For Play Rugby USA, the talent level should certainly be in the same realm. Four of their women’s players have been called into duty for the US High School All-Americans on the same weekend in Quebec. Both of the Play Rugby teams have been training alongside and with the Northeast Academy senior assemblies since June.

The team’s focus however will be on its own metrics. Ryszard Chadwick, Play Rugby USA Boys Head Coach explained, “This is our first tour so we want to make sure that we stick to our philosophy and game plan. Hit our performance standards and we will be successful.” Chadwick’s reference echoes the philosophies of other high performance pathway coaches. The theme being to play what is there, perform within each moment and develop a constancy of task accomplishments, or wins.

Play Rugby’s founder and CEO, Mark Griffin will also be on hand in Utah and is glad to see the first PRUSA assembly in action against such a competitive field. “The CODP designation primarily reflects our outreach supporting urban schools and youth organizations – through the activation and ongoing development of both youth and adult coaches. The objective of our mission is to help young people realize their true potential through rugby; for some, that means representing their country. So part of our responsibility is to provide those aspirational and talented athletes with a pathway to elite levels of competition. The CODP teams achieve this both for youth within the PRUSA school and community network and through coach referrals from the broader youth and high school community. As such, we have a very diverse team gelling together and I’m extremely excited to see how they perform at such a high level event.”

The rebirth of the NAI7s event in 2016 is certain to be a great precursor to the Olympic Games in Rio. Highlighting the next generation of stateside rugby talent as it begins its ascent to first tier of rugby nations.

Play Rugby USA U18 Elite Girls at NAI7s

Susan Adegoke (PRUSA) – Julianna Aliprandi (Morris) – Malery Billingy (PRUSA) – Megan Bird (Wisconsin) – Calaysha Byrd (PRUSA) – Tamly Cowen (Morris) – Kye Harris (PRUSA) – Kelsey Joyce (Morris) – Mia Lancellotti (Union) – Emily McHugh (Morris) – Allie Mennella (Morris) – Mahdia Parker (NYRC)

Coaches: Tom Feury and James English

Play Rugby USA U18 Elite Boys at NAI7s

Damon Anderson (Xavier) – Connor Buckley (Xavier) – Gabe Castro (PRUSA) – Kamari Charles (PRUSA) – Jack dePoortere (Ridge) – Ben Ehlers (Fairfield) – Noah Geltman (PRUSA) – Ryan Hercules (PRUSA) – Rory Kinsella (Xavier) – Nathan Salter (Xavier) – Eion Sanservo (Xavier) – James Spence (PRUSA)

Coaches: Ryszard Chadwick and Seamus Kelly

Trainer: KJ Feury

CEO, Founder and Team Manager: Mark Griffin

About Play Rugby USA

Founded in 2003, Play Rugby USA is achieving its vision of creating “A Better World through Rugby” by providing young people with programs that help them develop a vitality for life, both on and off the rugby field. Play Rugby USA’s mission is “to use the unique power of rugby to inspire and empower youth primarily from underserved communities, to go-forward and realize their true potential. The long-term objectives of the program are for young people to achieve economic success, exhibit healthy habits and be positive influencers in their communities.

About Northeast Academy

The Northeast Academy, with training squads in New York City, Boston and Buffalo, is a National Development Academy that has been sanctioned by USA Rugby as the official Academy (Men & Women) in the Northeast of America and as a designated pathway to the USA Eagles National Team selection. The purpose of the Academy is to identify, develop and prepare Sevens rugby players with the intention of placing ambitious athletes onto the USA National teams and future USA Olympic teams. The Academy will provide athletes with top level coaching, physical preparation, and playing competition to accelerate their personal development as Sevens players in line with current USA Eagles High Performance criteria.