FOR INQUIRIES:
Brandalyn Watts
Club Director
atlantaharlequins@gmail.com
Atlanta Harlequins Announce New DI Coaching Team
The Atlanta Harlequins are excited to announce that Rebecca Martin and Brian Finn will be joining the club as the coaching team for the new Division I squad for the 2019 season.
Head Coach Rebecca Martin is a lifelong athlete who has spent her adult life serving children and playing rugby. She fell in love with rugby in college at Appalachian State University and has never stopped trying to spread the love of rugby throughout the southeast. She has played rugby since 2004, most recently, in the Women’s Premiere League for the Atlanta Harlequins. Rebecca has coached high school, college, and All-Star rugby for the past 11 years including her position as head coach of the University of Georgia Women’s Rugby team for 6 years. Rebecca served as head coach for Division II Atlanta Harlequin’s Women’s Rugby Club for two years with the team finishing in the top 4 of the country in 2019. She has also spent her time coaching the Atlanta Bucks men’s team to build a stronger and broader rugby community in the Atlanta area. She has been pivotal in the development of rugby in the south; serving as an officer in the Southern Independent Rugby Conference for the past 4 years and now as the Co-Commissioner of the League. Rebecca spends her days serving as the Program Director for Atlanta Youth Rugby, Inc. to help spread rugby to all areas of Atlanta and get kids hooked on the game as early as 3 years of age. While purpose and passion drive her; it’s her love for the game and the players that she’s most excited to bring back to Division I rugby in Atlanta.
Assistant Coach Brian Finn, who has recently relocated to Atlanta from the Denver, CO area, has served for eight years as Assistant Athletic Trainer for the USA Rugby Men’s program. He has worked with the 15’s National Team (the Eagles), U20s National side, and All-American programs. In addition to USA Rugby’s Olympic 7s program, Brian has toured with the national developmental sides, the Falcons and the Hawks. As a Level 200-certified coach, his other rugby experience includes a year as Athletic Trainer for the North America PRO Rugby Denver Stampede and as Medical Coordinator for Rugby Colorado. Brian has also worked with elite athletes in the National Football League, Major League Soccer, US Tennis Association, Major League Baseball, USA Volleyball and the World Surf League. Brian holds a Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training and Sports Medicine from the University of New Hampshire and certifications as an Athletic Trainer, Level 2 World Rugby Immediate Care medical practitioner and Wilderness Medicine Rescue & Emergency Medical Technician.
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The (formerly known as) Southeast Harlequins Women’s Rugby Football Club came into being in 1984 as a select side for several teams scattered about the southeastern part of the country. The best players from these teams combined to play here in Atlanta.
As the popularity of Women’s Rugby in the south grew, the Southeast Harlequins became a team that truly represented Atlanta as well as this broader geographic region. In the spring of 1999, the team decided to honor this change in status with a change of name as well. We now proudly carry the name of our host city: The Atlanta Harlequins.
Dedicated to excellence, the Harlequins are striving to give national credibility to rugby in the South as well as right here in Atlanta. The Atlanta Harlequins currently field a WPL (Women’s Premier League) side, a Division I side, and social side and were the 2012 USA Rugby Women’s Division I National Champions.
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