Stefan Czerpak (1951–1998) was a
rugby union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
coach and
physical education
Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...
teacher. Czerpak was a lifelong member of
Newbury RFC
Newbury Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in Newbury, Berkshire, England. Following league reorganisation, they play in Regional 2 South Central, a league at tier 6 in the English rugby union system. Newbury RFC is a community ru ...
, having represented them throughout his playing career and coached them through their rise up the national leagues; he also coached
Reading R.F.C.
Reading R.F.C. is an English rugby union club, which runs a total of 21 sides across men's, women's, girls' and junior rugby and is based in the village of Sonning, on the outskirts of Reading, Berkshire, Reading. The 1st XV play in Regional 2 ...
and
Richmond F.C.
Richmond Rugby Club is a rugby union club in Richmond, London, England. 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 fir ...
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, 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, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
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, Lo ...
,
Joe Worsley
Joseph Paul Richard Worsley, (born 14 June 1977) is a retired English rugby union player who played Flanker (rugby union), flanker for Wasps RFC, Wasps and England national rugby union team, England.
Biography
Worsley was born in London and ...
,
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 an ...
,
Ben Kay
Benedict James Kay MBE (born 14 December 1975) is an English retired international rugby union footballer who played second row forward for Leicester Tigers, and the British & Irish Lions.
Background
Kay was born in Liverpool, the only son ...
,
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 Austra ...
,
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 pl ...
,
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 ma ...
,
Mike Tindall
Michael James Tindall, (born 18 October 1978) is an English former rugby union player and a member of the British royal family. Tindall played outside centre for Bath and Gloucester, and won 75 caps for England between 2000 and 2011. He was ...
and
Andy Gomarsall
Andrew Charles Thomas Gomarsall MBE (born 24 July 1974, in Durham) is an English 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 ...
- 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 club
Newbury 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 Scottish retired rugby union player who played wing (rugby union), wing for Stirling County RFC and Glasgow District (rugby union), Glasgow District at amateur level; Glasgow Warriors, Wasps RF ...
and Bob Skinstad
Robert Brian Skinstad (born 3 July 1976) is a former rugby union professional player who has represented the South Africa national team, the Springboks. He played in the positions of flanker and number eight.
Early life and education
Skinstad ...
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