It’s going to be a globetrotting summer for Keagan Barnes as the Utah Lions and Bingham HS.

The scrumhalf/wing/utility back was part of the Lions team that dominated in the United World Games to win Gold in Boys U18 7s. But he’s not done yet, as a trip to Canada and a stint in South Africa are on the horizon.

“The United World Games was a lot of fun,” Barnes told Goff Rugby Report. “We came together pretty well. I don’t think we were superior athletically. The other teams were very good athletes. But we played at a higher pace and we worked as a team. The coaches wanted us to be cool, calm, and creative. And we were.”

Several of the teams in the UWG were national academies in Europe. And yet the Utah team won comfortably. 

“We weren’t sure what to expect, but then our Red Team beat Queen Elizabeth and we were pretty sure we were in a good position after that,” said Barnes. The Utah Red Team was a group of slightly younger players - essentially the Lions second side.

So it was a championship trip, but the UWG in Austria was more than that. The players arrived early, visited museums and historical sites in what was a serious cultural trip, as well. Barnes said he was especially moved by the trip to the site of the Dachau World War II Concentration Camp. The site is near the German-Austrian border.

It was a very solemn experience,” said Barnes. “It was something I wanted to do - I had relatives serve in WWII and I wanted to see the site for myself.”

It was a serious place for the players to put life in some perspective. 

For Barnes, that visit stuck in his mind as much as winning at the United World Games, but he has things to look ahead to, as well. Chief among them is a chance to work at the Sharks Academy in Durban, South Africa. Barnes has a choice of three visits - short, medium, or long, and he is still deciding, although he expected it to be medium or long.

“The big thing for me is it’s High Performance exposure,” said Barnes. “It’s the sort of thing that can push me and push my game to another level. Since I was 14 I’ve wanted to play at the national level. And my brother went on Mission to Johannesburg so I wanted to visit South Africa and play there.”

Barnes said he enjoys wing and scrumhalf but can play at other positions, including hooker in 7s. He relishes the versatility and the chance to learn.

“I think I am good at hitting the right lines and finding a hole,” he said. “But I want to work more on that and on being faster, and tackling. There’s always something to be better at.”

The Lions still have the North American Invitational 7s in Salt Lake City, and this weekend, the Victoria International 7s.