Al Caravelli

Al Caravelli
Date of birth 1959 or 1960
Place of birth Queens, New York
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Weight 155 lb (70 kg)
University UCLA
Occupation(s) Software sales and
rugby union coach
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position Scrum-Half and Wing
Coaching career
Years Club / team
2000–2005
2000-2005
2006–2012
2012-		 NYAC
Dir, US 7s Women's
Head Coach, US 7s Team
Philippines sevens
correct as of Feb 13, 2012.

Al Caravelli (born Queens, NY) is head coach of the Philippines national rugby sevens team. He was head coach of the United States national rugby sevens team from 2006 until 2012.[1]

Caravelli inherited a team that was on a 30 game losing streak.[2] The US national sevens team improved steadily on the IRB Sevens World Series circuit under Caravelli's leadership, improving from 15th during the 2006-07 season to 10th during the 2010-11 season.[3] Caravelli managed to transform the US team into a legitimate IRB Sevens World Series contender in his first few years.[4] Following several strong performances in several tournaments during 2006-08, in 2008 the US team was promoted to "core" status as one of the 12 teams competing in all events on the IRB Sevens World Series.[5] He is the winningest USA coach in history, by percent and record. His is the only USA coach to have a winning record against Canada and Argentina, both Pan-Am and World Series rivals.[6]

Caravelli led the US team to its first ever Cup final in an IRB Sevens World Series event in Adelaide in 2010.[7] Caravelli guided the national team to a bronze medal at the 2011 Pan American Games.[8]

Caravelli becomes Philippines head coach in August 2012.[9]

U.S. National Team Coaching

Caravelli leveraged the increased exposure of rugby's planned return to the Olympics in 2016, by overseeing a transition in the U.S. national team from amateur to professional status. Caravelli had set the goal of professionalizing the U.S. team, stating that his number one objective in improving the team was getting a full-time squad that would have more time to train together.[10] Caravelli was a key part of US 7s rugby winning a grant from the USOC that has allowed the US to contract with 15 professional full-time rugby players for the U.S. Men's National 7s Team.[11] Caravelli stated that his goal for the US national team is to win a gold medal at the 2016 Olympics.[12]

Caravelli recruited for new talent for the U.S. national team. Caravelli attended the National All Star 7s Championship, scouted for players at the various domestic 7s competitions, and also scouted at regional open try-outs.[13] Caravelli was the longest tenured coach in USA history for Rugby Sevens and the winning-est coach to date.

Philippine National Team Coaching

In August 2012, Caravelli took over the coaching of the Philippine national rugby sevens team. Three months later, he guided Philippine team for a berth in the 2013 Rugby Sevens World Cup in Moscow.

Previous playing and coaching experience

Caravelli played several sports in his youth. Caravelli played varsity football as a freshman at St. Francis High.[2] Caravelli began playing rugby in his sophomore year of high school. Caravelli attended UCLA on a soccer scholarship, and played for UCLA when they won the NCAA championship in 1985.[14] Caravelli played rugby with several clubs throughout the US, including the Los Angeles Rugby Club.

Caravelli took up coaching, when he retired from playing, in part because his father advised him he would make a better coach than a referee.[15] Caravelli was the Director of the US Women's sevens program (2000-2005) and coached with NYAC (2000-2005) prior to becoming head coach of the US national team.[1]

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/20/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.