The American High School Sevens Championships kicks off early Saturday morning at the Surfside 7s in Stone Harbor, NJ.

The Boys competition includes three separate brackets - Elite, Open, and U15, and the competition will be fierce in all.

"We got moved up to the Elite Bracket and it's going to be tough," said Doylestown Coach Mike McCandless. "We know we've got a chance because we've got a good mix of players, but I'm looking at some of the other teams there and it's going to be hard."

Among those teams is Atlantis, which has finished off a selection camp and will be expected to bring the sort of combination of speed and slick handling that saw them win in Las Vegas in February.

Atlantis has to be one of the favorites, but so, too, is the New Jersey Blaze. The Blaze has some of the top players from programs in New Jersey, with Union flyhalf Mike "Chicken" Dabulas being a key performer. Dabulas has added height and power to a frame that already sees the game flow, and he will get the team moving. Meanwhile, Terre Hellander is a big, powerful forward who has emerged as an exciting 7s player.

"He has really blossomed," said Blaze Coach OMar Riveria. "He understands our philosophy, which is a philosophy I got from Emil Signes, that we avoid contact. He's a big guy, but he knows how to avoid contact, and only engages it when we've got the space and he can offload."

Also worth watching is the Bula Boys, a team that has a strong influence from the Archmere Academy team that won Delaware (a 7s state championship), and the HSRC in Chester, Pa. That team is also contact-averse, and lets the ball do the talking.

The Open bracket has a NJ Blaze Black team that could well run away with the title, although St. Joe's Prep has a lot of 7s experience.

In the U15 bracket, the Blaze, once more, is in action, while the Maryland Exiles and Doylestown also are expected to bring solid teams.

The full schedule is here: http://www.urugby.com/sites/default/files/ahs2015-schedule.pdf