Patrick Walsh

Patrick Walsh has spent more than three decades building rugby programs across Maryland. He served on USA Rugby's National Tag Laws Committee in 1995, helping introduce the country's first national non-tackle laws, and went on to serve as USA Rugby's National Youth Director in 1997 and Youth Development Officer in the 2000s.

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Pat introduced tag rugby to Maryland in 1995 and helped found what became the Rugby Maryland Youth League, now in its 28th year and drawing more than 800 boys and girls to its season-ending tournament across 13 clubs in Central Maryland. He also brought tackle rugby to several Baltimore-area high schools, helped secure varsity status for the sport with the MIAA, and has served as assistant coach at Mount St. Joseph High School since 2017, winning an MIAA championship in 2019. At the collegiate level, he started and coached the rugby program at Coppin State University in 1994, making it the first historically Black college or university to field a team.

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Pat played tackle rugby from 1973 to 2000 and has officiated since 2000, including serving as a fourth official for an Israel vs. Cyprus international match in 2008. Today, he continues visiting Maryland schools to introduce flag rugby into physical education curricula, reaching more than 60 schools to date through Imagine Rugby.