Maryland Exiles Win 7s Tourney
In near perfect weather conditions, the third weekend of Mid-Atlantic High School Sevens featured the Maryland Exiles Sevens Tournament held as the opener for the important Mid-Atlantic Premier Division Match between the Potomac Exiles and the Norfolk Blues. In attendance to check out the action were former USA Eagles Chris Saint, Owen Lentz, and Tom Sanders.
Maryland Exiles I, which featured several players from the French International School, was able to overcome some tough competition in their bracket beating Calvert Hall and the Heights. Prince William County from Virginia were also in a tough time with Great Falls and Maryland Exiles II in their bracket.
College Fair at Bowl Games
Colleges attending the Bowl Series at Iona College November 18-20 will participate in a college fair at the same time.
Representatives from the schools involved, as well as their rugby programs, will be on hand to talk to high school students who want more information or are interested in attending. While we haven't confirmed all of the colleges attending the Bowl Series yet, Iona, Stony Brook, Fordham, and UMass are expected to attend. The likes of St. Joseph's or Rutgers, Temple, Buffalo, AIC, and others could be there.
Last year, the list of teams also included St. Bonaventure, Western Michigan, Kutztown, Indiana, and South Carolina.
If you are a male high school rugby player, and would like to submit your information to the colleges attending so they have your information on hand when you come visit, fill out the form linked below.
EIRA Sessions - Updates
The Eagle Impact Rugby Academies are either underway or about to start their sessions.
We discuss who is ready to go here - EIRA Sessions Starting Around the Country, but here's some additional info on a few of the locations.
In New York, a large number of well-respected coaches will participate, including:
EIRA Sessions Starting Around the Country
Eagle Impact Rugby Academies sessions are underway.
EIRA North Carolina is four sessions into the season while other regional EIRA sites are about to start. EIRA SoCal will begin October 30, headed up by Jeff Bonnett, who also coaches the Back Bay U19 program. Leanna Long manages the program. Former Eagle prop Tim Kleumpers and St. Thomas Aquinas Head Coach will run the Midwest EIRA sessions, which begin October 30. Amy Doering manages the Midwest program.
EIRA New York (Matt Persanis, Pelham HS), starts up in November, as does EIRA Washington State (Steve Brennan, Seattle).
A new program will also kick off this fall. Jorge Molinari (Maryland Exiles) will head up the EIRA Mid-Atlantic, serving the Washington DC, Virginia, and Maryland regions.
Herriman Winning in Utah HS 7s
Herriman Gold moved to 18-0 in the Utah Youth Rugby Boys HS 7s.
Herriman won the 3rd leg of the series, defeating United in the final, led by an excellent tournament from Ethan Burrows and some excellent defense from John Thompson.
The Red team for Herriman won the Bowl begind the play of Kason Kalma, while the Herriman JV team took the JV Cup with a 5-0 day.
This coming weekend is the final tournament of the fall 7s season.
Pelham Clinches NY 7s
Pelham HS clinched the Rugby New York Boys HS 7s championships this past weekend, winning the penultimate event and wrapping up the title with a tournament to go.
Pelham 1 defeated a combination team of Keio Academy/ French American School 17-5 to be the only undefeated team in Sunday's round robin tournament. That game was, in fact, the closest game of the day for Pelham. PHS was led by captain and halfback Luke Persanis, who was the leading scorer of this past weekend's tournament with seven tries and ten conversions. Persanis also leads the series in scoring.
The 7s series consists of five tournaments, with Stony Brook University, Keio, and Iona all hosting one each, and Pelham hosting two.
Utah Cannibals Release 2017 Schedule
The Utah Cannibals, Utah Youth Rugby’s representative teams comprised of the top High School Rugby talent in Utah for both 7s and 15s, has released its schedule for 2017.
Readers and Goff Respond to Youth Survey Discussion
It’s time to follow up on my column about youth rugby and USA Rugby’s efforts to solicit opinions about its direction.
On September 23 Goff Rugby Report posted a story that informed the rugby populace that USA Rugby was soliciting opinions about young player development and all-star eligibility issues. The article was a pretty much down-the-middle, dry announcement of the development, although we linked to a couple of articles that were less-so.
On October 6, I posted an opinion column on the subject, drawing as one of my main sources USA Rugby Youth & HS Director Kurt Weaver’s own documentation on the subject. I forwarded my own opinions about what I would be saying to USA Rugby, but the main thrust of the article was that those in the game should make their voices heard - whether they agreed with me or not.
Utah Lions Tryouts This Month
The Utah Lions Rugby Academy has announced tryouts for boys and girls 7s events and tours in 2017. The 7s program will compete in the North American HS 7s Championship Series (NAHS 7s) events in Las Vegas (the LVI) and the NAI 7s in Salt Lake City.
More tournaments will be added later. In addition, to the series, the Lions will tour to the Victoria 7s, Delaware 7s, and internationally to Wales (Girls) and the United World Games (boys) in Austria.
The program is looking for players born after September 1, 1998 for U18 and after 1 Sept 2000 for U16s and must be in high school.
Carroll HS Wins Indiana Fall 7s
Carroll HS of Fort Wayne defeated Penn HS 22-12 in the final of the inaugural Rugby Indiana Boys HS 7s league.
"This is our 1st year of 7s," said Carroll Coach Tom Riethmiller. "It's a good way to recruit, with the help from Olympic exposure, and re-energize our returning players. They get to play different positions at a higher pace."
The 7s fit Carroll well as they are normally an undersized team that relies on speed and good technique in the tackle and the breakdown. Carroll was led by scrumhalf Tristan Lerch, flyhalf Jake Arnett, and center Christian Olney. Riethmiller said that while winning was nice, the point for him was to attract new players to the program, and he did that.
Player Spotlight - Chase Schor Haskin
Chase Schor Haskin was intending to be the starting point for a new Maccabiah USA U18 rugby team to play in the Maccabiah Games, but then a funny thing happened - the senior team figured out how good he is.
Schor Haskin has been on elite team radars for some time, playing for the Eagle Impact Rugby Academy U17 team in 7s in Las Vegas and in 15s in British Columbia. The tall, rangy flanker was looking to be the central player for the new Maccabiah U18 team but in September he was asked to accompany the senior Maccabi USA team at the Aspen Ruggerfest. He impressed so much he was named to the senior team for the 2017 Maccabiah Games.
Christian Bros. Wins NJ Varsity 7s
Christian Brothers Academy won the Varsity Rugby New Jersey State Championships this past weekend, beating St Augustine by one points.
The championship was played over five tournaments with points awarded for each tournament. The last tournament was played Sunday in Denville, NJ, hosted by Morris Rugby.
Make Your Voice Heard on Youth and HS Issues
This is an Opinion Column by Alex Goff - USA Rugby is soliciting thoughts and ideas from the American rugby populace about HS rugby eligibility and age breakdowns.
It seemed a good time, then to voice a few personal opinions. While I am not an expert in all of these aspects, I’ve been around a long time in youth and HS rugby. I’ve got some opinions on what people should say, and because of that I think it’s worth putting in my credentials:
Rugby NJ 7s Latest
The third week of HS 7s in New Jersey is complete with Play Rugby 1 winning once again in the Boys U19 division.
“The Highlanders ran a great tournament this week with over 18 teams and 200+ athletes playing in three Divisions,” said Pat Moroney, Rugby NJ’s 7s Director. “It was really fantastic that we have grown to 5 different clubs or schools hosting the 7’s Series this fall covering venues in the South and North of the State."
The series ends on Sunday Oct. 9, 2016 in Denville, NJ, hosted by Morris Rugby.
“There is much to play for and it is sure to be an exciting finale,” said Moroney.
In the boys U19 division Play Rugby 1 and CBA White squared off in the final, with Play Rugby winning and remaining atop the overall standings: Play Rugby 1 has 83 pts, St. Augustine 70, and CBA White 71.
Chargers Lead Wisconsin 7s Series
The Wisconsin HS 7s season is well underway with with the Chargers out of Sheboygan County undefeated so far.
The Chargers have entered two teams, with Chargers 1 going 3-0 in the tournament in Pulaski, and 3-0 in Green Bay. The Chargers 2 team was also undefeated in Pulaski, but were edged 21-19 by Middleton in Green Bay and sit 5-1 so far.
Middleton is the third team challenging for top in the state. The team lost only 7-5 in Pulaski and 12-10 to Chargers 2 before sweeping Chargers 2, and the 1st and 2nd teams from a squad called 4488.
