Big Changes for MTSU as Moosemen Get New Coach, New Conference

08.22.2022

Lance Houia will join Middle Tennessee State University as Men's Rugby Head Coach for this 2022-2023 season.

Houia helped lead the Loyola (Chicago) to national prominence and is now moving to Murfreesboro. He will be joined by 21-year-old Dustin Lavender, who has played and coached in the USA Rugby South Panther program and started the Tennessee Elite 7s team that won the Hotlanta 7s.

"I chose to coach at MTSU to build the hometown program," said Lavender. "And I wanted to learn from one of the best in Coach Lance."

This isn't the only change for MTSU, as the team is moving from the SCRC to the Mid-East Conference in NCR's Men's D2, joining Eastern Kentucky, Western Kentucky, Miami of Ohio, and Ball State.

My name is Kyle Wilson, and the president for MTSU Moosemen Rugby. I’m 21 years old and have been playing rugby for 7 years now.

Club president Kyle Wilson said he and his teammates are looking to revitalize a program that was hit hard by the COVID shutdowns.

"It effected almost every sport, but it was detrimental to our program," said Wilson. "We struggled the past couple of years without a coach [and] sitting out a season, but ... Coach Houia picked up our team and the struggling numbers and wanted it to grow into something better; he did just that. We switched from the SCRC to now the NCR, which we have gotten a lot of support from the commissioners and other teams. We now just picked up an assistant coach, Dustin Lavender, and I can only envision growth for Moosemen Rugby again. We are excited to be a part of the NCR and be a name other teams in this conference start to hear."

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