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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nFrom Sydney, Australia to the Central Coast<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Before joining the Cal Poly team, Tesoriero\u2019s background in rugby stems back to his youth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Tesoriero is a Rugby Alum from both Waverley College (1991-1999) and Sydney University (2000-2003). His coaching career began in 2006, three years after his playing career ended from injury. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2007, his coaching career became a full-time endeavor. Tesoriero worked in player development and coach education under Rugby Australia, the governing body for the sport \u2013 formerly known as the Australian Rugby Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After five years, Tesoriero moved on to coach the senior state women\u2019s 7\u2019s team at the 2012 Australia National Women’s 7s Championships. He then followed this with a position coaching Colts u20s and Grade with Randwick Rugby Club \u2013 where he is now employed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was not until 2014 that Tesoriero took the 8,128-mile trek from Australia to California to coach the Mustangs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tesoriero and the Mustangs<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n From 2014 to 2020, Tesoriero took the Cal Poly Rugby Club to new heights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJames had a terrific run as head coach of the Cal Poly SLO Rugby Program,\u201d said Smith. \u201cAs well as being successful in both men\u2019s and women\u2019s (15\u2019s and 7\u2019s), James developed a very comprehensive management system in team and player development, both on and off the field.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n To list some of his biggest improvements to the club: Tesoriero established player-injury and rehab clinics, helped create the first women\u2019s team, and has also developed student internships for players traveling abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also within his career at Cal Poly, Tesoriero brought the club three playoff appearances for the men\u2019s program in six seasons, and three appearances in the USA Rugby National Collegiate 7s Championships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The club traveled with Tesoriero for two international tours \u2013 one in Scotland in 2017, and the other in Japan in 2019 for the Rugby World Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSome of the best highlights of my tenure were any of the times we went on tour with the team, overseas or interstate,\u201d said Tesoriero. \u201cSeeing the guys and girls away from the home environment gave great insights into them as individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Again taking the Mustangs international, Tesoriero guided 14 players (13 from the men\u2019s and one from the women’s team) throughout his career to summers in Australia, working and playing rugby for Australian clubs during the U.S. summer\/Aussie winter seasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joey Cremen, Cal Poly alum from the class of 2015, played for the Mustangs during the start of Tesoriero\u2019s career in San Luis Obispo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI met James during his first season and my last as a Mustang,\u201d said Cremen. \u201cHe came into our club with an open mind to our unique club culture while emphasizing a professional approach on the field, and his emphasis on game plan and technique afforded us the ability to beat teams with more athleticism than us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also an alum from the class of 2015 is current MLR player Max Tacket, who now resides in Texas where he plays with the Houston Sabercats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJames is a great guy and I owe him a lot of credit for where I am today in my rugby career,\u201d said Tacket. \u201cHe was one of the main people who inspired me to start traveling for rugby and see how far it could take me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although he was responsible for solidifying three competitive men\u2019s sides, Tesoriero played a key role in establishing the first-ever women\u2019s team for Cal Poly Rugby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnother great highlight from my time here was with the ladies team when we won our first ever game, the final game of their first season against UCSB, after some heavy losses earlier in the season,\u201d said Tesoriero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The establishment of a women\u2019s program in 2017-2018 proved a quick success \u2013 in their first year, the women\u2019s team played an \u201cat-large\u201d schedule as well as numerous 7s tournaments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJames has been such an integral part of the men\u2019s and women\u2019s team for my whole rugby experience,\u201d said former women\u2019s president and team captain Elena Strom. \u201cWhen the women\u2019s team was first starting and did not have a coach, James would run practices coaching all three men\u2019s teams and the women\u2019s team. He was so important to the development of the women\u2019s team, teaching us the basics with such passion and ease.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the 2018-19 season, the women\u2019s team was admitted to the West Coast Conference where they finished just outside of the playoffs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Lastly, for their 2019-20 season, the women\u2019s side won the conference in an undefeated season where they beat some of the top D1 programs in California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve enjoyed how disciplined and coachable this group of players have been, and as a result of this many players have shown great development and improvement as players,\u201d Tesoriero said, reminiscing on his favorite parts of the club. \u201cI’ve been at the club long enough to remember meetings with prospective high school kids, seeing them gain admission to Cal Poly and complete four years of study and rugby, and graduate as mature and accomplished young adults.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m inspired by the alumni who have made this club their life\u2019s passion and continue to work tirelessly to improve and build the club,\u201d he continued. \u201cSome who even graduated more than 40 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking to the future<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n As mentioned earlier, Tesoriero accepted the position of Colts Program and Pathways Manager with the Randwick Rugby Club closer to his hometown in Sydney, Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though Tesoriero will be moving away from San Luis Obispo as he starts his new career, Directory of Rugby Charles Zanoli notes \u201cwe intend to continue our relationship with James in player and coaching development, for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The CP rugby club members mentioned in this article give their thanks to coach James Tesoriero for his influential role the past six years:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMustang Rugby Inc. thanks James for his successful tenure, best of luck with Randwick and hope our paths cross very soon,\u201d \u2013 Doug Smith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe enjoyed good times on and off the field, and I wish him well back down under,\u201d \u2013 Joey Cremen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s sad to see him leave Poly, but very happy for him to have landed the job at Randwick and I\u2019m looking forward to giving him a visit when the borders open back up,\u201d \u2013 Max Tacket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHis dedication to this program will be so missed. But wherever he goes next will be so lucky to have a coach that puts so much of himself into the program,\u201d \u2013 Elena Strom<\/p>\n\n\n\n After six unforgettable seasons with the Mustangs, head coach James Tesoriero bids his farewells as he transitions into his new career with Randwick Rugby Club of his native Sydney, Australia. Tesoriero, who has been guiding the Mustangs this season remotely through Zoom sessions and pre-recorded videos per local Covid-19 guidelines, officially stepped down from his role at the end of … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","latest_post"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.mustangrugby.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_1888-edited-scaled.jpg\")
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