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Rosalind Chou Named Women's Rugby Head Coach
1/14/2022 12:30:00 PM | Women's Rugby, Women's Rugby 7s
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Rosalind Chou, the current head coach at Life University, was announced as the Kathleen Flores Women's Rugby Head Coach at Brown University, Vice President for Athletics and Recreation M. Grace Calhoun, PhD. announced today (Jan. 14).
Chou will finish the 2021-22 season at Life before heading north to College Hill to take the helm of the Bears' women's rugby program. Christine Newcomb will continue serving as Interim Head Coach for the Bears through the Spring 2022 semester.
"Brown University and Brown Athletics are extremely excited to announce Rosalind Chou as our new head coach for the women's rugby program," said Calhoun. "Rosalind's experience building the Life University program from the ground up as well as her academic background as an associate professor of sociology at Georgia State made her an excellent candidate for the position and we are looking forward to seeing her continue building on Kathy Flores' legacy here on College Hill."
"I am truly honored to be named the next head coach of Brown University Women's Rugby," said Chou. "Kathy Flores was a mentor to me as a young coach starting out, and she built an incredible foundation here. I look forward to guiding the program on the next leg of its journey. Brown University Athletics unifies the passions student-athletes have for both sport and scholarship, aligning with my core values as a coach."
Chou was named the first head coach in Life University program history in January 2014 and fielded the Running Eagles' first team in the fall of 2014.
The first Running Eagles team finished the 2014-15 season with a 10-1 overall record, reaching the USA Rugby Spring Final Four and finishing third.
Life reached the 2016 Division I Elite Semifinal after posting a 28-1 record in 2015-16, falling to eventual National Champion Penn State, 13-7. The 2015-16 Running Eagles 7s team captured its first USA Rugby National 7s Championship and also won the Collegiate Rugby 7s title after finishing the 7s season a perfect 18-0.
The 2016-17 Running Eagles posted a record of 23-5, reached its third straight USA Rugby Spring Final Four, and won its second straight Collegiate Rugby 7s crown. In the midst of the season, Chou was named the 2016 Female Coach of the Year by the USA Rugby National Development Summit in January 2017.
With a record of 28-5 in 2017-18, Life reached the USA Rugby Division I Elite Championship, falling to Lindenwood, 34-31, in the championship game. Life beat Pittsburgh, Central Florida, and Penn State in the playoffs to reach the final.
The 2017-18 squad also reached the USA Rugby College 7s semifinal, falling to Lindenwood, 17-14. The Running Eagles beat Army, 22-21, in the third-place game. Finally, Life beat Penn State in the CRC 7s semifinal to reach that championship game, falling again to Lindenwood.
In 2018-19, Life continued its run of success and once again defeated Penn State to reach the USA Rugby Division I Elite Championship. Life met a pair of Ivy League foes in the 2019 USA Rugby College 7s playoffs, falling to Dartmouth in the semifinal and falling to Harvard in the third-place game. Lastly, the Running Eagles reached the CRC 7s playoffs, falling to Lindenwood in the semifinal and to Penn State in the third-place game.
Chou led the Running Eagles to a 13-1 overall record in 2019-20 before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the remainder of the season.
Chou and the Running Eagles did not skip a beat in 2020-21, posting a 25-8 overall record and once again reaching the USA Rugby Division I Elite Championship and the CRC 7s Championship, falling to Lindenwood in both matches.
In the fall of 2021, Chou led the Running Eagles to a 9-3 overall record, beating Northern Iowa in the NCR Division I Championship game, 87-3.
An astounding 45 Running Eagles have been invited to National All-Star competitions or Age-grade camps under Chou. Additionally, 30 Running Eagles have earned USA Rugby Collegiate All-American honors under Chou and several former Running Eagles have represented the United States in international competition.
Outside of her experience at Life, Chou has worked in several capacities for USA Rugby, notably as the Women's Premier League All-Star head coach and the Southeast region coach for the U.S. Women's 15s National Team.
Prior to her tenure with the Running Eagles, Chou served as president of the Atlanta Harlequins Women's Rugby Club, helping the Harlequins win the 2012 National Club Championship.
Chou received a B.S. in Sociology from Florida State University in 1999, a M.S. in Sociology from Texas A&M in 2007, and a PhD in Sociology from Texas A&M in 2010.
While an undergrad at FSU, Chou helped the softball team to three ACC Championships (1995-97) and helped the rugby team to four NCAA Round of 16 appearances (1995-98) while captaining the rugby team as a junior and senior.
In addition to serving as head coach at Life, Chou was an assistant professor of sociology at Georgia State University from 2011 to 2017. She was then named an associate professor of sociology at Georgia State in 2017, a position she still holds.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT ROSALIND CHOU
"Ros is the best in the business! Coach Chou is a difference maker in so many aspects. She demands excellence and gives nothing less than that herself. She is a great recruiter and cares very deeply about the student-athlete experience. Brown made a great hire and I wish coach Chou and the Brown program nothing but the best." - Jayme Pendergast, Life Director of Athletics
"I am thrilled for Brown University, Brown Rugby and Ivy Rugby that Rosalind will be leading the program into its next chapter. She is an accomplished scholar, teacher and coach with such great energy. Her teams know the game and always play an exciting brand of rugby. More importantly, I know how much she cares about her student-athletes and I look forward to seeing the team thrive under her leadership. We may now be Ivy competitors, but I cannot wait to meet such a respected friend on the pitch - Rosalind's competitive spirit will be a great addition to Ivy Rugby and the NCAA rugby initiative." - Katie Dowty, Dartmouth Rugby Head Coach
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