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USA Sevens LLC have signed on as the presenting sponsor for the 2009 Collegiate All-American Tour to South Africa, which will see the team compete in three matches over the course of eight days in early August.

It has been a busy time for USA Sevens LLC, the company who owns and operates the tournament, who recently announced that the fourth leg of theIRB Sevens Series will move from San Diego to Las Vegas for the 2009/10 season.

"The elevated work that collegiate players and coaches have been putting in continues to increase the number of All-Americans that are pushing for international honours,” said All-Americans head coach Alex Magleby.

“A savvy and farsighted company like the USA Sevens LLC recognises that the continued development of these players in the pressures of an international assembly will benefit their outstanding Sevens tournament in the near future. We are very excited about this partnership between the two quality brands.”

The mission of the All-American programme is to evolve the elite of US collegiate student athletes in preparation for future success with the USA Men’s National Team or USA Sevens sides in World Cups, World Games, Pan Am Games, and potentially Olympic Games.

The USA Sevens squad has just returned from the World Games in Chinese Taipei where they beat the hosts 21-19 in the fifth place play-off, and the IOC make their decision regarding whether Sevens will be added to the list of Olympic sports in October.

Of the 12 athletes who graduated with the 2008 All-American team, all of them have made contributions to the Eagles, the alternative name for the Sevens team, or in the men’s club ranks this year.

In fact, the All-Americans have long produced some of the best Sevens players, including nine current All-American pool players who were invited to the 2009 Sevens World Games training camp.

Of those nine, four were invited on the tour to represent their country in Chinese Taipei and three are heading straight to South Africa with the All-Americans (St Pierre, Scully, and Hawley).

"The Collegiate All-American’s initiative to develop future USA Eagles is one that we readily endorse,” said Mark Reilly, the Head of the Rugby Business Group and Vice President of American International Media, owners of USA Sevens LLC.

"In addition, our sponsorship of the All-Americans 2009 Tour to South Africa (home to the current IRB Sevens World Series champions) provides an ideal fit within our international messaging campaign to create global awareness of the USA 7s brand and our event, which is set to be held in Las Vegas in February 2010."

As the fourth round in the grand prix-style calendar, the USA Sevens continues to expand its fan base both at the event and through record national broadcast ratings in the States.

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