Denver Barbarians announce venue, youth, and coaching plans

Article originally published at goffrugbyreport.com

The Denver Barbarians men’s club has announced that it has entered into partnerships with Infinity Park and the University of Denver.

During 2015, The Denver Barbarians will hold practices at the University of Denver and play home games at Infinity Park in Glendale, Colo.

The club announced they picked the two venues because they are high-class. DU is also on the short list to host USA Rugby’s college 7s national championships.

In addition, the Barbarians have established a new partnership with the Denver Lions Youth Rugby. The Denver Lions Youth Rugby Club is a catchment area for Rugby Colorado’s TRY Youth Rugby League, encouraging all kids to give rugby a try.  The club encompasses both boys’ and girls’ rugby from ages 5–17 years old; a Denver Barbarian will now have a rugby ball in hand as early as five years old.  

This comes on the heels of an announcement from the club of a new coaching team for their men’s club:

Head Coach: Pete Borlase

Assistant Coach - Backs: Jason Kelly

Assistant Coach - Forwards: Mike Mangan

D2 Coach: Aaron Britt

D2 Coach: Michael Pisney

PRP Video Analyst: Karl Savimaki

Pete Borlase is a native of New Zealand, where he played prop for Canterbury before moving to Ireland to play for Munster and Connacht.  Pete coached Gernika RT in Spain last season and is currently on the USA U20 staff where he is focusing on improving their performance at scrum time.  We are very happy to have Pete at the helm for the Barbos. 

Jason Kelly was a Barbo stalwart and capped Eagle before he retired from playing and proved to be an excellent coach.  After retiring as a player Jason moved to Las Vegas where he led the Blackjacks to a National Championship before returning to Denver.  Jason was then head coach of the Barbos for a few years before his duties as Head Coach of the USA U20s required him to take a hiatus from coaching the club. 

Mike Mangan played for the Barbos and Eagles for a number of years, with the highlight of his career being Vice Captain of the Eagles at the 2007 World Cup.  Mangan has also spent some time coaching the Barbos, but had to step away while he finished his degree and fulfilled his fatherly duties to his young son, Ronan.   Mangan also had stints coaching East High School and Regis University.  

Karl Savimaki is currently coaching in Germany, after spending a couple of seasons as an Assitant Coach of the Barbos.  Karl is going to continue to be an invaluable tool for the Barbos coaching staff with his assistance from afar breaking down game film of our performances, and that of our opponents.

The D2 and PRP sides will primarily train together to insure cohesion between the sides.  Longtime Barbos Aaron Britt and Michael Pisney will continue to take the reins of the D2 side after a solid performance and effort this fall.