Leadership
EPA Razorhawks is proud of our highly experienced, dedicated, and passionate coaching and referee team. With deep experience playing and coaching rugby at levels from U8 through international competition, our team has the skills and expertise to ensure kids learn the fundamentals and enjoyment of rugby in a safe and professional manner.
We are always looking for new coaches and refs, so if you have played rugby and want to try your hand at coaching or becoming a ref, please contact us at: info@razorhawks.com. We will refund the cost of appropriate training courses and USA Rugby certification.
Bryan is our Club President and has coached for the RazorHawks since 2011. He grew up in Dublin, Ireland, and started playing at the age of 7. His high-school team defeated many larger schools' teams to win the Leinster Schools Cup. He represented the University of Limerick and then returned to Dublin to play for Greystones RFC for a few years before moving to the US. Bryan's final playing years were with the Palo Alto XO's. Bryan is happy that his two sons play Razorhawks rugby, where they can develop life skills: strength, toughness, strategy, fitness, and above all team bonding.
Katrina, our Club Vice President, played for Stanford University Women's Rugby, the U-23 Pacific Coast Grizzlies and the U-23 National Team. After graduating from Stanford, she played for the Bay Area Shehawks, the Berkeley All Blues, and the Pacific Coast Grizzlies Senior 15s & 7s select sides. Katrina has served as an assistant coach for Stanford Women's Rugby team since 2008 and was head coach of the Berkeley All Blues for two seasons starting in 2015. When not on the pitch, Katrina is the Director of the Economic Advancement Program at Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto.
Smitty, our Club Treasurer, started coaching youth rugby for the RazorHawks in 2014 and is a NCYRA B and C License Certified Coach. Smitty’s playing career spanned 33 years as a flanker for a number of teams including Dartmouth College, the BATS of San Francisco, the New York Athletic Club, the Santa Monica Rugby Club, and the Wanderers of Singapore. He has also toured in Ireland, Spain, New Zealand, and Hong Kong. Smitty’s coaching experience includes serving as Forwards Coach at Dartmouth where he helped lead the men’s team to two National Collegiate Rugby final four appearances, losing to Cal Berkeley in the 1986 finals.
Pila has over 25 years of experience playing rugby, from his start with Tupou College in Tonga through 20 years at the Men's Club level in the California Bay Area. Pila has been part of three national champion teams: San Mateo, Razorbacks, and Mission, where Pila earned the MVP title in the national championship match. He also played for the All Star sevens rugby team in 2006 and captained the Razorbacks in 2009—a year in which they were undefeated, as chronicled in the book Crossing the 101. Pila is very passionate about rugby and hopes to influence the younger generation (including two of his sons who are playing for the team) to find the same passion. One of the great values he has learned being a player on the field is, "Respect everybody, but fear nobody but God."
Rob Peterson is a Bay Area native who grew up playing soccer and basketball before discovering rugby in college. Rob quickly realized that this game that lets you move the ball with both hands and feet is far superior to anything else he'd played, and he's been in love with rugby ever since. Rob's playing career has included stints with representative sides like the Pacific Coast Grizzlies and with top-tier clubs like OMBAC.
Founding Board Member Shaun grew up in New Zealand and Menlo Park, where he wrestled and played football at Menlo-Atherton High School for the legendary Coach Parks, earned 1st team All-State honors in football at linebacker, and is in the M-A Hall of Fame. Shaun played football and rugby at Cal, winning five national championships as an All-American and team captain in 2001. Shaun played for the USA National Team the Eagles from 1998–2004, including in the 1999 Rugby World Cup, and locally for club powerhouse SFGG, where he is a member of their Hall of Fame.
