Born and raised in New Zealand, Marshall Ferris has been immersed in the game of rugby from a young age, starting to play at the age of 3. Coming from a rich rugby pedigree, with a father who has coached internationally, including teams like Fiji and Tonga in both 15s and 7s formats, and a grandfather who was a Head Coach for the Maori All Blacks, rugby has always been a significant part of Marshall's life.
In 2018, while still in high school, Marshall was part of the National Championship-winning side with the Danville Oaks. He later attended Southern Virginia University (SVU), where He contributed to the first-ever rugby side at the university, which went undefeated before the COVID pandemic struck.
In his young coaching career, Marshall served as Head Coach of the Life West Women’s 7s team in 2021, guiding them to a 2nd place finish in his first year in charge and followed this up by achieving a 5th place finish at Nationals in subsequent years. Also, he has worked as an Assistant Coach for the Life West Women’s 15s team, a side recognized as one of the premier rugby programs in the country. Additionally, Marshall has given back to his high school club (Danville Oaks) by serving as an Assistant Coach in 2021 for their Varsity Program.
In 2024, Marshall also contributed to the California Grizzlies' success as an Assistant Coach, helping the team secure victory at the GNC in Montana. This comes after a couple of tours with the California Grizzlies u23 side to Argentina and Chile in 2022, 2023 where he served as an Assistant Coach.
Marshall has steadily progressed in his coaching roles at SVU, first serving as an Assistant Coach in 2022, Co-Head Coach in 2023, and ultimately taking the role of Head Coach in 2024. Specializing in the backs and also skills Marshall’s focus is on player development with the ultimate goal of pushing more and more players to continue to play post college and onto the next level (professionally / internationally) Also, along with a focus on skill / player development Marshall’s focus is on creating young men who put themselves in the best position for them and their families to succeed in the future, building young men with character and respect. For Marshall, his belief is that when young men attend SVU and receive their diploma after 4 years, the job is 90% complete.
While being young in age at only 23 years old, with a deep-rooted passion for the game and years of experience both on and off the field, Marshall continues to make a lasting impact in the rugby community. His plan is to turn SVU Rugby into a powerhouse in CRAA (Collegiate Rugby Association of America) and at the D1A level in the Rugby East Conference. Competing with oppositions such as Life, Army, Navy etc… who have a much more rich history in the game and are much larger institutions than SVU.
