Under 18 Men's Sevens assemble for New Zealand selection

25 of the top Men’s Under 18’s players assembled in Chula Vista, CA for a 5-day camp this past week as part of the pathways development plan. 

The camp serves as a selection for identifying the next generation of Men's Sevens talent, as well as who will represent USA Rugby at the upcoming Global Youth Sevens Championship in New Zealand later this December. 

Bringing players into this elite environment allowed players to showcase their current abilities while vying for a spot on the traveling roster and a big step in their development toward the senior national team.

The camp roster was assembled based on player performances and identification opportunities across a variety of high-level competitions and development programs throughout the year, including:

• 7s Tournaments: Tropical 7s, NAI 7s, LAI 7s, Midsummer 7s Classic
• USA High School National Championships
• USA U18 XVs representation
• Collaboration with various academies like Atlantis, EIRA, Rebel, and USAR South
• USA Talent ID Days

Head Coach David Fee commented on this playing group; 

"These players are relishing the opportunities to play better rugby in quality Sevens tournaments, school championships, and representative level rugby. It's exciting to see them come into camp and put their best foot forward for selection. 

"We've proven in the past that we can compete and make it to the top half of the bracket [at Global Youth Sevens], but now, I would really like to see these players have a crack at the top teams in the final rounds."

With 5 returning players in this camp having the experience of attending this tournament last year, Fee added;

“We're excited to see how that experience improved and shaped their performance and playing standard this year." With the underlying objective of pathways camps to identify future senior players, this level of adaption and transformation is the main objective.

"At the end of the day, our job is to find future Eagles, and this is another step in that journey for these young men," Fee commented. "I believe all of these players have what it takes to challenge and compete at the next level. Exposing them to camps and events like Global Youth Sevens is a very important step in their process, and all of these players, regardless of selection, will be exposed to that type of high-performance environment."

Fee also highlighted the importance of the Golden Eagles in making this pathway possible;

"We are very thankful to the Golden Eagles and USA Pathways for continuing to invest in these opportunities for our young men to compete."

Performances from camp will not be assessed and dialed in before selecting the travelling roster for New Zealand which will be determined in the upcoming weeks. 

David Fee | Head Coach

Taylor Howden | Assistant Coach

Ben Pinkelman | Head of 7s Pathways