NEW YORK (USA Rugby Release) – Play Rugby USA, in partnership with the Northeast Academy, has announced their first "Community Olympic Development Program" player assembly to promote the pathway for High School athletes to National Team selections. The first assembly of its kind will commence June 20 at Baker Field in New York.

Following the assembly, athletes will be selected to represent the Northeast in the North American Invitational Sevens Tournament in Salt Lake City, Utah July 29-30. Training dates for representative sides will take place June 20 and 27, July 11, 18 and 25.

Athletes interested in being considered for selection have three options for assembly invitation:

• Attend the June 11 USA Rugby National Tracking Camp in Saratoga Springs, NY
• Be selected by Community Olympic Development Program (CODP) scouts at upcoming CRC and All-Star events
• Be nominated by a coach

To be eligible for assembly selection, athletes must have represented their High School or Club’s 1st XV and/or Varsity Team and be committed to training in a high-performance Sevens environment. Coaches interested in nominating an athlete must contact both CODP Manager Ryszard Chadwick and Northeast Academy Director Sean Horan.

The next assembly will be an invitation-only event ahead of the New York Sevens in November, with the team competing in the High School Elite Division against club teams from the UK, USA and Canada.

Play Rugby USA, an established grassroots rugby development program, was recently designated by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) as the nation’s first Community Olympic Development Program (CODP) for Rugby.

Formally launched in January 2016, the CODP combines resources from Play Rugby USA and the Northeast Academy, a USA Rugby approved elite development program, to formalize and consolidate a pathway for talented young players to USA Rugby national teams.

The mission of the jointly run CODP is to “identify, develop, empower and support young talented athletes from the Northeast to achieve their rugby dreams, by maximizing their potential to compete effectively on the international stage."

“USA Rugby has firmly endorsed this partnership, which combines one of the highest performing adult sevens programs in the country with the largest youth outreach program in a city with more young athletes than anywhere else in the country,” said USA Rugby High Performance Director Alex Magleby.

To learn more about the CODP program, click here.