The Winged Foot City Athlete 7s team won the Empire Gu 7s title in the High School boys bracket in their first year as a club.

Comprised of players from various clubs and high schools in the New York City area, including Xavier, Fordham Prep, Manhattan, Pelham, Queens, and Culver Military academy, the players went through an intense six weeks of training and five tournaments, culminating in a Plate win in the Blazin' 7s in NJ.

Following the success of the NYAC mens 15s team winning the D1 title this spring, City Athlete (an athletic training company based in NYC run by Alastair Greer, Neil McMillan, and Christian Mayo) wanted to create a pathway for high school players to develop their skills, and aspire to pull on the NYAC jersey in the future.

With the blessing of NYAC 7s men's coach Tom Rooney, the NYAC players that coach in the NY high school rugby scene and the Winged Foot foundation (supporters of youth rugby in the NY area), the trio created CA7s.

Under the instruction of NYAC forwards coach Neil McMillan, and two-time National Champion with NYAC Christian Mayo, the training began at Randall’s Island in late June.

"We were fortunate to be able to rely on so many current USA Eagle players, 7s players and coaching staff for drop in sessions, to give the boys an elite training environment that came through strongly in the tournaments," said McMillan.

Players and coaches, including Toby L’Estrange, John Quill, Mike Petri, Justin Hundley, Shawn Rafferty, and Matt Persanis all ran sessions.

“Starting the season, we had a massive range of standard, including some guys that had never played a game of tackle rugby in their lives," said Mayo. "Also, with only one senior in the squad, we look forward to building on this success for the next season, and for the future of the club”

“Our goal for the guys was to develop them as both athletes and rugby players," added McMillan. "To inspire them to come back after college with a view to playing for NYAC. The extremely tough fitness and testing that was put in each week, matched with the skill portion, worked really well, and it was a pleasure to watch these guys flourish as a squad.”