The US Naval Academy travels to Colorado this weekend to take on Air Force in a game that is more than a game.

This clash is part of the Commander-in-Chief Trophy, the informal but so important series between the three US military academies. Informal in that it's not a real conference or anything, but the series has been formalized in the sense that all three programs have made the commitment to playing each other during the season.

Commitment, of course, is an important part of what these young athletes are about. All of the Academy rugby players will finish their studies in four years and leave with a degree and a commission in their specific branch of the military. They leave also with the commitment of at least five years of military service. That service can be dull, it can be arduous, it can be dangerous. It's never easy. 

The dangerous part, of course, comes home to many attending the academies, as they hear of graduates who didn't come home. This weekend's rugby game remembers one of those, because he had a special connection to both the Air Force Academy and the Naval Academy. Lt. Col. Kevin Shea attended the Air Force Academy, but took advantage of a now-retired program wherein he could commission in another branch of the military. Shea, despite being Air Force, sought, and found, a career in the US Marine Corps.

Shea played football and rugby at Air Force, helping the rugby team win the USA Rugby National Championships in 1989. He then pursued a successful carraeer as an officer in the Marines, teaching at the Naval Academy, where he also helped coach the rugby team.

So he was a Zoomie and a Navy guy, a bridge between the two. Awarded multiple military decorations (Bronze Star with Valor, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, to name but two of the 15 or more he received), Shea was killed in action by enemy rocket fire near Fallujah, Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom on September 14, 2004. It was his 38th birthday.

Both the Air Force and Navy rugby teams celebrate his memory with this game, with the Shea Cup being the coveted trophy in the annual rivalry. It's a small nod to an officer and a rugby player who garnered respect from everyone who worked, or played, with him. 

Last year, Navy shocked Air Force with a 28-0 shutout to bring the Shea Cup back to Annapolis. That was revenge for the 2014 loss Air Force handed Navy in the series.

The game was not played in 2013, and Air Force won 30-20 in 2012, so had held the cup for three years until last fall's Navy win. Navy won the first Shea Cup in 2011, 24-10.

The Commander-in-Chief Trophy ended in a three-way tie last season, with Army, Navy, and Air Force all 1-1. Based on points difference, Navy finished 1st.