BOULDER, Colo. – USA Rugby announced Friday its first official USA Rugby Girls High School All-American team, which will be sponsored by Serevi Rugby.

Joining six other USA Rugby age-grade All-American sides, including the Boys High School All-Americans, the GHSAAs will allow for comprehensive opportunities for young, female rugby players to be identified through the USA Rugby High Performance pathway.

Athletes will progress from the GHSAAs through to the AIG Women’s Junior All-Americans, the AIG Women’s Collegiate All-Americans, and then into USA Rugby’s Olympic Development Academy program to earn a spot with the Eagles in 15s and sevens, where they will compete in Rugby World Cups and Olympics.

A leading provider of on-field programming and conditioning for players and coaches hoping to make an impact at all levels of rugby in the United States, Serevi’s support of the GHSAAs will provide equitable opportunities to young women to compete in elite tournaments around the world through both the 15s and sevens version of the game.

“Providing competitive, on-field experiences for the girls fills in one of the missing pieces of the women’s pathway,” USA Rugby National High Performance Manager Billy Millard said. “The more elite game opportunities we can give young players, the better off we’ll be in future World Cups and Olympics. We are absolutely supportive of Serevi’s interest and backing of the women’s game.”

The GHSAAs will make their first appearance at the 2015 Las Vegas Invitational, an ancillary tournament held alongside the IRB HSBC Sevens World Series stop in Nevada Feb. 12-14, 2015. Girls from the 2014 Stars and Stripes Camp and the Nanjing 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games will be selected to two teams to compete in the rugby sevens tournament.

USA Rugby’s plans for the GHSAAs includes a to-be-announced 15s international competition before the end of the 2015 calendar year and participation in multiple international game-play opportunities within 18 months. An athlete’s future selection will be based, first and foremost, on performances in the USA Rugby competitive pathway: playing well for one’s high school team, performing at a Regional All-Star Tournament, and being a stand-out player at the annual USA Rugby Stars and Stripes Camp. Supplemental opportunities for identification, exposure, and experience are available through the Serevi system of high-performance training clinics and residency camps.

“We are excited to have selected Mollie McCarthy as our GHSAA head coach to push the program forward and will be looking to add additional coaches to the program in the future,” USA Rugby National Sevens Director Alex Magleby said.

McCarthy, the current head coach of the University of Colorado Women’s Rugby team and former USA Rugby coach development manager, has coached and identified potential GHSAAs at the first two Stars and Stripes Camps in Greeley, Colo.

“Serevi’s support of USA Rugby’s Girls High School All Americans immediately opens the doors for the top young female players in our country to get on the field together to continue their development and compete against the best,” McCarthy said. “This is a huge step in the ongoing evolution of the women’s game here in our country.”

“We’re passionate about growing the game of rugby in this country, and for us that includes providing equal opportunities for development to young women and young men,” Serevi Rugby Co-Founder Julie Prentice said. “We’re deeply committed to providing young women a pathway to allow the game to take them wherever they want to go in life; whether that is to college, the World Cup, or even the Olympics.”