The NAI 7s is set to kick off Friday, July 21 with a variety of brackets.

Here's a quick look at the Boys U14 brackets.

This bracket, like many of them, will ave two tiers, usually with teams usually informing the tournament where they think they fit.

Tier 2

It's good to see the likes of New Mexico back as that state has embarked on a plan to rebuild participation levels through youth. The Tier 2 is heavily Utah-based, with Layton Christian, Richfield Broncos, Mountain Ridge, and Toko Malosi all from the Beehive State. They are rounded out by New Mexico, Mountain View (Idaho), SacPal (California), Hawkeyes (Idaho), Woodlands (Texas), and Atlantis (all over).

Who is favored in this group? Hard to pick. Layton Christian has been producing some very good results at the high school level—can they do the game with U14s? Richfield is out of the burgeoning youth program in Utah County (Provo), and that program has grown significantly over the last couple of years—volume isn't always an indication of a high level, but it's a good start. Woodlands has also been building well. So we have well-organized youth programs, including SacPal, and then select sides that draw talent from a wide range such as Hawkeyes and Atlantis.

Tier 1

Teams from all over are in this Tier with teams from California (San Mateo, CenCal, Belmont Shore, Grizzlies, LA Tribe), Utah (Cavemen, SLV Rhinos), Texas (Gorilla), Idaho and wider (Hawkeyes), Arizona (Red Mountain), East Coast and wider (Atlantis).

LA Tribe won the National Youth Sevens Championships U14s with a really nice combination of size and power along with elusiveness speed. 

LA Tribe Grillin' Dogs and Taking Names

They certainly have to be favored. Belmont Shore finished 7th in that bracket at National Youth 7s and will want to be a little higher in SLC. 

We did write a little about the California Grizzlies program, which is currently drawing heavily from Northern California.

NAI 7s Next Step for Growing Grizzlies Program

This will be a really interesting Atlantis team as they have rosters throughout the tournament. Keep an eye on Gorilla, which draws their plays mostly from Texas but has done a very good job of playing some smart, entertaining rugby.