Leadership Bios

Woodlands Youth Rugby Club (WYRC) – Leadership Team

Director of Rugby – Mr. Phillip Beck

Phil has been actively involved with the club since he joined and took on the Head of coaching position in 2006. Phil started playing Rugby at School in England aged 8, where he played for his 1st XV prep School at Hurstpierpoint and later with his senior School where he played 3 seasons for the 1st XV. He represented Overseas Schoolboys playing International games against Hong Kong and Canada. He later went into the teaching profession where he was head of PE in Warwickshire England and played for local side, Leamington Spa and Warwickshire. Moving on to London he joined Richmond for 1 season and then transferred to join Wasps where he remained a 1st squad member until he left England in 1983 and came to Houston Texas He played for the Houston old boys and also was selected to play for Texas. In 1986 Phil left Houston and worked in Asia for 15 years and then returned to Houston in 2000. He has been heavily involved with the Texas Youth Rugby and is currently the backs coach for U-20’s. He also won the coach of the Year 2009. His major aim is to introduce this great sport to as many players as he can so they too can enjoy many of the benefits that he has experienced.

President – Mr. Donovan Earley

Donovan Earley has been associated with the WYRC for 4 years and has been a driving force in Texas Youth Rugby Organization for the past 7 years, and has been recognized as a key contributor to the impressive growth of Rugby in Texas. He is active in local and state programs in his third season as manager for Texas Elite Rugby. In 2008, Donovan served on the WYRC Board of Directors and as a backs coach for the WYRC U-17 squad that won the Gareth Jones Memorial Tournament at Texas A & M University, and placed 2nd in the State Championship Tournament. Donovan has assisted Mr. Phillip Beck, the WYRC Director of Rugby, in developing a strong and consistent program over the past 4 years that has focused on team fundamentals, player development, and respectful competition. Donovan’s son, Mitchell Earley, attends College Park High School, competes for the WYRC, and has achieved first team status with Texas Elite Rugby for the past two seasons. Additionally, Mitchell was selected to compete with the USA U17 Junior Eagles last season. He also spent 10 weeks this summer in Durban, South Africa at a professional rugby academy with the Durban Sharks. Donovan and his family reside near The Woodlands and he is a nurse anesthetist at Ben Taub General Hospital while his wife, Julie, is flight nurse in Montgomery County

U-15/U-13/U-11 Boys Head Coach: Mr. Dimitri Ktenidis

Originally from Greece, Dimitri emigrated to England while in junior high school and immediately established himself as an accomplished youth player with the Southwell Minster School near Nottingham. At the youth level Dimitri was picked for the Notts County trials in two consecutive years. Dimitri went on to play for the U-21 Colts of the Southwell RUFC winning the County Cup and finishing at the top of the division table. And after his U-21 career, Dimitri played for the Southwell RUFC Men’s Club before moving to the US. Dimitri is an accomplished coach with younger players where he stresses learning the basics of the game with simple, fun strategy and tactics that is ideal for the U-13 level. He focuses on building a strong fundamental skill foundation that will ensure player safety, enable early competitive success and sets the stage for rapid future skills development. Dimitri and his family reside in The Woodlands and he is a professional pilot.

Boys Forwards Coach U-15/17/19 – Mike Thibodeaux

Coach Tibby is a true WYRC success story. As a player on the very first tackle rugby team in The Woodlands, Mike has seen the development of the WYRC from the beginning. Mike has played for the LSU Rugby Team and The Woodlands RFC. 2009 will mark Mike’s fourth year of coaching with the WYRC. As a senior at Sam Houston State University majoring in Kinesiology, Mike splits his time between Huntsville and The Woodlands where he also works as a substitute teacher for Conroe and Wills I.S.D. Mike’s stated goal is to become a teacher and coach in The Woodlands and to bring rugby to full UIL sport status. Mike’s infectious enthusiasm is a major key to his teaching success with all levels of players. As an expert at Forward play tactics and skills development, Mike’s role will be to assist all the head coaches in player development, strategy and tactics specific to Forward play and using his Kineseology expertise to develop player conditioning and flexibility.

Greg MorriceU-15/U-13/U-11