Stefan Czerpak (1951–1998) was a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

coach and

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorat ...

teacher. Czerpak was a lifelong member of

Newbury RFC Newbury Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club representing Newbury. Following league reorganisation, they are playing in Regional 2 South Central, a league at tier 6 in the English rugby union system. Newbury RFC is a community rugby club ...

, having represented them throughout his playing career and coached them through their rise up the national leagues; he also coached Reading R.F.C. and

Richmond F.C. Richmond Football Club is a rugby union club from Richmond, London. It is a founding member of the Rugby Football Union, and is one of the oldest football clubs (of any code). It fields teams in both men's and women's rugby; the men's first ...

Czerpak helped to mould mini rugby in West Berkshire. Following his success at Newbury RFC, he went on to coach the

Great Britain national women's rugby union team The Great Britain women's national rugby union team was the national rugby union team of Great Britain, from 1986 to 1990. History The team was organised by the Women's Rugby Football Union (which was responsible for women's rugby in the UK f ...

, then onto assistant coach of the England Colts team, and finally, the position of coach to the England Colts team. By 1998 Czerpak was appointed England Colts coach and was to go on his first major overseas tour with them to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

in August 1998 (he had been on tour to Canada as an assistant coach in 1995.) On July 28, 1998, a few weeks before he would have left for Argentina, he had a massive, fatal heart attack on his way home from a workout at the gym. Czerpak coached many notable rugby union players, including

Josh Lewsey Owen Joshua Lewsey MBE (born 30 November 1976) is an English former rugby union player who represented England and the British and Irish Lions. Lewsey is a former British Army Officer. Background and early life Lewsey was born in Bromley, L ...

Joe Worsley Joseph Paul Richard Worsley, (born 14 June 1977) is a retired English rugby union player who played flanker for Wasps and England. Biography Worsley was born in London and educated at Hitchin Boys' School and Brunel University. He joined ...

Trevor Woodman Trevor James Woodman MBE (born 4 August 1976) is a former English rugby union footballer. He was born in Plymouth, but went to Liskeard School in Cornwall and won representative honours with Cornwall Under 16s. Woodman moved from Cornwall and ...

Ben Kay Benedict James Kay MBE (born 14 December 1975) is a retired English international rugby union footballer who played Second row forward for Leicester Tigers and . Background Kay was born in Liverpool, the only son of Lord Justice of Appeal Si ...

, Phil Vickery,

Phil Greening Phil Greening (born 3 October 1975) is an English former rugby union footballer who played as a hooker. Greening finished his rugby career with London Wasps in 2005. During his career he earned 24 caps for England, as well as going to Austral ...

, Martin Wood, Ben Cohen,

Lewis Moody Lewis Walton Moody MBE (born 12 June 1978 in Ascot) is an English retired rugby union player. He played for Leicester Tigers and Bath Rugby and was part of the 2003 World Cup winning side. Moody is known for the enthusiasm with which he pla ...

Tony Diprose Tony Diprose (born 22 September 1972, in Orsett) is a former English rugby union footballer. He played at number 8. Diprose attended The Campion School, Hornchurch. Club career Diprose signed for Harlequins from Saracens in April 2001 and m ...

Mike Tindall Michael James Tindall, (born 18 October 1978) is an English former rugby union player. Tindall played outside centre for Bath and Gloucester, and won 75 caps for England between 2000 and 2011. He was a member of the England squad which won ...

and

Andy Gomarsall Andrew Charles Thomas Gomarsall MBE (born 24 July 1974, in Durham) is a former rugby union player who played at scrum-half for Leeds Carnegie and England. He previously played for Gloucester Rugby, Bedford and Wasps. Until May 2006 he was cont ...

- who made an appearance at the 2004 memorial match along with Ayoola Erinle.

Tom Croft Tom Croft (born 7 November 1985) is a retired rugby union player. He played 173 games for Leicester Tigers between 2005–17 winning four Premiership Rugby titles, played 40 times for between 2008–2015, was part of the squad for the ...

is probably the last player to be coached by Czerpak and make it to 'top-flight rugby.' Czerpak coached and taught Tom at Park House school. Two annual memorial matches are played in Czerpak's memory. One at Newbury Rugby clubNewbury RFC host memorial match for Stefan Czerpak
/ref> and one at the Dubai 7's tournament. Both raise money and awareness for the British Heart Foundation.

Kenny Logan Kenneth McKerrow Logan (born 3 April 1972) is a retired Scottish rugby union player who played wing for Stirling County RFC and Glasgow District at amateur level; Glasgow Warriors, Wasps RFC and London Scottish at professional level; and ...

and

Bob Skinstad Robert Brian Skinstad (born 3 July 1976) is a former rugby union professional player who has represented the South African national team, the Springboks. He played in the positions of flanker and number eight. Education Skinstad lived in Kloof ...

both played in Czerpak's memorial team - Czerpak BHF at Dubai 7's 2006 tournament. In addition to these two events, there is also another Memorial match played annually in memory of Czerpak. The "Stefan Czerpak Memorial Trophy, Colts divisional championship" - England rugby Trials.

References

External links

Stefan Czerpak charity home page for the British Heart Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Czerpak, Stefan English rugby union coaches 1951 births 1998 deaths Place of birth missing