The opening weekend of 7s rugby in Southern California Girls HS action saw a newcomer make a bit of a statement.

Roosevelt HS is in its opening season, and every player is new to the game, and yet they finished off last Friday’s action with a 4-1 record, beating a solid Mira Costa team in their final outing.

It all has come together so quickly. Last season the Roosevelt HS boys started play, and by the end of the season the team was starting to draw good crowds.

Several of those watching the games were girls who asked the coaches if rugby was available for girls, too.

Of course, said the coaches. Next season, come out, and we’ll get started.

“We were pretty surprised at the response,” said Mike Sepulveda, who works on the coaching staff under program director Pete McGowan, runs the team. “We’ve got 40 girls registered. We had no idea it would be this popular.”

Getting 40 athletes on a girls HS team is good news for a national power; for a first-year team it’s almost unheard of.

But the boys team helped recruit, and the interested has simply grown. With the girls league playing 7s, the tournament format allows Roosevelt to get a lot of players game time.

But they also have been stressed on the coaching side, and were fortunate to get a couple of extra coaches coming in to help, including UC Riverside women’s Head Coach Ivan Pacewizh. Coming in to help out early on, Pacewizh has stayed thanks to the enthusiasm of the players, and their consistently good numbers.

The numbers and coaching have helped the players learn quickly.

“They’ve gone from knowing zero to be good rugby players,” said Sepulveda. “They are really pumped for the season.”

It’s a shade early to single out too many players on the Roosevelt team, but flyhalf Lauren Odette has turned some heads - as has Roosevelt High School in general.