Coach Val Burns is from Sacramento, CA. She attended college in San Diego, which is where she picked up rugby as a sport. She played rugby at UCSD and for the San Diego Surfers. Val moved to Portland in 2005 and played for ORSU until 2008 and then briefly for the Seattle Breakers in 2009. She made a brief comeback this fall as ORSU's fullback. She has played on many select sides in SoCal, and toured once with the PNW loggers in 2006. She is a huge 7's advocate.