Chase Schor Haskin was intending to be the starting point for a new Maccabiah USA U18 rugby team to play in the Maccabiah Games, but then a funny thing happened - the senior team figured out how good he is.

Schor Haskin has been on elite team radars for some time, playing for the Eagle Impact Rugby Academy U17 team in 7s in Las Vegas and in 15s in British Columbia. The tall, rangy flanker was looking to be the central player for the new Maccabiah U18 team but in September he was asked to accompany the senior Maccabi USA team at the Aspen Ruggerfest. He impressed so much he was named to the senior team for the 2017 Maccabiah Games.

“Sean Lipman invited me and I just went to play,” said Schor Haskin. “I wasn’t really intimidated by the older players. I’ve been keeping up with my fitness work and lifting and doing cross fit. My dad [Greg Schor Haskin] played with the Maccabi team, so he worked with me. I knew I had to have my conditioning and strength at a high level anyway, and I think that helped me.”

The youngest ever player to be selected to the USA Maccabi team, Schor Haskin is still in high school. He played with Weston HS in Florida in the spring of 2015, helping take that team to a state final, and this past spring also, when they became West Pines. This past season was a frustration for him and other players as numbers dropped and the team struggled to win games. This coming spring, he will make the 45-minute trip to train and play with Key Biscayne. He continues to be on the radar for the HS All Americans. Now over 6-3 and topping 200 points, he’s a big athletic who has only just turned 17.

“I am training hard and keeping in contact with all the coaches to let them know what I am doing,” he said. “The work I did at EIRA was really helpful. Salty Thompson and Brendan Keane have been really good to me. With coaches like that you’ve got to be a sponge. You’ve got to learn as much as you can.”

So it’s onward and upward for Chase Schor Haskin. While he won’t be able to play for the U18 Maccabiah team, he still urges players to try out.

“We’re still looking,” he said. “Players born in 1999 and 2000 can apply. It’s going to be a great experience.”

Chase Schor Haskin is our latest Eagle Impact Rugby Academy Player Spotlight.