The Sweeney Award is presented to a former national team player who has contributed significantly to the game while displaying exemplary character on and off the field.
Billups currently serves as associate head coach for the varsity rugby program at the University of California, Berkeley, after joining the staff in 2000.
Tom Billups is also a member of the Augustana College Athletics Hall of Fame through his participation in four consecutive NCAA Division III national football championships.
He relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1991 to play for and captain the Berkeley Old Blues, which won the national championship in 1992.
[citation needed] He started his professional career playing for the Blackheath Rugby Club in London from August 1996 to February 1997.
In 2003, he posted a 7-6 mark, an American record for single-season wins,[citation needed] including four straight victories.
In 2004, Billups coached the team to two three-point defeats to Canada and a 39-31 loss to France in July, which is America's best-ever showing against the Tricolors.
Tom Billups finished up his tenure with USA Rugby in April 2006 with 12 wins, including the second largest US national team victory (35-20) to date over rival Canada in 2003.
From that team came several international players, such as Captain Kort Schubert, Matt Sherman, Kimball Kjar, Mike MacDonald and Paul Emerick.