Coach Ben Pinkelman

Coach Ben Pinkelman grew up playing rugby at Cherry Creek High School before heading to Colorado State University, where he studied Criminal Justice and suited up for the Rams and the Denver Barbarians RFC. In 2014, USA Rugby named him its Youth Player of the Year.

Two years later, at just 22 years old, he was the youngest player on the U.S. Men's Sevens roster at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, finishing 9th — the culmination of a breakout stretch that included a 6th-place finish with the team on the 2015–16 HSBC Sevens World Series.

A chronic back injury cost him a shot at Tokyo 2020, but Pinkelman fought his way back — earning Premier Rugby Sevens' 2023 Comeback Player of the Year and, later that year, the captaincy of the USA Men's Sevens National Team for the 2023–24 HSBC SVNS season.

He's still coaching at the top of the game. Pinkelman is an assistant coach with the USA Women's Sevens National Team, spending one week of every month out in California working with the squad.

He's brought that same competitiveness to Regis Jesuit, coaching the Raiders since 2025. His first season ended with a 3rd place finish at the Rugby Colorado State Championship; the next, the Raiders went one better and came home State Runners-Up.