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USA Rugby Sevens coach Al Caravelli has named his 12-man squad to travel to Guadalajara, Mexico on 24 October to join up with Team USA at the 2011 Pan-American Games.
His side will be engrained with a mantra that will help it maintain focus in the quadrennial tournament: 'Play in the moment.'

“Playing in the moment helps every athlete and staff member focus on the task at hand, not to get distracted by the environment, from peripheral things we don’t have control over,” said Caravelli.
“If we take care of the little things the big things take care of themselves.”

That mentality will be put into practice on the field on 29 October when the team will face Brazil, Chile and rivals Canada in pool play.
The other pool consists of Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay and Guyana.

As part of United States Olympic Committee and the guild of athletes and sports under the Team USA moniker, the USA Men’s Sevens team will compete in its first Olympic-style Sevens tournament.
Olympic flavour

The Pan Am Games take place every four years and will serve as an Americas preview of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. While Canada and Guyana have experienced the Commonwealth Games, for the other nations it is a first outing in a multisport event.

“You can imagine that in a multisport event with over 2,000 athletes we have to be prepared for anything and everything to be thrown at us. On the field of play, we will not take anyone lightly. Every game we play, we'll have the attitude that it is a final, the players have embraced this and are executing.”

For the last week, the squad has been training at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista. That high performance training environment is paramount in the preparation for such a high stakes and compressed tournament.

“It’s always a positive to be at the OTC training alongside current and former Olympians. Now for the first time they will be with them and part of Team USA. The team knows what a huge honour this is to represent our sport and country at the Pan-Am Games."

Caravelli has named a fast, dynamic, explosive team with exceptional skills. He hopes that combination can be a recipe for thrilling, and hopefully winning Sevens.

"The attitude of the team has been excellent. Very high energy. The tempo is fast and the most important element is that every session keeps getting better. They have an attitude and goal that every time we do something, we shoot to make it better,” Caravelli said.

“They know their roles, responsibilities and what is expected of them. They are ready to perform,” added the coach.

The coach also expressed appreciation for the other eight players in camp, all of whom played a crucial role in the preparations for the travelling squad: Justin Boyd, Miles Craigwell, Andrew Durutalo, Paul Emerick (ruled out due to injury), Duncan Kelm, and Don Pati.

Team USA 2011 Pan-American Games Squad
Mark Bokhoven (Denver Barbarians; Ames, Iowa)
Colin Hawley (Olympic Club of San Francisco; Trowbridge, Calif.)
Rocco Mauer (Chicago Lions; Cleveland, Ohio)
Folau Niua (San Francisco Golden Gate; East Palo Alto, Calif.)
Milemoti Pulu (San Francisco Golden Gate; East Palo Alto, Calif.)
Nu’u Punimata (Old Puget Sound Beach; Seattle, Wash.)
Blaine Scully (Unattached; Sacramento, Calif.)
Roland Suniula (Boston; Boston, Mass.)
Shalom Suniula (Belmont Shore; San Diego, Calif.)
Zack Test (At Large; Palo Alto, Calif.)
Peter Tiberio (University of Arizona; Naperville, Ill.)
Maka Unufe (Utah Warriors; Provo, Utah)