an Diego, CA (December 26, 2013) - To say that Connor Kissler is passionate about rugby is an understatement. Whether it’s being the first one to training or the last one to leave, or just calling up his buddies to throw the ball around, Connor’s love for the sport is serious. He is never far from his rugby ball even when he goes to bed at night as he sleeps with it. He also says that “during rugby season, I’m glad to say that the sport took over my life.”

Connor first discovered rugby when he was in eighth grade. He was always an accomplished football player and was even recruited by Division II colleges to play that sport. But his love for football slowly diminished as he got more hooked on rugby. He loved the “fast-paced, hard-hitting game of rugby with its great brotherhood.”

Rugby has “reshaped my life as a whole, particularly my circle of friends. From playing with kids from three different high schools on my club team, to kids from dozens of teams on the Colorado Select Side, I get along with every rugby player I’ve met because we share the love for the sport. Rugby has brought me new friends from my town and my state, and relationships that will last a lifetime.”

Connor’s immediate goals in rugby were just to make his team’s starting side. He not only accomplished that but he helped lead his team to the state championship final for the first time ever in his freshman year. A football injury prevented him from playing rugby his sophomore year but through his dedication in the weight room he came back stronger than ever for his junior year and led PAC Rugby to their first state championship title. Connor’s teammates showed the respect they had for him as they elected him forwards captain and selector his senior year. Connor’s input and leadership was invaluable to the PAC coaching staff and following his senior year, Connor’s teammates voted him the team’s Most Valuable Forward. Connor also had his sights on playing for the state team and in both his junior and senior seasons was selected for the Colorado Select Side.

Along with being a four year starter on the football team and the recipient of many all-conference honors, Connor also played baseball (2009-10); ran track (2010); and had a 3.6 GPA at Evergreen High School in Evergreen, CO. He maintained three part time jobs throughout high school and volunteered at a number of events, including coaching at multiple summer youth football camps; hosting foreign exchange students for three consecutive years; participating in the Rockland Community Church Mission to San Francisco in 2012 cleaning up city streets; and he was an assistant coach at the Rugby TRY Program in 2013.

Connor’s next goal in rugby is to make the University of Colorado team where he is a freshman and to hopefully find his place in the starting lineup and face opposing university sides.

According to Jim Snyder, his coach at CU, it sounds as if Connor is well on his way of accomplishing that goal too. “I knew Connor was coming to CU before he came in but didn’t know a whole lot about him, and he is such a quiet and unassuming kid that in the first couple weeks of practice he didn’t really stand out (we average about 100 kids so it’s hard to stand out). But then after a couple of matches we found ourselves consistently seeing him outperforming his peers and he really drew our eye with his play. He continued to be a solid, steady team member quietly doing what we asked of him and playing well over the first few weeks of the season, and then as it rolled on he started to let his character and personality start to come through a bit which only helped us like him more as a member of the team.

“By the end of the fall season, he had worked and played his way onto our travel roster for the PAC 7’s, the only freshman to do so, among a lot of competition for spots on that roster. He really started to shine the last few weeks of prep. We had narrowed our squad down to the 7’s pool so the trainings were a lot more intimate and focused and he stepped up. He fit in really well with the team, continues to learn and be very coachable, he’s a solid student academically and someone we have already pegged as having a very bright future with CU Rugby.”

Connor plans on pursuing a career in business and hopes to eventually own his own business some day. And he wouldn’t mind working overseas. “With a business degree, it’s also a goal of mine to do business overseas. And of course I will be looking to play rugby wherever my travels take me as this “brotherhood” knows no territorial boundaries.”