• • Facebook
  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • Technorati
  • Reddit
  • Stumble Upon
  • Furl

USA Men’s National Sevens coach Al Caravelli has assembled a versatile mix of young and experienced players for the training camp leading into the World Games in Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei.

With eight Collegiate All-Americans, nine capped 15 players, one former Chicago Bear and several brand new faces to the sevens game, Caravelli has once again hand selected a variety of the best athletes America has to offer.

Caravelli has spent the beginning of the summer at tournaments throughout the USA watching what the nations sides have to offer. He was recently spotted at the Championship Cup Series event; The Cape Fear 7s as a guest of NOVA manager Bill Gardner. The birth of the next stage of elite level competition in the US has made Caravelli's job a little easier though of course there is some serious distances to travel.

Caravelli is excited about the chances of his newly formed squad “I’m so excited about the quality of athletes at this assembly,” Caravelli said. “With the mixture of youth & experience it will be a blast to see how quickly the younger men come up to speed with the game of sevens."

“From a coaching perspective it’s exhilarating to work with inexperienced players who are gifted athletically, just as these men are, but it’s also a great challenge to prepare them for the obstacles that lie ahead at the World Games.”

With the last of the players arriving in Denver yesterday afternoon, the squad will now train for the next five days at Infinity Park, in Glendale, Colo. The squad will undergo fitness testing and a scrimmage against the local Denver side, before Caravelli selects the 12 he wants to make the trip to China on Sunday.

“It’s great to have Jone Naqica back,” Caravelli said. “He’s our player with the most IRB Series appearances. Jason Pye returns from injury after have an excellent Hong Kong tournament in 2008 and Justin Boyd played in six of the eight series tournaments this last season and had his best year so far.

“In addition, I’m really looking forward to seeing how our first time camp attendees will hold up,” he added. “Peter Dahl, who would have been to a camp last season, but was ruled out due to an injury, is 100% now and in the player pool. The All-Americans are gifted rugby players and athletes and show how our college programs continue to produce quality.”

Colin Hawley, Dustin Muhn, Brendan Omeara, Clint Whittler, Richard Herbert are new to the Sevens camp and join the other All-Americans returning from the last IRB Sevens tournament including Marco Barnard, Blaine Scully, Alex Ross and Steve St. Pierre.

Also returning from the last two sevens events are veterans Thretton Palamo, P.J. Komongnan, Tai Enosa and Corey Blair. Other first time camp attendees are Ata Malifa, who like Dahl has been on the verge of attending a camp for over a year, and Leonard Peters, who comes to the assembly from the University of Hawaii where he was a standout football player. Originally signed by the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2007, Peters was on the Chicago Bears practice squad in 2008 and displays the professionalism and demeanor that Caravelli welcomes to this team.

The Rugby Sevens competition at the 2009 World Games will take place on July 24-25 and will see the newly-crowned IRB Sevens World Series champions, South Africa, head one pool and Series runners-up and defending World Games champions, Fiji, the other pool in a strong line-up featuring nations from six continents.

The U.S. will kick off their campaign against Portugal, who will be looking to put their recent dissapointing result at the FIRA championships behind them, before facing hosts Chinese Taipei and South Africa. Fiji looks to defend their Championship and face pool matches against Hong Kong, Japan, and Argentina in day one.

“The team is extremely excited about attending the World Games on the eve of the IOC’s vote for rugby’s inclusion into the Olympic Games,” Caravelli said. “It gives our athletes the opportunity to compete along with other World Class athletes before the Pan Am Games in 2011. It will give them the experience of competing for a medal and more importantly, it will give the spectators a glimpse of the wonderful sport we play.

“The speed, endurance and athleticism these phenomenal athletes posses in rugby sevens is truly a sight to behold,” he added. “It also gives us a jump on selecting athletes that we would not see until our national selection camp in September. This gives them the experience to compete for spots on the squad and play some very tough competition. It’s a win, win all around.”