Larry Gelwix
2024
Inductee
Little did Larry Gelwix know that when he picked up his first rugby ball in 1972 as a scrum half at Brigham Young University, that he would go on to become a legendary coach with a high school boys rugby 15s winning percentage of 95.6%. Dubbed by the national media as the “Winningest Coach in America,” Larry established an unbelievable varsity record of 418 wins and only 10 losses while coaching for 36 years at Highland High School in Salt Lake City, Utah. That mark has yet to be matched by any other high school or college rugby coach in the country. For that matter, Larry’s accomplishment could be argued to be the best winning percentage of any coach in any sport in America.
Larry is a California boy, born on July 25,1950 in Oakland and raised in the Bay Area. He attended Brigham Young University from 1968 to 1975. He had been a solid football player and wrestler in high school and found the rugged sport of rugby at BYU to agree with him physically, mentally, and spiritually. He loved the game and continued to play for many years with the Provo RFC and coach for over three decades.
After serving as a missionary for his church for two years, Larry returned to Provo, Utah to attend Brigham University graduating in 1975. That same year Larry accepted a position as a teacher at a seminary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints adjacent to Highland High School. He became a Highland assistant varsity football coach during the fall season and a wrestling coach in the winter. He missed coaching in the spring, and being a rugby player, decided to start a rugby team at Highland in 1976.
Larry, as a volunteer coach, built a rugby program at Highland that resulted in being a dynasty, producing the Utah state high school rugby champion for 36 years straight and 20 USA Rugby High School National Championships. In 1979, Highland was the first high school team to play in New Zealand. The team also became the first American HS rugby team to play in Tonga. In 1998, Highland represented the USA at the World Schools Rugby Championship in Zimbabwe, Africa, where Highland played the best high school teams in the world and brought home a third place world finish and the bronze medal. Larry would eventually grow the team to over 200 players, including grades 7-12, and supervise a staff of 15 coaches. In tribute to Larry and his winning ways, the movie Forever Strong was released in 2008 that was based on him and the Highland Rugby Team. The title is taken from the team’s mantra. Another salute to Larry was the production of a 2012 Emmy Award winning documentary, Larry Gelwix : No Regrets.
“Along with Cal’s Jack Clark, Larry was ahead in applying American coaching elements to help create a performance rugby environment well before its global time. There was an athletic trainer and doctor at every training session and every match,” remembers Alex Maglely, former Highland player, USA Eagle, and CEO/Owner of Major League Rugby’s New England Free Jacks. “He is arguably one of the greatest mentors of young men that has existed in US rugby.”
Larry went beyond the high school pitch and shared his talents with the Utah RFU as a referee and referee society secretary from 1976 to 1984. He also refereed for the Pacific Coast RFU from 1984 to 1989 and was the Union secretary from 2005-2011. He went on to the USA Rugby Board in 1987 and served eight years as the National High School and Youth Committee chair and 12 years as a committee member. As national chair, Larry committed his efforts to the growth and development of the youth and high school game, both boys and girls, which has grown leaps and bounds since his tenure. He has also worked countless hours with territorial and local unions in formulating growth plans and implementing youth and high school rugby law variations adopted to improve safety. “Due to his work, dedication, and success for decades, Utah’s rugby community and the broader US rugby community would not be where it is today,” cites Kimball Kjar, CEO and Co-Founder of the MLR Utah Warriors.
Though retired from active coaching, Gelwix continues his "coaching" by the letters and regularly sends inspirational quotes to former players and many others.