Senior Club 7s culminates this weekend with the USA Club 7s championships, and through all the shifts and changes within 7s in this country, this event sticks around and continues to have significant relevance.
One of the interesting aspects of this competition is how there was for several years a concern that compilation sides, formed just for the summer and drawing on players from all over the country, were going to swamp the efforts of established clubs.
This concern spread out into various little battles—a push for a rule that you could not switch from your regular-season 15s club to play 7s (ridiculous on its face when not every 15s club plays 7s, but many have players who want to compete during the summer); a push for a rule to limit how many players a club can add; the avoidance of the obvious fact that any club registered properly with USA Rugby can compete as it wishes to.
But ultimately, those single-use teams tended to fall by the wayside. They were often successful, to be sure, but they fell away because they usually needed a lot of money to keep going. Established clubs already had their infrastructure and admin put together.
For established clubs, fielding a 7s team has often proved a good recruiting tool. College talent, or, in fact, crossover talent or players from elsewhere, could be tested and could in turn test the club vibe in a short-term, controlled environment. It has helped many a player decide on a city and a place to play.
Of the 16 men’s teams in the Club 7s Championships, only two, Beltway Elite and Washington Athletic Club, are really 7s-only, and they have a history of competing every year and filling a specific need in their area. Among the women’s teams, Scion, WAC, Oregon Sharks, and Phoenix (Fla.) are all more 7s-specific, but once again they are regional in scope, and really exist because a few players from each of the clubs and teams in their area want to play high-level 7s.
That is all to say that established clubs seem to have won the day, and when the competing teams are not regular 15-a-side competitors as well, they have a regional focus and staying power.
College Influence
Almost every team has a very recent or current college player on their roster. Keep in mind we’re working off pre-tournament rosters, which can be up to 20, but will be down to 13 for the tournament, so some of the players might not play. But they have all been important for their teams. Every team has serious experience and more seasoned talent, to be sure.
But college players do get brought in to add a spark, not just for them to gain experience. Players such as Devon Flynn (Texas State) and Niklas Moelders (Texas) for Austin Huns. (See us talk to Moelders here>>)
Or Dayen Joyce (UCLA), Ethan Moxley (CSULB), and Caleb Tomasin (Cal, U. San Diego) for Belmont Shore; Ian Stadelmaier (Maryland) for Beltway Elite; Matt Chevalier and Parker Wall from Indiana, and Jac Tregoning from Central Washington; Caleb Goeddertz (North Texas) and Sy Mendenhall (St. Bonaventure) for Dallas Harlequins; Arnaud Agasse (CWU), Marco Lapierre (St. Bonaventure), and Ian Wormer (Utah) for Denver Barbarians.
Of course, several of those players, like Mendenhall, Agasse, and Lapierre are simply back in their hometown regions for the summer, but that’s part of the equation. Witness Kutztown’s Jake Stelluti and University of Chicago’s Caius Michlitsch playing with Schuylkill River.
Life University is running a men’s team that has several ongoing undergrad players on their 7s team, such as Bautista Araujo, Kade Cunningham, Aaron Faison, Seth Kramlich, Tevita Mapa, and Serick Saxon. Holy Cross’s Jackson Evarts and Bowling Green’s Phil Tracey are with Mystic River, Ian Roudybush of Penn State is with NOVA. Old Blue landed two Wheeling University stars in Joe Iye and Shadreck Mandaza while WAC has a very strong CWU connection overall.
One of the teams that has excellent form in the men’s side is the St. Louis Bombers, which is heavily former Lindenwood players, including Calvin Ihrig, Declan Reis, Preston Hammerschmidt, and Nick Feakes. They also boast former Alabama star (from a while ago) Ross Depperschmidt, who is a force, and Mate Kvirikashvili, who helped Kutztown to a CRC title in 2021.
It’s slightly different with the women because it’s tougher for NCAA players to play 7s in the summer. Several current or recent collegiates helped the Chicago Lions get to Wisconsin, such as Davenport’s Aubrey Crist and Charlotte Dauser, New Haven’s Sereana Vulaono, and Sacred Heart’s Marley Gurmendi. Prusmack Award-winner as the top women’s collegiate 7s player, Alyssa Cunningham (also of Sacred Heart), is on the Lions, too.
Lydia Sabo of Lindenwood is with the Colorado Grey Wolves while Life’s Emerson Callegari suits up for the Dallas Harlequins. Recent Llife star Saher Hamdan plays for the Oregon Sharks, and recent West Chester standout Lilly Rhode is with Philadelphia.
But overall the women’s teams are relying on more experience.
The Event
Madison United Rugby & Wisconsin Rugby Sports Complex
448 Clark Street,
Cottage Grove, WI 53527
Tockets $5 at the gate
Live on The Rugby Network
