This past weekend the USA sevens program enjoyed a highly successful three-day selection and training camp in San Diego, California.

Head coach Al Caravelli assembled 30 players at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista. Like most camps, several talented athletes were brought in to experience rugby, often for the first time.

“Twenty year old Gerson Blaise set a new camp record during the speed testing” Caravelli told UR7s.com. His time beat out international winger Taku Ngwenya – who set this record a few seasons ago – before signing a fulltime contract with Biarritz in France.

“Gerson is a perfect example of the type of player we would love to have in a fulltime rugby academy. The potential is amazing what training rugby six days a week could do for him” enthused Caravelli. In fact the first time the youngster touched a rugby ball was over Labor Day weekend at Caravelli’s home.

Several other exciting rugby players – who are still at college – were also invited to experience the USA Sevens setup. These players have been identified as having a future with USA rugby, but don’t have the time to commit for the entire season.

“When they graduate they will be able to step right in, as they will be very familiar with the system” commented the national coach.

Two players with football experience - James Aldridge and Miles Craigwell – performed extremely well with Aldridge reflecting on the differences between both sport codes: “In football it is mostly each man for himself, whereas what I have found in rugby is the willingness of your team mates to help you out. This weekend the veteran players were fantastic in this regard“.

Part of Caravelli’s introduction for these newer rugby players was to ensure they were ready ten minutes early for each training session. “In this way we have them working on their core skills, often assisted by the more experienced players”.

This rugby philosophy really makes it a team sport, with star player Nese Malifa saying “I have never been to a camp where the new players have been so switched on”.

This is encouraging times for the USA Sevens program, not to mention the success of Caravelli bringing in coaches from most of the rugby territories in the US.

“I want to thank all the coaches for their contribution which made this camp a large success. We had the opportunity to speak before camp started, and everyone was on the same page throughout the weekend. I also received positive feedback from each coach, with them wanting to come back next time round” Caravelli said.

Having these coaches involved will definitely help their regions prepare players for the national selection camps, as well as improve the level of play during the summer sevens campaigns. The coaches that were involved were: James Walker and Greg Commins (Belmont Shore), Andy Katoa (Aspen), Aaron Manheimer (Chicago Lions), Craig Hartley (OMBAC), John Tyler (Pacific Coast), Brian Hightower (West) and Sean Horan (Old Blue).

The format for the three-day camp consisted of the usual grueling fitness testing, followed by individual defense. Later in the weekend focus was spent on ball placement, rucking, one-on-one tackling, defense pattern and attacking pattern.

“The skill level was the best we’ve had at all our camps thus far” smiled Caravelli.

Time was also spent on set pieces with a series of games taking place on Sunday. This time round Caravelli mixed things up by having all the players with IRB experience take on the new players.

Troy Hall and Zach Pangelinan started on the new players side, but performed extremely well, and were moved to the experienced team. This side included Matt Hawkins, Zach Test, Thretton Palamo, Shalom Suniula, Nese Malifa and Alex Ross. Rocco Mauer – who has amazing potential – played extremely well and earned a spot on the wing with the above team.

The challengers were lead by PJ Komognan – and even though he has played on the IRB circuit – was given a leadership role by captaining and directing his side.

Caravelli – after further video analysis this weekend - is set to announce his pool of 25 players on Monday October 4th. The USA is planning to attend the Singapore 7s tournament, but will have to wait for funding until this can be confirmed. This is very concerning for the national coach with every other core team on the IRB circuit heading to either the Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast 7s or Singapore. Some teams will play in two or all three of these events, ensuring vital preparation ahead of the 2010/2011 IRB Series.

“Even Portugal will have played in three tournaments, and they aren’t a core team” Caravelli revealed when talking about preparing for the new season.

USA 7s Selection Squad:

James Aldridge; Gerson Blaise; Miles Craigwell; Matt Degutes, Dimitri Efthimiou; Jack (Siaki) Halalilo; Troy Hall; Matt Hawkins; Colin Hawley, Gareth Jones; Hunter Leland, Duncan Kelm; PJ Komognan; Nese Malifa, Kyle Marshall; Rocco Mauer; Taylor Mokate; Thretton Palamo; Zach Pangelinan; Don Pati; Jonathan Poynter; Mile Pulu; Nick Regas; Pete Roses; Alex Ross; Supeli Sakalia; Shalom Suniula; Zach Test; Peter Tiberio; Siosaia Vainuku; Duran Vota.

UR7s.com columnist Dallen Stanford played 7s for the USA from 2006-2009. He represented Belmont Shore at Nationals this year, finishing second in the nation. Dallen is an ambassador for the Tackling Cancer Foundation, and also writes for RugbyZone, Rugby IQ, Eagles XV and Pakis Corner.