We're hearing that the Boys HS Rugby National Championships invitations, or at least most of them, will be coming out in a day or two or three.
The tournament invites teams based on their desire and ability to compete at the highest level in order to give those teams time to plan and deal with logistics.
However, there have always been play-ins or wild card teams, and there is no doubt there will be this year.
Reports are that this is the largest pool of applicant teams ever, and added to that is the high quality of those applicants.
That means that some very, very good teams will probably find it tough to get an invitation. Certainly there will be some play-ins in highly-competitive regions.
It's also likely that at least a couple of teams will be asked to wait a few weeks to see if their on-field performance actually warrants an invitation.
Stay tuned; the invitation list should be released very soon.
De La Salle HS
Saint Mary's (Rudy Scholz Finalist)
USA U20s (Captain)
USA Men's National 15s Team (Debut vs Georgia 2023 at age 20)
As a 17-year-old Spencer Huntley required a waiver to play for the USA U20s, an indication of how he was rated in the USA age-grade pathway. He got that waiver and impressed for the USA U20s, and then moved up to the USA U23s. He led the San Diego Mustangs to a national HS Club championship in 2024.
He also played in the SoCal single-school league for Cathedral Catholic.
Hope Rogers began playing rugby at age 16 in high school and continued to compete during her time at Penn State University. There, she won four National Championships, was crowned MVP on two occasions, was named to the USA Under-20s and earned Collegiate All-American honors for four years. Rogers was also an impressive discus player during her senior year in high school where she broke a school record and won Gold at Districts for the sport.
Mike played for Life College, Philly-Whitemarsh and played for the USA National 7s and 15s teams in the 1980s and 1990s.
He was also part of the Atlantis touring side, playing 7s for the team in several around the world.
