A Ruffians Game Coached by Gentlemen

We are a volunteer coaching staff and would appreciate any coaching assistance.

Coach Brock Ellwood is the head coach and is responsible for the forwards, the equivalent of an offensive line coach. A former wrestler/judo player, he found those skills useful in his transition to rugby after college. After starting out with the Grand Rapids Gazelles, Brock played for the Queen City Frogs (Cincinnati), Stamford (Stamford, CT and not Stanford University) Wombats, Connecticut Yankees, New Haven Old Blacks and the Connecticut Grays.  He was also a member of the New England Rugby Football Union Referee Association and has a Level I coaching certification. 

He is employed as a systems engineer by Shoplogix.  He has a BS in Engineering from Duke University, a MS in Management from Purdue University, and a MS in Information Technology from Carnegie-Mellon University.

Coach Ellwood is married to Maggie and has two children, Sarah, FHC grad, and Carter, Senior at FHC, who plays for Forest Hills. 

Coach JD Call, MD was a wide receiver, decathlete, and soccer goalie for the University of Richmond Spiders prior to starting rugby. In his rugby career he played for Richmond Area Training Side (RATS), Richmond Rugby Club, University of Virginia, and Grand Rapids Gazelles and was a member of various select side teams.

During this time he attended the University of Virginia medical school and did his cardiology fellowship at Wayne State University. He is currently a partner with West Michigan Heart.

He's married to Karen and has a daughter Rebecca, frosh at De Paul, Daniel, a Junior  at  Aquinas.  He has a BS in Biology from the University of Richmond as well as his MD from University of Virginia.

Coach Jim Sunter assists Brock Ellwood with the forwards. Jim's rugby career started while he was in the Air Force where he played for clubs in Montgomery, Alabama, Wright Patterson AFB; and Dayton, OH. After leaving the Air Force and moving to Grand Rapids, he played for three seasons with the Grand Rapids Gazelles. He began coaching Forest Hills in 2004 and has his Level I Coaching Certification.

He graduated from the University of Illinois with a BS in Aeronautical Engineering and  currently works at GE (formerly Smiths Aerospace) as a Senior Project Manager.

Jim is married to Sharon (who he met at a rugby party) and has two children: Emily,  a FHC Junior, and Max 13.

Coach Pat McRae also assists with the forwards.  Another former wrestler,  his past clubs include  Hampstead RFC - London, England,  Traverse City,  Thunderbird RFC (Phoenix),  Tri-City Barbarians (Midland),  New Orleans RFC and the Washington Irish RFC (Washington, DC). 

He has a BA in Russian & Eastern European Studies and an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management.   Occupation:  U.S. Foriegn Service Officer, U.S. Dept of Commerce:  Currently on domestic assignment as International Trade Specialist at the U.S. Export Assistance Center, Grand Rapids.

His son Rory is a freshman at Forest Hills Central and plays for Forest Hills.

Coach Daniel Call assists with the backs.  A Forest Hills Central grad,  former FHRFC player and current Aquinas student,  Daniel also plays for the Calvin College Rugby Football Club.