|
By Alex Goff (OMBAC struggled through a 1-5 season in the Super League this past spring. Alex Goff photo)
Old Mission Beach Athletic Club has signed on John McKittrick as the club’s new head coach.
McKittrick was head coach of the USA 7s team from 2001-2005 and has also been coach at North Harbour in New Zealand and in various other high-level capacities. He has been hired by the club on a small stipend with travel and residence allowances, and will take the helm of a storied club that had to drop out of Super League and DI games this past season.
 |
| McKittrick |
Club chairman Bob Watkins told RUGBYMag.com that the club had a long meeting with players, administration and representatives of the Old Mission Beach Athletic Club to discuss the future of the club. The meeting was in part to address to the team’s depth issues, and also to address the fact that head coach Jason Wood will be stepping down to concentrate on his growing restaurant business.
“We decided we wanted to go back to what we had been doing some years before – bringing someone in from overseas to help coach the coaches,” Watkins said. “Trevor Leota did a great job in that respect, and Eddie Pollock did as well. But Eddie went back to Scotland, and while Jason did well he was also still playing at times and it was different.”
With several endorsements helping the club in their decision-making, they settled on McKittrick as the man.
“John is known as a 7s specialist, but in fact he is an accomplished XVs head coach as well,” said Watkins. “We felt he would be a big help in our rebuilding process.”
Former OMBAC internationals Chris Lippert and Dan Dorsey will assist in McKittrick in developing a coaching scheme going forward.
While OMBAC won the DIII national championship, they had to pull out of DI competition and forfeited a game in the Super League due to depth issues. Watkins said it wasn’t all about coaching, but administration as well. Many older clubmembers had stepped away from various duties and concluded that those who stepped into the breach needed a little help.
“There’s the old saying that some people are born on third base and think they’ve hit a triple,” Watkins said. “We realized we can come in and help bring the club back where it needs to be for a couple of years, keep the younger people together, and build from there.”
First on the agenda is an aggressive recruiting initiative, concentrating on young players out of college.
“We believe in the American rugby scene,” said Watkins. “While in some ways last season was a bit of a disaster, we’re coming back.”
|