GRR: HS Girls
In girls high school rugby, Northern California is considered Amazon territory. The January Kickoff Tournament seemed to reiterate that fact, and league contenders – namely Danville and Pleasanton – played sobering games against the Sacramento side. But Saturday showed that the league title is far from decided, as Pleasanton carved out a piece of NorCal land for itself.
A few things have happened since our last Girls High School Top 20 ranking. State titles have been awarded, and even more SBROs held fall 7s series. For those teams that contest their 15s season in the spring, preferential treatment was given to those who participated in a fall 7s league.
The Lady Stallions got their first taste of 7s last fall, as Utah Youth Rugby hosted its inaugural girls club 7s season. Orem ended up winning the state title and were curious how they’d match up against tougher competition. So they traveled to the Las Vegas Invitational and entered the Girls High School Elite 7s division.
There were plenty of successes and surprises at the Las Vegas Invitational, but one topping the list is the Atlantis U16s in the Girls High School Open division. It was the first time that the all-star program has fielded this age group, and that alone was an achievement. The players, however, had higher standards for themselves.
California has sent nine players to the Girls High School All Americans (HSAA), which will make its debut at the Las Vegas Invitational 7s this week. SoCal’s Fallbrook and ICEF sent five athletes total, while NorCal’s Danville and Pleasanton sent four representatives.