For any player, the rugby field is sacred.
It’s a place where you can express yourself in a rigorous and rewarding way both as an athlete and an individual.
For Kate Zackary, that expression is multiplied in her role as Captain of the USA Women’s National Team XVs and as a high school rugby coach.
At the 2019 National Development Summit, Zackary was named High School Rugby Coach of the Year, a feat she achieved after leading La Costa Canyon and Coastal Dragons Rugby for nearly four years. But that’s not the only place she’s left a mark.
Later that year, Zackary was chosen to lead the USA Women’s Under-18s (7s) through their tour to Canada, playing in the main stadium where the Langford stop of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series was happening simultaneously.
Every minute she’s spent coaching has been an equal investment in her knowledge of the game.
“The more I coach, the more I understand the intricacies of our sport and truly feel it has positively affected my game,” she says. “I probably drive the national team coaches crazy with my questions around a practice plan; but I look at drills and want to know more about the intended outcomes, how we will achieve that, what’s the purpose and why.”
Zackary owns 15 caps in XVs, another 12 tournaments in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series and two Rugby World Cups - Ireland 2017 in XVs and San Francisco 2018 in 7s. Her recent transition to coaching came in 2016, two years after she moved to California for rugby.
“My ‘coaching career’ actually started as a volunteer opportunity in high school when I helped with a YMCA soccer team and then picked it back up after college in Kansas City,” said Zackary. “In 2016, when the opportunity came again, I couldn’t pass up the chance to share my experiences with the next generation.”
Zackary’s passion for playing and coaching are one in the same. In her view, the deep satisfaction from performing well as a player is complemented on the other side by special moments when young athletes grasp new ideas.
“What I love most about coaching is watching that ‘lightbulb’ moment when a player begins to understand and you see the excitement when they realize their potential. Those moments don’t stop after the first year either. As a coach, we’re challenged to ensure players are constantly growing - on and off the field.
“Ultimately, our hope is to see the skills we teach our players in practice transfer into their daily lives. Confidence, leadership, communication, hard work, commitment - these are all values people need to succeed in life outside of sport.”
As special as ‘lightbulb’ moments are, Zackary knows it isn’t a perfect science. Players enter programs at different skill levels and sometimes need varying degrees of attention.
“One of the difficult aspects of coaching is definitely managing different skill levels within the same team or session, not to mention different learning styles,” said Zackary. “I rely heavily on my assistant coaches to work with smaller groups that may require more attention during skill blocks and ask that they monitor those same players during team drills.”
“In my experience, it’s valuable for players to help coach their peers during practice. It gives them ownership of their team while pushing them to adapt to different situations without a coach.”
While Zackary balances the dynamic world of coaching, playing and working full time, her achievements in each area send a message for themselves.
Along with her national team appearances, Zackary has led coaching assignments with Girls Rugby and had a number of her players be selected to Junior National Team assemblies. Coaching three times a week while in season, showing up for competitions and mentoring young athletes in the mix have yielded a multitude of high school tournament wins.
Not to mention, her 2019 High School Coach of the Year honor.
“It may be cliche, but I was extremely surprised to be nominated for the award and even more surprised when I won,” she said. “I’ve coached against and alongside a number of outstanding coaches that sacrifice so much for their teams. I feel like I still have so much to learn.”
Four years in and a full career to go, Zackary hasn’t lost sight of her many priorities in the game.
“For now I’m just focused on being a student of the game so I can be the best player and coach possible. The next generation is bright and I am honored to be a part of that process.”
