Energized Walker back in southern California for Rio buildup

KENNESAW, Ga. - Richie Walker is a familiar name at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. From 2012 to 2015 the now-head coach of the Women's Eagles Sevens worked as an assistant with then-head coach Ric Suggitt, and, from the inaugural season of the HSBC World Rugby Women's Sevens Series through the team's successful Rio 2016 Olympic Summer Games qualification process, the Eagles have benefitted from Walker's on-field expertise and calm demeanor.

When Suggitt's contract expired ahead of the 2015-16 Series, Walker took some time away from coaching rugby teams, still attending rugby camps around the world with ATAVUS. He also helped develop a rugby academy in San Diego before finally succumbing to the itch to coach once again.

"When I left, I started to not coach anybody straight away,' he said. "That kind of gave me the bug and the fire to do it again.'

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One of his first assignments was to take an ATAVUS all-star team to Fiji for Coral Coast 7s. The team featured several resident athletes at the OTC - Meya Bizer, Ryan Carlyle, Carmen Farmer, Abby Gustaitis, and Nicole Heavirland - while the remaining members of the team had already been identified in the Eagles' playing pool. The team placed second in the tournament, falling to a Fijian team in the Cup Final.

"I went from Fiji to Vegas [with ATAVUS for the Las Vegas Invitational tournament] to Bermuda [for a rugby camp], and so me having a break and doing these three things really got me excited about coaching again.'

Walker was hired in March following Jules McCoy's leave from the program, just six training days before selections had to be made for the U.S.'s home leg of the Series, HSBC Atlanta 7s April 8-9. Wasting no time, he threw the young women into training sessions before a round-robin style scrimmage tournament of four teams of seven. With knowledge of athletes' form in the early goings of 2016 and one final push at the OTC, Walker named his first Series team.

"By the time I got back I was just ready to be here, ready to work hard, and ready to get this team on the right track,' he said. "It was a good buildup for me.'

While away, the head coach did make sure to keep his eye on the Series, and not just for the Eagles. From Dubai and the 11-hour time difference to São Paulo, Walker viewed the Women's Sevens Series as any fan of the international sevens circuit would: on a computer screen in bed.

While the Eagles got off to a rocky start in the United Arab Emirates with new attack and defensive systems under McCoy, it was not for a lack of effort. In fact, Walker said Dubai was one of the harder stops on the circuit due to the rugby offseason.

"No one really plays at their best in Dubai,' he said. "It's been a long offseason and some teams are so thankful to play that, sometimes, we may forget about what the task is, what the game plan is, and what our defensive and offensive structures are. Generally it's the team that can understand that better and adjust while they're in Dubai that makes the top four.

"As far as the U.S. goes, I think they just had a tough pool, meaning that they had some unknowns that weren't on the Series, and then they also played some big guns. With a new coach and a new style, that was their first tournament to really see how game plans were going to work.'

The Eagles bounced back with a top-four finish in Brazil, as well as a Cup Semifinal appearance at the LVI in Las Vegas, where development sides from Canada, France, and Great Britain also reached the Semifinals. Younger players like Bizer and Heavirland impressed Walker in Fiji, at the LVI, and in camp at the OTC when he returned, and earned call-ups to the circuit squad for Atlanta 7s.

While Bizer is a recent Pennsylvania State University graduate and Nicole Heavirland was in her sophomore year at West Point, the youngest Eagle, Richelle Stephens, also found her name on the 12-player squad list after having missed the São Paulo event due to injury. Walker has worked with the young players through various avenues with USA Rugby and ATAVUS, and even signed on as the head coach of the SoCal Griffins 15s girls high school team during his time away from the OTC.

The goal of Walker's latest gig with the Eagles is to medal at Rio 2016, with Atlanta 7s, HSBC Canada Women's Sevens, and a newly-added stop in France the warm-ups. His presence around young rugby minds bodes well for this year's Olympic Games, and, coupled with the veteran leadership of athletes like Kelly Griffin and Jillion Potter, the prospects of a competitive cycle leading up to Tokyo 2020.

Women's Eagles Sevens | HSBC Atlanta Sevens

1. Jillion Potter (C)

2. Megan Bonny

7. Alev Kelter

10. Richelle Stephens

11. Kristen Thomas