This summer allowed the American public a decent look at the current and up-and-coming stars, and that player-centric search tends to monopolize attention. But there is an equally exciting cast of coaches wending through the system. In particular, there’s a trend among former Women's Rugby World Cup (WRWC) players who are returning to the national ranks, only with whistle in hand.

Eagles like Farrah Douglas, Emilie Bydwell, and Kate Daley were established coaches before the 2014 WRWC, leading Gonzaga, ATAVUS, and Penn State, respectively, in their latest posts. But this year has seen the aforementioned joined by Jamie Burke, Sharon Blaney, Kitt Wagner Ruiz, and Mel Denham, as they enter the Elite Coaching Development Program (ECDP) and follow with posts on various All American teams.

“Now that all of the Women’s National Teams [WNTs] are in one program, it allows us to manage coach development much more holistically,” WNT coach Pete Steinberg said. “All of the assistant coaches for all of the age-grade teams now come through the ECDP. I certainly encouraged all of those coaches [former Eagles] to participate in the ECDP, but it was actually ATAVUS that sponsored them to attend.”

That sponsorship was no small sum - $900 each to participate in the ECDP. The inductees completed a series of webinars and then coached at the National All Star Competitions (NASCs), where they were supported and assessed.

“One of the goals of the WNT Pathway is to develop future coaches who can coach the Eagles,” Steinberg continued. “The ECDP is a way for us to identify which coaches on that pathway. We also want to increase the number of women who are coaching at the elite level, and with the new varsity jobs turning up, we need to increase the level of coaching at the college level, which is generally poor.”

The introduction of more female Eagle coaches is resonating with age-grade players as well.

“Many of us saw wearing the stars-and-stripes differently than before,” Women’s Junior All American (WJAA) captain Kyla Chipman said. “Having former Eagles as coaches instills a different sense of pride in you. They helped drive our desire to learn and grow as players and teammates.”

A general run-down of the Eagles-turned-coaches:

Farrah Douglas – Eagle prop’s coaching experience started in 2004 and ranges from charter schools, to WNT Forwards Skill Coach, to Gonzaga High School; named Girls High School All American (GHSAA) head coach in 2015; led GHSAAs to two wins over BC U18s last weekend

Emilie Bydwell – Two-time RWC Eagle center is the ATAVUS Director of Rugby Programming, Director of USA Rugby Academy, and generally busy around the country; organized the ATAVUS college all-stars (essentially the Women’s Collegiate All Americans [WCAA]) against the Ontario Storm; assistant coach for Douglas and GHSAAs

Kate Daley – World Cup captain and No. 8 coached Notre Dame before returning to alma mater Penn State University in 2014 (PSU won both the 15s and 7s national championships last year); Daley was an assistant coach to Wil Snape and WJAAs and saw the junior Eagles to a Can-Am Series win last week.

Kitt Wagner-Ruiz – The two-time World Cup hooker has been a Rugby College Advisor for The Rugger’s Edge and joined the WJAA staff during the NASCs and Can-Am Series

Jamie Burke – The all-time leading USA Women’s cap-earner will be coaching at Colorado Technical University’s new academy and entered the ECDP this June at NASCs.

Sharon Blaney – The former Eagle lock of two World Cups served as assistant coach during the ATAVUS all-star tour at Niagara University.

Mel Denham – The WRWC flanker is the former head coach at Harvard, varsity AIC and current head coach at Central Washington University, also a DI varsity program; assisted the WJAAs during the Can-Am Series

Another cohort of ECDP inductees will hopefully begin this fall and work through the next NASC in January 2016.