Lonestar rugby conference collegiate All-Stars
Head Coach - Lachlan Ferguson
The ‘Rattlesnakes’ are the Representative Mens Rugby Team selected from all the Collegiate Rugby Clubs that compete in the LoneStar Rugby Conference. The LoneStar Conference (LSC) is committed to being the premier Collegiate Rugby Conference in Texas.
The Rattlesnakes are headed up by Head Coach Lachlan Ferguson.
In the United States, Coach Ferguson has previously been the Director of Rugby for the Austin Blacks Rugby Club, The Huns Rugby Club, the Austin Valkyries Women's Rugby Club and the St Edward's University Rugby Club. He was also one of the founding coaches for the Texas Rugby Union Men's All Star program.
Coach Ferguson has nearly 20 years professional coaching experience, coaching juniors, schoolboys, men’s and women’s senior rugby. He has previously coached in Ireland, England, New Zealand and Australia. He was a Development Officer and Coach Educator for the Australian Rugby Union and the Queensland Rugby Union as well as the first professional coach employed by the Ulster Education Board.
Coach Ferguson holds an IRFU Level 4, ARU Level 3 and USA Rugby Level 200 qualifications.
Coach Ferguson will be running High Performance Coaching Clinics this season which are available to all of the LSC Clubs. If you would like your club to participate in one of these coaching clinics you can contact Coach Ferguson at lachlan@fergusoncoaching.com
Rattlesnakes
LSC All-Star Player Eligibility Guidelines
Definitions
- Academic Year – An annual period during which a student attends a college or university beginning with the first day of the fall semester or quarter and ending at the conclusion of the summer semester or quarter.
- Academic Term – An academic session that is a division of the Academic Year. This includes a quarter (Fall, Winter, Spring,) and a semester (Fall, Spring).
- Qualifying Match – any match in which the result is used to determine official competition standings and/or to determine LSC playoffs.
- Policy Regulations - Players In order to participate in the LSC All Star tour, the student-athlete must meet all of the following eligibility regulations at the time of the tour:
- The student-athlete must be a CIPP-registered member of USA Rugby.
- The student-athlete must be within seven (7) years from the date the student-athlete first enrolled in a university or college. Any college courses that are taken during high school do not start the eligibility clock. Student-athletes may only compete for a college or university for a maximum of five (5) years of rugby based on USA Rugby CIPP enrollment history. Playing rugby one semester or term during an academic year counts as an entire year.
- The student-athlete must be enrolled as an undergraduate student seeking his/her first undergraduate degree or certificate seeking program and meet all requirements set by their school for participation. The student-athlete must be enrolled in a minimum of six (6) credits. Exceptions:
- A student-athlete within his/her final Academic Term who requires less than six (6) credits to graduate may go on tour.
- A student-athlete enrolled full time in post-graduate studies (graduate school or pursuance of an additional bachelor’s degree) and is within seven (7) years from the date the student-athlete first enrolled in a university or college may maintain eligibility if they have yet to compete in five (5) years of rugby.
- A student-athlete competing for a university or college during the Fall semester and graduates is eligible to go on that years tour.
- Players who are 25 years of age or older as of the first date of tour, who otherwise meet these Regulations, must apply for an age exemption from the LSC Commissioner.
- Players who agree to go on tour, must have and provide a copy of a valid passport two (2) weeks prior to the departure date of the tour, and fill out all required paperwork necessary for tour, not limited to but including the tour rules and agreement for
LSC HP Trainings
Lach Ferguson heads up LSC HP Trainings
LoneStar Club Coaching Sessions
This season, All Stars Head Coach Lach Ferguson has conducted coaching sessions
with nearly half the colleges in the LoneStar Rugby Conference.
The purpose of these sessions is to provide expertise and additional support to players
and coaches to improve the standard of rugby overall. We are focused on learning the
Principles of Play, fostering a greater understanding of how to play the game.
These sessions are designed to facilitate consistent practices that develop players’ core
skills.
Our mission is to improve the standard of rugby across all Texas collegiate rugby.
“Our time with Coach Ferguson gave us the opportunity to add tools to our game as individual
players and develop a strong strategy as a team.”
Tres Cox, Abilene Christian University
“It was an outstanding opportunity to learn high quality rugby in an intense environment.”
David Phillips, UTSA, Co-Captain
“Fun player-focused hands on approach to learning rugby.”
Michael Woznicki, Head Coach UTEP
“It was a fun, informative, and applicable session for new and experienced players.”
Alex Willis, Club President UTD
“Not only educational, but very engaging, allowed our players to learn and practice skills within a
‘player driven’ practice session.”
Colt Bradford, Angelo State University
“Lach does a great job of breaking down the process into understandable pieces and making
the players more efficient.”
Pete Lewis, Coach UTSA
“From my perspective, the coaching sessions have been an amazing opportunity to
connect with LoneStar Conference rugby teams and to let these players know there is
definitely a pathway to achieving Representative honors”
“The sessions are designed to be completely inclusive, providing informative concepts,
that coaches can include going forward with their teams. I’m really appreciative for all
the colleges that took advantage of this opportunity”
Coach Ferguson
