Governance & Members

Mr. Illfield has been involved in the development of Rugby League on an International Basis. Prior to his appointment as  Chairman of the USA Rugby League in 2011, he spearheaded the preparation of elite youth squads for the Newcastle Knights, Western Australian Rugby League and Western Reds RLFC. He was a key component in the development of the sport at all levels.

Peter is a former Australian Rugby League player and accredited coach. He has developed and managed Rugby  League as a professional sports administrator and is an Australian Rugby League Level III High Performance Coach and has been a coaching staff member of the Australian Institute of Sport, Rugby League National Youth Program.

Billy has been involved in Rugby and Rugby League Game Development since his collegiate days at the University of Florida. Since then he has played on numerous teams and held executive level positions with a focus on all assets of the game.

Billy is a co-founder and current board member of the Tampa Mayhem where he strives to provide a professional sporting product that can be attended and enjoyed by every person in Tampa and the surrounding areas.

Billy is a Level II USA Rugby coach and Level I NRL coach. He is also an acting member of the USARL Board of Directors.

With over 18 years of playing and coaching experience as well as project management and operations expertise, Mr Neilson is valuable asset as USARL Hawks Team Manager.

Mr Slover has been involved in the development of Rugby League in the United States for 13 years and has been an acting board member of the USARL for seven years.

Drew was introduced to Rugby League during a trip to Australia in 2005 and immediately fell in love with the game. Upon returning home to the US, Drew wasted no time in founding his own Rugby League team, the Jacksonville Axemen, with his business partner in 2006. Since then the Axemen have been a mainstay of rugby league in the United States and continue to be a formidable force on and off the field now three time USARL Club Champions winning in 2018.

Drew currently owns his own marketing and advertising consulting agency in Jacksonville. He draws on his professional experience, industry relationships and team success to continue to grow the game of Rugby League in the United States.

A member of the USARL board for over 3 years, Mr. Dowse was Assistant Coach for the USA Hawks in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup and previously served in the QLD Cup as CEO for the Norths Devils for 3 years.

Born and raised in the Philadelphia area, Mr. McGough has been involved with all facets of Rugby League in the USA since 1994. As a player, Ryan represented the USA in 20+ international matches over an 8 year period. During the 1990's he operated three clubs in the AmNRL (the Wilmington Vikings, the Penn Bulldogs, and the Penn Raiders). Mr. McGough was the head referee and referee coordinator for the AmNRL for 4 years and was appointed as head referee in three international matches. In 2007 Ryan took over the Philadelphia Fight Rugby League Club, and served as their CEO for 8 years during which time they won 3 National Championships. In 2010, Mr. McGough helped establish the USARL and currently serves as Director of Events.

Juan Jasso is a Texas native and US Army veteran. He comes to the USARL with an interest in rugby league background having spent 20 years living in the UK. He is a qualified match official, RFL level II coach, and currently completing his RFL Level 3 high performance coaching award. He has worked with the London Broncos and Huddersfield Giants community trust. He has also coached at various colleges in the UK. Juan's academic background is well suited to the game as he has an undergraduate degree in sports coaching, a postgraduate diploma in strength and conditioning, and is currently undertaking his professional doctorate in elite performance at the University of Central Lancashire. He has also been involved with development trips to Argentina and Mexico to assist the game in those areas. Juan is also a qualified university and college lecturer in the UK and has taught on various sports programs covering subjects such as strength and conditioning, anatomy and physiology, nutrition for performance, human performance, and analysing & improving performance.