Meet the coaches
Steve
Girls Head CoachSteve has over 15 years of girls rugby coaching experience, having started the Pleasanton Cavaliers Girls Rugby team and now with both the Summit Girls and the Bend Senior High Girls. He played rugby collegiately at UC Davis. Steve also coaches high school wrestling and believes youth sports are key to developing sucessful young people.
Leslie
Girls CoachLeslie began coaching high school sports 25 years ago. She brings a passion for helping young athletes develop character and resilience both on and off the field. As a licensed teacher, therapist, and chaplain, Leslie values the development of the whole person and believes her role as a coach is to help young people discover what they’re capable of.
Nick
Girls CoachNick has over 11 years of experience playing rugby. In high school, he played all four years at Bellarmine College Prep in San Jose, California. In college, he started all four years at scrum half for the Loyola Marymount University Lions in both 15’s and 7’s. He was the backs captain for two of those years and helped lead the Lions to a small college playoff berth-their first in five years. He went on to play 15’s and 7’s for the Los Angeles Men’s Rugby Club for three seasons. Outside of rugby, Nick is an avid skier, hiker, fly fisherman, writer and filmmaker.
Ross
Boys CoachRoss started playing rugby in high school in 2000 at Georgetown Prep, then continued playing while attending university in New Zealand, at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, for the university club and for Glenmark-Cheviot. Ross joined Bend Rugby Club in 2013 after moving to Bend and met Jeff in November 2014 and helped launch Summit’s first 15s side in spring 2015 and has coached ever since. He is currently completing his master's in teaching, aiming to teach high school math.
mitch
Boys CoachMitch picked up rugby at 16 years old in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, England - playing nearly every position before settling into the second row for good. He played club rugby for several English sides, finishing with the British Airways Wales Team, where he met his wife, Lindsay, on a tour to Hungary. Mitch worked at British Airways and began coaching youth rugby in San Diego around 2011 before joining the Summit staff after moving to Bend in 2022. All three of his and Lindsay’s kids have come up and through the program.
adam
Boys CoachAdam first played rugby in college at Williams College, then briefly with the Boston Irish Wolfhounds. Before returning to the game by coaching at Summit in 2024, he spent many years coaching, managing, and serving as club president in local youth soccer. He currently works in software, building algorithms and doing data science. His son plays soccer at Western Washington University (rugby never took), and his daughter is heading to University of Oregon to study photojournalism; his wife Molly is a therapist and podcaster. SKO Storm!
mark
Boys CoachMark has 20 years as a player across school, college, and club rugby, including national championships and international honors at the U-19 level, playing both front row and back row. He grew up in England before a career in the shoe industry took him to South-east Asia and then Portland, OR. He retired to Bend in 2017 and has coached Summit Boys Rugby for 7 years.
Lindsay
Girls CoachLindsay completed the Level 1 rugby coaching certification in 2017, and began coaching with OMBAC Wallabies Youth Rugby, starting the club’s first Girls U8-U10 team. Since 2023, she has coached rugby at Summit High School, where she is passionate about growing the game and creating a positive, competitive environment where athletes can build skills, confidence, and a love of rugby.
adam
Girls CoachAdam is likely the oldest of the assistant coaches at 54, and is the sole representative of the Antipodes on the coaching team having emigrated to Bend in 2014. He played rugby for two decades before retiring with his knees intact, and rejoined the Rugby community via refereeing High School games in 2023. Coach Steve cunningly dragooned him (just kidding!) to help once or twice with a bit of kicking…and the rest is history. He specializes in kicking, law implementation and rucking, with an emphasis on praise for the wonderful girls he has the privilege of helping to coach.
casey
Girls CoachCasey started playing D1 Women’s Club rugby at San Diego State University, studying Sustainability with a minor in Recreation and Tourism Management, once competitive gymnastics was not offered. Upon coming to Central Oregon, Casey found the high school team’s while pursuing a U23 tryout for the national development pathways and originally intended to solely train with the girls. However, through Steve’s encouragement and mentorship she has been given the opportunity to take on a role as a coach. Prior to rugby, where Casey plays anywhere from hooker to fly half, she coached gymnastics for almost ten years and had a twenty-year gymnastics career herself!
jeff
Boys CoachJeff is the founder of Rugby Oregon (1999) and former chairman of its board of directors. He grew up playing in New Zealand, continued in London and eventually Portland, OR: where he played for ORSU and served as club treasurer before starting Rugby Oregon to create youth/HS rugby opportunities statewide. He is Principal Consultant at Global Trading Partners. He started the first Summit rugby team - a fall 7s side - in 2014 when his son Joel was a senior.
jayden
Boys CoachJayden has played rugby for roughly eight years, starting in high school at Summit. He continued at COCC under Woody Bennett before returning to the game with the Bend Roughriders, where he still plays today. He has coached with the Storm for the last five years, plus a season as COCC’s scrum coach, all while working multiple jobs for UPS and SlabSavers. He was recently voted Team President for the Roughriders and named Dr. Chunn Man of the Year. Jayden brings great energy and connection to the players.
austin
Boys CoachAustin started playing rugby at University of Washington and has since played for Aberdeen University RFC (Scotland), OPSB RFC (now the Seattle Saracens), Chicago Lions RFC, Berkeley RFC, and the Bend Roughriders (alongside Ross). He spent 7 years as head coach of the Alameda Islanders high school team, leading them to a 2nd place finish in the Northern California High School Division. After a few years off, he’s excited to return to high school coaching with Summit.