The Collegiate All American Stars & Stripes camp wrapped up Saturday with a three-squad scrimmage.

Each group of players – one captained by Jake Anderson of Cal, one by Jack McAuliffe of Navy, and one by Cameron Falcon of LSU – played two periods. The score doesn’t really matter. The performances will.

Head Coach Gavin Hickie said he was extremely pleased with the players’ performances on the field and off, saying that the players behaved “almost impeccably” during the week-long assembly.

The players worked with Hickie and 7s Coach tony Pacheco, and various assistant coaches, including most-capped Eagle of all time, Mike MacDonald, the entire USA 15s national team coaching staff, and Chris Brown from the USA 7s program.

“This was a big success,” said Hickie. “And the skill level the players are bringing to the team tell me that American rugby is getting better and better. The execution of skills shows that the players and their coaches have been putting in a lot of work. For all these players it’s a year-long process.”

Many had a lot to learn. Chiefly, they had to learn how not to be the star of the team. Most are exactly that – the guy who gets the ball at crucial moments, the guy who makes the calls, or is expected to deliver the big play. In an All American camp, everyone is like that, so some players have to learn to take a smaller role, and make it perfect, rather than do everything. It’s an adjustment.

Several players stood out in the assembly, and among them, the captains Falcon, McAuliffe, and Anderson, along with Seb Kalm from Lindenwood, Peter Malcolm from Wheeling Jesuit, JP Eloff from Davenport, Luke Mocke at BYU,  Josh Bower from Central Washington, and Chad Goff (no relation to GRR’s editor) from Utah.

On Friday night, the players were treated to a talk from former All American Head Coach Jack Clark. Most young players know of Clark as the coach of Cal, but he was also the USA national team coach from 1993-1999, and a highly-respected international player in the 1980s. Clark spoke to the players about what it means to be an All American.

“I wanted those words ringing in their ears when they went to bed Friday night,” said Hickie.

The Stars & Stripes camp is a new thing for the All American program, in that there is no tour following on. Almost 70 players attended, and a list of official All Americans will be released this coming week. Several other players will get consideration for the USA U20 team, and Hickie said he was especially impressed with the collegiates who had gone through the Junior All American programs.