It’s easy to forget that there are good U19 and HS teams all over that country that don’t even make a run to the national championships.

Witness the state of Washington, where early on Liberty felt very confident in their abilities, and moved their schedule around so they could participate in the Pacific Coast playoffs. In the end, Liberty lost out by just seven points to eventual national runners up United.

Liberty then returned to Washington, played in the state playoffs and … lost, 13-8 to Budd Bay.

Budd Bay didn’t play anyone in a regional or national playoffs, but after losing their opening game of the season to Rainier Plateau, they defeated Yakima, Shelton, Harbour, Prarie, Kitsap and Tacoma (as well as Seattle in a friendly) to win the Washington South division and enter the playoffs.

Then they edged Valley 17-15 before beating Liberty.

“We had a lot of new players, and in our loss to Rainier Plateau a lot of players had no idea what to do,” said Budd Bay Coach Dan Dillashaw. “It was a tough start. But while we had a lot of rookie players, they are very good athletes, and they learned.”

Griffin Boudia is one. A complete rookie at rugby he is an outstanding football prospect and progressed, said Dillashaw, to being one of the best No. 8s in the league.

“He scored in almost every match, and while he didn’t score in the playoffs he contributed in other ways,” Dillashaw said.

Two other athletes joined the team this season: Tui Magalei and Anthony Parks. Both are very fast and accomplished football players – Magalei was Athlete of the Year at Olympia (Wash.) HS. At wing they were devastating.

“Once they learned how to stay in the support they were great,” said Dillashaw.

Added to that was senior flanker Justin Henry, who will enroll at St. Mary’s this fall and will play rugby for the Gaels.

The club had a very strong U16 program too, and this despite the fact they had several players just a couple of weeks too old to play U16.

Those players were thrust into the U19 league, with Dillashaw a little worried about how they would handle it. He needn’t have. Zach Riley and Zach Carrithers are a matched set at second row and Budd Bay has them for two more years.

Eddie Harriage, whose older brother Chris players for Central Washington, and the older brother to both, Robbie, was a Budd Bay standout as well, was another youngster. A flanker with the U16s, he was too small to play that position with the U19s, so Dillashaw made him a scrumhalf.

“It all just came together for him,” he said.

In the playoffs the Budd Bay team worked hard to use their defense as offense, forcing teams into errors that they punished. It worked well, even though their enthusiasm sometimes meant the Barbarians were jumped too early and were offside.

Still, for a program that has produced several age-grade Eagles, as well as USA senior player Scott LaValla, 2011 was a surprising success.

“We entered the season with a young team and a lot of rookies, but they learned,” said Dillashaw. “And we have a lot of those players, plus our U16s coming up, so things look good.”

Louisiana State University 7s team coach Jeff Reuther has to step aside because his club, New Orleans, has made the National DII club final four.

As a result, LSU has brought in former USA Women’s 7s coach Julie McCoy to take over the team in time for the USA 7s Collegiate Rugby Championship at PPL Park in Philadelphia June 4-5.

McCoy is currently president and managing physician of Neurology of Arkansas, a neurology practice that she started in 2000.

She is the current USA South men’s 7s all-star coach, and coached the USA women to a 3^rd-place finish in the 2009 7s World Cup.

“I’m excited,” McCoy told RUGBYMag.com. “I have known Jeff Reuther since he was 14, as I played touch with him in New Orleans when I was doing my residency there at Tulane. He also serves as a regional coach under me for the South Men's 7s program, so I am confident that he has his team prepared. I consider the opportunity given me an honor, and I am humbled by his consideration.”

McCoy has coached men and women on the club and elite level.

“For me, coaching men comes naturally,” she said. “I am definitely my father's daughter, so coordinating and sharing with men comes easy. When you think about it, men are used to having female teachers, so it's not far-fetched that they listen. The key ingredient is demonstrating to the players and staff that I am knowledgeable about the game and that my words make rugby sense. After that, the only name I have ever been called (to my face) is coach.”

McCoy said she will not make any changes to the pattern put in by Reuther, saying she intends to follow his attack and defense systems fully.

“All coaches at this level, and on the national level, concentrate on the fundamentals,” she said. “They can never be assumed or abandoned; I trust that Jeff has these boys well drilled. And yes to the wrinkles question. My role will be two-fold: tactical, and motivational and organizational.”

But expect McCoy also to bring her considerable experience to bear, and to throw in a few wrinkles in the LSU play. She has, after all, about a week.