7s national championship. As the founder of Schuylkill River’s 7s program Pat has gone to Nationals 8 times, won the MAC 5 times, and captained the side for 6 years. He has also served as the MAC 7s Coordinator from 2013 to the present. Pat’s other 7s playing accolades include making the MAC 7s All-Star Team 3 times and captaining it twice, taking tours to Paraguay and Trinidad & Tobago with the Atlantis 7s side, and playing with Cradle of Liberty in the City Selects tournament in 2015. Pat has also coached Temple in 2013 and Villanova in 2014 at the Collegiate Rugby Championship tournament in Chester.
As a 15s player Pat has played Division 1 men’s club rugby with Baltimore-Chesapeake, Potomac Athletic Club and Schuylkill River. While playing for Potomac, Pat competed in the Rugby Super League which can be looked at as a predecessor to today’s current Major League Rugby professional league. As a member of Schuylkill River’s 15s program Pat has served as Captain for 6 seasons and he helped guide Schuylkill River to a MAC championship and 5th place finish nationally in 2013.
Pat’s off-field contributions include serving as Schuylkill’s Match Secretary from 2008-2009, and Potomac’s Treasurer from 2010-2011. Pat took on Schuylkill’s Director of Rugby position in 2016 and deserves credit for immediately forming Schuylkill’s extremely successful U-23 Academy 7s team.
Chris Ryan – Eligibility
Chris Ryan has been involved with rugby for over 40 years. He started playing at Conestoga High School in 1980 and continued to play until a torn biceps muscle stopped his career at the age of 39. He played and was selected at every position on the pitch. The clubs he played for include: Conestoga High School, East Carolina University, Philadelphia-Whitemarsh RFC, Bethlehem RFC and is player 157 of Atlantis, an invitational US 7s touring side.
He has been coaching since 1997 and holds a 300 level coaching certificate from USA Rugby which is the highest level offered and is also a certified secondary education teacher which has trained him in the many ways needed to connect with the student athletes and how to transfer my knowledge to them.
Chris is currently the Head Coach of the Schuylkill River Rugby 7s Team and has held this position since June of 2011. With Schuylkill River he has finished in the top 8 Nationally on four separate occasions and in his career he has won seven National Championships while also placing second three times and third six times.
In addition to coaching Schuylkill River, Chris also coaches the Atlantis Rugby select side which competes in both domestic and international tournaments against other invitational teams. Many players from Atlantis have gone on to represent the United States in both 15s and 7s rugby and have participated in the Rugby World Cup as well as the Olympics.
Additionally, Chris has also previously served as a coach for the United States Women’s National 7s Team as well as the Olympic Team Development Program which resulted in a third place finish at the 2009 Rugby World Cup as well as qualification for the 2016 Olympics where rugby made its debut.
Ray Fritz – Governance
Ray Fritz found rugby somewhat later in life, joining the Philadelphia Gryphons when he was 36 years old in 2014. He fell in love with the sport because of inclusiveness that the Gryphons represented. The competition, brotherhood and the club’s mission drew him to take on more leadership roles and eventually become the Gryphons Club President in 2016 for 2 terms. Playing with the Gryphons has given Ray the opportunity to travel to 3 Bingham Cups in Sydney, Amsterdam and Nashville.
Ray has always sought to develop rugby in underrepresented communities and became a trustee of IGR in 2020 due to this commitment. As a member of the EPRU Board Ray helps focus on making DE&I a priority for our Union and helping to grow the sport while navigating today’s challenging environment. He has also been a MAC/D4 competition coordinator and is now on the USAR Senior Club Governance committee. With all things in life, Ray likes to remind people that you’re never too old to try new things.
Katie Hunzinger – Training & Development
Katie Hunzinger is clinical exercise physiologist and a third year PhD student at the University of Delaware where she is studying the chronic effects of rugby participation on postural control and neurophysiological outcomes in the Concussion Research Laboratory. She is currently a World Rugby Educator (Strength & Conditioning and Referee), referee with East Pennsylvania Rugby Referees Society, Sports Performance representative on the USAR T&D committee, crossfit coach, and adjunct instructor at Holy Family University. Katie completed her bachelor’s at Northern Illinois University where she was a member of the women’s rugby team and master’s at Wake Forest University where she was an assistant coach with the men’s rugby team and referee for Southeast Rugby Referees Society. She also played 7s with the Chicago Lions 7s prior to the switch to refereeing.
Vicky Crozier – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Vicky began playing at the University of Glasgow after founding the women’s team with some friends in 1989 and also represented the West of Scotland select side along with earning an International Cap for Scotland against Wales in 1990 and playing on the Scottish Universities side that filled in at the 1991 World Cup when another team dropped out. Vicky was president, captain and secretary for the University Team and served on the University Athletic Council.
After moving to the USA, Vicky played with Gotham and then moved to Philadelphia in 1995 playing with Philadelphia Women until “retirement” in 2010. During that time, Vicky served on the EPRU board, was secretary of Philadelphia Women, and helped with the Pumpkinfest tournament committee.
Vicky has been refereeing since moving to the U.S. with Eastern Penn, Mid Atlantic, and New York Refs Societies and is also currently the head coach of Northeast Irish Women since 2014, who won the Mac D3 championship in 2018. Vicky continues to wander onto the field from time to time with the Irish, as well as tournament teams Trashy Magic, the Old Breed, Wandering Warriors and Old Girls while staying involved with International Gay Rugby via the Philadelphia Gryphons and the International Society of Inclusive Referees while currently serving on the DEI committee for USA rugby and the discipline committee for the EPRU.
Vicky’s non-rugby background includes having a JD from Temple Law, a 23 year career as a police officer, and having served as an ROTC and United States Marine Corps veteran.
Shane Waddy – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Shane Waddy started playing for the Niagara University Women’s Rugby Club in 2002 as a center for a D1 team that earned two state titles while being player-coached. As a junior Shane became team Captain and helped with coaching. Shane didn’t have a set team after graduation but got on the field with local teams while moving around.
After moving from Philadelphia to Berks in 2011 the Reading men’s rugby team was the only club available until Berks Youth Rugby was established which gave Shane’s son an opportunity to learn how to play while Shane was able to sign on as a volunteer. Five years later and Shane is not only still coaching for Berks but has also founded, and serves as President of, the Reading Women’s Football Club. Unfortunately COVID has severely hampered their plans so – shameless plug – please spread the word and help find interested players!
Regarding the USA Rugby DEI committee in Shane’s own words: “I am 1000% all about taking this sport and putting it into neighborhoods, cities, towns that have no clue what it’s about and giving another option for kids to grow in something and be their best selves. This sport is all encompassing and unlike any other sport I’ve played or seen. It sinks into your soul and becomes a part of you and reaches places that sometimes medicine can’t even fix in people. Pure Therapy. After I put in my application of interest, I was given an interview and I was humbled and honored to be a part of something at a national level. I plan on using my appointment to help grow this sport to be the best that it can be on every level.”
