Following the announcement earlier this month that Brigham Young University was adding Women's Lacrosse and Rugby to its extramural sports program, the coaches of these two teams have been named.
Nikki Dabrowski is the new Women's Lacrosse head coach. The Women's Rugby head coach is Tom Waqa.
"We are confident that the two newly hired head coaches will mentor, teach and develop our students at a very high level on and off the field," said Morris Havea, the BYU Extramural Sports program director.
Nikki Dabrowski
Women's Lacrosse Head Coach
Nikki Dabrowski has coached Liberty Club, Lone Peak High School and the Lone Peak Juniors teams in Utah County.
Collegiately, Dabrowski played for BYU Women's Lacrosse team. She was a captain her junior and senior years. Dabrowski helped the BYU team get to the WCLA National Tournament both her freshman and sophomore years and was awarded all-tournament defender her sophomore year along with MVP defender two years in a row.
Dabrowski began playing lacrosse in 9th grade in Highland, Utah. She played on Lone Peak High School's varsity team for three years, in the position as a captain for two years. During her junior year, Dabrowski helped her team take the state title. Her high school lacrosse accolades include second team all-state her junior year and playing on the all-star team her senior year.
Tom Waqa
Women's Rugby Head Coach
Tom Waqa has been coaching the Women's Cougar Rugby Club team, comprised of students from BYU, since 2004. He has held numerous volunteer coaching positions including as the USA Rugby All American Collegiate Women's Rugby Assistant Coach (2010), Humless Men's Elite 7s Club Coach (2010-2012), Utah High School Women's All Star Coach (2014) and served as a scout for USA Women's National Teams and USA Rugby High Performance Recruits.
As a coach for the Women's Cougar Rugby Club at BYU, Waqa holds one of the highest winning percentages in Women's College Rugby. Over the past seven seasons, Waqa has created a national powerhouse club team, with many of the players named as All-Americans.
Waqa played rugby as a scrumhalf, flanker, wing and fullback for numerous clubs in his native Fiji and in the United States. In Fiji, he played rugby at Ratu Kadavulevu High School, the Nasinu Rugby Club and the RKS Old Boys Rugby Club. He was the team captain of the BYU Hawaii rugby team from 1999 - 2001. In Provo, he was the representative of the Men's Rugby 7s and 15s teams. In 2005, Waqa was captain of the Utah All-Stars Men's Rugby Team, in the USA Rugby Regional All-Star Tournament.
Waqa was voted Hawaii State's Most Valuable Rugby Player in 2001. In 2011, Waqa was named USA Rugby Volunteer Rugby Coach of the Year. The following year, 2012, the United States Olympic Committee named Waqa the USOC National Volunteer Coach of the Year.
In 2012, the United States Olympic Committe named Waqa the USOC National Volunteer Coach of the Year. In 2011, Waqa was named USA Rugby Volunteer Rugby Coach of the Year. In 2001, Waqa was voted Hawaii State Most Valuable Rugby Player.
Waqa graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems from BYU-Hawaii.
