It always seems like Kevin Swiryn has to work a bit harder to get where he’s going.

It might be because of bad luck, or willful ignorance on the part of coaches, or just the way things are, but Swiryn has had some obstacles to overcome.

He went to St. Mary’s to play football, and then there was no football program, and he found rugby. Swiryn worked not only to become a good rugby player, but the captain of the team, one that put an almighty scare in Cal in the national semis.

An All American, Swiryn was overlooked by Scott Johnson, coach of the USA 15s team in 2008, for some nebulous reasons that all came down to the fact that Swiryn had the flu the one time Johnson saw him play.

But somehow Swiryn made lemonade out of that lemon, making the USA 7s team despite hardly playing any 7s at all. Pretty soon he was part of the USA team that made the semifinals of the 2009 USA 7s (and should have been in the final), and then he was captaining the squad that made the final in Brisbane.

All of that translated into a pro contract in France, and, finally, a place on the USA 15s team. But he never got to play his natural 15s position of outside center for the Eagles 15s squad, and ended his time there with much potential unrealized. And by 2011 his body had given out - no time off and to many massive hits forced him to retire.

But such a setback didn’t last for long. The former St. Mary’s star moved to Seattle, got a job at Kibble & Prentice, and, carefully, got back into the game, coaching at the University of Washington, and playing a little, too.

And don’t think he got any special treatment with the job (Kibble & Prentice principal Chris Prentice is the backing behind ATAVUS) - inside information is that Swiryn actually knocked all of their hiring tests out of the park. No surprise to anyone who knows him, as Swiryn is a cerebral fellow, as well as a good rugby player.

So it seemed it was all set - back playing a little for Serevi/ATAVUS, and the Saracens, and doing some college coaching, too. Except … well there might have been a little bit of unfinished business with regard the Eagles.

So this year Swiryn was back in the USA 7s camp. Older, wiser, but also a player who might have seen the game pass him by … maybe. And yet he made the team. 

This past weekend, Swiryn got a little bit of time, and, thanks in part to some injuries for other players, a start in the 3rd/4th game. In that game, he was his older self, forcing more than one player to tackle him, always looking to attack, and always looking for a teammate in support. He scored a try and set up two more, one to Folau Niua and one to Will Holder, in a 31-12 defeat of New Zealand.

“I was very happy with Holder and Swiryn and gave them an opportunity to show where they are at,” said USA Coach Mike Friday. “Kevin showed in that game glimpses of his strength with ball in hand and in defense with bits of real physicality. I am so impressed of how far Kevin has got without being a part of the program and again we can expect him to only get better as his conditioning improves and collision fitness. This will allow him to make bigger impacts in games as well as allow him to break some old habits that we need him to break.”

Swiryn knows about those old habits, but he is appreciative of where he is.

“I feel like I'm on Cloud 9,” Swiryn told Goff Rugby Report. “This team, these coaches, the World series ... everything about playing right now is amazing and I'm appreciating it in such a different way now.”

Swiryn said the time off from international rugby gave him the time to heal properly from injuries without feeling the pressure to come back too quickly. He also said the time away gave him time to look at the game differently.

“The difference is my mentality, my goals, my driving force,” said Swiryn. “Having been away from competing internationally for nearly four years has given me a whole new perspective. I've lived a completely different life since retiring, working a corporate job, buying a house, - more ‘grown up’ things, and that has brought a new maturity and appreciation for what this truly means. Wearing that jersey, representing the US, is second to nothing else.”

Swiryn said he also gained some greater understanding of the game while coaching at Washington.

“Figuring out how to coach rugby at a level like UW, when I was coming from playing on national and professional teams, was massively challenging. But when I came back [to playing], the game slowed down immensely. I see the game from a different perspective now. The game slowed down for me on the field because of the experiences I had as a coach.”

Being a coach as well as a former team captain, Swiryn is a different kind of playing addition for the USA team. Most of the new players are very young, and need to learn about international standards and approaches. Swiryn was always considered one of the hardest-working and dedicated players. That hasn’t changed.

 “He has been a real positive influence to the squad and has integrated very well into the group,” said Friday.

Welcome back.