Wisconsin Youth Rugby and The Rugby Summit are proud to announce that Salty Thompson of Eagle Impact Rugby Academy will be returning for 2023. Salty's contributions to American Rugby is extensive as he has worked to build a pipeline to the USA Eagles. The future of USA Rugby's success on the field will be, in part, due to contributions provided by Salty's efforts.
Salty’s coaching career started and continues with Tempe Rugby. He coached Atlantis 7s and the Southern California Griffins in 15s and 7s before taking on the role as USA u19 Boys Head Coach in 2002. He's coached USA Age Grade teams, u19s, u20s, and High School All American levels. That timeline included seven u19 IRB World Championships, the inaugural 2008 World u20 Championships, and the 1st World Trophy in 2009. Between 2010 and 2018 Salty was the Head Coach for the High School All Americans.
During his era with USA Rugby, Salty and his staff helped nurture over 40 Eagles, 35 Eagle 7s, and even more Collegiate All Americans. The current MLR rosters contain over 35 American players that came through the USA Age Grades during Thompson’s tenure.
Salty retired from a 25-year teaching career to become the Director of Eagle Impact Rugby Academy (EIRA) in 2013. Since EIRA’s creation, the program has produced significant numbers of High School All-Americans, u20s, Collegiate All Americans, MLR, and Eagles (both 7s and 15s). Through EIRA, Salty has led the charge in closing the gap in the global game of rugby and influenced thousands of young ruggers nationwide.
Salty Returns to The Rugby Summit in 2023 to lead the Combine Skills tests and speak, Friday and Saturday, on "Team Attack" and "Core Values and Ethos of Rugby".
Check out playlist with each of Salty's last sessions:
- With You.