Hawley was brought into the USA Eagles Player Pool, and began playing for the US national team while he was still in college. He made his test debut against Georgia in June 2009. He also played with the USA national rugby union team on their 2010 Autumn tour. Hawley played for the US National Team in the 2011 Rugby World Cup.[1]
Hawley has played with the US national sevens team in several tournaments. US national sevens team Captain Chris Wyles has called Hawley "the next big thing" in US rugby.[2] Hawley signed a contract to play for the US national rugby sevens team in January 2012, and had been a full-time player under contract for the US since then.
Hawley was named to the Collegiate All-Americans (2007–2010) and team MVP (2007) while playing for the University of California Golden Bears which won the NCAA Rugby National Championship in 2010.[4] Hawley played for Cal in the 2010 Collegiate Rugby Championship, helping lead the team to the finals, and was selected to the All-Tournament Team.[5]
Hawley graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2010 with a degree in Political Science.[6]
Family
Colin's father Loren Hawley, who died in April 2008 due to throat cancer, was also a rugby player for the California Golden Bears from 1962–1965.[7][8] In speaking of his father during a 2009 interview, Hawley said, "I went to Jesuit and played rugby because my dad and all his friends played at Cal. From there he was my personal rugby guru. He couldn’t talk so he would write pages of notes on his take of the game and what I needed to do. After every game he would come over and ask me what I thought, then he would give his insights. He was a great teacher and coach."[9][10][11][12]
Hawley's mother, Rita Currie, is from Phoenix, AZ.
Hawley has a brother Garrett, who played for the San Francisco Golden Gate under-23 side.
Colin also has a half brother named Jason Everitt.
