Some Surprises In USA 7s Player Origins

With the USA Men's and Women's 7s teams getting together this weekend for some practice games, we though we'd revisit where these players come from.

So we list every high school team these players played for (if they played rugby in high school) and every college team they played for. We also list other sports they played—but we're judicious as we only list sports the players were especially serious in, such as playing it instead of rugby in high school, or playing that sport in college.

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What you'll find is that the players come from varied backgrounds. Of the 42 players listed, all 42 played rugby either in high school or in college, with only Perry Baker not playing for an actual high school or college team (he played 7s for the Daytona Beach men's club). Twenty-seven played rugby both in high school and in college. Only four played just in high school—three going from high school directly into high performance programs, and one, Joe Schroeder, getting a scholarship for the cheerleading squad which precluded him playing rugby.

Women have been much more likely to be recruited from another sport to play in college. Nine women picked up rugby in college and has started their college careers playing some other sport. This is true of only two men's players. Twenty-nine different college teams are represented among thing group, ranging in status from clubs that get little school support (10 of those) to well-supported clubs (four of those), almost-varsity teams (four of those), and full varsity programs (11 of those). Seventeen players came from full varsity programs, and six more from programs that are as-good-as-varsity, but it's still notable that players come from all types of teams—it's as much the drive and athleticism of the player as anything else.

In terms of High School rugby, 31 players played rugby in high school, and, amazingly, only two high school teams—Tempe U19s in Arizona and Peninsula Green in California—can boast more than one alumnus. 

This is good news. This means players are being found in a variety of places. 

* Perry Baker played for Daytona Beach while in high school and in college, but this was a men's club team.
** Matai Leuta played with Cal State Monterey but was attending Monterey Peninsula College. Regardless, he did well enough to earn All America honors.