(USA Rugby Release)—USA Rugby is sending a boys U18 team to the World School 7s in New Zealand in December.

This team is going to be selected out of the players invited to a camp at the Elite Athlete Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. 

Men’s High Performance Pathways Manager, Brenden Keane noted on the development tour, “I’m pleased to see the boys are returning to Global School 7s. The tournament has a strong rugby tradition and has produced some of the top sevens players in the world.”

David Fee will head up the Men’s squad as Head Coach, following a spring and summer tour of High School sevens competitions aimed at closely identifying all available talent to bring in for the selection camp. With the support of key donors, financing to participate will not be an obstacle for this year’s U18 7s ensuring little to no barrier for any athletic talent to compete for a spot in New Zealand.

“The reality is that someone on these fields will compete for Olympic medals, potentially on home soil for LA2028," said Fee. "I had the opportunity to get out and see players at the LAI, Tropical 7s, NAI 7s, and High School Nationals; at the end of the day I’m excited to see the boys come in and compete for the jersey, and the opportunity to represent at Global Schools. I also can’t thank the Mark Cuban Foundation, Tom Pirelli, and the Golden Eagles enough for making this happen for the first time since 2019.”

Continuing to support the pathways as a mentor and Coach, USA Eagle Ben Pinkelman added, “Lucas Lacamp, Noah Brown, Darius and Donovan Law, Jake Broselle, Aidan Barry and Peyton Wall all benefitted and prepared them well for the future as evidenced by a few with appearances on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens circuit, or most recently with the U23s championship win at RugbyTown.”

USA Men’s Sevens Head Coach Mike Friday concluded, “We are really excited to see us participate once again, as it is a proven path for some to become Dawgs and Olympians and will provide the chosen men an opportunity to not only represent, but be exposed to other countries playing styles and experience what is required to tour internationally. The selection camp is a wonderful opportunity for players from all over the country to come and experience where the main squad trains, rub shoulders with some of them who will be assisting and learn from them. It’s important that we inspire the next generation as we build towards LA2028.”

USA Men’s Sevens Kevon Williams, Perry Baker and other current Senior National Team members will join Pinkelman for the selection camp as coaching support and mentors with the young prospects, many of which first experiencing the USA Sevens high performance environment.