Did USA Rugby’s National Tracking Camps work the way Performance Director Alex Magleby wanted? Yes and no.

Magleby has envisioned a player identification system that opens the door to athletes from all over, and also de-emphasizes playing games at the younger levels. Tours, Magleby has said, can be covered by extra sponsor dollars, but USA Rugby resources will go into camps and play identification.

But not all coaches, teams, and players knew that the camps were going on, and the camp hosts didn’t promote the events at the same level.

“We have had over 400 athletes attend the camps held so far,” said Andrew Locke, the former West Point All American who is running the NTCs for the US National Team. “From that, over 40 projected to be sent to the [Collegiate All American] or [Junior All American] Stars and Stripes Camps. Dozens more have been recommended to their local Elite City 7s Team for August.”

The age range for athletes has been wide, from 17 to 35, and one of the jobs for Magleby’s team is to screen those applicants, especially with the college players - USA Rugby wants to invest in potential Eagles, not players who would play for another country.

Some of the players identified were completely new to rugby - about ten, said Locke.

“From a 7s perspective, we would like to increase that as we can bring in some of those phenomenal crossovers now and start working with them with an eye on 2020,” said Locke.

But this is just the beginning. While many will say they’d like to see the All Americans (College, U20, and High School) tour and play games, this new system is still just that, new, and players, coaches, and fans need time to understand how it works.