Robbie Winter

Robbie Winter serves as a coach for Nike Rugby Camps of Colorado. In the past couple of years Robbie has expanded his Coaching knowledge having recently gained his L300 Coaching Qualification, in addition to his passion of growing the sport of Rugby in Castle Rock, he is also on the Coaching Staff for the Colorado All State Select Side and is a big proponent for open, expansive rugby and game based Coaching. His mantra; "Keep the ball alive, because without it, you can't score!"

Robbie started playing rugby at 7 years old, almost 50 years ago, in his home town of Gloucester, England. Gloucester is a hotbed of rugby, where not many other sports are even talked about, and home to over a dozen "local" teams, all within a 5 mile radius of the city center. Robbie's local club was Widden Old Boys RFC (established 1875), where his Father also played as an Open-Side Flanker. Rugby was also played at High School and Robbie went on to Captain his High School team before graduating in 1983 and leaving to join the Royal Air Force. By this time Robbie had represented Gloucester at all levels as well as playing for the county select side as an U21. His military career literally took off as he went on to be selected for the RAF Select Side, playing domestic games against some of UK's best teams as well as touring several foreign countries, including a trip to Colorado, in 1990, to play against Air Force Academy and CU Boulder. It was during that tour where Robbie's love of the USA, and Colorado in particular began, he made some connections that later on in life became very significant. Perhaps the highlight of Robbie's rugby playing career was playing for a Combined Services Select Side against English Students, this was played at Twickenham Stadium, the home of English Rugby.

Before leaving the RAF in '96, Robbie had taken the RFU's Intermediate Coaching Class and was Player/Coach for his Unit Side as well as another local club, Deepings RFC. Gaining this valuable experience led to Robbie being invited to Coach The Norfolk Blues in Virginia, while there, he also took the opportunity to Coach Old Dominion University. When Robbie returned to the UK in 1998, Rugby took a back seat as he focused on his civilian career, but that all changed when he decided to return to Colorado almost 12 years ago. Initially playing for the Grizzlies down in Colorado Springs, Robbie eventually ended up in Castle Rock and began Coaching the DC Girls HS team, they enjoyed great success making the All State Final two years running, from there, Robbie reformed a Douglas County Boys Side, which later became Castle Rock Pirates Rugby. He also began recruiting younger players and a Castle Rock Pirates Youth Team was formed, playing their first season with only 8 players but winning the 2014 Denver 7's U12 tournament.

Outside of Rugby, Robbie has been known to pick up a guitar occasionally and play a few songs in the local bars, he is married to Californian girl Lisa and they have an 8 year old Rottweiler named Ruby. To earn money for his insatiable appetite to watch British Rugby overseas, he works as the Technical Associate Director, for DirecTV's Satellite Broadcast Facility, here in Castle Rock.