Zachary David Strom Zach was born and raised in Colorado where he went to Cherry Creek High School. He has 2 sibilings, Alissa the oldest and Jeremy the middle. After he graduated in 2006, he attended Mesa State College (Colorado Mesa University) where his passion for rugby really started. 4yrs later, and many many beers later, he graduated in 2010. After graduating he was able to get an entry level job at the corporate office of Vail Resorts. Though it was accounts payable, he was just happy to have a job with a respectable company. After working at Vail for 2+ years, he decided the accounting life wasn't for him and decided to become a ski bum (live in a ski town and just ski) and was able to get a great job at Silverton Mountain. After 6 months of skiing he headed back to Denver and continued to follow his love of rugby. After the skiing and rugby life, he was offered a job to work in the mortgage industry.

Raquel Victoria Serra Raquel grew up in Palm Beach Gardens, FL, where she attended Palm Beach Gardens High School with her sister, Adrienne. She participated in multiple extra curricular sports including Cross Country, Soccer, and Track. She was most known as "The Polevaulter," a sport which she competed in the State Championship both her Junior and Senior years. She attended undergrad at the University of Florida, where she majored in Athletic Training. UF is also where she first learned to play the sport of Rugby. After undergrad, she attended the University of Miami to obtain her Doctorate in Physical Therapy. She first moved to Denver (temporarily) for a clinical rotation, and quickly fell in love with snowboarding. After graduation, she moved to Denver and worked at a level 1 trauma hospital as an acute care Physical Therapist.

They met through their rugby club, The Glendale Raptors, during the Fall season of 2015. Zach had played with the Raptors for many years, but had recently taken a few seasons off to re-kindle his love for the sport. He decided to re-join the squad for the Fall season of 2015, which turned out to be life changing :) Raquel joined the Raptors in the Spring of 2015, and was making a push to be on the Women's Premier League team for the Fall season. Their paths crossed in the HATC (High Altitude Training Center) where Zach first noticed Raquel. He quickly learned that she played the same position as him, which made him even more intrigued. After seeing her a few times in the gym, he finally decided to introduce himself, but nothing came of it. A few weeks later, they met again. This time at a rugby social, which is a rugby tradition after a Saturday full of rugby matches. They started talking, and soon realized that they had a lot in common, and that they noticed something special in one another. Fast-fast forward a few more weeks, they're on their first date at Pinche Taco, YUM!

The first taco date was one of many awesome dates for this couple. The early part of their relationship was spent in Denver, where they enjoyed great food & beer, skiing/ snowboarding, and playing rugby (they played for the same club). They got a puppy together, their beloved dog Ouzo, and even bought a house (In the art district, just a few blocks from the venue!) They also enjoyed traveling together. One of their biggest trips together was traveling to Israel (Zach was the starting scrumhalf for the gold medal 2017 USA Maccabbi team), Prague, Milan, and Zermatt during the summer of 2017. Soon after their return, Zach was offered a job in San Francisco. After some deliberation, they decided to go for it, and to take the opportunity to live in and explore a new city together! Zach moved to SF the day after his 30th birthday, but Raquel remained in Denver (while awaiting her CA Physical Therapy license). Though the Fall of 2017 was spent living apart, they visited each other often. One visit was extra special... Zach traveled back to Denver for Thanksgiving weekend, nothing out of the norm. However, on Thanksgiving Day, he took Raquel to a park with their dog, Ouzo, and proposed! Raquel finally moved to San Francisco in December 2017, and they've been enjoying great food, great wine, and exploring their new state together ever since!