NORTH AMERICAN INVITATIONAL 7S

NAI 7s Flagship Of Elite HS 7s

NAI 7s Flagship Of Elite HS 7s

The North American Invitational 7s keeps getting bigger, and this year as many as 70 high school (and younger) sevens teams will participate in Salt Lake City on August 4-5.

Jul 21, 2017 by Alex Goff
NAI 7s Flagship Of Elite HS 7s
The North American Invitational 7s keeps getting bigger, and this year as many as 70 high school (and younger) sevens teams will participate in Salt Lake City on August 4-5.

The tournament, basically now the flagship event of the elite-level HS sevens tournaments in North America, will feature eight brackets -- Boys U18 Elite, U18 Open, U16 Open, and U14 Open as well as Girls U18 Elite, U18 Open, U16 Open, and a newly added U14 Open.

In the Boys U18 Elite, 16 teams are in action, including nine of the top 11 from 2016. The defending champion Upright Rugby Rogues from Oakville, Ontario, will bring a conditioned and smart team to Utah. The Rogues have a strong squad with three Junior Maple Leafs (the national development team) and some key returners from last year.

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They will be in Pool A with the Rocky Mountain Rebels, USA South, and a Herriman team that finished sixth in 2016 and is routinely the top sevens team in Utah. The Rocky Mountain Rebels have combined with the 5785 program to develop athletes in Colorado -- 5785 takes care of 15s and Rocky Mountain Rebels worries about 7s. The Rebels finished 11th last year but look to be stronger this time around even without the infusion of two pretty good Joes (Kamara and Rusert-Cuddy, playing with EIRA) thanks to the likes of Jordan Savage and Hayes Ward. The South is playing in the Rugby Americas North U19 championships right now but will be a difficult team to overcome as it has been training for much of the summer.



Pool A

Herriman
Rocky Mountain Rebels
USA South Panthers
Upright Rugby Rogues

The Atlanta U17s were one of the head-turners of the 2016 NAI 7s, showcasing excellent skills despite being a young squad. This year's group played as U16s in Las Vegas (many of them did, anyway) and once again will surprise some. They will, however, have to maintain it through a grueling two-day tournament. The Eagle Impact Rugby Academy program has been busy, playing in Ontario (to come), British Columbia (just finished), and Ireland (going on now). EIRA lost in the final on the last play in 2016 and wants revenge.

Rocky Rugby Academy should bring some solid Texas talent into the mix, and Cobra will do the same from Southern California.


Pool B

Atlantis U17s
Cobra Academy
EIRA U18s
Rock Rugby Academy

It's completely up in the air in Pool C, because you never know who the Atavus All-Stars will bring to the table. They have been scouting talent from their summer development camps and will look to improve on a ninth-place finish in 2016. Atlantis almost won it all last year and ended up third. They beat their U17s in that third-place game, and it's the U17s (mostly) who come in as the U18s. Maccabiah Games gold medal final MVP Chase Schor Haskin, Mike Weir, Gavin Ziegler, Griffin Maat, Robert Figley... almost every player is on a FloRugby Hot List somewhere. And they play together really well.

Team chemistry is also the key attribute for Belmont Shore and the Portland Pumas. As some teams have shown in the 15s all-star tournaments, you don't need to bring in anyone new if your group already has unity of purpose. Belmont Shore was a playoff team in Southern California, and some of its players were on the Centennial High School squad that won winter developmental sevens bracket. The Pumas won Oregon's single-school championship this year.


Pool C

Atavus All-Stars
Atlantis U18s
Belmont Shore
Portland Pumas

While the hometown Atavus Utah Lions Academy will bring in some supreme talent, including West Valley Warriors (and Rocky Mountain Challenge) MVP Ty Carlson and super speedster Ma'afu Mahina (pictured), they will have their work cut out for them. The Lions took seventh in last year's event, but the Rhino Rugby Academy U16s took the U16 bracket in impressive fashion. That group, bolstered by those who won the SoCal HS club season, are ready to make a move at the elite level.

The Center Parkway Harlequins are a club team that will test every squad because its players know each other well. The Canadian Misfits are a hard-nosed team that will bring physicality to the tournament.

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Pool D

Canadian Misfits
Center Parkway Harlequins
Rhinos Rugby
Atavus Utah Lions Academy




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