Club History
The Old Mission Beach Athletic Club (OMBAC) traces its origins to 1954 when it was founded by Mike Curren and a few beach buddies to foster their desires for engaging in organized athletic competition. Today the Club boasts some 450 active members and supports a wide variety of athletic, social and charitable endeavors.
In 1966, several OMBAC members, who were also ruggers, petitioned the Club to sponsor a rugby team in San Diego. The OMBAC rugby teams of 66 and 67 were competitive, but an infusion of players from a bumper crop of San Diego State graduates near the end of the 1968 season catapulted OMBAC into the thick of the First Division competition in the Southern California Rugby Football Union (SCRFU) where it has remained to the present.
OMBAC (CA) First US Sevens Champions in
1985 at Tucson (AZ) - Photo Ed Hagerty
Over the past two decade, OMBAC has been at or near the top among the elite teams in U.S. Rugby. They were the first team in the United States to have won the National Club Championships in both Sevens and Fifteen-a-side competition. OMBAC was victorious in the inaugural U.S. Club Sevens Championships in 1985 and duplicated that feat in 1995. OMBAC has also won the U.S. National Club Fifteens Championships in 1988, '89, '91, '93, '94 and '96. In addition to its success at the National level, OMBAC has won countless tournaments throughout the western United States, are ten-time Southern California League Champions and six-time Pacific Coast Champions.
Over the years, OMBAC has contributed many players to County, Southern California, Pacific Coast and United States All-Star teams. OMBAC players Mike Saunders, Brian Vizard, Kevin Higgins, Steve Gray, Chris Lippert and more recently, Dan Lyle and Dave Hodges, have captained the United States National Team in international competition. Current OMBAC Captain, Jason Wood, is also a former United States National Team player. OMBAC has also contributed administratively as well with head-coach Bing Dawson serving as coach of the Pacific Coast Grizzlies as well as the United States National Team. OMBAC coach Jim Perkins was the head coach of the 1991 United States World Cup Team. Klaus Mendenhall served as treasurer for the SCRFU for eight years and Bob Watkins held several positions in the United States of America Rugby Football Union, including President.
In the past, OMBAC has toured Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tahiti, England, Scotland and Wales. OMBAC has also hosted a number of foreign touring sides including the French National Champions of 1991, Toulouse; and Llanelli, the runner-ups to the Welsh Club Champions of 1990 and Welsh Club Champions in 1992 and '93. In 1994 OMBAC hosted and defeated such world powers as the Orrell Rugby Football Club from England and the Brothers RFC from Brisbane, Australia. In 1995 OMBAC was on the losing side in a very physical game with another top English side, the Sale Rugby Club. In 1996 OMBAC played host to one of Argentina's top club sides, Cuidad Universidad de Buenos Aires (CUBA).
OMBAC has not only set the standard to emulate on the field, but has been a model for clubs to follow off the pitch as well. In 1991 OMBAC raised funds to build a new clubhouse joining only a handful of teams in the United States to have such a facility. OMBAC has a complete and dedicated coaching, management and medical staff of trainers and physicians who attend all OMBAC practices and matches. OMBAC also has a public relations director, responsible for all media releases, match recaps and the team newsletter.
Since our inception in 1966 OMBAC Rugby has distinguished itself as the nations premier Rugby Football Club with the following accomplishments:
1996 U.S.A. National Champions
1994 U.S.A. National Champions
1993 U.S.A. National Champions
1991 U.S.A. National Champions
1989 U.S.A. National Champions
1988 U.S.A. National Champions
2002 U.S.A. 7's National Champions
2001 U.S.A. 7's National Champions
2000 U.S.A. 7's National Champions
1995 U.S.A. 7's National Champions
1985 U.S.A. 7's National Champions
National Placement
2003 Super League Runners-Up
2002 Super League Semi-Finalists
2001 Super League Runners-Up
2000 Super League Semi-Finalists
2000 Third Place U.S.A. National Club Championships
1997 Third Place U.S.A. National Club Championships
1995 Runners-Up U.S.A. National Club Championships
1996 Runners-Up U.S.A. 7's National Club Championship
With over 30 years of proud tradition behind them, the OMBAC Rugby team looks forward to the next 30 years with equal excitement and success.
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