Karen Feury

Karen "KJ" Feury was introduced to tag rugby at the Saranac Tournament in 1998 by Patrick Walsh, then the National USA Rugby Youth Director. The following year, she launched a youth program in Denville, New Jersey, starting with 20 children between the ages of five and twelve. That program, the Denville Dawgs, grew steadily through her leadership within Morris Rugby. At its peak in 2010, the program encompassed eight towns and more than 1,000 participants. An American Flag Rugby model was developed through the Morris Rugby organization, with age-graded rules progressing from kindergarten through eighth grade. That model was shared with USA Rugby and was used to inform the development of Rookie Rugby. Union Rugby subsequently replicated her model, adding seven additional towns to the program.

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As President of Rugby New Jersey from 2012 to 2025, Feury founded and coordinated the annual Rugby NJ College Fair and Combine, which she ran from 2013 through 2025. The event brought together more than 100 players and 40 college programs each year, providing players from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Connecticut with direct access to college coaches and player assessment resources. She also established the Captains Round Table in 2018, an annual gathering of representatives from all 11 New Jersey high school clubs and schools, and the Rugby NJ Webinar Series, both of which she led through 2025.

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In addition to her administrative work, Feury is a registered nurse and advanced practice nurse (RN, APN-c, CCRN) who has provided medical coverage for Morris Rugby, the NJ Blaze, Atlantis Rugby programs, tours, and other regional events. She has conducted and published injury surveillance research on rugby, including a study on under-15 tackle rugby injuries in Morris County, New Jersey covering 2005 to 2007, and a high school rugby team injury surveillance study covering 2009 to 2012. In 2022, she received the Morris Rugby Lifetime Achievement Award.