The coach behind SetPiece

Hey, I'm Connor.

I'm a rugby coach in Bend, Oregon, a software engineer, and the guy behind SetPiece.

Rugby's been a big part of my life for a long time. I've been lucky to play with some great teams, coach some brilliant people, and pick up plenty of lessons along the way.

Here's how I got here

Connor Crossley on the pitch at a COCC rugby training session — Connor Crossley Bend, Oregon

01 / The beginningDanville → Bend

One training session was all it took.

I got into rugby through my high school football coach in Danville, California. He also coached the local rugby club, the Danville Oaks, and talked me into coming out for a session.

I was hooked pretty much immediately. I started at fullback, moved to flyhalf, and fell in love with the game. When I moved to Bend for my senior year of high school, I kept playing with the Bend Blues.

From there, I headed to the University of Oregon.

Connor Crossley carrying the ball for the Danville Oaks as a defender tackles him — **Danville Oaks** My first rugby club

Connor Crossley running with the ball in a Bend Blues high school rugby match — **Bend Blues** High school rugby in Bend

02 / The playing yearsEugene, Oregon

Connor Crossley carrying the ball for the University of Oregon during a rugby match — **University of Oregon** Five years as a Duck

Five years at Oregon.

I spent five years playing rugby at the University of Oregon, including time as captain and a year as club president. I also got to represent our conference with the Loggers select side and travel to Los Angeles to play 7s with the College Aces.

Somewhere in there, I started helping coach our backline. I loved playing flyhalf, but I also really enjoyed breaking down the game, talking through decisions, and helping other players improve.

Turns out that was a pretty good clue about where I'd end up.

03 / On the sidelineCentral Oregon

Trading the boots for a whistle.

After college, I moved back to Bend and played a bit with the Bend Roughriders. Injuries made it easier to put more of my energy into coaching, and I got involved with the program at Summit High School.

Over the last ten years, I've coached Summit's JV and varsity sides, the Bend Blues, and Summit's middle school program. These days, I'm in my second season as an assistant coach at Central Oregon Community College.

Most of that time I've been an assistant: working with players, planning sessions, building game plans, and learning from the coaches around me.

What keeps me coming back? Seeing someone return for another season with more confidence and an even bigger appetite for the game. That's hard to beat.

Connor Crossley with the Summit High School rugby coaching staff on the pitch — **Summit High School** Coaching alongside the Summit staff

Connor Crossley coaching a rugby drill with COCC players during training — **COCC** Working through a drill at COCC

04 / Why SetPiece exists

The coaching problem I could actually build a fix for.

Alongside coaching, I've built a career as a software engineer. For years, those two parts of my life were pretty separate: writing code during the day, then juggling drills, session plans, notes, and spreadsheets before training.

Eventually I started building the coaching tool I wished I had. That became SetPiece.

I'm still coaching, still learning, and still finding things that could work better. The app grows out of those same problems I run into every week — and the ones I hear about from other coaches.

Take a look at what we're building

Let's talk rugby

Got an idea? I'd love to hear it.

Whether you're in your first season coaching or your twentieth, I'm always up for swapping ideas, talking rugby, or hearing what you think SetPiece could do better.

Email Connor